12 companies to secure commodity supply of raw materials for German industry

(specialchem4adhesives) -- The Federation of German Industry, BDI, recently announced that twelve German companies: Aurubis, BASF, Bayer, BMW, Chemetall, Daimler, Evonik Industries, Georgsmarienhtte Holding, Bosch, steel holding Saar, Thyssen Krupp and Wacker Chemie have formed a collaboration to establish an alliance in order to secure the supply of industrial raw materials for German industry.

"We are working together to build a powerful organization, which aims to improve the security of Germany sustained commodity" said BDI Vice President Ulrich Grillo on Monday in Berlin on the sidelines of the first meeting of the corporate supporters that accompany the start-up phase. The foundation phase is supported free of charge from the Boston Consulting Group, Egon Zehnder, Lovells and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The Alliance aims to invest in resource projects in order to improve the long-term supply of industrial raw materials in German industry.
It is open to other companies as well. Priorities of the alliance's foundation phase are raw material clarifying, organizational and legal issues and the establishment of corporate structures. BDI is not directly involved in the financing and operational work.

The managing director of the alliance is Member of the Board of Management of E.ON Energie AG, Munich, Germany - Dierk Paskert. The BDI is developed under the direction of Grillo, the concept for the Alliance. "The company's focus will be on raw materials for which there are strong supply risks for German industry" said Grillo, BDI Vice President.

"The alliance will address raw materials at an early stage of the project and will explore opportunities to create purchase and participation options for German companies", underlined Grillo. In specific cases the raw material alliance will also be active with the extraction and processing of raw materials.


MRC

(mexichem) -- Dutch polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe producer Wavin has agreed to a takeover bid from Mexichem for EUR531mln (USD708mln), the two companies said on Wednesday.

PVC producer Mexichem intends to make a recommended all-cash public offer of EUR10.50 per ordinary Wavin share, which values 100% of the issued and outstanding shares at approximately EUR531m, the two companies said in a statement.

The combination of Wavin and Mexichem creates the global market leader in plastic pipe systems with total annual sales of around EUR 4.0 billion.

Mexichem and Wavin are highly complementary with very limited geographic overlap
The combined group will have stronger design, engineering and R&D capabilities whilst leveraging Mexichem's low cost manufacturing platform.
The combined group will have a more diversified end-market profile across the residential, non-residential and infrastructure segments exposing it to different economic and construction cycles.

Wavin will retain a separate operating and legal structure with headquarters in Zwolle, the Netherlands.
Wavin's brand will be retained and R&D innovation centre will be kept in the Netherlands.
Existing rights of the employees, including pension rights, will be respected and the current .

MRC

(sibur) -- In 2011, SIBUR's gas processing plants received more than 18 bln cubic metres of associated petroleum gas (APG) for processing, a 3,3% increase on 2010 (17.5 bln cubic metres).

Production of dry stripped gas totalled 15.8 bln cubic metres, 2.9% ahead of 2010.
The total volume of petrochemical products produced in 2011 exceeded 14.4 mln tonnes[1], 6.7% higher than the output in 2010 (13.5 mln tonnes).

Mineral fertilizers output in 2011 increased by 3% to 3 mln tonnes. More than 13.4 mln units of tyres were produced, 54% more than in 2010 (8.7 mln units).
As a result of the sale of the non-core tyre and fertilizers production assets at the end of 2011, these businesses will no longer be included in the Company's accounts as of 2012.

In 2011 SIBUR's total investment allocated for the modernisation and construction of new facilities exceeded 58.6 bln rubles. Major completed projects included the launch of a pipeline network in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, the commissioning of a railway complex for NGL storage and loading in the Noyabrsk Region, and road geotextile production lines in the Kemerovo and Tula Regions.
Works on the construction of major polypropylene production facilities are continuing in Tobolsk, as are facilities for PVC production in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, thermoplastic elastomer production in Voronezh, expandable polystyrene in Perm, and a terminal for LPG and light oil products in the Leningrad region.

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(specialchem4adhesives) -- Roquette and Rhodia Acetow have signed an agreement to develop new plant-based polymers. This will enable both companies to leverage synergies bringing together respective competencies in the field of plant-based polymer chemistry.

"This agreement will accelerate the launch of new polymers based on renewable raw material, for which the demand is drastically increasing. The plant-based polymer cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate fibre will remain the key products for Rhodia Acetow. This agreement is one first step towards the diversification of our product portfolio," stated Gerard Collette, President of Rhodia Acetow.

Thanks to Roquette's expertise in starch derivatives and Rhodia's industrial technologies, some trials of starch acetate production will be carried out from early 2012 providing several tons which will be available for testing in diverse industrial applications. Potential fields of application include paper, paint and dye sectors and pharmaceuticals.

Rhodia Acetow is a fully integrated global player in the manufacture of cellulose acetate fiber, used extensively in the manufacture of cigarette filters. Rhodia Acetow is the third largest producer of cellulose acetate tow (worldwide market share is over 16%), with facilities in Europe, Russia, USA and Brazil. Its strategy rests on four pillars: world class quality, continuous competitiveness improvement, product innovation and proactive customer support.

MRC

(arkema) -- A global chemical player and acknowledged leader in the development of nanomaterials, Arkema confirms its ongoing commitment to developing nanomaterials with three product groups: the Graphistrength range of carbon nanotubes, and the Nanostrength range of acrylic block copolymers, developed from its BlocBuilder radical polymerization technology.

Arkema will be also showcasing two innovations developed from its R&D and know-how in the nanostructuring of materials: the Altuglas ShieldUp PMMA sheet, particularly resistant to impact, and Apolhya Solar, a thermoplastic designed for the encapsulation of new generation photovoltaic modules.

Graphistrength carbon nanotubes facilitate processing during the manufacture of compounds and liquid dispersions, while imparting outstanding electrical conductivity and/or mechanical strength to the materials.
Nanostrength acrylic block copolymers help nanostructure polymers in order to enhance their performances. They are incorporated as an additive into certain thermoplastic or thermoset matrices to help modify their structuring on a nanometer scale and so produce unique properties.

The Altuglas ShieldUp sheet is a new nanostructured acrylic glass based on Blocbuilder technology, which is meshed and organized on a nanometer scale in order to maximize its properties. This results in more lightweight glazing (50% lighter than glass) combining sturdiness and transparency at any temperature.

Arkema's latest innovation dedicated to the photovoltaics market: Apolhya Solar, a nanostructured thermoplastic polymer designed for the encapsulation of new generation photovoltaic modules.

MRC