Investors reportedly ask Romania for more time in auction for chemical plant Oltchim

MOSCOW (MRC) -- No investor has submitted a biding offer for taking over the stake Oltchim S.A owns in Oltchim SPV S.R.L by the deadline which expired last Friday, March 28, said Govnet.

Four potential investors purchased the Presentation file for 20.000 euro plus VAT, but no biding offer was received in due time. However, as per an informing sent to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, after the established period of time for placing binding offers ran out, there was one sent, though, not considered since it was not in line with the related provisions and therefore, it will be returned.

Yet, according to the judicial administrators - Rominsolv and BDO Business Restructuring, in charge with the reorganization of the chemical plant - part of the investors that bought the Presentation file asked for a new 30-day deadline for submitting offers.

"A number of investors, interested in the integrated functioning of the Oltchim plant with the Arpechim refinery, requested a further 30-day deadline, motivated by the timeframe estimated for finalizing negotiations which guarantee the simultaneous takeover of the refinery and of Oltchim SPV. The consortium of judicial administrators will call the Committee of Creditors and will ask their approval for repeating the procedure with a new deadline for submitting biding offers", is stated by the mentioned informing.

In December 2013, there was elaborated the reorganization strategy of Oltchim on the basis of which a new trading company – Oltchim SPV S.R.L. - was established. Subsequently, all the shares Oltchim S.A owns in the new company were put up for sale, the benchmark value of the assets transferred to Oltchim SPV exceeding 305 million euro. Initially, the deadline for submitting binding offers for acquiring those shares was the January 31, 2014, later postponed by March 28, 2014, a delay as well called by the potential investors, as the judicial administrators then announced.

Oltchim, which is a state-owned company, has been insolvent since January 30, 2013, the Romanian authorities seeking to eventually complete its privatization, after some unsuccessful attempts. The chemical enterprise halved its loss after one year of insolvency, from some 572 million lei in 2012 to about 285 million lei last year mainly due to a sharp reduction of the financial expenses, corroborated by a significant reduction of the operating expenses, as per the preliminary financial results provided by the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's annexation of Crimea can negatively affect the sales of Ukrainian breweries, said CEO "Carlsberg Ukraine" Evgeniy Shevchenko.

He said that the beer industry in the country is in deep crisis, which is amplified by the fact that Crimea provided 6% of the annual sales.

According to the data of an industry association "Ukrpivo", beer production in Ukraine in 2013 decreased to 276.4 million decaliters, down by 8% compared with the level in 2012. Production capacities of brewers on average were loaded by 60%.

According to MRC analysts, more than 50% of Ukrainian beer is packed in PET bottles. According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, Ukrainian production of beer in 2012 was 300.5 million dal.

Given this figure, more than 90,000 tonnes of PET chips occurred for the Ukrainian beer market, which was equivalent to more than 55% of PET market in Ukraine.

PJSC "Carlsberg Ukraine" belongs to Carlsberg Group - one of the leading brewery groups in the world. The company has plants in Zaporozhye, Kiev and Lviv.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eni will invest EUR125 million in its Versalis plant in Mantua to under the Group 2014-2017 four-year strategic plan, said the producer.

Versalis is an environmentally and economically sustainable plant which links the industrial areas in Porto Marghera, Ferrara and Ravenna via a pipeline. The planned investment will be used to optimise the plants industrial processes and produce further energy savings. Funds will also be used to expand the Group’s research and development into innovative products and technologies.

A meeting took place today at the plant in Via Taliercio to underline the central importance of the Versalis plant, in addition to confirming the strong business opportunities related to the production of intermediates and styrenes, for which Versalis is the third largest producer in Europe. Attendees of the meeting included the Councillor for Environmental Sustainability and Land Planning for the Province of Mantua, Alberto Grandi; Eni’s Head of Relations for Local Organisations and Institutions, Francesco Manna; and the Plant Manager, Massimo Gialli.

Versalis develops a range of innovative products in Mantua, including Extir CM Galileo, the ultra-lightweight expandable polystyrene. This is a sustainable energy product which is widely used across Europe for thermal insulation systems that help to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

962 people work at Versalis in Mantua. In addition, 155 people, more than a third of which are graduates, have been hired over the past four years due to the significant expansion of the research structure.

