Global masterbatch market to register CAGR of 7% between 2015 and 2020

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The masterbatch market is estimated to have accounted for USD8.35 bln in 2014 and is projected to reach USD12.61 bln by 2020, registering a CAGR of 7% between 2015 and 2020. The market is largely driven by the increased demand from the end-use industries such as packaging, consumer goods, and others, as per Plastemart with reference to MarketsandMarkets.

Color masterbatch is the most popular type of masterbatch. The demand of color masterbatch is mainly driven by the need of end-use industries such as packaging, consumer goods, textiles, and automotive to differentiate their products in the market. These end-use industries rely heavily on color for their marketing and branding strategies.

Color masterbatch offers these companies the option of using customized colors. It is the largest segment of the masterbatch market, in terms of volume and value. The demand of color masterbatch can be attributed to the growing need of end-use industries to make their products visually appealing for customers.

The increase in movement of goods owing to globalization, liberalization, changing consumer lifestyles, and economic development has led to the increase in demand for better protection and handling of goods. The availability of wide variety of plastics and their adherence to regulatory standards make plastics the most extensively used material in packaging.

Plastics also help provide better aesthetics to packaging as they offer ease in providing the required color, shape, size, utility, printing, weight, protection, and others. The growth of plastics in the packing industry is driving the demand of masterbatch. It is widely used in the plastics industry for coloring. The growing importance of color in marketing and branding activities is further fueling growth of the masterbatch market.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, Materials firm A. Schulman Inc. plans to spend 5 million to EUR7 mln (USD5.5 mln to USD7.7 mln) on a new masterbatch facility in Turkey, to tap into market growth in the region. The facility, in the greater Istanbul area, will have annual production capacity of about 40 million pounds of the company’s additive, white and breathable masterbatches for the food and industrial packaging markets, the company said. It’s expected to be in production at the end of the Fairlawn, Ohio-based company’s 2016 fiscal year, which closes Aug. 31, 2016.

Besides, Clariant Masterbatches Saudi Arabia, a joint venture (JV) between Clariant and Rowad National Plastic Company, has started construction of a new masterbatch production unit in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. Being built on a 38,000 sq. m area, the new unit will be located in Yanbu Industrial Zone 2 and is scheduled to be commissioned by early next year. The new facility, which will be the second manufacturing site of the company in Saudi Arabia, the other being situated in Riyadh, will manufacture white masterbatches.
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Italys Maire Tecnimont to invest USD1.1bn in Iran projects

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Italy-based Maire Tecnimont, a leading engineering company, has signed an agreement worth EUR1 billion (USD1.11 billion) with the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co (PGPIC) to construct refineries and petrochemical plants in Iran, a report said, said Tradearabia.

The agreement includes providing finance, parts and equipment, as well as solutions to Iran's processing issues, added the report.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Maire Tecnimont’s CEO Pierroberto Folgiero said that Italy is seeking to open a new chapter in its cooperation with Iran, especially in the oil and petrochemical industries.

Maire Tecnimont will help Iran build an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and rubber plant in the industrial city of Asaluyeh, said the report.

The ABS product has a variety of applications including in the automotive industry, it added.

As MRC informed earlier, Germany-based Linde, a leading industrial gases company, and Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals plan to invest USD4 billion into petrochemical projects in Iran. Linde is considering investment in several Iranian projects, including Damavand Petrochemicals, in cooperation with Japan’s Mitsui, Marzieh Shah-Daei projects director at the National Petrochemical Company (NPC).
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Iran in talks with Air Liquide to build petrochemical plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iran is in talks with France’s Air Liquide to develop a 0.5mt Propylene via Methanol (PVM) plant, said Iran-bn.

Esmaeil Qambari (pictured), managing director of the Petrochemical Research and Technology Company, told reporters on Monday that the company is in talks with companies from Germany, France, Norway and Japan to purchase petrochemical technologies from them.

