SK Chemicals and Teijin to manufacture super-engineering plastic

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea-based chemical producer SK Chemicals will launch a joint venture (JV) with Japan's Teijin Chemicals for developing, producing and marketing a super-engineering plastic, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), said Chemicals-technology.

The proposed JV will set up PPS resin production plants to manufacture 12,000 tons per year (tpy) of PPS by 2015.
The companies are also considering expanding the manufacturing capacity to 20,000tpy during the second phase of the project.

The JV is likely to help SK Chemicals to expand its PPS projects with the synergy created from the companies' world-class R&D, production expertise and global marketing networks. SK Chemicals also expects to generate a revenue of KRW350bn ($230m) in 2024.

The company will hold 66% shares of the proposed JV's equity while Teijin Chemicals will own 34%.

SK Chemicals Green Chemicals Business president Lee Moon Suk said once the PPS facilities of the JV are completed, SK Chemicals will become the first and only Korean company to produce PPS.

"The successful operation of the partnership with Teijin Chemicals will, therefore, help SK Chemicals emerge as a new leader of the international super-engineering plastic market," Suk added.

The JV, which will officially commence from around the end of July, is planning to gain at least 20% of the international market share by 2019.

The super-engineering plastic industry worldwide produces a total of 280,000 tpy of products, with the trade of PPS compounds accounting for 94,000 tons (as of the end of 2012), according to SK Chemicals.

As MRC wrote earlier, Indonesian state energy company PT Pertamina signed a memorandum of understanding with SK Global Chemical to construct a petrochemical facility in the Southeast Asian country.

SK Global Chemical Co., Ltd. develops, produces, and supplies olefins, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, MBTE, and butene-1; aromatics. The company also provides polymers, including linear lower, medium, and high density polyethylene products; and home, impact, and random polypropylene products. It serves customers in South Korea and internationally. The company was founded in 1962 and is based in Seoul, South Korea with a sales office in Shanghai, China. SK Global Chemical Co., Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of SK Innovation Co., Ltd.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Haldia Petrochemicals' (HPL) board, led by the West Bengal government, has rejected lenders’ demand for conversion of a part of their Rs.4,000 crore loans to the company into equity, reported Plastemart.

As MRC reported earlier, HPL suffers Rs 50-60 crore of cash loss every month and desperately needs non-interest bearing funds to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore. HPL has defaulted on working capital loan. In March 2012, HPL was in similar situation and was about to be reported to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) but the board then had approved conversion of a part of HPL's loan into equity and that saved the day for HPL. HPL's net worth should be more than Rs 1,200 crore to save it from reporting to BIFR. As per the latest financial statement, its net worth is around Rs 900 crore.

The state expects to conclude the sale of its 40% stake in the company by 30 June. Partha Chatterjee, the firm’s chairman and the state’s commerce and industries minister said that lenders would have to wait for up to eight months for the conversion, and that lenders will be able to get a better deal on the conversion of shares if they wait till the sale of West Bengal’s stake in HPL.

Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd is a modern naphtha based petrochemical complex at Haldia, West Bengal, India. Haldia has played the role of a catalyst in emergence of more than 500 downstream processing industries in West Bengal with a capacity to process more than 3,50,000 TPA of polymers, among which are polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemicals and plastics company PMC Group has purchased The Dow Chemical Company's global methyl tin stabilisers and solid lubricants business, said Chemicals-technology.

"The transaction includes global organotin and heavy-metal free organic polymer stabilisers."
The transaction includes global organotin and heavy-metal free organic polymer stabilisers, polymer lubricants, a manufacturing facility and multicomponent package product lines.

Dow said its products, which are sold under the brand names of ADVASTAB, ADVALUBE, ADVAWAX and ADVAPAK, are manufactured from its facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, US.

PMC Group president Debtosh Chakrabarti said: "This acquisition broadens our technology and product offering and underscores our commitment to be an innovative leader in the polymer additives industry."
The financial details of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

With operation facilities located in America, Europe and Asia, PMC provides solutions for various industries, including plastics, paints, consumer products, electronics, packaging, personal care, food, automotive and pharmaceuticals.

As MRC wrote earlier, US chemical giant Dow Chemical and Japanese company Mitsui have decided to delay construction of a USD1.5 bn sugarcane-to-plastics facility in southeastern Brazil.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane (PU), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and synthetic rubber.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell has taken a final investment decision tol increase production capacity at its Singapore petrochemical plant to meet demand for specialized materials used in the automotive and furniture industries, as per the company's press release.

The upgrade will increase the plant's capacity to produce polyols -- industrial chemicals used to make high-quality foams -- by more than 100,000 metric tpy to 360,000 tpy. The project is expected to be completed in 2014.

"The Asia Pacific market for polyols has grown rapidly over the years and we see increasing demand for higher-comfort products," said Shell Chemicals executive vice president Graham van't Hoff.

"The additional volume and grades from this Singapore investment will enable us to meet customer demand growth from key markets in Asia, particularly China," he added.

As MRC informed earlier, Shell announced in mid-November that it will upgrade its petrochemical plant in Singapore to meet rising demand for ethylene in Asia. The upgrade will increase the plant's capacity to produce olefins and aromatics industrial chemicals used to make plastic, paint and other products by more than 20%. The upgrade will take place during the next maintenance turn-around of the ethylene cracker.

Polyols are compounds with multiple hydroxyl functional groups available for organic reactions. Polymeric polyols are generally used to produce other polymers. They are reacted with isocyanates to make polyurethanes used to make mattresses, foam insulation for appliances, home and automotive seats, elastomeric shoe soles, fibers, and adhesives.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, reported a higher-than-expected 6% increase in quarterly profit on stronger results at its chemical and refining businesses, said Reuters.

The Irving, Texas company said profit in the fourth quarter was USD9.95 billion, or USD2.20 per share, compared with USD9.4 billion, or USD1.97 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

"The beat was in downstream and chemicals," said Brian Youngberg, energy company analyst at Edward Jones in Saint Louis. "That's a common theme we are seeing."

Oil and gas output fell 5.2% to 4.29 million barrels oil equivalent per day, Exxon said.

Profit at Exxon's exploration and production business fell 12% to USD7.76 billion. At its chemicals unit, profit more than doubled to USD958 million, and refining earnings were USd1.77 billion, up sharply from USD425 million a year earlier.

Analysts at Barclays had expected refining earnings of USD1.53 billion and a chemicals profit of USD786 million.

Shares of Exxon edged up to USD90.60 in premarket trading, from Thursday's New York Stock Exchange close of USD89.97.

As MRC wrote earlier, in January, ExxonMobil started operations at one of the world's largest ethylene steam crackers, the centerpiece of the company's multi-billion dollar expansion project at its Singapore petrochemical complex.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.

MRC