Perstorp publishes 2017 Annual Report

MOSCOW (MRC) -- 2017 saw Perstorp reach a milestone with the delivery of a volume-based sales growth of 10 percent and sales amounting to SEK 13,592 million, as per Coatingsworld.

EBITDA excluding non-recurring items increased by 20 percent to record high SEK 2,133 million. A successful refinancing of the balance sheet in the third quarter last year, amounting to €230 million, also gave the company lower interest rates on the floating rate notes. ?The demand was solid and harmonious across all three main regions; America, Europe and Asia, despite some geopolitical uncertainty. Perstorp’s continued focus on proactive pricing also enabled margin improvement. ?Perstorp is a world leader in specialty chemistry and for over 135 years, this expertise has been used to pioneer the development of highly innovative products that advance everyday life across the globe.
In 2017, the company saw the launch of a number of developments: ?

Voxtar, Evyron and Neeture, the world’s first portfolio of polyols based on renewable raw materials according to a mass balance system; ?
New methods of formulating Pevalen, a non-phthalate plasticizer;
ProPhorce Valerins, a new organic acid to improve animal gut health without the need for antibiotics; ?
Developments for Synthetic lubricants for measuring exact fire and pour points ?;
New generation filaments in partnership with 3D4Makers ?

Perstorp has also made significant strides in its sustainability ambitions. In November in Shanghai, the company announced its ambition to become Finite Material Neutral, by switching to renewable resources and reusing finite resource in continuous loops. As a chemical company, Perstorp consumes significant amounts of electricity in production processes and with this in mind, the company committed in 2017 to only use renewable electricity across all their domestic production plants.

"Perstorp’s growth and exceptional EBITDA results were a major milestone for the company," President and CEO Jan Secher said. “The result is particularly encouraging as all areas of the business contributed to this incredible success. We continue to make significant progress based not only on our innovation and sustainability efforts, but also through customer centricity, strong leadership values and a company culture whereby all employees can reach their full potential."
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Petrobras to sell stakes in some refineries, keep others

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA is considering selling 60 percent stakes in two regional blocks comprising four refineries, and keeping full ownership of nine other units, it said in a securities filing on Thursday, reported Reuters.

Petrobras, as the company is known, is considering the sale of a 60 percent stake in two blocks of refineries in the Northeastern and Southern regions. Each block would have two refineries and logistical assets, and Petrobras would keep a minority stake.

The company plans to keep full ownership of nine other refining units in Brazil?s richest region, the Southeast, according to a presentation the company will show to investors at an event on Thursday.

This partnership model, including the 60 percent stake sale in four refineries and keeping the other nine refineries, will leave Petrobras with a 75 percent market share of refining in Brazil, according to the presentation.

The northeastern block would include refineries, pipelines and terminals in the states of Pernambuco and Bahia, while the southern block includes two units in the states of Parana and Rio Grande do Sul.

The partnership model to be presented is the result of internal discussions but no final decision has been made, and the company hopes to discuss it with private investors, the filing said.

As MRC informed earlier, Petrobras’s minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica were excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree published in Brazil’s Official Gazette in the second half of October 2017. The decree prevents Petrobras from immediately selling its minority stake in Braskem, which had been announced last year. A new decree will be required to release the stock sale.

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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Ineos to build styrene monomer plant on the US Gulf Coast

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos Styrolution has announced that it will commission an engineering study to build a world-scale styrene monomer plant on the US Gulf Coast, as per GV.

According to the company, the plant will benefit from access to low cost feedstock and energy from shale gas as well as a good infrastructure. A specific location is yet to be defined, said Ineos.

Steve Harrington, President Global Styrene Monomer and Asia-Pacific, commented: "This new plant will complement our existing SM production facilities and provide a sustained competitive advantage to enable us to supply the global market."

“This plan supports our ‘Triple Shift’ growth strategy and maintains our leading position as a global styrenics supplier to our key customers and industries”, added Kevin McQuade, CEO at Ineos Styrolution.

As MRC informed before, in March 2016, Ineos Group Ltd. unveiled plans of expansion of its plants in USA to take advantage of low-cost natural-gas liquids as feedstock for ethylene production. The company is likely to add 250 mln-1 bln lbs of annual ethylene production at its Chocolate Bayou site south of Houston, Dennis Seith, chief executive officer of the company’s U.S. olefins and polymers unit, said then. Additional polypropylene and alpha-olefins capacity may be added at the site.
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Frigel expands into India with new partnership

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a move to increase its presence in India’s plastics processing market, process cooling technology provider Frigel has established a 50-50 joint venture with India-based auxiliary equipment supplier Matsui Technologies India Limited (MTIL), as per Canplastics.

The JV is named Frigel Intelligent Cooling Systems India Private Ltd., and calls for Frigel to manufacture its line of Ecodry 3DK line of fluid coolers and Microgel RCS water-cooled chillers/TCUs in India. Operations will take place at a facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Frigel India will also supply other Frigel advanced and eco-friendly technologies to the Indian marketplace, including Heavygel centralized high-capacity and high-efficiency water chillers units and the Syncronized cooling system for Beverage production.

MTIL is a manufacturer of auxiliary equipment such as dryers, dehumidifiers, blenders, granulators, and centralized conveying systems. It has served the India marketplace since 2006.

"This is an important step for Frigel’s global strategic growth as we look to meet the rapidly growing need among processors in India for more advanced technologies and techniques to process cooling. This, in turn, will allow them to improve their operations and better serve their customers,” Frigel CEO Duccio Dorin said in a statement. “At the same time, we’re excited to further our relationship with Matsui, given their strong presence in India and their reputation as a leader of auxiliary equipment that complements Frigel’s process-cooling technologies."
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Mitsubishi Chemical Corp establishes management company for performance polymers in Singapore

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC) has set up a regional management company for its performance polymers business in Singapore to expand the scale of the business in the fast-growing ASEAN markets, according to GV.

MCC's consolidated subsidiary, Advanced Plastic Compounds Singapore, was renamed Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers Asia Pacific (MCPP Asia Pacific), to take a strategic management role in the performance polymers business.

In addition to regional management, MCPP Asia Pacific produces and sells thermoplastic elastomers, polyvinyl chloride compounds and performance polyolefins.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2017, Ube Industries, JSR Corp. and MCC received European Commission (EC) approval for the planned integration of their acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) subsidiaries. The combination involves UMG ABS, a 50-50 joint venture of Ube and MCC, and Techno Polymer Co. (TPC), a JSR subsidiary. JSR and UMG ABS plan to acquire joint control over TPC, making TPC a joint venture of the two companies.

Mitsubishi Chemical with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, is a diversified chemical company involved in petrochemicals, polymers, agrochemicals, speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The company's main focus is on three business pillars: petrochemicals, performance and functional products, and health care.
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