Azoty mulling importing gas from the US

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polish biggest chemical holding Grupa Azoty is in talks to start buying natural gas in the United States, the company's CEO Krzysztof Jalosinski told. The company could have it transported through the LNG terminal in Swinoujscie, now under construction, said Warsaw Business Journal.

"It is not an easy project, as in the USA the export of gas requires special permits. It is possible, however," Mr Jalosinski said.

In recent years, thanks to technological developments that allow for the extraction of gas trapped in shale rock, the US has become the world’s largest producer of natural gas. As a result, the fuel has become much cheaper in the US than in other countries. A thousand cubic feet of natural gas costs USD3-4 in the US, while in Europe the same amount costs around USD12.

However, US law allows for the export of gas only to countries with which it has a free-trade agreement. That excludes Poland. The US and EU are currently working on a comprehensive free-trade agreement, but that deal, which will be complicated and huge in scale, will likely take years to hammer out, and currently talks are on hold due to the US government shutdown.

At the same time Grupa Azoty has decided to withdraw from plans to engage in Polish shale gas exploration and extraction. "We do not plan capital involvement in gas extraction either in Poland or abroad," the CEO said.

As MRC wrote before, Exxon Mobil Corp. will stop exploring for natural gas in shale formations in Poland, dealing a blow to hopes the country could replicate the shale-drilling boom that revolutionized gas production in North America. Major companies including Exxon, Chevron Corp. , ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil Corp. flocked to Poland in recent years after the country started offering incentives to lure international firms. Poland is hoping to reduce its long-term dependence on gas imports from Russia.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INVISTA, one of the world’s largest producers of polymers and fibers, and ADVANSA, a leading European polyester fiber producer have reached an agreement whereby INVISTA acquired ADVANSA’s assets related to the Specialty Polyester products sector for apparel end uses, said INVISTA.

This acquisition includes reversion of ADVANSA’s licensed rights in greater Europe to the COOLMAX and THERMOLITE brands and acquisition of ADVANSA’s THERMOCOOL brand, along with all related technologies and key staff. Today’s announcement further represents INVISTA’s longstanding commitment to the differentiated fiber and apparel industries.

Prior to this transaction, ADVANSA had license rights to use the COOLMAX fabric and THERMOLITE fabric trademarks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa through a license agreement from INVISTA, the owner of these two brands. Through this acquisition, INVISTA is able to market and promote this portfolio of brands and technologies globally, allowing business development for all clients in the apparel textile chain to be more effective and efficient.

The transaction does not include ADVANSA's branded home textiles fiberfill business, its specialty fiber businesses for nonwovens and paper industries, or its manufacturing plant in Germany. ADVANSA, a leading European producer of polyester fibers, will continue to serve its customers with standard and unbranded fibers as before.

"This transaction will significantly strengthen ADVANSA's balance sheet and will allow us to focus on new investment opportunities as well as continuing to invest in and strengthen our ongoing retained businesses," said Dr. Heinz Meierkord, chief executive officer, ADVANSA.

As MRC wrote before, INVISTA Performance Technologies has acquired from La Seda de Barcelona SA intellectual property relating to its leading purified terephthalic acid (PTA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and related process technologies, including the full rights to exclusively license the technologies in the region comprising Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

INVISTA is one of the world’s largest integrated producers of chemical intermediates, polymers and fibers. The company’s advantaged technologies for nylon, spandex and polyester are used to produce clothing, carpet, car parts and countless other everyday products. Headquartered in the United States, INVISTA operates in more than 20 countries and has about 10,000 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tarkett SA took the first regulatory step toward selling shares in an initial public offering as 50 percent-owner KKR & Co. (KKR) seeks to exit the French floor maker amid rising valuations of building product companies, said Bloomberg.

Tarkett, which is also owned by the Deconinck family, registered the IPO documents with France’s AMF market regulator yesterday to sell shares on the NYSE Euronext (NYX) exchange in Paris, the company said in a statement today. Based on valuations of competitors, an IPO may value Tarkett at between USD2.5 billion and USD3.8 billion, a person familiar with the plan said earlier this year.

