Westlake Chemical announces quarterly dividend

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The board of directors of Westlake Chemical Corporation has declared a dividend of 12.6 cents per share, reported the company on its site.

The dividend will be payable on June 17, 2014, to stockholders of record on May 30, 2014.

This is the 39th successive quarterly dividend that Westlake has declared since completing its initial public offering in August 2004.

As MRC informed before, in late February 2014, the Board of Directors of Westlake Chemical Corporation declared a two-for-one split of the company's common stock and increased the quarterly cash dividend on the company's common stock by 12% to USD0.252 per share on a pre-split basis.

"These actions reflect the financial strength of the company," said Albert Chao, President and CEO. "The cash dividend increase, the second in less than a year, and the stock split demonstrates the Board's continued confidence in our ability to deliver strong earnings."

Westlake Chemical Corporation is a manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, caustic, VCM, PVC resin and PVC building products including pipe and specialty components, windows and fence.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos Technologies is pleased to announce that it has licensed its INEOS EPS process for the manufacture of regular and flame retardant expandable polystyrene (EPS) to EPS Qatar at a new complex to be built in the Doha region, Qatar, according to the company's press release.

The 50,000 tpa Ineos EPS plant will produce a wide range of EPS grades to cover all the applications from construction to packaging and serve the growing demand in the GCC region. The plant will feature expansion capabilities to reach 100,000 tpa in a second phase.

Peter Williams, CEO of Ineos Technologies, commented: "Ineos Technologies is proud to have been selected by EPS Qatar as its technology partner for the launching of its expandable polystyrene business. The EPS Qatar plant will be the biggest EPS unit in the MENA region."

Ihab El Zahaby, CEO of EPS Qatar, stated: "We are pleased to have selected Ineos Technologies' EPS process as an integral part of our petrochemical project. The Ineos EPS process will provide EPS Qatar with an advanced and robust EPS process with advantaged economics and broad product reach."

As MRC wrote before, in June 2013, Ineos announced its intention to close its EPS production at its Marl site in Germany, at the end of Q4 2013.

Expandable polystyrene is mainly used in the insulation of buildings.

INEOS Enterprises is a standalone business, a part of INEOS AG. INEOS Enterprises is a portfolio of ten businesses manufacturing chemical products in Northern Europe, with sales of these products to customers around the world. The Company is focused on the developing needs of customers and rapid growth through investment in new products and manufacturing facilities or by acquisition. INEOS Enterprises now employs some 800 people across sites in the UK, France, Germany.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plastic film maker Klockner Pentaplast Group would not confirm recent reports that the company is for sale after an earlier attempt to sell the business was unsuccessful, said Plastcsnews.

News agencies Reuters and Bloomberg reported May 28 that unnamed sources told them that Klockner majority owner Strategic Value Partners’ advisors Goldman Sachs Inc. and Jefferies Group will start sending out information on the film company in June and that tentative bids are expected in July.

Klockner spokeswoman Astrid Hoffmann-Leist stated in an email that the company has been the subject of rumors for years since it has been owned by financial investors. She said she could not comment on the potential sale reports.
The reports indicated a sale could value the German film company at about 1.5 billion billion euros (USD2.04 billion). SVP tried to sell it in autumn 2013 but the asking price was not met. Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund SVP acquired the company in summer 2012 from New York private equity firm Blackstone Group LP. Blackstone had acquired Klockner Pentaplast in 2007 from Cinven Partners LLP of London.

Klockner’s key markets are pharmaceutical, medical, food, beverage and cards. Its head office is in Montabaur, Germany, and its North American headquarters is in Gordonsville, Va.

For its fiscal year 2012-13 ended Sept. 30, Klockner logged net sales of 1.19 billion euros, up about 2% from the previous year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was 174 million euros, up 14 percent from 2011-12. The company employs 3,100.

Last summer Klockner revealed it is spending 45.6 million euros in global capacity expansions in 2013-14. Targeted sites are in China, Brazil, Great Britain and Portugal.

Klockner opened its first production site in China in summer of 2013 in Suzhou. It is producing shrink films for double-digit growing markets in Asia. The company has invested 22.5 million euros in the operation, which employs about 76.
In mid-May 2014 Klockner announced changes to its executive management board. Joining CEO Christian Holtmann and CFO Markus Hoelzl are Stefan Brandt in the newly created chief operating officer post and Marc Setzen as chief technology officer.

Klockner Pentaplast makes films for pharmaceutical, medical device, food, electronics, and general-purpose thermoformed packaging, as well as printing and specialty applications. The company has sales of more than USD1.4 billion, more than 3,000 employees, and 17 plants.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azeri state oil company SOCAR has signed a USD3.29 billion financing deal with 23 banks and export credit agencies for the construction of a refinery on Turkey's Aegean coast, said Reuters.

SOCAR is building the USD5.5 billion Star refinery to supply feedstock to petrochemicals maker Petkim, which will help cut Turkey's dependence on imported refined oil products. The Star plant in Aliaga on the Aegean coast is expected to have an annual capacity of 10 million tonnes, 1.6 million tonnes of which would be naphtha which could feed the Petkim plant. It will also produce diesel, jet fuel and LPG.

Around USD2.7 billion of the financing has a maturity of 18 years and the remaining USD600 million has a maturity of 15 years, Petkim said in a statement to the Istanbul stock exchange.

SOCAR said it would use USD2 billion of its own equity for the project but has tapped the markets for funding for the rest. It signed a USD3.46 billion engineering procurement and construction contract in May last year with a consortium comprising Tecnicas Reunidas, Saipem, GS Engineering & Construction and Itochu Corp.

Earlier this week, Petkim said it signed an agreement to buy up to 1.6 million tonnes of naphtha feedstock from the Star refinery. The company said it estimates the purchase agreement will cut its raw material costs by USD30 per tonne.

Turkey has a surplus of gasoline but is heavily dependent on imports of diesel, which are expected to rise towards 20 million tonnes annually from around 12 million last year.

Turkey's only refiner Tupras has four plants across the country with a combined oil processing capacity of 28 million tonnes.

SOCAR Turkey now is the sole owner of Star refinery after Turkish energy firm Turcas Petrol said it sold its 18.5 percent stake for USD59.39 million.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Board of Directors of PolyOne Corporation has declared a quarterly cash dividend of USD0.08 per share on the common stock outstanding, reported the company on its site.

Dividend is to be paid on July 2, 2014, to stockholders of record on June 13, 2014

As MRC informed previously, As MRC wrote previously, PolyOne Corporation has recently announced the addition of new capabilities to its OnColor HC Plus portfolio. These expanded offerings add medical-grade LDPE, nylon, PEBA, PS and PVC to the globally available palette of specialty healthcare colorants, and are pre-certified to meet or exceed biocompatibility requirements for ISO 10993 and/or USP Class VI protocols.

All OnColor HC Plus colorants include formulation lock-down provisions, and are suitable for specialized pharmaceutical goods and medical devices.

PolyOne Corporation, with 2013 revenues of USD3.8 billion, is a premier provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions. PolyOne is a provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions with operations in specialty polymer formulations, color and additive systems, polymer distribution and specialty vinyl resins.
MRC