Huntsman said to consider bid for Rockwood titanium unit

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Huntsman Corp, the U.S. chemicals producer founded by Jon Huntsman Sr., is considering an offer for Rockwood Holdings Inc. titanium-dioxide pigments business, said Bloomberg.

Such a deal would create a titanium-dioxide maker with about 15% of global capacity, vying with Cristal Global as the world’s second-largest, after market leader DuPont Co. Salt Lake City-based Huntsman had USD1.44 billion in pigment sales last year while Rockwood had USD889 million in revenue from titanium dioxide. Also known by its chemical formula Ti02, the chemical is used as a whitener in paint and toothpaste.

Nahla Azmy, a Rockwood spokeswoman, declined to comment on the status of the company’s efforts to separate the TiO2 unit. She reiterated that the company plans to sell or spin off the unit tax-free to shareholders by year-end. Gary Chapman, a Huntsman spokesman, declined to comment.

Huntsman Chief Executive Officer Peter Huntsman said in April that his company wants "to be part of any consolidations in this industry."

Huntsman may face competition from rival U.S. TiO2 producer Tronox Ltd. (TROX), whose Chairman and CEO Tom Casey said in February his company was considering buying assets from Rockwood.

As MRC wrote earlier, Moody's Investors Service has lifted its outlook on Huntsman Corp., noting improvements across the chemical maker's main product lines. Moody's backed Huntsman's corporate family rating at Ba3, three notches into junk territory. The outlook was raised to positive, from stable.

Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. Our operating companies manufacture products for a variety of global industries, including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant International Ltd, a world leader in specialty chemicals, and Wilmar International Limited, a leading Asian agribusiness group, have received the relevant merger clearances for the establishment of their 50-50 joint venture called "the global amines company", which is now in operation, reported Clariant on its site.

The global amines company will be the global platform for production and sales of fatty amines and selected amines derivatives. The joint venture will be headquartered in Singapore with global sales, distribution and production affiliates.

The joint venture has its own production capacities for amines in Germany and China, contributed by Clariant and Wilmar respectively, as well as access to amines capacities in Brazil and Mexico. For amine derivatives, the global amines company has access to around a dozen multi-purpose-plants of Clariant all around the globe. Leveraging on the global reach and the individual strengths of Wilmar and Clariant, the global amines company will seek significant growth opportunities – in particular, in the markets of industrial care, home care and personal care.

Leveraging on their track record of technical and commercial reliability, both partners are dedicated to position the global amines company as a new leading player in the amines and amine derivatives market.

As MRC wrote previously, Clariant has recently introduced AddWorks, its new brand for polymer additives solutions. It consists of: AddWorks, application oriented solutions specifically designed by segments of the plastics industry
AddWorks LXR, a new range of polymer additives designed to provide particular effects in a wide variety of applications. AddWorks are developed by matching the needs of companies engineering technologies for polymerization, polymer producers, compounders, and even converters.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Butanol Company (Sabuco), a joint venture of local petrochemicals firms, has awarded South Korea's Daelim Construction Co. a 1.1 billion riyal (USD293 million) contract to build a butanol plant, reported Reuters with reference to Sabuco shareholders.

The Saudi Butanol Company, which will produce butanol to support the growth of the paints and coatings industry in Saudi Arabia, will be located at Tasnee Petrochemicals Complex

The construction of the plant in Jubail Industrial City will start in January 2014, with completion expected by May 2015. The plant will have a capacity of 330,000 tonnes a year of n-butanol, a type of alcohol used to make other chemicals, and 11,000 tonnes a year of iso-butanol.

As MRC informed previously, the estimated total cost of the project is SR1,939 million (USD517 million). It will open new job opportunities of around 200 direct and indirect positions for Saudi citizens.

Sabuco is a joint venture between Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co., Sadara Petrochemical Co. and Saudi Acrylic Acid Co. (SAAC).

Saudi Kayan is an affiliate of SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.). Sadara is a joint venture between state oil company Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical Co. SAAC is owned by Sahara Petrochemical Co. and National Industrialisation Co. (Tasnee).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian production of caustic soda in January-May 2013 fell by 0.8% compared to the same period in the previous year and totalled 73,800 tonnes, according to MRC Monthly Report.
The largest customers of Russian caustic are Turkey and Ukraine.

The share of their purchase in Russian exports of caustic this year make 47% and 43%, respectively.

Russian largest exporter of caustic soda is Kaustik (Volgograd). The company exported 30,800 tonnes in January-May 2013.

The total Russian imports of caustic soda in January-May 2013 amounted to 18,700 tonnes, up by 10% year on year.
As reported by MRC earlier, in January-May 2013 the production of caustic soda in Russia fell by 1.2% compared to the same period in the previous year and totalled 448,700 tonnes.

MRC