Italy's SO.F.TER to expand offerings for the automotive industry

(Plastics Today) -- With its acquisition, long in the works, Italy's SO.F.TER grows in size, expands its offerings for the automotive industry, particularly in Germany, and also gains a better position for the supply of fiber reinforced compounds.

PGroup, based in Ferrara, Italy, there compounds polypropylene, PBT and polyamide; it also has a sales office in Stuttgart, Germany. The compounder was under court control after its bankruptcy, and SO.F.TER (Forli, Italy), had "leased" it from April 2010 and was co-managing the business during it bankruptcy. Following court approval, SO.F.TER has formally acquired PGroup.

"The acquisition of PGroup represents a significant step forward in our growth strategy and allows us to rank among the top three independent compounders in Europe in terms of volumes, with 120,000 tons' projected sales for 2011," said Stefano Zocca, managing director of SO.F.TER, in a company release. "The first and most important result of this operation is a remarkable increase of the business with Germany, where the SOF.TER. Group strengthened its presence, particularly in the automotive industry. Moreover, the development of synergies in the production and commercial areas has just started and we expect to achieve important results in the near future."

The new owner does plant to make changes to the Forli and Ferrara plants, so that each site will be responsible for specific product lines; it also plans to optimize its supply chain.

MRC

(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- The OPEC bi-annual meeting in Vienna disintegrated this afternoon with members disagreeing strongly on whether to increase production. The meeting has been billed as openly acrimonious, with Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi branding it "one of the worst meetings we have ever had".

"Unfortunately we are unable to reach a consensus to reduce or raise production," Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Secretary General Abdullah El-Badri told reporters.

Gulf Arab delegates said Iran, Venezuela and Algeria were among those to refuse to consider an output increase. The UAE and Qatar stood with Saudi, with Mohammed bin Dhaen al-Hamli, the oil minister for the United Arab Emirates, speaking of "tight" supplies before the meeting. He added, "If there is a need for more oil, we will supply more oil."

MRC

(News.Az) -- Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR is to invest over USD 6bln in a new refinery and sea port for Turkish petrochemicals company Petkim. SOCAR holds the majority of shares in the Turkish petrochemicals company. The ground-breaking ceremony for the new refinery in Izmir will be held in September or October this year, Petkim representative Serkan Aksuyek told a press conference in Baku. He said that Turkish and Azerbaijani officials, including the Turkish prime minister and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, were expected to attend the ceremony.

Aksuyek said that SOCAR would spend USD 4.5-5bn on construction of the refinery which will have an annual capacity of 10m tonnes of oil.

SOCAR is planning to invest USD 350m in a sea port in the region and investments in all Petkim's structures will exceed USD 6bn, the representative said. ⌠After this, Petkim will become one of the biggest companies in Turkey and Europe in this sphere.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- As a part of Non-Agriculture Market Access Negotiations (NAMA), WTO members (which includes India), have agreed to reduce bound tariffs based on a non - linear Swiss Formula. What this in effect means is that India cannot raise the Basic Customs Duty in most plastic items beyond 13.3% (in some items this rate is 15%), under any circumstances. So, import of Plastics into India from any WTO member country will be allowed at a peak rate of Basic Customs duty of 13.3% or lower (The Basic Customs duty in Plastics, currently applicable is anyway below 13.3%, but it cannot be raised beyond this level as per the Agreement).

MRC

(Plastemart) -- PKN Orlen has launched Europe's most advanced petrochemical complex for paraxylene and terephthalic acid production (PX/PTA). The new complex, which is Poland's first and the most efficient complex of its kind in Europe, comprises facilities located at PKN Orlen's plant in Plock (paraxylene production) and in Wloclawek (terephthalic acid production). The project was completed in a record short time of three years and cost more than EUR 1 bln.

As the only company from our part of Europe, Orlen has joined the prestigious group of producers delivering high quality PTA - the key feedstock in the production of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), used to make packaging and polyester fibers. Demand for PTA is growing at the most robust rates in Central and Eastern Europe and - since a majority of PTA consumers are located in close proximity to PKN Orlen's plant - this means a convenient access to an extremely prospective market. Large amounts of PTA are also consumed by the Chinese, Indian and Western European markets.

MRC