AMERICAS

McClarin Plastics Buys Custom Composites

McClarin Plastics has acquired Custom Composites for an undisclosed sum, it said. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based Custom Composites is described as a niche manufacturer of polypropylene (PP) and composite fibreglass products including tanks, grating, fire apparatus and custom parts. McClarin plans to invest additional capital into Custom Composite’s new 83,000 square-foot production facility and aims to add 50 jobs there in coming years. It acquired Custom Composites from MetaFund, an Oklahoma City-based private equity firm.

Kraton to open HSBC plant in Taiwan

Kraton’s joint venture 30,000 tonne/year hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer (HSBC) plant in Taiwan will open on 12 May, the US-based producer of engineered polymers announced. The plant, which was originally announced in 2012, is in commercial production after a successful trial productions period, Kraton said. Key features at the facility include a process and product laboratory capable of manufacturing low viscosity products, the company added. Kraton Formosa Polymers Company owns and operates the plant. The company is a joint venture between Kraton and Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical.

DSM to invest up to $50m at US Amyris

Dutch specialty chemicals Royal DSM is to become owner of a 12% stake at US bioscience company Amyris after injecting $25m in equity, the two firms said. DSM said that, “subject to certain conditions”, it may invest an additional $25m in the company within three months. Amyris said it would use the proceeds from DSM’s first equity investment to reduce its debt. Together with other equity financing tools, the company expects to deleverage its balance sheet by $75m, it added.

GCP to acquire UK’s Stirling Lloyd for $94m

Construction chemicals and materials firm GCP Applied Technologies has signed a definite agreement to acquire UK-based Stirling Lloyd for $94m, it confirmed. Stirling Lloyd, which supplies liquid waterproofing and coatings products, has annual sales of about $40m. Its headquarters and main manufacturing facility are located near Manchester, England. GCP expects to complete the acquisition within the current second quarter. “The transaction is consistent with our strategy of bolt-on acquisitions that provide technology and growth opportunities for GCP,” said CEO Gregory Poling.

Kohlberg closes Pexco, forms Spectrum Plastics

Private equity firm Kohlberg & Company has completed the acquisition of specialty plastics manufacturer Pexco from Odyssey Investment Partners, it said without disclosing financial terms. At the same time, Kohlberg merged Pexco with its portfolio company PPC Industries, which includes Kelpac Medical, into a new entity, Spectrum Plastics Group. Spectrum Plastics Group is focused on thermoplastic and silicone tubing extrusion, injection moulding, film, packaging, assembly and manufacturing technologies across 20 plants in the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ireland and Malaysia.

TiO2 growth will lag – analyst

Near-term global titanium dioxide (TiO2) demand growth will lag historical trends, US-based equity research firm Alembic Global Advisors said in a research note. Because TiO2 volumes are so sensitive to downstream housing and construction end markets, sluggishness in those markets will reflect below-average growth in TiO2 demand, Alembic analyst Hassan Ahmed said. “Our view that global TiO2 supply/demand will remain tight is predicated far more on the dearth of supply than on the robustness of demand,” Ahmed added.

Kronos swings to profit on sales, costs

Pigment producer Kronos Worldwide reported a Q1 net income of $36.8m versus a net loss of $3.8m for the same time last year because sales rose while costs fell. First-quarter revenue was $369.8m, up 16% from $318.4m from the same time last year. Revenue rose because of higher sales volumes and prices for titanium dioxide (TiO2), the main product of Kronos. Sales volumes were 143,000 tonnes, up 3.6% from 138,000 tonnes in Q1 2016. Pricing rose 17% year on year, the company said.

Versum Materials breaks ground on R&D

Versum Materials has broken ground on a research and development (R&D) facility at its chemical manufacturing site in Hometown, Pennsylvania, the US-based company announced. Construction began in April and is expected to be complete by the end of the year, Versum said. According to the company, the multi-million dollar facility will house a R&D laboratory for new materials used in manufacturing semiconductors. Scientists in the facility expect to synthesise and purify new molecules up to parts per trillion impurity levels, Versum said.

