Mitsubishi Chemical sets up new polymers site in Chengdu, China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation has announced plans to establish a new production site for performance polymers in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, and start production of PVC slush powder, which is suitable for automotive interior panel skins and other parts, in the spring of 2019, as per the company's press release.

Currently, MCC has two production sites for performance polymers in Suzhou and Changshu, located in Jiangsu Province in coastal China, and produces PVC compounds including PVC slush powder, thermoplastic elastomer, and adhesive polyolefin, for various applications such as automobiles, electric wires and cables, and construction materials.

The automotive market of performance polymers in China has shown a steady expansion, and expectations are especially high for the future growth in demand for PVC compounds including PVC slush powder, which have excellent design capabilities and texture, for use in automotive interiors. MCC aims to meet this robust demand by establishing a new performance polymer production site, through a newly-established subsidiary in Chengdu, in west-central China, where automotive parts production sites have clustered in recent years.

The company also plans to look into production of items for the food, medical care, and optical fields, which, like performance polymers, are expected to see significant growth in the future.

MCC will continue to enhance its performance polymers business through diversifying its application portfolio and accelerating business development in growth markets.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2017, Ube Industries, JSR Corp. and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC) received European Commission (EC) approval for the planned integration of their acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) subsidiaries.

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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MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS has announced plans to invest GBP60 million to expand its Grangemouth site. It has awarded a contract to build an additional furnace on its KG ethylene plant to Selas-Linde GmbH, Germany, as per the company's press release.

This significant investment affirms the Company’s commitment to UK manufacturing at a time when it is in decline across many industrial regions across the country. The addition of a tenth furnace, will improve efficiency of the plant and increase its production capacity, to ensure the business can continue meet growing demand for its products.

John McNally, CEO of INEOS O&P UK says: "Our plans to invest in the UK with the further expansion of our plant at Grangemouth, has been made possible because we now have access to the raw materials that we need. The successful completion in 2016 of our project to bring to Grangemouth plentiful supplies of competitive US shale gas ethane over a long-term agreement, has breathed new life into the plant."

"Production from Grangemouth provides vital raw materials used extensively throughout UK industry. Having additional furnace capacity, will provide a range of future opportunities not just for INEOS and for the site but also for the heartlands of manufacturing in Scotland and the North East and North West of England."

"It is entirely fitting that we make this announcement in the year we celebrate 25 years of continuous manufacture of ethylene on the KG plant. Investment into our Chemicals’ business in Scotland alone has already surpassed ?500m in the last 5 years. This latest announcement demonstrates INEOS’ on-going commitment to its manufacturing operations at Grangemouth and investment into the UK."

Subject to planning approval, preparatory project work will begin later in 2018, with the main construction work starting in 2019 and commissioning towards the end of 2020.

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2017, petrochemical giant Ineos unveiled plans to increase the ethylene capacity of its cracker facilities at Grangemouth in Scotland and Rafnes in Norway to over 1 million tonnes each. The company currently produces nearly 4.5 million tonnes of ethylene and propylene annually across Europe, but remains the largest buyer of ethylene and propylene in the region.

INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- INVISTA plans to add 40,000 tons of nylon 6,6 polymer capacity at its current 150,000-ton polymer plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP), as per BusinessWire.

Construction is targeted for mid-2019 and production would begin in 2020.

"In looking at our forecast for the future growth of the nylon 6,6 polymer market, we see increased demand in Asia and are expanding our capacity to meet that demand."

"We are continuing to make strategic investments to best meet our customers’ needs," said Pete Brown, INVISTA vice president of nylon polymer. "In looking at our forecast for the future growth of the nylon 6,6 polymer market, we see increased demand in Asia and are expanding our capacity to meet that demand."

This project aligns with INVISTA’s other recent announcements regarding additional capacity in the nylon 6,6 value chain:

- new adiponitrile (ADN) plant announced for China by 2023;
- additional ADN capacity resulting from retrofits of INVISTA’s latest ADN technology at Butachimie, INVISTA’s joint venture with Solvay in France in 2019; and at INVISTA’s Victoria, Texas, site, targeted for 2020;
- ADN production records at INVISTA’s Orange, Texas, site.

Brown added, "We’ve invested more than USD1 billion in the nylon 6,6 value chain in the past five years, have recently committed to investing USD1 billion more and are continuing to evaluate the market for additional opportunities in the future."

INVISTA also has a 215,000-ton hexamethylenediamine (HMD) plant at SCIP.

As MRC informed previously, to combat a global shortage of nylon 6/6 resin, materials firm INVISTA will build a USD1 billion plant in Shanghai making adiponitrile, a key nylon 6/6 feedstock that’s been in short supply, the company announced in April 2018.

INVISTA ranks as one of the world’s largest producers of fibers and related specialty chemicals and resins.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Versalis (Eni) has opened a new EPDM rubber production plant in Ferrara today, which will mainly supply the automotive industry, said the company.

The new facility is an excellent example of reindustrialization of an Italian production plant. Over 250 million euros were invested in the project, which involved constructing a new production line on a land which was reclaimed and duly authorized for renewed industrial use, and the revamping of the existing elastomer plant.

This investment in Ferrara will increase overall production capacity by around 50 thousand tonnes per year. It will also enable the company to update its elastomer product range and boost job numbers, with 45 new staff to be added to production and related services, plus a further 50 people to outsourced activities. An average of 550 people worked on site during the construction and the majority of the materials were supplied by Italian companies.

The investment further strengthens Versalis’ presence in the area, facilitated by working closely with local institutions throughout the authorisation process, which was completed in just one year.

Ferrara plays a key role in Versalis’s production system, with 330 employees and an average of 180 contractors a day. As well as elastomers production, the complex also includes production facilities for low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and a major research centre.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- MPM Holdings Inc.and SJL Partners LLC, KCC Corporation and Wonik QnC Corporation announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby the Investor Group will acquire Momentive in a transaction valued at approximately USD3.1 billion, including the assumption of net debt, pension and OPEB liabilities, as per Businesswire.

Based in Waterford, New York, Momentive develops and manufactures specialty silicones and silanes, as well as fused quartz and specialty ceramics products. Momentive has a more than 75-year track record of creating products and solutions to serve more than 4,000 customers in over 100 countries. The Company has a global network of 24 production sites and 12 research and development facilities.

Under the terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of Momentive, KCC and Wonik, the investment committee of SJL and by requisite vote of Momentive’s stockholders, the Investor Group will assume Momentive’s net debt obligations subject to minimum closing cash requirements of USD250 million. Momentive stockholders will receive USD32.50 for each share of common stock they own subject to minimum closing cash requirements.

The transaction will be financed through a combination of cash and new debt that will be put in place at closing. The transaction is not subject to any financing contingency and is expected to close in the first half of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Goldman Sachs & Co LLC and Moelis & Company LLC are serving as financial advisors to Momentive. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as primary legal counsel to Momentive. UBS Investment Bank is serving as financial advisor to the Investor Group, and Greenberg Traurig, LLP is serving as legal counsel.

Momentive is a global leader in silicones and advanced materials, with a more than 75-year heritage of being first to market with performance applications that support and improve everyday life. Momentive delivers science-based solutions for major industries, by linking its custom technology platforms to allow the creation of unique solutions for customers.
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