Indorama eyes PTA plant purchases in Canada, Spain

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Thai petrochemical company Indorama Ventures is in advanced negotiations to buy an additional polyster materials facility from Cia Espanola de Petroleos SAU to expand in Europe and North America, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Indorama is in exclusive talks about the San Roque, Spain-based plant with Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co., the owner of Cepsa, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

No final agreement has been reached and the talks about the site with annual sales of about USD500 million could still fall apart, they said.

The Thai company is acquiring purified terephthalic acid (PTA) assets -- the raw material for polyesters and plastics used in bottles and packaging -- to boost its operations in western markets in a challenge to local manufacturers including Eastman Chemical and Dow Chemical.

Indorama shares climbed 2.8% on March 23 after it announced an agreement to acquire a Canadian purified terephthalic acid site from Cepsa. The facility in San Roque has a similar turnover, yet would be a larger investment, said the people. Indorama didn’t disclose financial terms of the Montreal deal.

Richard Jones, head of investor relations at Indorama, declined to comment. Representatives for Cepsa and International Petroleum Investment couldn’t be reached for comment and didn’t return calls and emails seeking comment.

While the Asian market for purified terephthalic acid is fragmented, North America is largely supplied by Cepsa and BP, with Alpek of Mexico and Eastman manufacturing for their own needs.

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.
MRC

Eastman to close Workington acetate tow manufacturing site

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eastman Chemical Company has announced it has decided to close its Workington, UK, acetate tow manufacturing site, as per the company's press release.

Production at the site will cease in April, and site closure is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2015. As previously announced, Eastman entered the consultation process with employee and union representatives in response to changes in global market demand for acetate tow.

The Workington site has 24,000 metric tons of acetate tow manufacturing capacity. Projected savings from the closure are annual operating costs of approximately USD20 million and a total of approximately USD20 million of infrastructure capital expenditures planned for the next five years.

"With changes in global market demand and recent and announced global acetate tow manufacturing capacity additions, we need less capacity to supply our customers," said Linda Hensley, vice president and general manager of the Fibers segment. "We have been working with our customers throughout this process and remain committed to reliably supplying them with top quality products."

This action will result in shut down costs and restructuring charges totaling approximately USD100 million primarily in the first half of 2015, approximately USD80 million of which are non-cash.

As MRC reported earlier, in December 2014, Eastman Chemical Company announced the completion of its acquisition of Taminco Corporation, a global specialty chemical company, for a total of USD2.8 billion in cash and assumed debt.

Eastman is a global specialty chemical company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With a portfolio of specialty businesses, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. Its market-driven approaches take advantage of world-class technology platforms and leading positions in attractive end-markets such as transportation, building and construction and consumables. Eastman focuses on creating consistent, superior value for all stakeholders. As a globally diverse company, Eastman serves customers in approximately 100 countries and had 2014 revenues of approximately USD9.5 billion. The company is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA and employs approximately 15,000 people around the world.
MRC

Arkema launches new maleated PE for HFFR compounds requiring high water ageing performance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema, a France-based chemical manufacturer, has developed Orevac 18341, a new maleated polyethylene for the production of halogen-free flame retardant (HFFR) compounds used in cable applications, reported the company on its site.

Orevac 18341 is especially useful in improving water ageing resistance.

HFFR formulations are polyolefin alternatives to PVC compounds used in the jacketing of low voltage cables. They have the advantage of generating low smoke density in a fire situation as well as good fire redardancy. However, they require improved mechanical properties and better water ageing resistance. Water ageing resistance is key to maintain cable properties even in a humid environment.

The new Orevac grade is a polyethylene with a high grafting level of maleic anhydride (MAH). The high content of grafted MAH makes it an excellent coupling agent between polyolefin and mineral fillers such as aluminium trihydrate (ATH), magnesium dihydrate (MDH), brucite, etc. It helps to achieve superior mechanical properties and better water ageing resistance.

Orevac 18341 can be associated with Arkema polyolefin copolymers such as Lotryl ethylene-acrylate copolymers and Evatane ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers to produce zero-halogen flame retardant compounds with excellent mechanical properties even with a low coupling agent content.

As MRC informed before, in order to guarantee flawless bottles to bottle manufacturers, Arkema has developed major technological innovations in protective coatings, combined with an audit and training service, and a product certification that is unique in the profession.

Arkema with annual revenue of EUR6.1 billion is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc. With operations in more than 50 countries, some 14,000 employees and 13 research centers, Arkema generates annual revenue of EUR7.6 billion, and holds leadership positions in all its markets with a portfolio of internationally recognized brands.
MRC

Samsung Total to shut down HDPE plant in South Korea for maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Samsung Total Petrochemical is likely to take off-stream a high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant is likely to be shut in April 2015. It is planned to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located in South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 175,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, Samsung Total Petrochemical also intends to shut its polypropylene (PP) plant in South Korea for maintenance turnaround in mid-April 2015 for maintenance turnaround. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month. Located in Daesan, South Korea, the plant comprises of three line with a combined production capacity of 250,000 mt/year.

We also remind that in November 2014, South Korea's Samsung Group said it is selling stakes in four chemical and defence firms for 1.9 trillion won (USD1.72 billion) to Hanwha Group, the latest move in the massive task of restructuring the country's largest conglomerate.

Later, in the first decade of March 2015, South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) gave conditional approval to Hanwha's proposed acquisition of Samsung General Chemicals.
MRC

Likely recovery in crude markets justifies new ethylene investments

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global crude prices are poised to recover toward the USD100/bbl range by the year 2020, meaning that many of the world's recently-planned ethylene investments from non-oil feedstocks are still economical moving forward, a leading industry consultant believes, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Steve Lewandowski, senior director of global olefins at IHS Chemical, offered his ethylene outlook on Thursday at the 30th annual IHS World Petrochemical Conference. He noted that the margin advantage for US ethane-based plants and Chinese coal-based projects have dipped in 2015 due to low pricing for rival oil-based naphtha production elsewhere, but those advantages are expected to largely recover in coming years.

Lewandowski says that this runs in great contrast to the past few years, where some areas like the US Gulf Coast had very high margins due to advantaged feedstock costs in a high crude environment. Meanwhile, producers in other regions saw much lower margins as their feedstock pricing moved more closely to crude oil price movements. That led to a wave of new ethylene capacity announcements planned to start up in the second half of this decade, many based on non-oil feedstocks such as natural gas liquids (NGLs) in North America and coal in China.

For now, many of those companies might be nervous, considering the current margins aren't what they were in 2012 and 2013, when many of the projects were formulated. But by the time those new ethylene crackers actually start operations toward the end of this decade, margins should be well on the road to recovery.

Current crude prices, which have hovered between USD50/bbl and USD60/bbl for much of 2015, have reduced the advantage that NGL and coal-based crackers would have relative to naphtha-based crackers elsewhere in the world. But IHS says it sees crude prices "bottoming out" in 2015, with the 2015 low point driven by reduced global demand, production increases in North America and a more stable production rate out of Libya.

Starting in the second half of 2015, the reduction in production due to depressed crude prices and a pick-up in global demand growth will gradually pull prices back up, with a recovery to the USD100/bbl range by the end of ths decade.

The margins aren't predicted to be quite as rosy as they were a year or two ago, but they are projected to be very healthy, Lewandowski maintains.

MRC