Perstorp invests in increased polyol capacity by acquiring Chemko penta business

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Perstorp, a world leader in specialty chemicals, today announces the acquisition of the pentaerythritol, penta, and calcium formate businesses from Chemko a.s. Strazske, a Slovakian chemicals producer, said the producer in its pres release.

The transaction is part of Perstorp’s ambitious investment plan to increase polyol capacity. Perstorp has signed an agreement with Chemko a.s. Strazske for the acquisition of its penta and calcium formate businesses, related technology and certain assets. It does not include the manufacturing plant in Strazske, Slovakia, any real estate or employees. The transaction is fully in line with both companies’ strategies going forward. For Perstorp, this is part of an ambitious investment plan to increase its polyol production.

"Penta is a core business area within Perstorp and these products have been key in the development of Perstorp as an international company. This acquisition is an opportunity to increase efficiency, expand output and further grow together with our customers", Perstorp President and CEO Jan Secher says.

"Perstorp plans to satisfy all customer needs out of the plants we are running at present and we will have sufficient capacity to supply both our current and new customers. Going forward, we plan to further increase capacity to support our customers’ long-term growth", says Ulrika Andersson, VP Business Unit Penta.

The polyalcohol Penta is used in applications such as alkyd resins, PVC stabilizers, synthetic lubricants, varnishes, and other products. Perstorp is now producing Penta in three different production plants in Germany, the US and Sweden.

As MRC wrote before, The Perstorp Group will be focusing on its innovative caprolactone product range for the PU market. Considerable investments between 2011 and 2014 have doubled the capacity for caprolactone production and substantially enhanced market and customer support making Perstorp the undisputed world leader in this technology. Perstorp’s Capa brand of performance enhancing caprolactones includes an extensive offer of Capa monomer, Capa polyols and Capa thermoplastics.

Perstorp is one of the world leaders in various sectors of the specialty chemicals market, it's pioneer in formalin chemistry, plastics and surface materials. Perstorp was founded in 1881 and is controlled by PAI partners,a major European private equity company. The company has around 1,500 employees in with 22 production plants in Europe, Asia and North America.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Toyota Tsusho Corporation will begin full-scale manufacturing of high-performance plastics outside Chennai, India in June 2014 with joint-venture partners Toyota Tsusho India Pvt.Ltd., Nippon Pigment (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. and Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd., part of India's largest auto parts conglomerate, the Samvardhana Motherson Group, said Plastemart.

The manufacturing plant will support growing demand for high-performance plastics with the superior heat-resistance required for auto parts applications.

The four companies established a plastics compound joint venture outside Delhi, India in March 2013 and then began construction of a manufacturing plant outside Chennai. In recent years, Japanese, American, and European auto and electronics companies have accelerated the establishment of manufacturing sites in southern India, boosting demand for local procurement of high-performance plastics. Toyota Tsusho participated in the establishment of this joint venture to rapidly and precisely meet the needs of its customers in southern India through consigned processing and manufacturing of high-performance plastics for plastics manufacturers.

Nippon Pigment (Singapore) has a 50-year track record in the compounds business with its color processing and other operations. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Pigment, which boasts six affiliated plants in Japan and nine in other parts of Asia. Motherson Sumi Systems is a core unit of India's Motherson Group, a comprehensive auto parts conglomerate. With a 40-year history, the company supplies plastic compounds, wire harnesses, and other pro ther products to auto manufacturers in and outside India. The partners aim to establish a value chain for high-quality, high-performance plastics in India by combining Nippon Pigment's compounds technology and know-how, Motherson Sumi Systems' local business management know-how, and Toyota Tsusho's logistics and sales networks.

As MRC wrote before, India’s automotive plastics market revenues grew at an annual rate of around 25% during 2009-12. The consumption of polypropylene (PP) and polyurethane is forecasted to double in terms of revenues in automotive plastics sector during the next five years. The leading automotive plastics manufacturers in India are BASF, Bayer, SRF and Dow Chemicals, said Research and Markets.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The plant will be constructed in Sumgayit Chemical Technology Park and SOCAR Polimer takes part in the construction project, said Azernews, citing the Head of the Azerkimya Production Association of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR Mukhtar Babayev.