CB&I opens PP technology pilot plant

CB&I has started up operations at a new polypropylene (PP) technology pilot plant at its research and development centre in Pasadena, Texas, the US-based petrochemicals engineering and technologies firm said. The company said that the pilot plant would play a key role in the development and commercialisation of new products and catalysts. The plant is a complementary investment to CB&I’s PP catalyst production plant in Louisville, Kentucky, it added. The company did not disclose how much money it invested in the Pasadena project.

EUROPE

INEOS mulls PDH unit in Europe

INEOS is studying the feasibility of developing a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Europe, an executive at the European petrochemicals major said on 9 May. INEOS director Tom Crotty declined to comment on potential production capacities, but added the company has a deficit of propylene – the monomer obtained through PDH – of 700,000 tonnes/year at its European operations. Two European chemical players currently have plans to build PDH plants, Poland’s Grupa Azoty and Austria’s Borealis. Crotty conceded that there would not be enough demand for propylene from all three units.

Brenntag’s Q1 jumps on Europe, Middle East, Asia

Brenntag’s first-quarter post-tax profit rose 43.5% year on year to €94.7m as stronger Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific demand helped to offset a decline in Latin American earnings, the Germany-headquartered chemicals distributor said on 10 May. Sales rose 15.2% year on year during the period to €2.97bn, operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 4.9% over the same period to €201.6m, the company added.

US GCP to acquire UK’s Stirling Lloyd for $94m

US construction chemicals and materials firm GCP Applied Technologies has signed a definite agreement to acquire UK-based Stirling Lloyd for $94m, it confirmed on 9 May. Stirling Lloyd, which supplies liquid waterproofing and coatings products, has annual sales of about $40m. Its headquarters and main manufacturing facility are located near Manchester, England. GCP expects to complete the acquisition within the current second quarter.

BASF to optimise logistics at Ludwigshafen

BASF is to introduce a new, fully-automated storage and logistics system at its 20m tonne/year site in Ludwigshafen, the German chemicals major said on 8 May. The main components of the new concept, the aim of which is to reduce logistics costs, will be automated guided vehicles (AGVs), optimised-for-rail tank containers and a new, fully-automated tank container depot, the company said.

LANXESS CEO warns on German disclosure rule

The CEO of German chemicals firm LANXESS on 5 May sharply criticised the government of its home state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) for a new requirement that obliges companies to disclose on the Internet all documents necessary to obtain emission permits for their projects. Matthias Zachert said that such disclosure played into the hands of competitors and terrorist groups, and that it opened the door to industrial espionage.

PPG weighs further takeover bid for Akzo

PPG is evaluating whether to pursue AkzoNobel further following the rejection of its latest bid, in the absence of productive engagement by the management team of the Netherlands-based rival, the US-headquartered paints and coatings specialist said on 10 May. AkzoNobel rejected a third takeover bid from PPG valuing the company at €24.6bn, stating that its own plan to carve out its specialty chemicals business into a separate entity offered better value to shareholders than a PPG acquisition.

Lucite FM on MMA at Cassel, UK site

UK-based methyl methacrylate (MMA) producer Lucite International has declared force majeure (FM), according to a letter obtained by ICIS that was sent to customers on 10 May, on the back of a technical issue that resulted in the temporary shutdown of the facility. Inventories were already at a low level, with dispatches of both MMA and methacrylic acid (MAA) being temporarily suspended until inventory is recovered, according to the letter.

VCI raises outlook after strong Q1

German chemical industry trade group VCI on 10 May raised its outlook for the country’s chemical-pharmaceuticals production and sales growth this year, following a strong start to the year. VCI now expects production to increase 1% in 2017. In combination with a 2.5% rise in chemical prices, the industry’s sales should improve by 3.5% to €191.2bn this year, it said. In its previous outlook, issued in March, VCI had forecast a rise in chemical production of 0.5% and sales growth of 1.5%, to €185.7bn, for 2017.

