HEMCO offers rust proof chemical resistant Corner Canopy Hoods

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Corner Canopy Hood is the solution to maximizing your wasted space in corner areas., HEMCO said. It is designed to capture and exhaust corrosive vapors, heat steam, and odors when mounted over areas that have water baths, hot plates or other lab equipment, as per Coatingsworld.

The canopy hood is molded one piece seamless of advanced composite resins that have superior chemical and corrosion resistance, are flame retardant and lightweight for a no rust guarantee, per HEMCO.

The corner canopy can either be wall mounted or suspended from the ceiling and can be equipped with optional side wall panels to prevent cross drafts from affecting the containment of fumes. Standard wall and island canopy hoods are also available both in composite resin and stainless steel.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The investment company Temasek has signed an agreement to subscribe to 31 million new shares of Bayer, corresponding to around 3.6 percent of the capital stock, for total gross proceeds of EUR3 billion, as per Bayer's press release.

With the consent of the Supervisory Board, the Board of Management of Bayer AG resolved to execute the capital increase out of authorized capital against cash contributions and excluding the subscription rights of existing Bayer shareholders. Under the agreement, Bayer is to issue to a subsidiary of Temasek at an at-market price the new registered (no-par value) shares with an entitlement to dividends as of January 1, 2017.

On completion of the capital increase, together with its existing shareholdings in Bayer, Temasek will hold approximately 4 percent of the issued capital stock of Bayer. The shares issued to Temasek will not be subject to any lock-up period. "We are very pleased that Temasek has significantly increased its holding in our company. Temasek takes equity positions in leading companies globally and is a long-term investor," said Bayer CEO Werner Baumann. "This investment affirms our business strategy including the proposed acquisition of Monsanto, as well as Bayer’s strong growth prospects."

The proceeds from this placement will be taken into account when determining the size of the previously announced share capital increase through a rights offering with subscription rights to existing shareholders to finance the proposed acquisition of Monsanto.

As MRC wrote before, in the second half of March 2018, Bayer received the green light from the EU to buy Monsanto, after promising to sell off substantial parts of its business, clearing a major hurdle to the last of a trio of mega-mergers consolidating the global agrochemical industry.

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. In fiscal 2017, the Group employed around 99,800 people and had sales of EUR35.0 billion.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sika said it achieved double-digit sales growth in the first quarter and a new sales record of CHF 1,554.0 million, as per Coatingsworld.

This equates to an increase of 11 percent in local currencies (previous year: 10.7 percent). A positive currency effect (0.9 percent) led to robust sales growth in Swiss francs of 11.9 percent. Sika's growth was also positively impacted by the consolidation of the seven companies acquired last year (acquisition effect: 6.3 percent). When compared to 2017, the fact that the Easter holiday period fell early this year had a negative impact on organic growth in the first quarter of 2018.

"The good development of business in the first quarter indicates that we will be able to grow strongly once again in 2018, and to further implement our strategic targets for 2020,” CEO Paul Schuler said. "We are looking to increase sales by more than 10 percent for the year as a whole, and thereby break through the CHF 7 billion sales mark for the first time."

In the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa) sales increased by 10.2 percent (previous year: 12.4 percent). The major EU countries with the core markets of Spain and the U.K. also exhibited growth. The Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa delivered very impressive growth rates. In the beginning of 2018, Sika acquired Index Construction Systems and Products.

The newly formed Americas region generated growth of 12.2 percent (previous year: 14.0 percent), of which 5.5 percent was achieved through acquisitions. The harsh North American winter led to the postponement of numerous large projects. Mexico and Argentina continue to exhibit above-average development.

Growth in the Asia/Pacific region amounted to 3.9 percent (previous year: 7.1 percent). The highest growth rates were recorded by India, Australia and New Zealand. China and Japan also contributed to growth in this region. In Vietnam, a state-of-the-art facility for mortar production has come on stream in the Bac Ninh plant alongside the existing production of concrete admixtures.

