SK Capital invests in packaging producer Lacerta Group

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lacerta Group, Inc., a leading designer and manufacturer of specialty thermoformed packaging solutions, announced today a strategic investment from funds advised by SK Capital Partners, LP, a New York-based private investment firm focused exclusively on the specialty materials, chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors, said the company.

SK Capital is acquiring a majority interest in the Mansfield, Mass.-based business. Lacerta’s co-founders, Ali and Mory Lotfi, will continue to retain a significant ownership stake in the Company. Terms of the deal were not announced.

Privately held since it was founded in 1993, Lacerta is a leading provider of innovative packaging solutions primarily serving the food sector. The Company offers a comprehensive range of custom PET packaging products, including a leading line of tamper-evident products sold under the “Fresh N’ Sealed” brand. Lacerta has experienced top-line growth of 25% annually since 2013 driven by a customer-centric model that is supported by product innovation and fulfilment through its extensive in-house manufacturing capabilities. Given that the vast majority of its products are 100% recyclable, and the packaging solutions produced by the Company can be made with up to 100% recycled content, Lacerta promotes a more circular and sustainable approach to food packaging.

Lacerta offers a complete range of manufacturing services, from concept development, prototyping and mold making, to thermoforming, extrusion, printing and quality assurance. The Company operates thermoforming machines capable of producing millions of packages per year. It also has CNC milling machines for mold making and in-house prototyping thermoformers to help turn around prototypes –– usually within one week. In a rapid response to the needs created by the current pandemic, the Company has also developed a face shield made from PET resin for use by healthcare and retail workers.

SK Capital Senior Director Dave Mezzanotte added, “We view Lacerta as a platform that can be grown in a multitude of ways to serve a wider range of its customers’ requirements. We’re especially excited about the opportunity Lacerta has to enable its customers to meet their internal sustainability targets by utilizing packaging that’s fully recyclable and incorporating recycled content at increasingly higher levels."

Latham & Watkins LLP acted as legal counsel to SK Capital, and debt financing was led by Citizens Bank, N.A. Citizens M&A Advisory acted as exclusive financial advisor to Lacerta.

As per MRC, SK Capital Partners completed the acquisition of a 39.75% stake, roughly 42.4 million shares, in titanium dioxide maker Venator from Huntsman for roughly USD100 million. The deal includes a 30-month option for the purchase of Huntsman’s remaining approximate 9.5 million shares by SK at US2.15/share. Huntsman spun off Venator in a 2017 initial public offering.

As MRC reported earlier, Nanjing Jinling Huntsman, a joint venture between Huntsman and Sinopec Jinling, planned to shut its propylene oxide plant in Nanjing (Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China) on November 1 for scheduled maintenance. This plant with a capacity of 240,000 tonnes/year of propylene oxide will be closed until approximately 25 November.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Solvay Group agreed to sell its North American and European amphoteric surfactant business to OpenGate Capital, a private equity firm with headquarters in Los Angeles, as per the company's press release.

The sale includes the three main production sites supporting the amphoteric product lines located in University Park, Illinois (USA), Genthin, Germany, Halifax, United Kingdom, and a tolling business in Turkey. The agreement also includes tolling and service agreements between Solvay and OpenGate to ensure a seamless transition and minimal customer disruption.

“This agreement represents another critical step in the execution of our strategic plan as we further focus our home & personal care portfolio on growing specialty formulations and custom solutions,” commented Michael Radossich, president of Solvay's Novecare global business unit.

In OpenGate Capital, Solvay has identified a strong buyer for the North American and European amphoteric surfactant business while the sale will generate additional resources for Solvay to invest in its strategic growth segments as part of its portfolio simplification journey. Solvay expects to close the sale by the end of March pending completion of all required social dialogues and regulatory approvals.

As MRC reported earlier, in August, 2020, through the acquisition of the Solvay polyamide (PA) business, BASF enhanced its R&D capabilities in Asia Pacific with new technologies, technical expertise, and upgraded material and part testing services. BASF is planning to integrate the R&D centers from Solvay into its R&D existing facilities in Shanghai, China, and Seoul, Korea. The enhanced capabilities will boost BASF’s position as a solution provider to develop advanced material solutions for key industries.