He also stressed as part of the construction project, most of the equipment has already been delivered to the country and currently, detailed designing and preparation of the construction area are underway.
Touching on the construction of the plant for the production of low pressure polyethylene, Babayev said this facility will be commissioned in the beginning of 2017.

"Initial operational capacity of the polypropylene plant makes up 150,000 tons, and the plant for the production of low density polyethylene-100,000 tons per year," he said.

The SOCAR Polimer enterprise with authorized capital of USD51 million has been established for the implementation of these projects. The state energy company plans to keep its share in the project at 51% and the rest will be offered to privately owned companies.

SOCAR has already transferred 25.5 million manats within the framework of increasing authorized capital of the facility, Babayev added.

As MRC wrote before, SOCAR in 2012 signed a contract to build a plant for the production of polypropylene and polyethylene of high density with an annual capacity of 200,000 and 100,000 tons respectively. Construction of these facilities is planned in the Sumgait Chemical Technology Park.

SOCAR, which is keen on expanding operations in the retail oil products market abroad, is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in the domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Linde Group and BASF intend to cooperate in developing and licensing processes for the on-purpose production of linear butenes and butadiene, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

BASF has developed process technology and catalysts as well as the extraction technologies, while Linde is providing its expertise for the integration, optimization and commercialization of the process.

"We focus on elaborating a solution that provides an efficient process characterized by optimal integration of the whole process chain," said Dr. Ernst Haidegger, head of product line petrochemical plants in Linde’s engineering division. "This new technology is a welcome addition to our existing portfolio of petrochemical technologies."

The new process will deliver an on purpose route from butane to butadiene via butenes. Currently, the industry relies mainly on butadiene as a co-product from napht,ha cracking to ethylene. The shift to lighter cracker feedstock results in reduced volumes of co-products. Therefore the on purpose production of higher olefins is gaining more and more importance.

"The new BASF technology is currently being developed by mini plant and pilot plant operation in Ludwigshafen", said Dr. Heinrich Josef Blankertz, senior vice president of global technology within BASF’s petrochemicals division. "We are optimistic that we can offer a new best in class technology for the manufacturing of on purpose butadiene to help producers meet the increasing global demand."

Butadiene is a monomer used for the production of polymers, paper coating and synthetic rubber mainly for the tire production. Butenes are building blocks which are used in the chemical and in refining industries.

As MRC wrote before, BASF, The Linde Group and ThyssenKrupp plan to develop an environmentally-friendly and competitive to utilize carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce syngas on an industrial scale. They aim to employ innovative process technology to use carbon dioxide as a raw material, with positive effects on climate protection.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF 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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indorama Ventures Ltd., part of global PET giant Indorama Group, has announced it has acquired Artenius TurkPET based in Adana, Turkey, said Plasticsnews.

Artenius TurkPET had been part of insolvent Spanish company La Seda de Barcelona and produces PET resin with 130,000 metric tons of capacity.

The deal comes less than two months after Bangkok-based Indorama signed a deal to acquire 51% of SASA Polyester Sanayi AS of Istanbul. Artenius TurkPET is adjacent to SASA Polyester, which provides Indorama with a central geographic position to expand its sales into domestic and regional markets.

"Indorama leadership in the PET value chain will provide significant synergies to TurkPET in order to deliver above average returns," said CEO Aloke Lohia in a news release. "Turkey and its encompassing region is a fast-growing market and our investments in Turkey are part of a well-defined strategy to bolster our global leadership and competitive advantage. We expect to make further follow-on investments in this thriving economy of 76 million consumers to replicate what we have built in Thailand as we see a similar opportunity to fully leverage on all our products portfolios."

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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