AkzoNobel reviews strategic options to separate specialty chemicals business

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel has revealed that it has reviewed strategic options for the separation of its speciality chemicals business, said Chemicals-technology.

The company anticipates that separating its specialty chemicals business would allow the company to build and accelerate its market-leading positions across a range of market segments.

The speciality chemicals business had revenues of EUR4.8bn in 2016, and is strongly positioned with a broad portfolio of leading technologies and chemicals, which service a wide range of end-user segments such as construction, industrial and consumer goods.

As part of its separation plans, AkzoNobel will explore various alternative ownership structures for the speciality chemicals business that include establishment of an independent listed entity?.

AkzoNobel CEO Ton Buchner said: "Our specialty chemicals business is an industry leader in many of the markets in which it operates and we are extremely proud of its heritage, performance and people.

"We are reviewing strategic options to separate it from the company to create a focus for both specialty chemicals and the decorative paints and performance coatings group, allowing them to build further on their respective leadership positions.

"As stated at our full-year results announcement in February, we are now a leaner, more agile company with a solid financial and operational foundation and a focus on growth.

"AkzoNobel has enjoyed a record performance in recent years in terms of profitability and has made significant strategic progress, allowing us to take this decision."

The decision for separating its speciality chemicals was brought forward after the following confirmation that AkzoNobel has put forward the proposal from PPG Industries for all of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the capital of AkzoNobel.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical has shut its linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant for a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has started maintenance at the plant early this week. The exact duration of the planned turnaround could not be ascertained.

Located at Guangdong in China, the plant has a production capacity of 220,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, on 28 February 2016, Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical shut down its low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant. It is slated to remain shut until the end of the first week of March. Located at Guangdong in China, the plant has a production capacity of 250,000 mt/year.

Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical Company (Maoming Company) - a subsidiary of Sinopec- is located in Maoming, Guangdong and was founded in May 1955. The company now has a crude oil processing capacity of 13.5 million t/a and an ethylene production capacity of 1 million t/a. Maoming Company has turned out to be a large-scale integrated refining and chemical enterprise with refining as the leading business and petrochemical sector as the mainstay.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec Limited is a Chinese oil and gas company based in Beijing, China. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York . Sinopec is the worlds fifth biggest company by revenue.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell announced that Wantong Petrochemical Group is producing ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel using Honeywell UOP’s new HYT-6219 hydrotreating catalyst, said the company.

The catalyst, which is part of Honeywell UOP’s Unity hydrotreating portfolio, enables Wantong Petrochemical to produce cleaner burning ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel without a costly modification of its existing hydrotreating unit in Donyging in China’s Shandong Province. Hydrotreating is a method of removing sulfur from fuels in the refining process, using proprietary catalysts.

"This Unity hydrotreating catalyst will help Wantong and many other refiners meet new global standards for ultra-low sulfur transportation fuels such as gasoline and diesel, without a costly revamp of its equipment,” said Ken Stacherski, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP’s Catalysts, Adsorbents and Specialties business. “The high-activity HYT 6219 catalyst produces high-cetane diesel that meets the China V emissions standard, with sulfur levels lower than Wantong has ever before been able to achieve in its existing unit."

The announcement marks the first commercialization of a Honeywell UOP hydrotreating catalyst in distillate hydrotreating service since it exited an alliance with Albemarle last year, and follows launches of other hydrotreating catalysts for naphtha, hydrocracking pretreat and fluid catalytic cracking pretreat.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A plastic bottle recycler from Brazil plans to spend millions of dollars to open a new location in Florida, said Plasticsnews.

Florida Plastic Recycling LLC is the local name for a USD7 million project in Jacksonville being planned by Clodam do Brasil Ltda.

Word of the new project comes out of local media that spoke with JaxUSA Partnership, the nonprofit regional economic development arm of the Jacksonville chamber of commerce, JaxChamber.

An official at JaxUSA referred questions to Florida Plastic Recycling, which did not immediately return a call seeing comment.

However, local news reports indicated Clodam plans to ship bottles to Jacksonville for recycling and ship out plastic flake.

Jacksonville's location in northeast Florida, with both a major port and access to the interstate highway system, played a role in the company's site selection. The company also will be able to bring in recycled plastic by rail.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US-based Huntsman is planning to close its titanium dioxide (TiO2) manufacturing facility in Calais, France, by the third quarter of this year, said Chemicals-technology.

As part of the plan, the white end finishing and packaging operation of the Calais TiO2 facility will shut down, leading to the closure of the entire facility.

In 2015, Huntsman closed the black end manufacturing operations of its Calais-based TiO2 production facility.

Closing the white end finishing line of the Calais TiO2 facility will enable Huntsman to complete any of its remaining obligations to any third parties and regulators.

The proposed closure will affect 108 positions on site.
MRC