Axiall secures USD600m revolving credit facility from GE

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Atlanta-based chemical and construction product manufacturer, Axiall, has secured a USD600m credit facility from GE Capital to support the its ongoing growth, reported The Manufacturer.

Commenting on the credit facility, Tom Donahue, VP & corporate treasurer at Axiall said: "GE has been a supportive and responsive lender for Axiall since the relationship began five years ago. They have a strong understanding of our business, and have worked with us and the bank group to add flexibility and increase the size of our revolving credit line to help support our growth."

GE Capital Markets served as co-lead arranger and joint book runner on the facility.

"Expanding Axiall’s credit facility helps support the company as they continue to grow," said Bob McCarrick, chief commercial officer lending at GE Capital, Corporate Finance. "We look to customize our financial solutions to meet the unique needs of our mid-size customers."

As MRC wrote before, in late December 2013, Axiall Corp. said it was considering building a USD3 billion ethane cracker and chemical plant somewhere in Louisiana. Axiall would invest USD1 billion of its own money, while an unnamed partner would put in USD2 billion. The plant could open in 2018, creating 225 permanent jobs.

The company currently has Louisiana plants in Lake Charles and Plaquemines. Axiall was formed in 2013 when Georgia Gulf merged with part of PPG's chemicals business.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS, one of the world’s largest chemical companies, today hit out at the Environmental Audit Committee’s proposal to call a halt to Shale gas development in the UK, said the company in its press release.

The company believes that the EAC has overly focussed on the potential risks rather than the benefits of Shale gas extraction.

INEOS Director, Tom Crotty, says, "This was a missed opportunity. The Committee deliberately sought out views that focussed on concerns about water quality, emissions and geological integrity and so produced a partisan and partial report. The Committee refused to see INEOS and didn’t look hard enough at the massive decline in the UK’s manufacturing base and the country’s desperate need for Shale gas to reduce energy costs and revitalise industry".

Over 1 million Shale gas wells have been drilled in the USA, the vast majority of them without any problems, and this has led to a manufacturing renaissance which has bought jobs and prosperity to the country.

INEOS has recruited some of the best US Shale gas experts with over 15 years of expertise in responsible shale gas extraction and they now stand ready to help the UK develop its own Shale gas industry. INEOS track record in safely running complex petrochemical plants makes it a perfect choice to lead the UK’s shale gas revolution.

INEOS is also committed to public consultation and has agreed to give local communities 6% of all its Shale gas revenues, ensuring the rewards are fairly shared by all the stakeholders.

Tom Crotty adds, "The UK needs Shale gas and we know that INEOS has the skills to safely extract it from the ground without damaging the environment. We have committed to public consultation and to share 6% of the entire revenue from any of our Shale gas wells with the local community. Without Shale gas, UK manufacturing is starting to collapse so we need to kick start the Shale gas industry, not put it on hold".

As MRC wrote previously, INEOS announced plans to give 6% of its shale gas revenues to homeowners, landowners & communities who live above its Shale gas operations. Ineos anticipates being a major player in the shale gas industry and believes it will give away over GBP2.5 billion over the life of its business.

Ineos Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - College of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) cancelled import duties on some grades of pipe polyethylene (PE) for the delivery into Kazakhstan, effective from 1, January 2015, according to the ECE data.

In the ECE report was said that zero import duty wiil be adopted for black polyethylene granules used for the production of plastic pipes under the HS code 3901 20 900 9, with shipment volumes not exceeding 100,000 tonnes. Zero import duty will be effective from 1, January 2015 to 31, December 2015 inclusive.

Earlier it was expected that import duty for pipe PE would be cancelled from 1, December 2014.

As MRC wrote before, import duties for high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), homopolymer PP, ABS, propylene copolymers were cut to 6.5% from September 2014.

The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) is a permanent supranational regulatory body of the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space functioning since February 2, 2012. The Eurasian Economic Commission is established to promote functioning and development of the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space, elaborate proposals for further development of integration. There are three countries in the EEC: the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Belarus. The EEC status is the supranational regulatory body, and the keystone of its activity are the interests of the Eurasian community as an integrative initiative where no national interests prevail over those of the community. Decisions of the Commission are binding within the territory of the Customs Union and the SES member-states.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The injection moulding machine manufacturer Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery GmbH has announced Gerd Liebig as Managing Director (Chief Sales Officer) in the group, reported the company on its site.

Gerd Liebig, 53, takes over the full responsibility of all worldwide sales, after sales and marketing activities out of the company's headquarter in Schwaig. He is also leading the worldwide sales subsidiaries and representatives.

Gerd Liebig will join Sumitomo (SHI) Demag from April 1st 2015 with extensive experience in the plastic machinery business. Most recently serving as Group Marketing Director for an injection moulding machine manufacturer in Austria, Gerd Liebig has been engaged for 25 years in the injection moulding machinery business. Before joining the last position he spent 15 years at former Demag Plastics Group - now Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery GmbH - as Marketing Director and later Chief Strategic Officer.

As MRC informed earlier,in 2013, Sumitomo Demag Plastics Machinery and its Chinese subsidiary Demag Plastics Machinery (DPG) in Ningbo unveiled its plans to expand production capacity in China from 650 to 1,000 injection moulding machines/year, through an investment of EUR7 million.

Sumitomo Demag Plastics Machinery is a specialist company for the manufacturing of injection moulding machines for plastics processing. Sumitomo (SHI) Demag together with its Japanese parent group ranks among the leading companies in this industry worldwide. At 5 production locations in Germany, Japan and China more than 3,000 employees develop and manufacture a range of all-electric, hybrid and hydraulic injection moulding machines
with clamping forces ranging from 180 kN to 40,000 kN.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemicals and battery maker, said Monday its net profit fell 38.2 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago due to falling oil prices and sluggish global demand, said the company in its press release.

Net income came at 1.09 trillion won (USD1.01 billion) in the October-December period, compared with 1.77 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales were down 4.8 percent to 5.37 trillion won on-year in the period, while operating profit fell 26.8 percent to 231.6 billion won. For all of 2014, operating profit declined 24.8 percent to 1.31 trillion won, and sales edged down 2.4 percent to 22.57 trillion, it said.

"Both sales and profit decreased last year due to weak demand in the wake of a slow recovery in the global economy and plunges in oil prices," Cho Suk-jeh, the chief financial officer of LG Chem, said in a briefing. Weak global demand and falling oil prices hurt operating profits in the petrochemical and mobile device material businesses, while energy solutions pared some of losses, the firm said.

Its earnings improved in mobile device materials thanks to the strong panel market and higher utilization rate of new Chinese lines, and sales of its automotive batteries improved with a recovery in major customers' shipments, it added.

LG Chem pledged to enhance profitability this year in the mobile battery business and expand its market share in China with the development of advanced batteries for electric vehicles.

"Although sales in the petrochemical business may decrease in the wake of cheap oil prices, the drop will be in a limited range, which would improve profits for this year," Cho said. "The company will invest 1.7 trillion won in 2015, up 13.3 percent from last year."

As MRC wrote before, LG Chem is in plans to shut its phenol-acetone plant for maintenance turnaround. The plant is likely to be shut in May 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month. Located at Daesan in South Korea, the plant has a phenol capacity of 300,000 mt/year and acetone capacity of 180,000 mt/year.

LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to ICIS report, it is 15th biggest chemical company in the world in 2011. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
MRC