Eni Q1 chemicals profit up on BD, volumes

Eni’s chemicals division posted a Q1 adjusted operating profit of €123, up 11% year on year, on strong sales of butadiene and 3% overall higher volumes, the Italian energy major said 10 May. “The improvement [in chemicals] was driven by higher volumes and the restructuring plan executed in recent years, which allowed the business to fully capture favourable trends in certain market segments, particularly in the butadiene market due to global shortage of this commodity,” Eni said in a statement.

ASIA

Hengli Petchem plans Dalian C2 project

China’s Hengli Petrochemical is planning to invest yuan (CNY) 29.2bn to build a 1.5m tonne/year ethylene project at Dalian in Liaoning province, a company source said. The project will be built downstream of a 20m tonne/year refinery at the site, according to the source. The refinery is now under construction with operation targeted in 2018/2019. A total of 13 derivative plants will be built at the site, it added.

Asahi Glass to shut caustic soda unit

Japan’s Asahi Glass Company will shut its 300,000 dry metric tonne (dmt)/year caustic soda line in Kashima, Ibaraki prefecture, for maintenance, a company source said. The plant will be off line for the schedule turnaround until the beginning of June, the source said. “We think the tight balance will continue due to turnaround for Japanese producers,” the source said.

Kumho Mitsui runs Korea MDI unit at full capacity

Kumho Mitsui Chemicals Inc (KMCI) is running its 200,000 tonne/year methyl di-p-phenylene isocyanate (MDI) unit in Yeosu, South Korea, at full capacity, a company source said. It resumed full production at the unit on 3 May, from an average of 60% previously. The MDI unit was running at an average of 60% since the second half of February due to a turnaround at its domestic carbon monoxide (CO) supplier’s unit, the source said.

Hanwha Total restarts SM plant

South Korea’s Hanwha Total Petrochemical restarted its 400,000 tonne/year styrene monomer (SM) plant in Daesan after maintenance, a company source said. The unit was shut around mid-April for scheduled maintenance. Details on the exact restart date were not provided. The company operates a separate 650,000 tonne/year SM plant at the same location.

Nippon Shokubai runs acrylates at 100%

Japan’s Nippon Shokubai is running its Cilegon acrylic acid and acrylate esters manufacturing facility in Indonesia at full capacity, a source with knowledge of the matter said. The plant restarted after a turnaround that started in mid-April. The facility in West Java can produce 140,000 tonnes/year of acrylic acid and 100,000 tonnes/year of acrylate esters.

TPI Polene plans to produce LDPE mid-May

Thailand’s TPI Polene plans to change output at its 158,000 tonne/year ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/low density polyethylene (LDPE) swing plant to LDPE around mid-May in light of bearish EVA market conditions, a company official said. The plant comprises of two tubular reactors out of which one reactor is dedicated to EVA production. “We’ll switch to LDPE by this week or next week but [we are not sure] of exact date yet,” the official said.

Si Er Bang Petrochemical may start amines plant

China’s Si Er Bang Petrochemical may begin operations at its new 100,000 tonne/year amines plant by June, industry sources familiar with the matter said. The plant, located in the Lianyungang area in China’s Jingsu province, was earlier expected to come on-stream in early 2017, but did not materialise due to technical considerations. The new plant is expected to introduce another 8,000 tonnes/month of fresh ethanolamines supply to the Chinese market, sources said.

Yangzi Petrochemical cuts MEG output in May

China’s Yangzi Petrochemical has cut its monoethylene glycol (MEG) output by around 10% in May due to the plant issues on the upstream ethylene plant, a company source said. The company owns a 280,000 tonne/year MEG plant and it was running around 80-85% capacity, the source said. The company also plans to shut the plant from 17 May to 11 July for routine maintenance, the source added.

India April vehicle output grows on year

India’s overall vehicle production in April rose by 5.87% year on year to 2.24m units, with total sales up by 6.82% at 2.03m units. Production of two-wheelers, which accounted for 81% of overall vehicle output, rose by 7.9% year on year to 1.82m units in April, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Overall vehicle exports in April jumped by 30.4% year on year to 318,699 units.