We remind that BASF-YPC, a 50-50 joint venture of BASF and Sinopec, undertook a planned shutdown at its naphtha cracker on 30 April 2020. The company initially planned to start turnaround at the cracker on April 5, 2020. The plant remained under maintenance unitl 18 June, 2020. Located in Jiangsu, China, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 750,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 24,100 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities and delivered net sales of EUR10.2 billion in 2019. Solvay is listed on Euronext Brussels (SOLB) and Paris and in the United States, where its shares (SOLVY) are traded through a Level I ADR program.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The January contract price of propylene was settled in Europe up by EUR65/tonne from the previous month. However, all European producers announced a greater increase in export prices of polypropylene (PP) to be shipped to the CIS markets in January, than the rise of monomer prices, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Negotiations over January prices of European PP began in the first days of the month. All market participants reported that European producers have gone for a significant increase in export prices for propylene polymers.
Moreover, some producers adjusted their export prices twice in the first two weeks of January.

In some cases, the price growth was recorded at the level of EUR90/tonne, and in some cases, the price increase reached EUR160/tonne.

It is also worth noting that all producers in Europe have serious export restrictions, and some producers do not even plan to sell PP to the markets of the CIS countries this month. Deals for January shipments of homopolymer propylene (homopolymer PP) were done in the range of EUR1,040-1,100/tonne FCA, whereas last month's deals were done in the range of EUR950-1,000/tonne FCA.

Deals for block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) were done in the range of EUR1,100-1,190/tonne FCA, versus EUR970-1,030/tonne FCA a month earlier. The situation with the Middle East polypropylene is no better; local producers also started raising export prices under the pressure of rising oil prices.

Quotas for shipments to the markets of the CIS countries have been reduced in comparison with December. Also, the price of the Middle Eastern PP is under serious pressure from the growth of sea freight.

The deals for January shipments of Middle Eastern homopolymer PP were in the range of USD1,280 - 1,360/tonne CIF. Some sellers have already started negotiating deals for February shipments, and prices are reaching USD1,400 /tonne CIF.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ENEOS Corporation (formerly known as JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy) is planning to restart its naphtha cracker in Kawasaki by mid to end of January 2021, reported CommoPlast.

The company shut this cracker with an annual capacity of 515,000 tons/year of ethylene, 300,000 tons/year of propylene, and 105,000 tons/year of butadiene on 4 December, 2020, for repairment after a technical issue reported at the butadiene separation unit and initially planned to resume operations on 28 December. Then the restart was postponed until 4 January, 2021.

The company’s smaller cracker at the same location was not affected by the issue.

The restart of ENEOS Corp’s cracker come together with three other major crackers in South Korea, which are expected to ease the ethylene supply tightness in the region toward the end of January to early February 2021.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Japan's largest refiner JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy was renamed ENEOS Corporation on 25 June, 2020, as part of a wider re-organization of the parent company JXTG Holdings. The move, which also involved renaming the parent company to ENEOS Holdings upon approval at its annual shareholders meeting in June 2020, comes as it strives to be a more comprehensive energy and materials company under its 2040 vision announced in May, 2019. JXTG Holdings was formed as a result of a merger between JX Holdings and TonenGeneral in April 2017. This followed the establishment of JX Holdings as a result of the merger between Nippon Oil and Nippon Mining Holdings in April 2010.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US combined propane and propylene stocks slid 6.7 million bbl, or 9.2%, during the week ended 8 January to 66 million bbl, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday, said Chemweek.

Product supplied for propane and propylene, an indicator of implied demand, surged 402,000 b/d on the week to 2.1 million b/d. Exports advanced 272,000 b/d to 1.075 million b/d and the four-week average for exports rose 257,000 b/d year-over-year (YOY) to 1.389 million b/d.

Propane imports for the week dipped 32,000 b/d to 149,000 b/d, while the four-week average moved up 7,000 b/d to 154,000 b/d from the four-week average a year ago.

Gulf Coast (PADD 3) inventories tumbled 4.2 million bbl to 35 million bbl in the latest week. Midwest (PADD 2) stocks slipped 700,000 bbl to 18.7 million bbl. PADD 1 inventories fell 600,000 bbl to 7.5 million bbl, and PADDs 4 and 5 stocks dipped 100,000 bbl to 4.9 million bbl.

Mont Belvieu TET propane climbed to 92.375 cts/gal from 89.625 cts/gal last traded before the report's release. Non-TET propane advanced to 91 cts/gal from 88.5 cts/gal. Conway propane rose to 90.25 cts/gal from 87.5 cts/gal prior to the report's release.

As per MRC, exports of polypropylene (PP) from the US were up 4.2% in the eleven months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, while imports were down 34% over the same period. The decline in imports was mainly due to a sharp drop in imports from Brazil, which supplied large volumes of material in 2019 as a pre-sale of Braskem's new PP plant in La Porte, Texas, which was launched in 2020.

Propylene is a feedstocks for producing polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

MRC