Solvay profit forecast tops most estimates as prices gain

(Reuters) -- Belgian chemicals group Solvay SA expects profit to recover in 2012 thanks to cost-cutting initiatives which helped offset weak markets for its plastics unit and beat consensus in the first quarter.

Solvay has suffered as a struggling construction sector buys less of its PVC for use in drainage pipes and window frames while raw material prices have continued to rise.

However, it now expects an efficiency drive and the benefits of its 3.4 billion-euro (USD4.44 billion) purchase of French specialty chemicals group Rhodia to help it reduce costs and give it an overall recurring core profit roughly in line with 2011.
MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Eastman Chemical has completed the retrofit and startup of its non-phthalate plasticizer manufacturing facility in Texas City, Texas. Eastman, which purchased the former Sterling Chemicals plant in mid-2011, said further capacity additions were possible with minimal investment.

Eastman Chemical says it has completed the retrofit and startup of its non-phthalate plasticizer manufacturing facility in Texas City, Texas.Eastman acquired the former Sterling Chemicals plant in mid-2011 as part of its USD100 million purchase of the company.

The facility, which will primarily produce Eastman 168 non-phthalate plasticizer, will increase the overall capacity of Eastman 168 by approximately 60%, the company said.

Further capacity increases are possible with minimal investment at the Texas City site as demand for non-phthalate plasticizers continues to grow, Eastman said.

MRC

(chemmonitor) -- Polypropylene (PP) market in Asia will witness a rise in supply in a couple of months. In the Indian and Chinese markets, the inventories of PP are likely to increase by about 2 million tons annually in line with new units startups.

The Chinese PP market is predicted to boost the output of the product by around 900,000 tons per year by late Q2 2012.

The China-based power producer Datang International Power Generation Company will implement tests at its new methanol-to-olefins unit with the annual output of 461,000 tons.

MRC

(arkema) -- Arkema Coating Resins, a business unit of Arkema, has announced the sale of the Peninsula Polymers business, a national distributor of coatings raw materials headquartered in North Kansas City, MO. The business has been purchased by an investment group led by the current management team; terms of the sale were not disclosed.

The distributor was acquired by Arkema Inc. as part of the purchase of the coating resins business of Cook Composites and Polymers in 2011. Peninsula Polymers will continue to represent certain Arkema Coating Resins lines in North America.

"We are pleased to announce the sale has been closed, and that Peninsula Polymers will continue to distribute our products," said Richard D. Jenkins, global group president for Arkema Coating Resins. "We believe that the change of ownership will be smooth and seamless, and is in the best long term interest of our customers now being served by Peninsula Polymers."

MRC

(borealisgroup) -- The pipe grade polypropylene (PP) from Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, was chosen for a recently completed upgrade and enlargement of a sewage network in the Czech Republic for bordering municipalities Ivancice and Oslavany.

The sewage network owners aimed to reduce leakages and the risk of groundwater pollution from the existing system. The project involved the replacement of 26 kilometres of ageing concrete pipes which were corroded and cracked, as well as an extension of the waste water network to connect an additional 15% of households.
MRC