The Claudio Buonerba Research Centre is a centre of excellence for basic chemistry and plastics, employing 200 researchers, technologists and process engineers. It is the largest of Versalis’ research centres, covering an area of 15 thousand square metres with ten laboratories and five pilot plants, and is the only centre working across all lines of the business.

As MRC wrote before, Eni is open to talks with Gazprom about a possible partnership in Mozambique but is not aware of any interest from the Russian state gas monopoly in buying a stake in its gas assets there. Eni retains 50% of what is its biggest-ever gas discovery. The Mamba field holds an estimated 75 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Eni is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. It has operations in in 79 countries, and is currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 68 billion euros (USD 90 billion), as of August 14, 2013. The Italian government owns a 30.3% golden share in the company, 3.93% held through the state Treasury and 26.37% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Another 39.40% of the shares are held by BNP Paribas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the world petrochemical major, is going to expand its leading position in the production of superabsorbent polymers for the global hygiene industry with a new technology, reported the company on its site.

This innovation delivers superabsorbent polymers with unique properties and breakthrough performance that will provide significant additional value to the customers.

"This new technology offers a significant market potential and we are evaluating possible investments into this technology at both existing and new production locations. BASF will further expand in emerging economies to support our customers’ demand and the new technology provides a perfect platform for that growth as well," said Michael Heinz, member of the Board of Executive Directors, BASF SE.

The pioneering technology is based on market trends and customer requirements, thus opening new opportunities for BASF’s customers in the hygiene industry.

Superabsorbent polymers have high absorption capacity and deliver other key functionality - making them excellent to use in a variety of applications concerning the basic needs in our life such as baby diapers, adult incontinence and feminine hygiene products.

As MRC informed previously, BASF and SINOPEC (China Petroleum & Chemical Corp) are considering the extension of their Nanjing joint venture BASF-YPC Company with the expansion of existing ethylene oxide (EO) production, and a new plant for neopentylglycol (NPG). BASF-YPC will further expand its acrylic acid value chain with additional acrylic acid and butyl acrylate plants. Production is expected to commence in 2014. Together with the superabsorbent polymer (SAP) plant, now under construction and also expected to begin production in 2014, BASF-YPC Company will enhance its support to the home care and hygiene industries as well as the coatings, textiles, and construction industries.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the world petrochemical major, has been awarded the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification for cosmetic ingredients according to the European Federation for Cosmetic Ingredients (EFfCI), reported BASF in its press release.

The certification applies to eleven BASF sites across all regions producing ingredients for the personal care industry. It confirms that the sites comply with strict guidelines on product quality and industry hygiene during the manufacturing process. In the long term, BASF aims to achieve GMP certifications for all relevant cosmetic ingredients production sites worldwide.

"The cosmetic industry has been taking note of consumers’ increasing demands in terms of product quality and safety. This is why our customers expect our products to meet the highest standards. EFfCI’s GMP certification proves that we maintain these standards all over the world," said Jan-Peter Sander, Senior Vice President Personal Care Europe.

The GMP guidelines for cosmetics are updated regularly to take into account the latest developments within the cosmetics industry, and were last reworked in 2012 to incorporate quality risk management and other contemporary principles.

EFfCI is a European trade association and was set up in 2000 to represent the collective interests of more than 100 cosmetic ingredient companies in Europe.

As MRC reported earlier, BASF has recently increased its April selling prices for butanediol and derivatives in Europe. Prices for the following products will be increased with immediate effect, or as existing contracts permit: 1,4 butanediol (BDO) - by EUR60/tonne, tetrahydrofuran (THF) - by EUR80/tonne, polytetramethylene ether glycol (PolyTHF) - by EUR80/tonne.

BDO and its derivatives are used for producing engineering plastics, polyurethanes, solvents and elastic spandex fibers. THF is a high-quality intermediate that serves, for example, as a specialty solvent in the production of pharmaceuticals. PolyTHF, a registered trade mark of BASF Group in many countries, is used to make elastic spandex fibers for a large variety of textiles, including underwear, outerwear, sportswear and swimsuits. It also serves as a chemical building block for thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), which are used to make hoses, films and cable sheathing. Other applications include thermoplastic polyetheresters, polyetheramides and cast elastomers for the production of wheels for skateboards and inline skates.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC