Showa Denko acquires GMM Group, non-stick coatings manufacturer

MOSCOW (MRC) - Showa Denko K.K. announces that it has decided to acquire all shares of the GMM Group (GMM), a specialty non-stick coating chemicals manufacturing company headquartered in Hong Kong, China, and concluded a stock purchase and sale agreement with GMM, said the company on its site.

Non-stick coating chemicals are materials to be coated on consumer goods including cookware, bakeware, and a variety of home electrical appliances, and on industrial goods including automotive parts and other industrial equipment, in order to prevent burning on, fouling, and soiling. The global market for non-stick coating chemicals is put at about 120 billion yen a year (SDK's estimate for 2016).

GMM operates non-stick coating chemicals business mainly in the field of consumer goods including cookware, bakeware, and various home electrical appliances. Its major customers are the leading cookware manufacturing companies in the US. GMM has been steadily increasing sales by making the most of the superb properties of its products and the power of the differentiated brands promoted jointly with GMM's customers. GMM operates two manufacturing units in China and India, and can deliver its highly sophisticated engineering coatings directly to the local cookware manufacturing companies which are entrusted by major cookware makers to manufacture cookware to be sold in the US market. Cookware coated with GMM's coatings is distributed via top US retailers. It has been estimated that approximately 40 million American families use cookware with GMM's products on a daily basis.

In line with its ongoing medium-term business plan "Project 2020+" which started at the beginning of 2016, SDK aims to reform its own business structure to have more stable revenue streams, through creation of individualized businesses and increase in the ratio of its overseas sales.

SDK's acquisition of all shares of GMM of this time is a part of its strategic actions aiming to establish new individualized businesses through extension of the Showa Denko Group's value chain into downstream markets and the sphere of its technologies, which form the foundation of the Group's business activities. SDK very highly appreciates the capabilities of Mr. Ravin Gandhi, CEO of GMM, Mr. Raymond Chung, Co-founder & General Manager of GMM, and all employees who work for GMM. Together with all executives and employees of GMM, SDK will aim to gain the position of the leading company in the non-stick coatings industry.

As MRC informed earlier, Showa Denko (SDK) has decided to establish a new production site for thermosetting bulk molding compound (BMC) in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China, jointly with Eternal Materials Co., Ltd., a synthetic resin manufacturer based in Taiwan.

Showa Denko K.K. is mainly engaged in the petrochemical business. The Petrochemical segment manufactures and sells olefin, organic chemicals and others. The Chemical Product segment supplies chemicals, industrial gases, special gas and functional drug for semiconductors, functional high molecular materials, among others.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco has received a five-year accreditation award for 28 of their training centers, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"This accomplishment is yet another breakthrough for Saudi Aramco in the area of education and training, and is yet another sign that the company continues to invest in the professional and vocational development of our workforce," the company said in a statement.

In early 2016, a team of 17 evaluators from the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET) in the US, including ACCET executive director William Larkin, concluded a final on-site examination of Saudi Aramco Training and Development’s (T&D) job skills, academic, and professional training centers, the Professional Engineering Development Division (PEDD), and for the first time, Drilling and Workover (D&WO).

In total, 28 training organizations were candidates for accreditation or reaccreditation.

"We are proud to maintain our longstanding accredited status for the sixth time since 1993,” said Training & Development general manager Nabil K. Al-Dabal. “During this time, we have increased the number of centers accredited from five to 28, and through collaboration, we have extended our accreditation to cover different organizations."

As MRC informed earlier, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has announced it received an amendment from Saudi Aramco for its general engineering services (GES) contract. While officials did not disclose the contract value, the five-year extension builds on the framework of the original contract signed in 2011.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco's value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world's most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) --KBR, Inc. announced that its Saudi Arabian JV engineering operation, KBR-AMCDE, has signed an amendment to extend its existing General Engineering Services Plus Contract with Saudi Aramco, said the company on its site.

Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide front-end engineering design, detailed design, material procurement, and project management services (PMS) to support Saudi Aramco's capital programs in Saudi Arabia. This amendment will extend the contract from an initial five years for a further five years with options for additional extensions.

The contract will be executed by KBR-AMCDE using resources located within its Saudi Arabia offices and focus on the development and utilization of local talent throughout the execution phases.

"We are proud to extend our contract with Saudi Aramco and look forward to the successful execution of future projects," said Jay Ibrahim, President - Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Revenue associated with this project was undisclosed and will be booked into backlog of unfilled orders for KBR's Engineering & Construction Business Segment as purchase orders are issued under the contract.

As MRC informed earlier, British oilfield services company Petrofac and Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas are likely to win contracts to build projects for state oil giant Saudi Aramco's Uthmaniyah and Ras Tanura plants. Tecnicas Reunidas is the lowest bidder to build units for a cleaner fuels project at Ras Tanura refinery, originally estimated to cost more than USD2 B, aimed at removing sulfur from refined oil products.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco's value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world's most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik Resource Efficiency will invest in a capacity expansion of its Performance Foams business at its production site in Darmstadt, Germany, said the company on its site.

The investment will increase the output of the facility by about 20% as a first step. The Group will be adding production equipment to its operations complex that manufactures products marketed under the ROHACELL brand. The expanded production capacity is expected to be operational by the second half of 2017.

"We have experienced double-digit growth of the ROHACELL brand in recent years and have indications that this success will continue. With this consistent level of growth in global demand, we see this capacity expansion as a positive and necessary step toward assuring our customers of their continued access to our innovative product – now and far into the future," said Dr. Matthias Kottenhahn, Senior Vice President of High Performance Polymers Business Line at Evonik Resource Efficiency Segment.

Evonik’s Darmstadt plant is currently producing ROHACELL foam products that are used as a core material in the construction of sandwich composites. The global market has shown steady annual growth in the use of composites as multiple industries are facing the challenge of producing products for their customers that are lighter in weight, strong and dependable, plus efficient to manufacture.

"As the trend toward composite usage continues, we are prepared to respond with the lightweight solutions available in our ROHACELL range of foam products. Whether it is an airplane, a car, a ship, a wind turbine blade, an electronic device or even a hockey stick – all can benefit from less overall weight. ROHACELL foam is an ideal solution for future advancements in these products and by expanding our capacity, we will be ready to meet the needs of this changing marketplace," noted Dr. Andreas Hoff, Vice President of Performance Foams at Resource Efficiency Segment.

ROHACELL is a rigid, structural polymethacrylimide foam used in the design and production of sandwich composites in aerospace, automotive, marine, sports equipment, electronics and medical technology. The ultra-lightweight foam provides composite part manufacturers a core material solution that can withstand high temperatures and pressures. This supports the use of quick and efficient part production, thereby lowering a manufacturer’s production time and costs.

The Darmstadt plant is the original Performance Foams production facility, with additional production locations in Mobile, Alabama, USA and Shanghai, China that provide a regional supply team to customers in both North & South America and Asia.

As MRC informed earlier, Evonik is expanding its production facilities in Birmingham (Alabama, USA) and Darmstadt (Germany). This will create additional capacity for the production of biodegradable polymers marketed globally under the brand names RESOMER and RESOMER SELECT. These poly-lactic-glycolic-acid (PLGA) copolymers are primarily used to manufacture bioresorbable medical devices and controlled-release formulations for parenteral drug delivery.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, has increased list and off-list selling prices for acetic acid in Europe, as per the company's press release.

The price increase is effective immediately, or as contracts allow, as follows: by EUR40/mt.

As MRC informed before, in November, 2016, Celanese raised its prices of EVA-based emulsions sold in the Americas. Vinyl acetate homopolymer and vinyl acrylic emulsions rose by up to USD0.03/wet pound effective November 15, 2016, or as contracts allow. Vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE) emulsions grew by up to USD0.05/wet pound effective November 15, 2016, or as contracts allow. This price increase affects all applications including, but not limited to, adhesives, paints and coatings, building and construction, nonwovens, glass fiber, carpet, paper and textiles.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,000 employees worldwide and had 2015 net sales of USD5.7 billion.
MRC