Deceuninck North America expands to western U.S.

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Deceuninck North America broke ground on its first western manufacturing facility, in Fernley, Nevada, beginning construction on a 150,000-square-foot facility with rail spur that can accommodate up to 24 extrusion lines, said the producer on its site.

The facility, which will sit on a 28-acre site, will accommodate extrusion, manufacturing support, offices and a warehouse. It is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2016.

"Since the mid-1990s, Deceuninck North America has maintained a strong presence in the east from our headquarters in Monroe, Ohio," says Filip Geeraert, president and CEO of Deceuninck North America. "The new facility near Reno will mark a new era for Deceuninck, and we are thrilled to continue our reputation for stellar service with our western expansion."

Deceuninck North America, LLC is part of the Deceuninck Group, an integrated global organization specializing in compounding, tool fabrication, design, development, extrusion, finishing of uPVC window systems and composite applications for the building industry. Deceuninck employs 3,400 people in 25 countries. Deceuninck has production facilities in Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, UK and US. Deceuninck sales in 2014 were EUR552.8 million (with a net positive result of EUR10.5 million), approximately USD608.08 million USD. In 2014, Deceuninck strengthened its top 3 market position through the acquisition of 'Pimapen,' the most recognized brand for PVC windows in Turkey adding approximately USD75 million of annual sales. Deceuninck North America encompasses fully-integrated design, compounding, tooling, extrusion and quality assurance disciplines for the production of vinyl window and door systems and decking/railing applications for the building industry at its corporate headquarters in Monroe, Ohio.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Supervisory Board of Lanxess AG has appointed Dr. Hubert Fink to the Board of Management, said the company on the site.

Effective October 1, 2015, the number of members of the Board of Management will thus increase from three to four. Fink currently heads the Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit at Lanxess.

On the Board he will hold responsibility for the Advanced Intermediates segment with the Advanced Industrial Intermediates and Saltigo business units and for the High Performance Materials business unit; he will also assume responsibility for the Global Procurement & Logistics group function and the Production, Technology, Safety and Environment (PTSE) group function, which combines all production-related services.

Supervisory Board Chairman Dr. Rolf Stomberg: "In Hubert Fink, we have appointed an experienced expert from within the company to join the Board of Management of Lanxess AG. His expertise in chemistry and technology will be a valuable asset to the Board of Management. The Supervisory Board wishes him every success in his new position."

Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the Board of Management of Lanxess AG: "Hubert Fink is an excellent authority on our products, production processes and markets. He was with Lanxess from the very beginning and knows our company inside out. This will help us make even swifter progress with Lanxess' realignment."

Hubert Fink was born in Julich, Germany, in 1962. He studied process engineering at RWTH Aachen University, obtaining his doctorate in 1988. He completed a second diploma in business administration and engineering at RWTH Aachen University in 1992.

Fink joined Bayer AG in 1988. After holding various positions in production, plant engineering and the corporate staff division, he became head of Global Operations Semi-Crystalline Products in the Bayer Polymers subgroup in 2002.

When the Lanxess organization was set up in 2004, Fink became head of the Semi-Crystalline Products business unit. He has headed the Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit since 2011.

As MRC informed earlier, Lanxess is in talks to put its main synthetic rubber business into a joint venture with petrochemicals group Ineos.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.0 billion in 2014 and about 16,600 employees in 29 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) -- The overall imports of polyethylene (PE) into Belarus decreased over the first seven months of 2015 by 4.2% to 55,900 tonnes. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for weaker demand, reported MRC analysts.

According to the National Statistical Office of the Republic of Belarus, under the pressure of seasonal factors, the July PE imports to Belarus rose to 8,200 tonnes from 7,600 tonnes a month earlier on the back of a major growth in HDPE shipments from Russia. The overall PE imports totalled 55,900 tonnes from January to July 2015 versus 58,400 tonnes overn the same period a year earlier.

The structure of PE imports to Belarus by grades looks the following way over the stated period.

The July imports of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) fell to 3,700 tonnes from 4,300 tonnes a month earlier. LLDPE shipments from Saudi Arabia and LDPE shipments from Russia accounted for main reductions in the total supplies. The overall imports of these PE grades totalled 33,200 tonnes over the first seven months of the year, up by 18.1% year on year.

The July HDPE imports rose to 4,600 tonnes from 3,400 tonnes a month earlier because of the increased supplies from Russian producers, particularly, from Stavrolen. The overall imports of these PE grade to Belarus were 22,100 tonnes over the stated period versus 29,700 tonnes a year earlier.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of polypropylene (PP) into Belarus slightly exceeded 38,800 tonne in first seven months of this year, down 2% year on year, compared to the same period of 2014. Demand for propylene copolymers decreased significantly, as per MRC analysts.

According to the National Statistics Committee of Belarus, July PP imports in Belarus rose to 7,100 tonnes, compared with 6,600 tonnes on a stronger demand for homopolymer PP from local producers PP bags. Total PP imports into the country exceeded 45,900 tonnes in January - July 2015, compared with 46,800 tonnes in the same time a year earlier.

Demand for propylene copolymers significantly reduced; the volume of purchases of homopolymer PP grew by 3.6%.
Structure of PP delivery over the reported period looked as follows. July's homopolymer PP imports increased to 5,700 tonnes, compared with 4,400 tonnes a month earlier, local companies significantly increased their purchases in Russia, in particular because of oncoming turnarounds of local producers. Imports of homopolymer PP in Belarus increased to 32,900 tonnes in January-July 2015, compared with 31,700 in the same time in 2014. The key suppliers of homopolymer PP were Russian producers, with their share in the total supply around 92%.

July imports of propylene copolymers were about 1,400 tonnes, compared with 2,200 tonnes a month earlier, the decline in purchases affected all areas: Russia and Europe. Imports of propylene copolymers in Belarus decreased to 13,000 tonnes in the first seven months of the year, down 13.6% year on year. The main suppliers of propylene copolymers to the local market over the reported period were Russian producers, with 9,300 tonnes shipped over the reported period. The second largest supplier into the country was Germany, with a volume of slightly more than 1,300 tonnes shipped over the reported period.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's largest producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) RusVinyl (Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod region), a joint venture between SIBUR and Belgian SolVin, a subsidiary of international Group Solvay, shut its capacities for scheduled maintenances, according to the company's customers.

RusVinyl on 23, September shut down all PVC production site for a scheduled maintenance works. According to the company's customers, maintenance work will be carried out during two weeks, production of PVC is scheduled to be resumed on 7, October. The shutdown of RusVinyl for the turnaround is the third and last turnaround at Russian plants this year.

SayanskKhimPlast and Bashkir Soda Company shut their PVC plants in August. Kaustik (Volgograd) postponed maintenance works for the spring of 2016, although it was previously planned to be carried out from 2 to 20, October.

RusVinyl began production of suspension PVC (SPVC) in the test mode in August 2014. The official launch of the plant in Kstovo (Nizhny Novgorod region) took place on 19, September. The plant's output totalled 153,400 tonnes for the first eight months of 2015. The design capacity is 300,000 tonnes/year of SPVC and 30,000 tonnes/year of emulsion polyvinyl chloride (EPVC). Its caustic soda production capacity is 225,000 tonnes/year.

RusVinyl got ethylene from the complex SIBUR-Kstovo, which have been recently expanded to 360,000 tonnes/year. Rock salt is delivered by water transport from the Astrakhan region and rail from Belarus. All produced PVC will be sold in the domestic market.
MRC