Petkim invests US$60m in cost-reducing projects

(OfficialWire) -- Petkim's operating rates are likely to rise to maximum capacity in 2010 from 90% in 2009. By the end of 2009, Petkim was is a strong position, with its market share rising from 22% pre-recession to 30% during the economic crisis. Although the Turkish petrochemicals industry has coped with the recession relatively well, risks remain, namely rising crude prices and potential over-valuation of the Turkish lira.

Nevertheless, Petkim is investing US$60mn in cost-reducing projects in 2010 in the drive to improve efficiency and long-term profitability. Turkish plastics production capacity reached around 5.6mn tpa in 2008 and was forecast to reach 6.5mn tpa in 2009, 11.3mn tpa in 2013 and 13mn tpa by 2014. Turkey has risen one place to fifth place in BMI's Central and Eastern Europe Petrochemicals Business Environment Ratings this quarter, with its score rising 0.2 points to 46.8 points due to an improvement in its country risk rating amid a pick-up in the economy. This puts it 0.1 point ahead of Slovakia. Turkey's strength lies in the improvements in market risks, particularly following Petkim's privatisation in 2008, but this has been partly offset by a decline in its country risk score amid economic recession and deteriorating indicators. Foreign investment is being encouraged into downstream sectors in order to bolster the country's industrialisation.

MRC

(prw) -- Formula Plastics, a County Durham-based injection moulding firm has seen its business bounce back after a difficult time at the hands of the downturn in the automotive industry.

The Newton Aycliffe company, which manufactures a range of components for the automotive sector, achieved growth of 20% in the last year and has seen its turnover return to its pre-downturn figure of GBP 1.5m.

As a result of this upturn in fortunes Formula Plastics will be recruiting a sales manager to boost its sales operations, investing in new equipment and diversifying into new markets, as well as taking advantage of a growing number of opportunities in its core operational area.

To help make all this happen, the company has secured a GBP 100,000 investment from the Growth Fund managed by regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers as part of the Finance for Business North East Fund initiative.

MRC

(TimesLeader) -- Borough officials on Tuesday acknowledged that work will be needed in the next three months to resolve an almost $80,000 shortfall in the 2011 budget.

Between now and the December deadline for budget approval, council will have to cut spending, find alternate revenue sources or create some combination of both to deal with the problem, officials said.

A meeting with the NEPA Alliance, called in to help the borough develop ways to deal with a persistent $30,000 budget shortfall, is only at the review stage, council President Stanley Knick said after the meeting.

MRC

(PlastEurope) -- Centrosolar Group has established a subsidiary in the UK. Following the introduction of attractive feed-in tariffs in the country in April, Centrosolar UK, headquartered near London, is now in a position to respond to increased demand for photovoltaic systems, particularly in England, the group said. Solar specialist Simon Gerrard has been recruited to run the subsidiary. Centrosolar UK is the ninth affiliate to be established outside Germany as part of the manufacturer's internationalisation strategy.

Alongside its integrated packages comprising crystalline high-performance modules and all the components needed to operate a system, Centrosolar also supplies lighter thin-film systems especially suitable for roofs with low load reserves. In the crystalline segment, it uses exclusively solar modules manufactured at its own plant in Wismar / Germany. Certification under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), vital for business in the UK, has been applied for. At the end of August, local operations passed the required inspection.

MRC

(PlastEurope) -- BASF has been presented with the ⌠OkoGlobe international environmental award for its energy-efficient automotive solutions incorporated in the ⌠i-flow concept car project. The award, sponsored by the University of Duisburg-Essen and championed by automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhoffer, is issued for groundbreaking concepts, innovations, products and production processes in the area of mobility. BASF took the 2010 third prize in the supplier innovations category for its contributions to the i-flow concept car, designed in cooperation with Korean carmaker Hyundai and unveiled at the International Geneva Motor Show in March 2010.

BASF's CEO in Russia and CIS Sergey Andreev is going to chair "Russian Petrochemical Summit - 2010" international conference organized by ICIS and MRC. For more information please refer to http://www.polymersummit.ru/ Summit official web page.

MRC