Dioki petrochemical company to file for bankruptcy

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dioki creditors at a hearing on Thursday did not endorse a financial restructuring plan for this petrochemical company so the process od pre-bankruptcy settlement in Dioki will be suspended and it will file for bankruptcy, said Dalje.

Creditors which claim 52.88% of Dioki's debt voted against the restructuring plan, while those claiming 41.22% were in favour. The hearing was attended by creditors whose claims from Dioki amount to HRK 905.4 million.

Shortly after 1300 hours, the Zagreb Stock Exchange suspended trading in Dioki stock until the public is informed about the outcome of the hearing on pre-bankruptcy settlement proceedings. Before the trading was suspended, Dioki was among the stocks which generated the biggest losses. The price of its stock was down 5.4%, closing at HRK 24.52 per share and generating a turnover of HRK 452,000.

As MRC wrote before, Crodux Plin submitted a takeover and restructuring plan for Dioki and its low density polyethylene (LDPE) subsidiary Dina Petrokemija in summer 2013.
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Arkema appoints new Vice President of Goods and Services Purchasing

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Louis Schmidtlin (Centrale Paris) has become Global Head of Arkema’s Goods and Services Purchasing, according to the company's press release.

Louis Schmidtlin, 44 years old, a graduate of Ecole Centrale de Paris and INSEAD, had until now spent most of his career within the Renault Group. For some ten years he held operational posts in Production, before joining the Purchasing function where he gradually expanded his duties to sit on the Purchasing Management Committee at Renault as Global Manager for Raw Material Purchasing from 2009.

As MRC reported earlier, Arkema, a France-based chemical manufacturer, has declared a project to divest its tin stabilizer business to PMC Group, a New Jersey-based performance plastics and chemicals manufacturer. This planned divestment of organometallic products includes Fascat catalysts, Thermolite tin stabilizers and fine chemicals. Therefore, Arkema strives to refocus its activities on expanding core specialty businesses. On the basis of tin chemistry, Thermolite heat stabilizers are specifically utilized in the manufacturing pf PVC, which is mainly used in the construction sector, whereas Fascat catalysts are utilized in automotive specialties as well as in other applications.

Arkema with annual revenue of EUR6.4 billion is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc. As MRC reported recently, Moody's Investors Service had upgraded Arkema S.A.'s senior unsecured rating to Baa2 from Baa3. The outlook on the rating was changed to stable from positive.
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Braskem announces plan to foster competitiveness in the plastics chain

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem, Brazilian petrochemical company and the largest thermoplastic resins producer in the Americas, announces the launch of a plan to stimulate competitiveness in the Brazil's plastics chain. The aim is to help strengthen the contry's chemical industry by promoting the competitiveness of third-generation manufacturers, as per the company's press release.

The Plastics Chain Competitiveness Incentive Plan (PIC) features a series of initiatives to promote the competitiveness of Braskem's clients, which include investments to boost exports of manufactured goods, incentives for innovation and efforts to strengthen vocational training and management practices. The plan also provides for promoting the advantages of plastics, the details of which will be formulated by Braskem jointly with representatives from the plastics chain.

The initiatives include supporting higher exports of manufactured goods by offering special conditions for the acquisition of resins to be used in applications destined for export markets. The goal is for the incentive plan to help double within two years Brazil's exports of manufactured goods made from polyethylene and polypropylene resins. In 2012, Brazil exported 238,000 tons of manufactured plastic goods.

The plan also includes efforts to promote the advantages of plastic as a sustainable solution for the needs of modern society. On this front, the company will work with recycling programs, life cycle analyses, positioning with regard to the National Solid Waste Policy, support for associations committed to this theme, communication and the creation of a Sector Fund to Promote Plastics.

To execute the Plastics Chain Competitiveness Incentive Plan, Braskem will intensify and formalize partnerships with clients, trade associations, development entities, industry federations, the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and NGOs.

As MRC informed previously, Braskem is participating in the bidding to acquire the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) assets of Belgium's Solvay in South America. Braskem said the negotiations had not yet concluded and it could not say when they would be completed. Solvay Indupa operates two industrial sites, one in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, and the other in Santo Andre, in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, that produce PVC plastic and caustic soda.

Braskem is Brazil's main producer of polyethylene and polypropylene. In addition with ongoing plants located in both petrochemical complexes, in April 2008 Braskem opened a 300,000 metric ton polypropylene plant in the city of Paulinia (Sao Paulo).
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Foster Wheeler to study Kuwait aromatics plan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Foster Wheeler was awarded a contract by Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) for a pre-feasibility study and a market report for a proposed aromatics plant in Kuwait, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The study is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2013.

"Our wide chemicals experience and in-depth technical expertise, combined with the specialist study execution capability in our Business Solutions Group, were key factors in winning this contract," said Umberto della Sala, chief operating officer of Foster Wheeler.

The Foster Wheeler contract value was not disclosed. The order will be included in the company’s third-quarter 2013 bookings.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, Foster Wheeler has been awarded a contract by Shell Global Solutions to develop the basic engineering package for a world-scale mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) facility at the Gulf region (Qatar).

Also, Foster Wheeler has recently announced that a subsidiary of its global engineering and construction (E&C) group was awarded a contract by Dow Chemical to provide services for the LA-3 crack more ethane (CME) project at Dow’s Plaquemine petrochemical complex in Louisiana. The objective of the project is to improve the plant's ethane flexibility to take advantage of low-cost feedstock. The scope will include brownfield additions and retrofit modifications to the plant.
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Oman Oil to buy Advent Chemicals unit for USD2.4 billion

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oman Oil Co. agreed to buy Oxea from Advent International to expand beyond refining into chemicals and ingredients for manufacturing and consumer goods, said Bloomberg.

The state-owned oil producer will use the purchase of Oxea as a springboard for tapping demand for oxo-based chemicals, the companies said today. Oxea, formed from units of Celanese Corp. and the predecessor of Evonik Industries AG , generated about EUR1.5 billion (USD2.03 billion) in sales in 2012. Oman Oil paid almost EUR1.8 billion , according to three people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the negotiations were private.

The deal with Oman Oil "will provide additional access to growth markets in Asia and the Middle East," Martina Floel, managing director of Oxea, said in the statement.

Under Advent’s leadership, Oberhausen, Germany-based Oxea diversified its products to add higher-margin derivatives, and capacity is now 1.3 million tons a year. After a push into Asian markets, Oxea’s polyols are used in cosmetics and lubricants, and its amines are used in rubber chemicals and dyes.

The company is building a new derivatives plant in Nanjing to serve fast-growing markets for films and safety glass laminates in Asia, including China.

As MRC wrote before, Oman Oil Company, the energy investment arm of the Oman government, announced plans to build an USD800m (OMR 308m) petrochemicals plant in Sohar and one of the largest crude storage facilities in the world at Ras Markaz in Duqm. The petrochemicals plant will produce purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephtalate (PET).

Oman Oil will give Oxea the option to draw on the country’s petrochemical base and source cheaper supplies of its main raw material polyproplene from its parent. It will also provide the technology and management experience to further expand operations, which compete with companies such as BASF SE.

Oxea is the largest supplier in the merchant oxo chemicals market, and No. 2 in capacity after Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF.

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