Chemtura does not plan to divest any of its seven businesses

(ICIS) -- US specialty chemical firm Chemtura does not plan to divest any of its seven businesses in 2010 or 2011, but it will take a portfolio approach to running them as separate entities, its chief executive said on Monday.


⌠All seven businesses have winning strategies for profitable growth, and we'll be focused on executing those strategies through 2011, said Chemtura's chairman, president and CEO Craig Rogerson.


Growth strategies include bolt-on acquisitions, joint ventures and select capacity additions, noted Rogerson.


Chemtura emerged from US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 10 November, largely intact from when it entered in March 2009. The only asset it sold in bankruptcy was its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) additives business for $16.2m (┬12.2m) to India-based Artek Arterian Holdings - a partnership between an Indian chemical company and a US private equity firm.


MRC


LUKOIL board of directors approved key indicators for 2011-2013 mid-term plan

(LUKOIL) -- The OAO LUKOIL Board of Directors approved the key indicators of the LUKOIL Group 2011-2013 Mid-term Plan and also the budget and investment program for 2011. The draft plan provides for a step-by-step alignment of the petroleum product duties and the expected rise of the petroleum-product excise tax.


The draft is also based on lower duties granted to LUKOIL in the fourth quarter 2010 for the oil produced at the Yu.Korchagin and V.Filanovsky fields in the North Caspian.


At the same time, the plan does not take into account the draft law that establishes a higher Mineral Extraction Tax for gas starting from 2011, and for oil - starting from 2012.


In the Refining & Marketing, the oil distribution pattern for 2011-2013 is based on a step-by-step alignment of duties for petroleum products and on optimization of crude supplies to the Company's refineries in Russia as its most efficient business, provided Transneft ensures maximum availability of its pipeline system for running the Company's oil, and also considering the limitations of the petroleum-product shipping infrastructure and the scheduled maintenance operations at the refineries.


MRC


4,300 chemicals registered by Reach deadline

(ICIS) -- A total of 4,300 substances were registered under the EU's Reach chemicals regulation by the 30 November deadline, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) said on Wednesday, including 900 not sold in Europe when the regulation became law.


By the first Reach registration deadline - for substances sold in the EU in volumes greater than 1,000 tonnes/year and substances of very high concern (SVHC) - 24,675 registration dossiers had been successfully submitted, it said.


Large companies made about 86% of the registrations and small to medium sized firms 14%. About 19% of registrations were made by non-EU manufacturers through only representatives'. Most registrations came from Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, France and Belgium, the ECHA said.


MRC


Eastman Chemical completes expansion of plasticizer line at Estonia

(Plastemart) -- Eastman Chemical Co. has completed expansion of its Benzoflex plasticizer line at the Kohtla-Jarve, Estonia, site, hiking capacity by 11,000 tons. A benzoic acid derivative, Benzoflex is a benzoate ester plasticizer used in adhesives, sealants and caulks, and is also used in PVC applications such as vinyl flooring.


"Eastman acquired the Benzoflex plasticizer product line with the acquisition of Genovique Specialties Corporation earlier this year," said Ron Lindsay, executive vice president, Performance Polymers and Chemical Intermediates.


Eastman representatives say that the additional Benzoflex capacity will allow the company to continue to meet the growing needs of customers who are looking for sustainable alternatives to traditional phthalate plasticizers.


MRC


Gokongwei Group to start construction of long-overdue naphtha cracker project

(Plastemart) -- The Gokongwei Group seems all set to start construction of its long-overdue US$500 mln naphtha cracker project in Batangas. Project construction will start in January 2011 on the US$500 mln project. The naphtha cracker plant was originally registered with the BoI in 2005 at a project cost of P25.6 bln under JG Summit Petrochemical Corp. Based on that original registration, it was supposed to start commercial in 2008.
In May 2008, the company revised the project with a new commercial operation target of January 2012, even as project soared to P34.38 billion. It was placed under an entirely new unit - JG Summit Olefins Corp.


MRC