Specialty chemicals distributor Azelis to acquire specialist supplier S&D Group Ltd

(Azelis) -- Azelis, the leading pan-European specialty chemicals distributor, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire S&D Group Limited, a leading specialist supplier of raw materials and ingredients to the pharmaceutical, food, personal care and performance chemicals industries.

The acquisition of S&D Group is strategically important as it will significantly strengthen the Azelis Life Science business (Pharma, Food & Health and Personal Care), both in terms of portfolio coverage as well as geographic spread.

Excluded from the acquisition are those S&D companies involved in the pharmaceutical finished dosage (S&D Pharma), chemical synthesis and laboratory supply markets (Chemgo), as well as part of its personal care actives business (S&D Chesham GmbH and ProTec Ingredia), - these entities will retain their original ownership.

The completion of the acquisition is subject to cartel clearance and is expected to close within the first quarter.

MRC

(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is again subject to anti dumping investigation in European market on its polyethylene terephthalate (PET) products, after being subject to ADD on polypropylene in India, SABIC said in statement.

⌠The European Commission has, on Wednesday 16th February 2011, following a complaint by the Committee of PET Manufacturers in Europe, initiated anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations with respect to imports of PET originating in or exported from Oman and Saudi Arabia, SABIC said in email to Arabianoilandgas.com.

⌠SABIC and its affiliated company Ibn Rushd (Ibn Rushd) are studying the complaint and will coordinate with the Saudi Government, in preparing their response. SABIC and Ibn Rushd will cooperate fully with the European Commission investigation, it added.

⌠As one of the world's foremost petrochemical companies, SABIC and Ibn Rushd are committed to complying with their obligations under international laws and treaties, including those with which the investigation is concerned, SABIC added.

MRC

(Plastics Today) -- Empire Precision Plastics Inc., specializing in high-volume injection molding and mold manufacturing, announced that it is installing two, precision 55-ton Arburg injection molding presses with Arburg automation for an OEM customer with requirements for medical disposables. According to Markus Lettau, director of sales and application engineering for Empire (Rochester, NY), the cells will be enclosed in ⌠micro clean rooms which cover the molding machine clamp and automation area (where parts are packaged), to provide clean-environment molding and handling.


About 55% of Empire Precision Plastics' business is now medical, which also prompted the company to move forward and become ISO 13485:2003 certified. The certification, which the company received in the third quarter of 2010, will help Empire grow its medical business, and ⌠fully participate in the medical market, Lettau notes.


Empire currently operates 42 injection molding machines in a 42,500-ft2 facility. In addition to medical, the company continues to serve the electronics market on which the business was founded, along with industrial components and some consumer components.

MRC

(Press TV) -- Iran's Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company (BIPC) says it has exported more than USD 1 billion worth of products to 23 countries from March 2010 to January 2011.

"In the first 10 months of the [Iranian calendar] year [March 2010 to January 2011], this unit produced more than 1.811 tons of petrochemical products. The figure shows an 18-percent increase compared to the same period last year," the BIPC said in a statement on Monday.

The total amount of exports stood at more than USD 1 billion, which is 67 percent higher from last year, Mehr News Agency quoted the statement as saying.

Over that period the BIPC - one of Iran's largest industrial establishments - exported pentane plus, butane, propane, propylene, pyrolysis petrol, xylene, ethylene, and benzene. The products were exported to European, Asian, and Middle Eastern countries, including Britain, France, Italy, Japan, China and South Korea.

MRC

(Braskem) -- Braskem-Idesa, a joint venture between the Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem and the Mexican group Idesa, took another important step towards the development of the Ethylene XXI project in Mexico. The JV selected the Lupotech T process technology of the Dutch company LyondellBasell for the 300 kt LDPE (low density polyethylene) plant, which is one of the three polyethylene plants of the Mexico project, with start up slated for 2015. The industrial unit will be built in the region of the Coatzacoalcos/Nanchital Petrochemical Complexes in the state of Veracruz.

The Lupotech T technology is owned by the Dutch company LyondellBasell and is the most widely used process in high-pressure units, which will guarantee the best possible performance for the investment. This will be the first license for a tubular LDPE plant in Mexico and the Americas in over 20 years.

MRC