Huntsman announces сompletion of antitrust review in the USA

MOSOCW (MRC) -- Huntsman Corporation, the US chemicals producer founded by Jon Huntsman Sr., and Rockwood Holdings, Inc. has announced completion of an important milestone in Huntsman’s pending acquisition of Rockwood’s Performance Additives and Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) businesses, reported Huntsman on its site.

The waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 has expired. Therefore, the antitrust review in the United States is now complete. The company continues to work through the regulatory process in the European Union.

As previously disclosed, Huntsman anticipates closing the transaction with Rockwood in the first half of 2014.

As MRC wrote earlier, Moody's Investors Service has lifted its outlook on Huntsman Corp., noting improvements across the chemical maker's main product lines. Moody's backed Huntsman's corporate family rating at Ba3, three notches into junk territory. The outlook was raised to positive, from stable.

Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. The company's operating companies manufacture products for a variety of global industries, including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.
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Indorama refinances 640 mln term loan for US business

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), the world's leading vertically integrated Polyester Value Chain producer, has successfully completed the refinancing of a USD640 million term loan for its business in the USA, said Plastemart.

The Company was able to increase the average tenor of this loan from 3.31 to 5.40 years from a consortium of banks led by Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited, Krung Thai Bank Public Company Limited and Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited. Moreover, the Company has refinanced a working capital facility led by Regions Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch totalling USD360 million.

The term loan and working capital facilities are expected to improve the liquidity and cash management of the Company's North American businesses by combining their treasury needs. The longer term loan tenor will also benefit the internal cash flows required for the Company's committed growth capital expenditures. Indorama Ventures has approximately a third share in North American PET market with approximately 1.5 mln tons of capacity and produces a range of products within the Polyester Value Chain sphere, such as Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polyester and Polyolefin Fibers and Yarns, Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG) and Purified Ethylene Oxide (PEO).

As MRC wrote before, Indorama Ventures is going to expand the PET polymers production capacity in the USA by setting up a new plant with a capacity of 540,000 tonnes per year. This expansion, which is expected to be completed in Q4 2015 will take IVL"s total capacity in North America of PET polymers up to 2,100,000 tonnes per annum.

Indorama Ventures is a leading producer in the polyester value chain in Thailand with strong global network and manufacturing across Asia, Europe and North America. Its products serve major players in diversified end use markets, including food, beverages, personal and home care, health care, automotives, textile, and industrial. The company"s main products are PTA, PET and polyester fibre, which are distributed across the world.
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China XD Plastics breaks ground on 300 ,000 tpa polymer composites production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China XD Plastics Company Limited, one of China's leading specialty chemical players engaged in the development, manufacture, and sale of polymer composites primarily for automotive applications, announced it broke ground on a 300,000 tons polymer composites production and R&D project in Southwest China that would expand production capacity by 300,000 metric tons and equipped with a professional research and development center and an independent training center, said Plastemart.

China XD's southwest expansion project is situated in an area of 3,230,000 square feet in Nanchong City, Sichuan province, the hub of the economic circle in Chengdu and Chongqing. Within a 500-kilometer radius of the construction site, there are factories for automotive manufacturers such as First Automobile Group, Shanghai GM, Volvo, Changan Ford and Dongfeng, etc.

The region is also home to industries of high-end applications that the Company has been pursuing, including China Southern Rail Corporation ("CSR") and China Northern Rail Corporation ("CNR") in the high-speed railway sector, and Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Company Limited, Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Company Limited and Guizhou Aviation Industry (Group) Company Limited, etc. The mayor and municipal party secretary of Nanchong City joined the groundbreaking ceremony, marking the official commencement of the project in the southwest.

As MRC wrote before, German plastics machinery maker KraussMaffei (KM, Munich) will start producing and supplying injection moulding machines from its plants in Haiyan, China, in the spring of 2014. Production at the plant has recently doubled. One of the first machines to be supplied completely from Haiyan will be an MX 1300-8100 for Yanfeng USA Automotive Trim System (Harrison Township, Missouri).
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Dow declares quarterly dividend of 32 dents per share

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Dow Chemical Company, the largest US chemical maker by sales, has declared a dividend of 32 cents per share, payable 30 January, 2014, to shareholders of record on 31 Decenber, 2013, as per the company's statement.

This marks the 409th consecutive cash dividend issued by the company. Dow has paid its shareholders cash dividends every quarter since 1912.

As MRC reported before, earlier this month, Dow Chemical unveiled its plans to separate chlorine-related assets including its epoxy business as the company focuses on higher-margin activities. Dow forecasts USD3 billion to USD4 billion from asset sales in the following 18 to 24 months.

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, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and synthetic rubber. In 2012, Dow had annual sales of approximately USD57 billion. The сompany's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 36 countries across the globe.
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EU to hike import duties on petrochemicals- producers eye free-trade deals

MOSCOW (MRC) -- With effect from January 1, 2014, the European Union will change the rules on its so-called General System of Preferences (GSP), which provides countries classed as developing with preferential access to the EU market, largely in the form of reduced import taxes, said Plastemart.

Amendments in the list will remove nations that are classified as high-income or upper-middle income, meaning many companies in the Middle East that are big suppliers of petrochemical products will have to pay 3.5% more in tax to sell goods in the EU. Steep hike Union in import duties on many petrochemical products will do little to protect Europe's battered petrochemical industry, but it could well be a boon to downstream producers of plastics and chemicals by injecting momentum into free-trade talks with individual producing nations, lobbyists and consultants say.

On the face of it, the deal looks to be one of protectionism for Europe's petrochemical industry, but lobbyists and consultants hope it will in turn motivate countries to sign free-trade agreements and hammer down the cost of making plastics across the continent. Platts data shows that the Middle East is overwhelmingly the largest exporter of polyethylene to Europe, accounting for 65-70% of PE imports received by Europe, with that share having grown.
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