Germany's chemical production is forecast to increase 1.0% year on year in 2012

(ICIS) -- Germany's chemical production is forecast to increase 1.0% year on year in 2012 as growth weakens compared with 2011, the country's chemical producers' trade group, Verband der Chemischen Industrie (VCI), said on Wednesday.

In 2011, Germany's chemical production is set to grow by 4.0% year on year, VCI said, below the 5.0% year-on-year growth the group had forecast. ⌠It is difficult to make an accurate forecast for the coming 12 months, said Klaus Engel, the president of VCI and CEO of specialty chemicals major Evonik.

Engel pointed to the unresolved government debt crises in the eurozone and the US as factors causing increasing uncertainties among customers and producers. VCI hopes a planned summit of EU leaders in Brussels will be able to resolve the eurozone crisis, he added.

Meanwhile, Germany-based chemicals producers are facing additional uncertainties from rising electricity costs because of the country's renewable energy law, the Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz (EEG), and emissions trading. In 2011 alone, the chemical industry's costs from the EEG and related legislation added up to EUR 1.3bn (USD1.7bn), Engel said.

A further challenge is Germany's move to abandon nuclear power generation following the catastrophic shutdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan caused by an earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. Germany has already taken eight of its older nuclear plants out of operation and all such plants will be phased out by 2022.

MRC

(ICIS) -- US-based oleochemicals producer Vantage Specialty Chemicals is close to being sold, with a private equity firm the likely buyer, several sources in the financial community said on Wednesday. The sale of Vantage is in the final stage with a buyer already selected and an announcement likely to come within the next month, said one source.

The company, owned by US-based private equity firm HIG Capital, generates about USD50m-60m (EUR38m-45m) in annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), according to a number of sources. The sale multiple is said to be relatively high at over eight times EBITDA, making for a final price of between USD400m-480m or higher.

Vantage is being sold through a formal auction process that started several months ago, according to sources.
⌠It was a food fight among private equity firms - many were actively pursuing this asset, said another source.
⌠Several private equity firms were after this asset - it was hotly contested, another source said.

The buyer is likely US-based private equity firm The Jordan Company (TJC), said one source.
TJC is no stranger to the chemical space. It owns US-based Haas Group International, a provider of chemical management services. TJC would not comment on the information.

MRC

(ICIS) -- The Middle East spot prices of black compounded high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe have fallen by about USD30-50/tonne (EUR 23-38/tonne) this month for December shipments from November settlements because of ample supply amid flat demand, producers and converters said on Thursday.

The fixtures for December cargoes were done at USD1,490/tonne DEL (delivered) GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), which is equivalent to USD1,470-1,490/tonne CFR GCC, industry players said. This is down by USD30-50/tonne or 2.6% from November levels, the players added.
The prices of black pipe grade HDPE started to decline steadily during the fourth quarter of this year, along with the stable-to-soft prices in the leading Asia markets. This decline occurred after a Saudi producer was certified for its black compounded pipe grade HDPE in August.

⌠With a new player in the market, competition has increased, a Dubai-based converter said.
⌠The end of the financial accounting year is just around the corner and given the reduced intention to build up inventories with the converters, producers are trying to push out more [cargoes] to keep their stock levels low, a southeast Asian polyethylene (PE) producer said.

The offers of southeast Asian material for shipment in December were heard at USD1,520/tonne CFR GCC, which did not attract the buyers whose bids were at USD1,490/tonne CFR GCC and below.

MRC

(BASF) -- On December 8, 2011, the Cluster of Excellence ⌠Unifying Concepts in Catalysis (UniCat) and the chemical company BASF SE signed a cooperation agreement establishing a new joint lab dedicated to the development of new catalytic processes for raw material change. The move promotes the search for alternatives to petroleum, in particular the use of natural gas. The long term goal is to ensure the continued future availability of raw materials for the production of chemicals.

BASF SE and Technische Universitat Berlin are putting substantial resources into setting up the UniCat-BASF Joint Lab. BASF plans to invest up to EUR6.4 million during the first five years. The total volume amounts to about EUR13 million. Twelve postdocs and postgrads will do research in the 900 square meter lab. Installation of equipment for catalyst synthesis, characterization and testing starts in January 2012.

Unifying Concepts in Catalysis (UniCat) is the Cluster of Excellence within the framework of the German Initiative for Excellence researching the economically important field of catalysis. More than 250 chemists, physicists, biologists and engineers from four universities and two Max Planck research institutes from Berlin and Potsdam are involved in this interdisciplinary research network. The Cluster is hosted by the Technische Universitat Berlin. The subject areas covered range from the chemical conversion of natural and biogas, the activation of carbon dioxide and the creation of hydrogen from light and water, to the synthesis of active ingredients using enzymes.

MRC

(Lanxess) -- The placement of floor screed has begun at the new corporate headquarters of specialty chemicals company LANXESS in Cologne, Germany. Raised access flooring is to be installed over the next five months on some 38,000 square meters of office space, including a load-bearing layer made of self leveling calciumsulfate screed. The self leveling screed is supplied by Dusseldorf-based CEMEX Deutschland AG on behalf of system flooring manufacturer Sybotec GmbH, Frammersbach, Germany, which is performing the work.

One unique feature: The screed is based on the LANXESS calcium sulfate binder CAB 30 Compound. As the future tenants, we are really pleased that our own products form the best basis for flooring, says engineer Michael Witte, Anhydrite Marketing Director in LANXESS' Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit.

The raised access flooring, also referred to as raised flooring, enables occupants later on to design office space flexibly: Wherever a desk area is to be located, an opening is provided in the load-bearing layer. After completion of the floor, telecommunications equipment and electrical connections lie hidden in the hollow space between the load-bearing layer and the concrete floor.

MRC