The new Global Business segment recorded a growth rate of 20.9 percent (previous year: 3.3 percent). Among other things, this includes the globally managed automotive business as well as the two acquisitions Axson Technologies and Faist ChemTec.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- PPG announced the European launch of the MEASURECOLOR MOBILE tool, an innovative and accurate color platform that combines a color-matching app with a handheld scanning device to immediately identify color matches, as per Coatingsworld.

Within seconds, the technology links customers to more than 2,500 commonly specified colors in PPG’s industrial powder and liquid coatings color library.

"The easy-to-use scanning device is about the same size as a flashlight battery," said Marco Galanzino, PPG product manager, powder coatings, Europe, Middle East and Africa. "Customers can place it on nearly any surface, including metal, plastic, wood and even soft surfaces, to begin the color-matching process."

Within seconds, the BLUETOOTH enabled scanning device interprets the colour data, calculates the colour difference and promptly sends a PPG colour match to the MeasureColor Mobile app on the user’s tablet or smartphone, eliminating days of lab work and related production costs.

The cloud-based tool does more than match colours to within a Delta E of 0.5. It also provides important ordering information, such as the color name, product code, gloss range, resin chemistry and informs the user whether the product is in stock based on location. Customers can then order the PPG powder coatings they need right on the spot, saving time and money. In addition, the search results give customers the freedom to work with experienced PPG representatives to compare colour standards and choose the best colors for their specific job.

"The mobile tool reflects PPG’s long-standing commitment to customer service and underscores its pledge to provide customers with innovative coatings solutions that meet specific customer needs,” Galanzino said. “Through the MeasureColor Mobile tool, our customers now have a fast and accurate way to keep their color-matching projects moving ahead."
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a historic agreement, GE’s Power Services business announced that it will service power generation equipment in 11 power plants owned by Petrobras, Brazil’s majority state-owned oil company, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Valued at more than USD300 million, the deal represents GE’s largest transactional power generation services agreement in Latin America. The fleet under the contract represents approximately 80 percent of the Petrobras total installed fleet and generates 4.3 gigawatts (GW) of energy, equivalent to the residential power consumption of 57 million Brazilians.

"Petrobras is an integrated energy company with a focus on oil and gas and constant commitment for greater efficiency in our investments and reduction of our costs without compromising our safety and production goals," said Alexsandro Silva, general manager of Support for the Operation of Energy Assets of Petrobras. "Petrobras and GE have been working together for several years to ensure high performances of the power generation assets installed at our plants. We are pleased about this unique transaction experience with GE, which is expected to help Petrobras to accomplish the scheduled outages of our assets for the next four years while also increasing significantly our savings in maintenance throughout the duration of the agreement."

As the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the assets, GE’s expertise on gas turbine engineering, operational profiles and technology solutions were key attributes to the successful deal. GE’s Fleet360 platform of total plant services solutions will help Petrobras ensure reliable, long-term execution of the scheduled outages of its 11 power plants throughout the country while significantly cutting maintenance costs.

"This historic win marks our largest transactional power generation services agreement in Latin America," said Scott Strazik, president and CEO of GE’s Power Service business. "It builds on our successful relationship with Petrobras, reconfirms our commitment to our transactional business and supports our focus to work with our customers to find the right mix of solutions to help meet their dynamic needs. In addition, sustaining gas turbine performance in these times of ever-shrinking budgets can be a difficult challenge. This project highlights how we can tailor the right services solutions to cut Petrobras’ operational and maintenance cosst by up to 25 percent and provide support for the next four years."

The four-year agreement signed in December 2017 includes inspections, parts and repairs for 20 of GE’s heavy-duty gas turbines (four 6FA, six 7FA, 10 GT11N2), 23 of GE’s LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbines, three GE steam turbines and 13 GE generators, which Petrobras has been operating at the 11 power plants since 2001.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, in late December 2016m, Petrobras said its board had approved the sale of two petrochemical companies, Petroquimica Suape and Citepe, to Mexico's Alpek SAB de CV for USD385 million.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
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