Turkeys Elif expands packaging line

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Istanbul-based Elif Packaging is making a "significant investment" into expanding its production of pre-made bag and pouch lines, as per Plasticsnewseurope.

The flexible packaging supplier said the expansion would increase production by 50% and will enable it to provide advanced products and new features for customers.

The company did not comment on the size of the investment and current production capacity.

The project will add capacity for the manufacture of stand-up pouches, quad seal bags, and the flat bottom bag products. A new stand-up pouch machine line will also be installed.

As part of its sustainability campaign, Elif also said that it had successfully completed the tests of its recyclable PE pre-made bag solution, on which it has been conducting research since 2016.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- During the official visit to Paris by Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, HRH Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Aramco and Total signed a memorandum of understanding to build a giant petrochemical complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, as per the company's press release.

The complex will be integrated downstream of the SATORP refinery, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco (62,5%) and Total (37,5%) in Jubail, in a move designed to fully exploit operational synergies. This world-class refinery, whose capacity increased from 400,000-barrel-per-day at its start-up in 2014 to 440,000-barrel-per-day today, is recognized as being one of the most efficient in the world.

Located next to the SATORP refinery in the same industrial area, the complex will comprise a world-size mixed-feed steam cracker (50% ethane and refinery off-gas) with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year of ethylene and related high-added-value petrochemical units. The two partners are planning to start the front-end engineering and design (FEED) in the third quarter of 2018.

The cracker will feed other petrochemical and specialty chemical plants representing an overall amount of USD4 billion investment by third party investors.

In total, USD9 billion will be invested, creating 8,000 local direct and indirect jobs. The project will produce more than 2.7 million metric tons of high value chemicals.

"The agreement deepens the exemplary relationship enjoyed by our two companies over many decades. It is one that has evolved from a standard buyer-seller arrangement to one imbued with common interests to further develop and diversify our businesses,“ commented Amin H. Nasser, President and Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Aramco. “Our joint venture SATORP is a remarkably successful model of industry partnership and we are keen to build on this success to further underpin Saudi Aramco’s strategy to expand its capacity in the chemicals sector by 2030."

"This project illustrates our strategy of maximizing the integration of our large refining and petrochemical platforms and of expanding our petrochemical operations from low-cost feedstock, to take advantage of the fast growing Asian polymer market," commented Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and CEO of Total. “Furthermore, this project will enable us to strengthen our ties with Saudi Aramco, with whom we successfully operate our biggest and most efficient refinery in the world. Finally, it will contribute to the Vision 2030 of the Kingdom by creating 8,000 jobs and bringing in new high-added-value technologies."
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayer shares jumped nearly 5 percent on Tuesday following a media report that the US Justice Department will allow the German drugs and pesticides group to acquire Monsanto in a USD62.5 billion deal, reported Reuters.

The Justice Department reached an agreement in principle with Bayer and Monsanto in recent days after the companies agreed to sell more assets, the Wall Street Journal said late on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Under the deal, Bayer agreed to sell additional seed and treatment assets to BASF and agreed to make concessions related to digital agriculture, it said.

Bayer shares rose 4.7 percent by 0800 GMT to reach a one-month high.

Baader Helvea analyst Markus Mayer said he expects the concessions granted to the Justice Department probably did not go far beyond asset sales already agreed with the European Commission.

"The selling of these assets and the rights issue ... should start therefore soon and should be positive triggers for the stock," Mayer said, adding the rights issue should be smaller than initially expected.

The takeover, one of a trio of major deals in the agribusiness sector in recent years, would create a company with a share of more than a quarter of the world’s seed and pesticides market. A souring global farm economy has spurred consolidation among the major players, triggering protests from environmental and farming groups worried about their market power.

The deal reduces competition for sales of seeds and chemicals to farmers struggling with low crop prices, raising the risk for price gouging, said Wenonah Hauter, executive director for Food & Water Watch, an advocacy group.

"The Justice Department’s paltry divestment approach does little to address the extreme control the merged firm will have over farmers’ data, genetics, biotechnology traits or the associated agrichemical industry," she said.

Bayer declined comment on the report, but said in a statement it still anticipated closing the Monsanto purchase in the second quarter.

BASF, Monsanto and the Justice Department declined to comment.

Last week, Monsanto said in a quarterly earnings report that it was confident the US and other needed regulatory approvals would be secured within the second quarter. Monsanto did not host its usual conference call with analysts to discuss the earnings because of the pending merger.

The Justice Department said last month that it was still reviewing the deal and noted that genetically modified seeds are largely prohibited in Europe but widely used throughout the United States.

European Union antitrust regulators approved the deal in March after the companies agreed to sell a swathe of assets to BASF. China, Brazil and Australia have also approved the proposed merger.

The deal was preceded by a merger of Dow and Dupont and a tie-up of ChemChina and Syngenta.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech polymer materials. As an innovation company, it sets trends in research-intensive areas. Bayer's products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Poland’s cellular polypropylene panel maker Gekoplast has been formally acquired by Italy’s K-Holding group, owner of the leading European PP corrugated sheet and transit packaging producer Karton SpA, as per Plasticsnewseurope.

The merger, which took place in late January, sees the coming together of two successful European producers of PP sheet and rigid plastic packaging with a combined annual turnover in 2017 worth EUR100m, according to Gekoplast of Krupski Mlyn in Upper Silesia.

Gekoplast was formed in 2010 through the merger of two old established plastics firms. The merged enterprise, with production now at plant in Krupski Mly, has annual plant capacity of 18,000tpa. As well as its cellular PP panel boards, the firm makes a range of solid sheet using polyethylene, ABS, polystyrene and PMMA, corrugated sheet and plastics packaging.

The Polish extruder is now a major exporter and the leading PP panel producer in Central and Eastern Europe. It serves customers in the packaging, pharmaceutical, household goods and automotive markets.

"We have carried out a very large restructuring of the entire business, we have doubled production capacity, clearly reducing costs and increasing efficiency in a radical way," recalled Piotr Gorowski, Gekoplast’s management board president.

In recent years, the Polish business had seen development investments totalling around €11.83m from its investor owners. Gekoplast was majority controlled by TFI Capital Partners, through its Capital Partners investment fund. Shares of the plastics company have been fully traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since May 2016.

The Karton group, founded as a cartonboard producer in 1967 by the Bressan family, is based in Sacile, north eastern Italy. In a tender offer at the end of last year, it has successfully acquired 99.3% of Gekoplast shares and will withdraw it from the stock market taking it private.

Karton SpA. operates two plants. In Sacile, it has an extrusion and packaging production facility while nearby at San Giorgio di Nogaro the company runs an injection moulding and plastic pallets manufacturing unit.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, has increased list and off-list selling prices for Ateva EVA polymers sold in Asia, as per the company's press release.

The price rixe below was effective as of 4 April, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow.

Thus, the company's EVA prices went up by USD150/mt for the said region.

As MRC informed before, Celanese Corporation has also announced an increase in April prices of vinyl acetate-based emulsions sold in Asia. The price increase was effective March 27, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allowed. Thus, prices rose by RMB200/mt in Greater China, and by USD50/mt in Asia outside of China.

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 7,600 employees worldwide and had 2017 net sales of USD6.1 billion.
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