ALPLA completes takeover of Zamil ALPLA

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ALPLA, plastic packaging specialist based in Austria, acquires all shares of Zamil ALPLA. The acquisition is expected to be closed within the first quarter of 2019, said Eppm.

ALPLA and Zamil founded a joint venture in 2008, of which ALPLA previously held a 49 per cent share.

After ten years of close collaboration as part of a joint venture, ALPLA has acquired all the shares of Zamil ALPLA. The buyer will continue to run the company as before, and with all employees, under the name ALPLA. Around 390 employees produce preforms and packaging made from HDPE and PET at three locations in Dammam, Jeddah (both Saudi Arabia) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

All three locations in the Middle East will continue operations as usual. The acquisition was signed on 27 December 2018 and will be completed in the first quarter of 2019. The contracting partners have agreed not to disclose any of the details of the agreement.

ALPLA is one of the leading companies involved in plastic packaging, producing custom-made packaging systems, bottles, closures and moulded parts at 178 sites across 46 countries.

The packaging is used in a wide range of areas, including for food and drinks, cosmetics and care products, household detergents, washing and cleaning agents, pharmaceutical products, engine oils and lubricants.

ALPLA operates its own recycling plants with a PET Recycling Team in both Austria and Poland, and in the form of collaborations in Mexico and Germany.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi International Petrochemical (Sipchem) on Wednesday reported a 75.67% year-on-year decline for the fourth quarter of 2018, recording SAR 40 million from SAR 164 million, as per English.mubasher.

On the other hand, Sipchem reported a net profit of SAR 583 million for fiscal year 2018, 33.3% up from SAR 437 million in 2017, according to a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

The company has attributed the hike in annual profits to an increase in revenue due to the rise in average selling prices of the company’s products.

The petrochemical maker’s revenue rose by 12.9% to SAR 5.035 billion last year, compared to SAR 4.459 billion in 2017.

Earnings per Share (EPS) amounted to SAR 1.59 in 2018, compared to SAR 1.19 a year earlier.

In October, Sipchem posted a 98.9% growth in net profits after calculating zakat and tax for the first nine months of 2018, registering SAR 543 million, versus SAR 273 million in the corresponding period of 2017.

As for Q3-18, the Saudi company’s net profit jumped 48.27% to SAR 180.3 million from SAR 121.6 million in Q3-17.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik has launched its second venture capital fund with a volume of EUR150 million, more than doubling the amount under management to EUR250 million, as per the company's press release.

The new fund will help secure access to disruptive technologies and innovative business models as well as supporting Evonik’s digital transformation and enabling early identification of potential technology acquisition targets.

"Investments in and partnerships with start-up companies generate strategic value and growth opportunities", said Dr. Harald Schwager, Evonik’s deputy chairman of the executive board, who is responsible for innovation. "Our venture capital arm is a vital link to tomorrow’s technologies and way of doing business."

The head of Evonik Venture Capital GmbH is Dr. Bernhard Mohr. "The extension of the fund volume to EUR250 million manifests our ambition to establish Evonik Venture Capital as one of the global leading investors in the specialty chemicals space", said Mohr.

As well as providing capital, Evonik offers start-ups access to the resources of one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies. Since its inception in 2012, Evonik has realized 25 investments. The venture capital unit has a global reach with offices in Germany, USA and China. The investment focus is on business and innovation fields such as Health & Care, Animal Nutrition, Smart Materials and Specialty Additives, which Evonik has already identified as growth drivers.

The portfolio, which is made up of both direct and fund investments, includes companies such as Israeli digital-printing specialist Velox and the biotechnology start-up Numaferm, based in Dusseldorf. The portfolio company Structured Polymers, a US-based business active in 3D-printing technology, was acquired by Evonik in early 2019.

As MRC informed previously, in June 2018, the technology company The Linde Group and the specialty chemicals company Evonik Industries concluded an exclusive cooperation agreement on the use of membranes for natural gas processing.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Angarsk Polymers Plant (part of Rosneft) has shut down its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's customers said Angarsk Polymers Plant took off-stream its LDPE production due to severe frosts in the region. The exact dates of the forced outage have not been announced so far. The plant's annual production capacity is 80,000 tonnes.

Angarsk Polymer Plant (controlled by Rosneft through OOO Neft-Aktiv) is the only petrochemical full-cycle plant in Eastern Siberia. The bulk of the produced ethylene is used by the plant for the production of LDPE, styrene monomer (SM) and polystyrene (PS). Straight-run gasoline and hydrocarbon gases, mainly produced by OAO Angarskaya NHK, are the feedstocks for the plant.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) from Russia totalled about 18,000 tonnes last month, compared to 15,600 tonnes a year earlier. Imports were still scarce, according to MRC's DataScope report.
Russian producers have maintained fairly high exports since last October amid weak demand for SPVC from the domestic market. Exports of Russian suspension were about 18,000 tonnes in the first month of the year, compared to 15,600 tonnes a year earlier and 19,300 tonnes last December. Overall exports of resin from Russia totalled 146,300 tonnes in 2018 versus 100,700 tonnes a year earlier. The increased output and the continuing decline in demand from the domestic market forced Russian producers to export more and more PVC for export.

Indian buyers with a volume of over 66,000 tonnes became the key foreign importers of Russian resin. Belarusian customers with a volume of over 28,000 tonnes were the second largest buyers of SPVC in Russia.

Sufficient supply of PVC from Russian producers led to a multiple decrease in imports. There were almost no foreign SPVC shipments last month. Overall imports totalled 16,100 tonnes in the entire year of 2018 versus 48,900 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC