GPPC shut SM plant in Taiwan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Grand Pacific Petrochemical Corp (GPPC) has shut a styrene monomer (SM) plant for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the plant was shut early this week. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 250,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, earlier, GPPC shut down its another SM plant for maintenance turnaround in Taiwan on February 15, 2014. The plant remained off-stream till March 11, 2014. Located at Tashe in Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 130,000 mt/year.

We also remind that Taiyo Petrochemical is in plans to shut down its SM plant for maintenance in September 2014. The shutdown is expected to remain in force for around 30 days. The plant is currently operating at full production capacity levels. Located at Ube in Japan, the SM plant has a production capacity of 370,000 mt/year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Quality Circular Polymers is building a new plastics recycling operation in Geleen, the Netherlands’ Chemelot industrial chemical site, with a capacity of 100,000 metric tpa of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) at full production, as per Plastemart.

The total investment will be EUR75 mln (USD103 mln), over three phases. The first phase, an investment of EUR35 mln is expected to go into production by the end of 2015.

The investor is the newly formed Chemelot Ventures, which is the successor of Limburg Ventures. The co-investor is LNV Industriebank LIOF, the regional Limburg investment firm. QCP is working with SITA Netherlands, the recycling and waste-to-energy unit of French water treatment and waste management company Suez Environnement SA, according to executives of the recycling company.

As MRC informed earlier, Veka Recycling is investing almost EUR1.2 million (USD1.6 million) in its south-east England facility to produce high-quality recyclate suitable for PVC extruded products. A new compounding line will enable the company to supply European markets with PVC pellets derived from post-industrial or post-consumer window frame material. According to the firm, this is in addition to the existing supply of both pellet and micronised PVC from its German and French factories.

Established in the UK since 2007 and with an annual recycling capacity of 20 000-plus tonnes, the Kent-based company is part of the VEKA Recycling Group, which has processing facilities in three European countries and has more than two decades' recycling experience in producing pelletised material that can be used in new extrusion products, including windows.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont Co. said its first-quarter earnings fell 57% as the chemicals and agricultural-products company reported that growth in most of its businesses was offset by harsh weather and shifts in agriculture, said The Wall Street Journal.

The bottom line also was impacted by the sale of its performance coatings business last year, which had contributed nearly USD2 billion of income for the year-earlier period. In the latest quarter, earnings from the company's remaining operations rose 4.2%.

DuPont said that in the latest period, adverse weather reduced per-share earnings by an estimated seven cents owing to increased operating costs and lost sales.

In its agriculture business, volume growth in the Americas was constrained by shifts in the timing and planted area as well as harsh weather. However, volume improved in each of DuPont's industrial-related segments.

In the latest quarter, the agricultural business reported sales fell 6% to USD4.39 billion.

The Wilmington, Del.-based company is shifting away from lower-growth commodity businesses toward higher-growth areas, such as nutritional products and agriculture. As part of the effort, DuPont last year said it plans to spin off its performance chemicals segment - best known for materials in nonstick frying pans and house paints.

DuPont reported a profit of USD1.44 billion, down from USD3.35 billion, a year earlier. Excluding expenses related to the separation of the performance-chemical business, year-earlier customer-claims-related charges, tax impacts and other items, adjusted earnings rose to USD1.58 from USD1.56. Revenue decreased 2.7% to USD10.1 billion.

DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802. DuPont developed many polymers such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kevlar, Zemdrain, M5 fiber, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona and Lycra. DuPont developed Freon (chlorofluorocarbons) for the refrigerant industry, and later more environmentally friendly refrigerants. It developed synthetic pigments and paints including ChromaFlair.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexican petrochemicals firm Alpek reported a 14% year-on-year drop in first quarter revenue, impacted by a steep decline in polyester feedstock prices, said Bnamericas.

Alpek's net income dropped 61% to USD24mn compared to 1Q13, but rose from a USD9mn loss in 4Q13.

Alpek's polyester segment was hit by the recent drop in feedstock prices, which led to a USD22mn inventory devaluation charge and created "a temporary mismatch between sales prices and average feedstock costs that negatively impacts margins," according to the firm's financials.

First quarter Ebitda was USD105mn, down 34% year-on-year and 20% from the fourth quarter. The company invested USD44mn in projects during the first quarter. Alpek's Cosoleacaque cogeneration plant is slated to begin operations in 2Q.

Alpek's drop in revenues impacted parent company Alfa, which reported a 38% year-on-year drop in first quarter profits. Alfa invested USD236mn in 1Q to support future growth, mainly through energy projects.

As MRC wrote before, Russian ONK and Alpek in September 2013 signed an agreement for joint project for construction of PTA and PET plant in Ufa (Russia). )

Alpek is the largest petrochemical company in Mexico and the second largest in Latin America. The company operates through two business segments: Polyester chain products (PTA, PET and polyester fibers), and Plastics and Chemicals products (PP, EPS, caprolactam, polyurethanes and other specialty and industrial chemicals). Alpek is a leading producer of PTA and PET worldwide, operates the largest expandable polystyrene plant in America and one of the largest polypropylene plants in North America. It is also the only producer of caprolactam in Mexico. The company operates 20 plants in Mexico, USA and Argentina, and employs 4,700 people. Alpek is a publicly traded company listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Akzo Nobel NV said that first-quarter net profit was up 45% on lower financing costs, while revenue fell 2% because of currency losses and despite higher volumes in all of its businesses, said The Wall Street Journal.

Net profit for the first three months of the year was EUR129 million (EUR178 million) compared with EUR89 million a year earlier.

Akzo Nobel, one of the world's leading paint and coatings makers, said revenue slipped to EUR3.38 billion from EUR3.47 billion a year earlier. While rising volumes and higher priced goods added 4% to sales, foreign exchange rates had a negative impact of 5%.

Under the leadership of Chief Executive Ton Buchner, Akzo Nobel set new financial targets for 2015 and accelerated plans to further streamline the paints and chemicals group.

Akzo Nobel, best known for paint brands such as Dulux and Sikkens, said it remains on track to reach its 2015 financial targets. It aims to achieve a 9% return on sales, a 14% return on invested capital and a net debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ratio lower than 2.0.

"These results are a further step towards the delivery of Akzo Nobel's 2015 targets," Chief Financial Officer Keith Nichols said. "Despite higher restructuring charges, continued adverse currency effects and ongoing weakness in Europe, our year-on-year return on sales, both before and after higher restructuring charges, improved for the third consecutive quarter."

Akzo Nobel's return on sales rose to 6.4% in the first quarter, from 6.3% in the first quarter of 2013. Excluding restructuring costs, its operating margin stood at 7.7%, up from 7.1%.

As MRC wrote before, AkzoNobel has completed the sale of its Primary Amides chemicals business to PMC Group effective December 31, 2013.

Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people.
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