IPO volumes in Europe rose sixfold last quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as investors responded to a strengthening economy. Tarkett’s sales rose 11% to 2.3 billion euros (USD3.1 billion) last year, helped by acquisitions and demand in Eastern Europe, Asia and North America.

Tarkett, based in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, has been jointly owned by KKR, the private-equity firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, and the Deconinck family since 2007. KKR will sell some of its shares in the IPO, while the Deconinck family will buy additional ones to increase its stake to more than 50%, Tarkett Chief Executive Officer Michel Giannuzzi said at a press conference in Paris today.

Tarkett last year had adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 260 million euros. Its Ebitda rose 19% in the first half of 2013, helped by productivity gains and the acquisition last year of Tandus, a specialist in commercial carpet flooring in North America.

Tarkett aims for a profit margin of more than 12% on that basis over the 2012 to 2016 period, during which acquisitions may add about 300 million euros in sales. The dividend policy will be to pay out about 40% of net income.
The company today didn’t give details on the timing of the IPO and said the process is subject to market conditions and approval by the AMF.

As MRC wrote before, Russian office Tarkett has recently launched a new production line with capacity of 18 mln square m of heterogeneous PVC coating per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As part of its ongoing efforts to optimize its adipic acid production line, Solvay Polyamide & Intermediates is installing a new process at its industrial plant in Chalampe (France) aimed at reducing the plant’s energy consumption by 8MW and CO2 emissions by 11,000 tonnes annually, according to the company's press release.

The deployment of this new process will require five weeks of work. However, a complete restart of the plant’s adipic acid production is not envisaged.

"We will adjust our production to changes in demand," explained Yannick Adnot, Director of Polyamide & Intermediates Europe. "Faced with the uncertainty of long market conditions, with an offer exceeding the demand, it is our responsibility as a manufacturer to optimize our production accordingly. That too is part of our commitment to maintain and grow our business sustainably," he indicated.

This investment programme aims to tighten control over the plant’s costs by strongly reducing its energy consumption.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, Solvay and Ineos Group Holdings, which plan to merge their European vinyl chloride assets in a EUR4.3 billion (USD5.7 billion) deal, may sell a German site to help win regulatory approval.
Ineos’s site in Schkopau, with the capacity to make about 150,000 tons of PVC a year, may fetch about EUR60 million. The merger of their vinyl chloride assets, announced in May, may allow the companies to cut costs in areas from transport to marketing and raise profitability at a commodity business suffering from inflated raw material and energy costs.

Solvay Polyamide & Intermediates (part of Solvay S.A.) is a major global producer of polyamide 6.6 intermediates and polymers focused on being a reliable partner to customers worldwide. P&I develops and provides polyamide 66 intermediates from HMD, adipic acid, nylon salt down to polymers through 8 industrial plants, 3 research & development centers and its sales offices in the world. P&I produces range Stabamid and its new intermediates product offer: Rhodiamine & Rhodiacid with outstanding properties.

Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company founded in 1863, with its head office in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels, Belgium. The company has diversified into two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics. Solvay supplies over 1500 products across 35 brands of high-performance polymers - fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra polymers, high-barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Korea Petrochemical Industry Company (KPIC) has taken off-stream its olefins conversion unit (OCU) for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the OCU was taken off-stream on October 7, 2013. It is likely to remain off-stream until end October 2013.

Located at Ulsan in South Korea, the OCU has a propylene production capacity of 110,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, Hanwha Chemical is likely to shut a dioctyl phthalate (DOP) plant for maintenance turnaround in end-October 2013. It is expected to remain shut for around two weeks. Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 80,000 mt/year.

We remind that South Korean petrochemical company LG Chem is planning to build an ethylene production plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. The project is going to be constacted in collaboration with two other Kazakh firms. The production is expected to begin in late 2016.
MRC