Indorama Ventures announces acquisition of Europe leading tire cord manufacturer

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global chemical producer, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Glanzstoff Group. Glanzstoff is a major European manufacturer of tire cord fabrics and single-end-cords (SEC) for high performance tire applications, said the company on its site.

This transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2017, subject to regulatory approval. Glanzstoff offers a broad range of solutions in the tire cord fabrics and single-end-cords in high performance rayon, aramid, Nylon 6.6 and polyester in addition to hybrid filament yarns for the high growth and high performance automotive applications. Glanzstoff is Europe’s largest converter for tire cord fabrics and a global leader in SEC and is vertically integrated into high tenacity Rayon technology. It has manufacturing sites in Luxembourg, Italy and the Czech Republic.

Commenting on this acquisition, Aloke Lohia Group CEO of Indorama Ventures, said, "The acquisition of Glanzstoff provides a unique opportunity for Indorama Ventures to consolidate its leadership position in the tire cord business and strengthens our high value-added (HVA) portfolio. It enhances the company’s value proposition and provides collaborative opportunities with the global automotive tire industry, including those for autonomous and electric vehicles. IVL is a leading global specialty-fibers solution provider with strong presence in headliner yarns, acoustic fibers and tire-cord fabrics and the Glanzstoff acquisition is a strategic fit to help grow this portfolio".

IVL entered into the high-growth tire cord business following the acquisition of PHP Fibers in 2014. Thereafter, it acquired Performance Fibers in 2015 and created a global scale as a result of these acquisitions. The company continues to invest and announced a sizeable expansion of its tire-cord manufacturing line at Performance Fibers in Kaiping, China in January of 2017. On a pro forma basis, the combined revenue of PHP Fibers, Performance Fibers and Glanzstoff in 2016 was USD 602 million. On an all-inclusive basis, the HVA segment of IVL achieved sales revenue of over USD2 billion in 2016.

"We continue to pursue a transformational journey to consolidate our leadership position and pursue profitable growth opportunities in the high value-added segment. The Glanzstoff platform will expand our footprint beyond Polyester and Nylon 6.6 by entering into Rayon technology. Our focus remains on delivering best-in-class propositions, while driving our global innovation agenda to strengthen the company’s capabilities in the value chain in which we are present. We strive to be a world-class, high-growth company and will continue to explore opportunities to deliver earnings growth and enhanced value in a sustainable manner," Mr. Lohia concluded.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand (Bloomberg ticker IVL.TB), is one of the world’s leading petrochemicals producers, with a global manufacturing footprint across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. The company’s portfolio comprises Necessities and High Value-Added (HVA) categories of Polymers, Fibers, and Packaging, selectively integrated with self-manufactured Ethylene Oxide/Glycols and PTA where economical. IVL products serve major FMCG and Automotive sectors, i.e. Beverages, Hygiene, Personal Care, Tire and Safety segments. IVL has approx. 15,000 employees worldwide and consolidated revenue of USD7.2 billion in 2016.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Materials group Solvay said it is part of a consortium with luxury car maker Bentley which will receive a UK government grant to develop high-volume automotive composite technologies, said Plasticsnews.

The Heanor, UK-based unit of Solvay, is a member of the consortium involved in the Flexible Lightweight Architecture for Volume Applications (Flava) automotive project. The consortium also includes UK-based composites engineering and manufacturing company Penso.

Solvay said Flava will develop the composite design, material and manufacturing technologies required to implement a modular, multi-material Body-In-White (BIW) structure suited for large production volume.

Work in the project will include manufacturing composite-intensive vehicle prototypes. These are intended to provide technical and commercial solutions needed to meet emissions legislation in the European Union, focusing on design flexibility, structural integration, lightweighting, vehicle assembly and logistics simplification.

"This will demonstrate the capability of a composite supply chain to offer manufacturing processes that meet Automotive OEM quality, serial production rate and total cost of ownership requirements in standard OEM production facilities," said Solvay.

Alex Aucken, UK automotive director in Solvay’s Composite Materials business, said: "We are honoured to have been awarded this grant by the UK Government, and through this project we look forward to further develop our composite technologies portfolio to translate these technologies to the high-volume automotive market."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azerbaijan will reduce dependence on import of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), Farid Jafarov, head of SOCAR Polymer project, told reporters Apr. 13, reported Trend.

A new polypropylene production plant is planned to be commissioned in the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park in the first quarter of 2018, while a polyethylene production plant in the third quarter of 2018.

The project is being implemented according to schedule.

"Approximately 60% of the work has already been completed," he added. "The project consists of two parts. The construction of a PP production plant has been completed by 73%, while a PE production plant - by more than 30%."

He added that the plants’ PP and PE can be used in the medical industry, light industry and in any other field where plastic is used.

Jafarov said that PP and PE produced at those plants will meet the highest international quality standards.

"Of course, meeting the needs of the country’s domestic market will be a priority after launching the production," he said. "Polypropylene and polyethylene are expected to be exported to the foreign markets, in particular to Turkey, Russia and European countries in the long term. Some 30% of the total production volume will be supplied for domestic needs."

The total cost of SOCAR Polymer’s project is USD750 million, 60 percent of which is financed through Gazprombank JSC.

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2016, it became known that output of Socar Polymer LLC from two Sumgait plants under construction will be sold at local and foreign markets through other sub-companies of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (Socar).

Socar Polymer was established by Socar with share capital of USD 100 million. Since late 2013 Socar owns 51% of shares of the company, while 49% are distributed between Pasha Holding, Gilan Holding and Azersun Holding.

SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets, as well as, supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan. Three production divisions, one oil refinery and one gas processing plant, a deep water platform fabrication yard, two trusts, one institution, and 23 subdivisions are operating as corporate entities under SOCAR.
mrpclast.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan's Formosa has bought up to 120,000 tons of open-specification naphtha, for flat to premiums of about USD2/ton to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis for the cargoes arriving in Mailiao in H2-May, as per Reuters.

This brings the Taiwanese majors' total purchases for May to around 300,000 tons, as per traders in Reuters. Price evels are higher versus discounts of USD1 to USD2.75 Formosa had paid on March 30.

Asia's top naphtha importer has also bought alternative liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for H2-May delivery at a discount of USD60/ton to Japan naphtha quotes.

As MRC wrote previously, Formosa Plastics USA, part of Formosa Petrochemical, shut its 798,000 mt/year polyvinyl chloride (PVC) line at its Point Comfort, Texas, plant following a line leak, as per a company filing. The unit was taken offline last Wednesday following a leak in a 3-inch-diameter degas line. The event ended Thursday, and included the release of an estimated 166.7 lb of vinyl chloride monomer. It was unclear Thursday if the unit had returned to normal operations. Formosa declined to comment.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Plastics USA, part of Formosa Petrochemical, shut its 798,000 mt/year polyvinyl chloride (PVC) line at its Point Comfort, Texas, plant following a line leak, as per a company filing, reported Plastemart.

The unit was taken offline on Wednesday following a leak in a 3-inch-diameter degas line. The event ended Thursday, and included the release of an estimated 166.7 lb of vinyl chloride monomer.

It was unclear Thursday if the unit had returned to normal operations. Formosa declined to comment.

As MRC informed before, in November 2016, Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp. unveiled plans for maintenances at its 540 Mbpd Mailiao refinery, which will happen in March, September and November 2017. The refiner is planning to shut a 180 Mbpd crude distillation unit (CDU) and two residue desulfurizer units (RDS) with a capacity of 80 Mbpd each at some stage during the maintenance periods.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC