Huntsman to exit European surfactants with plant closure, business sale

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The performance products division of Huntsman plans to close its commodity surfactants plant in Patrica, Italy, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

It is expected that all site activities will cease by the end of October 2014.

Last October, the company stated that it was transitioning away from a number of surfactant assets and product lines in Europe that had become commoditized and would focus instead on developing and growing the remaining differentiated surfactants businesses in Huntsman’s chosen strategic markets.

Huntsman has also signed an agreement to sell its European commodity surfactant business to Wilmar International, which includes Huntsman’s ethoxylation facility at Lavera, France, and additional sulphated chemicals capacity from two of Huntsman’s other European surfactant plants in St. Mihiel, France and Castiglione delle Stiviere, Italy.

That deal is expected to close in about three months, subject to completion of national regulatory procedures.

"We regret to announce this planned closure of Patrica but the increasing lack of profitability of this site’s products together with the absence of an appropriate buyer has left us with no choice," said Stu Monteith, president of Huntsman’s performance products. "We very much regret the impact on the site’s 74 employees but we are committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect and to provide support."

Huntsman will now be entering into the consultation process with employee representatives and regulatory authorities. A detailed transition plan is being put in place for customers and suppliers.

As MRC wrote before, Huntsman Corporation acquired Russian joint venture Huntsman NMG (HNMG) in July 2012. HNMG is a leading supplier of polyurethane systems to the adhesives, coatings and footwear markets in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. Our 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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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taghleef Industries has entered an agreement to acquire Derprosa Film, based in Spain, which will add to Taghleef’s growing capacity for production of biaxially orientated polypropylene (BOPP) film, as per Plastemart.

Taghleef, which is headquartered in Dubai, is buying Deprosa from UK investors 3i Group, Baring Private Equity and other minority shareholders for an undisclosed amount. The transaction is expected to close by the end of April.

Taghleef’s current nominal capacity is 385,000 tpa for producing BOPP, BOPLA and cast polypropylene films for packaging. Its eight production plants are in Italy, Hungary, UAE, Oman, Egypt, Australia, US and Canada. Derprosa’s one facility is in Alcala la Real, Spain. According to the company’s website, the plant’s capacity is “greater than 30,000 tpa” of BOPP film.

During the period of ownership by 3i Group and its investment partners, Derprosa was restructured to focus on international expansion and developing high margin products. Maite Ballester, managing director at 3i Spain, said:

"We have worked with the management team to accelerate the business by focusing on product development and entering new markets. In the last four years alone, the company has developed and launched more than 14 products and it also has a strong pipeline of products to launch. We are pleased to have supported the business and look forward to seeing the company’s continued growth."

In March, Taghleef said its Hungarian plant is upgrading its BOPP line to 5-layers, increasing its film capacity at the plant to a total of 60,000 tpa.

As MRC informed before, Treofan Group, a global leader in BOPP films headquartered in Raunheim, Germany, aims for considerable global growth in the coming years. First of all, Treofan wants to further strengthen its traditional close relationships with leading brand manufacturers so that they can develop a shared understanding of future challenges and possible ways of solving them.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Matthias Zachert has assumed his role as Chairman of the Board of Management of specialty chemicals company Lanxess AG, the world’s largest synthetic rubber supplier, as of April 1, 2014, as per the company's press release.

"I am looking forward to the new tasks back at my former workplace. In the coming weeks and months, we will work hard together to find solutions on how we will tackle the challenges lying ahead of us. With the support of all employees, I am sure we will return Lanxess to winning ways soon," said Zachert.

Along with the change to the company leadership, organizational and personnel changes are also taking place. With immediate effect, the group functions Investor Relations and Law & Intellectual Property, which were previously under the control of the Chief Financial Officer, are now reporting directly to the Chairman of the Board of Management. In addition, Markus Eckert became the head of the group function Corporate Development in March. Until further notice, he will continue to head the Leather business unit.

As MRC wrote before, Lanxess and EconCore N.V. are joining forces to develop new thermoplastic sandwich materials for lightweight construction. The objective of the collaboration is to fabricate honeycomb cores from Durethan polyamides with the help of an automated, continuous process patented by EconCore. In addition, Tepex continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites from Lanxess subsidiary Bond-Laminates are to be combined with the new polyamide honeycomb cores to produce high-performance composites.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.3 billion in 2013 and roughly 17,300 employees in 31 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, and Petronas Technology Ventures, a technology commercialisation arm of Petronas, has announced that they have entered into a licensing Term Sheet Agreement, reported Clariant on its site.

Petronas' HycaPure Hg is a solid-supported ionic liquid mercury removal technology. It effectively removes elemental, organic and inorganic mercury from Natural Gas with an expected service lifespan up to 3 times greater than its competitors. It will add on to the portfolio of Clariant’s ActiSorb GP 400 series adsorbents and complement the other extensive and excellent performing ActiSorb products, providing integrated solutions to meet the stringent requirements of the industry.

In addition, this highly innovative adsorbent is capable of handling mercury concentration surges in the gas stream during pipeline pigging activities, which is crucial in ensuring year-round maximum equipment protection.

Petronas' Vice President of Technology & Engineering Division, Dr. Colin Wong Hee Huing, said, "Hycapure Hg has already been in use at Petronas' gas processing plants for more than two years and it demonstrates high adsorbent capacity and stable performance. This licensing collaboration will allow the technology to go beyond our facilities and gain valuable access to the international market."

As MRC informed previously, Clariant has recently announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to sell their joint venture, ASK Chemicals headquartered in Hilden, Germany, to investment funds affiliated with Rhone, a London and New York-based private equity investment firm.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indorama Netherlands B.V, a subsidiary of Indorama Ventures Company Ltd (IVL) has signed a sales and purchase agreement for the acquisition of 51% of Turkish leading polyester and PET producer SASA Polyester Sanayi from Haci Omer Sabanci, as per IVL's press release.

Indorama Netherlands will be conducting a mandatory tender offer for the remaining 49% of SASA’s share as per Turkey’s legislative requirements, IVL said.

SASA incorporates integrated feedstock and polymer facilities producing dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) polymers, staple fibers, filament yarns and specialty chemicals with a total capacity of 600,000 tonnes/year.

SASA’s production facilities are located in the Adana region in southern Turkey and the company supplies its products both to Turkish and European markets.

The total value of the acquisition, calculated in accordance with the regulations of the Capital Market Supervisory Board and the Stock Exchange of Thailand, is less than 15 percent as prescribed by the regulation of the Stock Exchange of Thailand Re: Disclosure of Information and Other Acts of Listed Companies Concerning the Acquisition and Disposition of Assets, 2004 (as amended).

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

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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