"In the latest development, we have held talks with Air Liquide for scientific partnership for development of a 500,000-ton Propylene via Methanol (PVM) plant," he said.

Ghambari said his company has developed a new model for its cooperation with foreign firms, saying, "Purchasing foreign technologies will take place only [if] foreign technologies are transferred to and localized in Iran."

He said the new model will reduce sale of crude oil, generate jobs, link upstream sector to downstream and petrochemical sectors and generate valued added in the industry.

He further said the company launched the first PVM pilot plant in Mahshahr during the first half of the current year and has gained permission to build an industrial unit with the capacity of 120,000 tons in the region.

As MRC reported earlier, NPC plans to increase its investments in the country's petrochemical projects in order to accelerate their progress, wrote in October 2014 Fars News Agency, quoting NPC Deputy Head Mohammad Hassan Peyvandi. The company is legally permitted to have a 20% share in petrochemical investments, but this can increase to 49% in under developed regions.

NPC is prioritizing funding for projects that are at least 60% complete, he said. These include the Takht-Jamshid SBR & PBR unit, the second phases of the Kavian and Karoun petrochemical plants, the West Ethylene Pipeline and petrochemical projects in the provinces of Lorestan, Kurdistan, Illam, Mahabad and Hamedan.
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Intertape Polymer to invest in new plant to expand capacity in water-activated tapes

МОSCOW (MRC) -- Intertape Polymer Group Inc. decided to invest in the construction of a greenfield manufacturing facility to increase the Company's manufacturing capacity of water-activated tapes, said Marketwired.

Over the past few years, water-activated tapes have represented an area of significant growth for the Company. The Company currently produces water-activated tape at a manufacturing facility in Menasha, Wisconsin and has decided that this new facility will be constructed in the Southeastern United States in order to optimize service levels to its customers and supply chain logistics at both plants. The exact location of the new plant will be determined upon receipt of final approval of state and local credits and incentives offered.

Capital expenditures for this new investment project are currently estimated to total approximately USD44 to USD49 million US dollars, and the project's after-tax internal rate of return is expected to exceed the Company's hurdle rate of 15%. Approximately USD31 to USD36 million of capital expenditures are expected to be incurred on this project in 2016. Approximately USD4 million of equipment purchased in 2015 is being applied to this project. At this time, the Company is planning for the new manufacturing facility to be operational by the end of 2017. Total capital expenditures for 2016 for the Company are now expected to be approximately USD55 to USD65 million.

As it was informed earlier, Intertape Polymer Group Inc. is acquiring RJM Manufacturing Inc., a maker of filament and pressure sensitive tapes, in an USD11 million deal.

Intertape, which has corporate offices in Montreal and Sarasota, Fla., previously acquired Better Packages Inc. of Ansonia, Conn., a maker of table-top water-activated tape and dispensers used for carton sealing.

Intertape makes film- and paper-based pressure sensitive and water-activated tapes, polyethylene and specialized polyolefin films, woven coated fabrics and packaging systems for industrial and retail use. The company has 16 sites, including 11 manufacturing locations in North America and one manufacturing site in Porto, Portugal.
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LyondellBasell Board authorizes interim dividend

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the world’s largest plastics, chemical and refining companies, has announced that its Supervisory Board has authorized the company's Management Board to declare an interim dividend of USD0.78 per share, said the producer on its site.

The interim dividend will be paid March 14, 2016 to shareholders of record February 29, 2016 with an ex-dividend date of February 25, 2016.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, in October 2015, LyondellBasell announced the acquisition of SJS Plastiblends Pvt. Ltd. (SJS), thereby advancing the company’s position in India’s expanding automotive market. In August, LyondellBasell announced a definitive agreement to acquire SJS, a polypropylene (PP) compounds manufacturer located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India.

LyondellBasell is one of the world’s largest plastics, chemical and refining companies and a member of the S&P 500. LyondellBasell manufactures products at 56 sites in 19 countries. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels.
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