Asahi Kasei announced absorption-type merger of consolidated subsidiaries

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Board of Directors of Asahi Kasei Corporation (Asahi Kasei) has approved a transformation of the corporate configuration in which Asahi Kasei, currently a holding company, is to become an operating holding company through the absorption of three of its core operating companies, Asahi Kasei Chemicals, Asahi Kasei Fibers, and Asahi Kasei E-materials, on April 1, 2016, said the producer on its site.

Since this is scheduled to be a short-form absorption-type merger through the absorption of consolidated subsidiaries, some items and details have been partially abridged in the disclosure.

Under the company's new strategic management initiative which will begin in fiscal 2016, the Asahi Kasei Group’s current four business sectors will be changed to the three business sectors of Materials (currently Chemicals & Fibers and Electronics), Homes (currently Homes & Construction Materials), and Health Care, in order to pursue further growth by improving portfolio management through the optimum allocation of management resources while creating synergy among different business sectors.

In accordance with the change in the corporate configuration, Asahi Kasei Chemicals, Asahi Kasei Fibers, and Asahi Kasei E-materials will be absorbed into Asahi Kasei, forming the Materials business sector. This change will help the company to enhance its corporate value by enabling greater efficiency and more powerful combinations among different business sectors.

The merger will not involve any allocation of shares or other assets.

As MRC informed before, Asahi Kasei Chemical is likely to shut its styrene monomer (SM) plant in Japan for maintenance turnaround in mid-September 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month. Located at Mizushima in Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 390,000 mt/year.

Asahi Kasei Corporation is a global Japanese chemical company. Its main products are chemicals and materials science.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Bond Laminates GmbH, a subsidiary of specialty chemicals company Lanxess, has expanded its Tepex range of continuous-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic high-performance composites to include halogen-free flame-retardant versions with a polycarbonate matrix, as per the company's statement.

"Our new Tepex FR grades demonstrate exceptionally high flame retardance in tests to fire safety standard UL 94 of the US testing organization Underwriter Laboratories. They achieved the top V0 classification on UL’s Yellow Card at specimen thicknesses between 0.4 and 2 millimeters," says Jochen Bauder, Managing Director of Bond-Laminates.

Above all, he sees major potential for applications in the consumer electronics industry.

Tepex FR is supplied primarily in thicknesses of between 0.5 and 1.2 millimeters. Variations are available with glass, carbon or glass/carbon fiber reinforcement. The fiber volume content lies between 45% and 55%. The composite sheets exhibit excellent mechanical properties. For example, the flexural modulus of the carbon-reinforced grades lies between 40 and 54 GPa depending on the fiber content, and the modules of the glass-fiber-reinforced grades between 20 and 24 GPa (DIN EN ISO 178).

Their mechanical properties, low weight and ease of processing make these new composites especially suitable for the production of large, thin-walled and extremely stiff housing parts such as those used for notebooks, tablets and TV sets. "They are simpler to produce and require less process engineering than aluminum and magnesium. And compared to injection-molded component designs, Tepex can be used to produce thinner walls so that housings need less installation space," Bauder explains.

As MRC informed earlier, in July 2013, Lanxess celebrated the opening of its first production facility in Russia. In the new plant at the Lipetsk site, Lanxess subsidiary Rhein Chemie manufactures polymer-bound rubber additives for the markets in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), primarily for the automotive and tire industries. A production facility for the bladders used in tire production is to be added in 2016. The overall investment volume in euros amounts to a seven-digit figure and 40 new jobs will be created at the new plant in the medium term.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.3 billion in 2013 and roughly 17,000 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has released ColorForward Interiors 2016, the third annual trend and color forecasting guide for the fiber and textile market, reported the company in its press release.

This year's edition was expanded to reach a wider range of textile yarn and filament producers, including those serving the carpeting, upholstery, automotive, and interior decoration sectors. This unique creative tool from Clariant ColorWorks defines four trends that can be expected to attract consumer attention in the next few years and creates a color palette that can help marketers tap into the emotions behind those cultural currents.

For the first time, the ColorForward Interiors portfolio includes not only pompons made of polypropylene (PP) and polyamide (PA) fibers, but also "wrap cards" with polyester fiber samples. The polyester fibers are produced as air-textured yarn (ATY), which is also commonly known by the old DuPont trademark, Taslan. ATY yarn is commonly used in the automotive industry and also in furniture upholstery and clothing. The pompons are made from bulk continuous filaments (BCF) to create a texture that is favored for carpeting made in Europe, the Middle East and North America. All fibers in ColorForward Interiors 2016 are dope dyed or spin dyed using Clariant masterbatches (color concentrates) to impart color to the yarn.

"Each year we have released ColorForward Interiors, we have received valuable feedback about how we can enhance the value for our customers," explains Francis Baud, Global Head of Marketing - Fibers for Clariant Masterbatches. "By adding wrap cards with polyester yarn, we are now able to show our colors in a form that will be very familiar to a broad spectrum of fabric producers, designers and interior decorators. At the same time, we have retained the pompons, which are very popular in the carpet industry."

As MRC informed earlier, in September 2014, Clariant announced that it had signed a purchase agreement with VitaPac, a Chinese specialist for healthcare packaging. The owner-led company with 80 employees is based in Hong Kong with a production site in Dongguan, China. It had consolidated sales of about CHF 4.0 million in 2013 (USD4.2 million).

Clariant Chemicals (India) Limited and custom color and additive products with production of more than 10,000 color matches which are completed each year. With more than 50 manufacturing plants around the world, Clariant
Masterbatches products, technology and service deliver competitive advantages that foster long-term customer relationships.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Equate Petrochemical, Kuwait’s first international petrochemical joint-venture, has won the Gulf Petrochemical and Chemical Assn.’s award for best plastic products and processes, according to GV.

It recognizes Equate’s development of the attributes of a grade of linear low density polyethylene (LDPE) to enhance clarity and reduce the blocking properties.

As MRC wrote before, in line with The Dow Chemical Company's prior announcement of its intention to rationalize its investments in certain joint ventures, Dow will reconfigure and reduce its equity base in the MEGlobal and Greater Equate joint ventures, including The Kuwait Olefins Company (TKOC) and The Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC), through a divestment of a portion of the company’s interests in these ventures.

Dow expects such transaction(s) to be completed by mid-2015. While Dow will retain a substantial stake in these long-term partnerships, this effort will open opportunities for new investment in these successful and growing enterprises. Dow remains committed to maximizing the overall value of both MEGlobal and the Greater Equate joint ventures to further enhance their already demonstrated strong value and performance.

Established in 1995, Equate Petrochemical Company is an international joint venture between Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Boubyan Petrochemical Company (BPC) and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC). Commencing production in 1997, EQUATE is the single operator of a fully integrated world-scale manufacturing facility producing over 5 million tons annually of high-quality petrochemical products which are marketed throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Zhenhai is in plans to shut a high density polyethylene (HDPE)/linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) swing plant for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is likely to be shut in April 2015. It is expected to remain off-stream for around two months.

Located at Ningbo in China, the plant has a production capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, Top Asian refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) has recently denied reported plans of a merger with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) or China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). It was reported earlier that the Chinese government was considering a merger of its state-owned oil and gas companies to cut costs and streamline operations.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC