Saudi Kayan Q3 net profit up 55% on price

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Kayan Petrochemical said it has registered a net profit of SR66.91 million in the third quarter 2014 compared to a net loss of SR 43.27 million in the same period last year, said the company.

The increases in profit during Q3 compared with same quarter last year was due to the increase in the average selling prices & an increase in other income attributed mainly from foreign currency exchange gains.

Kayan’s nine month 2014 net losses reduced to SR65.24 million compared to SR 350 million during the same period last year. The decrease in losses is due to increase in the production & sales volume, increase in the average selling prices. During the same period of last year, the Company had shutdowns for some of the production units due to scheduled periodic maintenance.

Saudi Kayan operating profit increased by 352% to SR 366 million during first nine months of year 2014 compared to SR 80.9 million of the same period last year.

As MRC wrote earlier, Saudi Kayan, Sadara Chemical and Saudi Acrylic Acid Company (SAAC) have joined forces to establish a new company, which will build the first butanol plant in the Middle East and the largest in the world. 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 in Jubail Industrial City and operated by Tasnee.

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company is a manufacturing affiliate of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nippon Shokubai has entered into a letter of intent with Takiron Co. in which Nippon will transfer all shares of its Nippon Polyester subsidiary to Takiron, as per Apic-online.

A final share transfer agreement will be signed after negotiations of transfer conditions. Cost of the transaction was not given.

Nippon Shokubai believes that synergies between Nippon Polyester and Takiron would enable further growth for Nippon Polyester, because Takiron has developed various resins products, including polycarbonate, and has strong capabilities in technology and marketing.

As MRC wrote before, in July 2013, Nippon Shokubai Co. received a new "lift of restrictions," allowing the company to resume production at a second acrylic acid unit at its Himeji complex in Japan. Two separate explosions at its Himeji site on September 2012 forced the company to stop production of acrylic acid and superabsorbent polymers and resulted in the suspension of most operations at Himeji.

Nippon Shokubai produces one fifth of the global volume of superabsorbent polymers and it is one of the world's biggest makers of acrylic acid, the main ingredient of a resin called SAP, which is used in diapers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Building on their existing relationship, German compounder and distributor Albis Plastic (Hamburg) in late October broadened its product portfolio in Portugal to include Styrolution’s (Frankfurt / Germany) Terluran standard ABS grades, said Plasteurope.

Albis Plastic is now marketing Terluran GP 22 and GP 35 injection moulding as well as Terluran HI 10 extrusion grades in the south European country.

The German distributor already markets the range in Spain and also represents Styrolution in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as large parts of northern, central and eastern Europe.

As MRC informed previously, in line with this strategey the company announced its two initiatives in October 2013: a planned joint venture with Braskem to produce ABS standard and ABS specialties in South America, and new AMSAN specialty production at Styrolution's plant in Altamira, Mexico.

The Styrolution Group GmbH is a global provider of styrenics , headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. The company is a joint venture between BASF (50%) and INEOS (50%), were merged into the main styrene operations of the two partners. Its main focus is on the production of monomer, polystyrene, styrenic specialties, and ABS. The company offers styrene plastics for a variety of everyday products from different industries, such as automotive, electronics, construction, household, leisure, packaging, medicine and health.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Kazanorgsintez, the only polycarbonate (PC) in Russia, announced price rise of Rb4,000/tonne for November delivery, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

PC prices grew mainly because of the increase in cost of feedstock (acetone, phenol, Bisphenol A). In addition, PC prices are under the pressure of the possibility of introducing excise duty on benzene at the end of this year.

Kazanorgsintez is one of the Russian companies that import benzene for the further processing. November injection moulding and extrusion PC granules will be at Rb122,000/tonne EXW Kazan, including VAT. The producer hopes to improve its margins and cover rising production costs by the increased PC prices.

Russian PC occurred for more 60% than the total extrusion market in the country. Because of the rouble devaluation converters have to refrain from imported PC in favour of the Russian. Market participants' sentiments on PC price rise were mixed in the market. However, this price level is more acceptable than European or Asian PC prices.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company and a global leader in vinyl acetate ethylene (EVA) emulsions, has reported third quarter 2014 adjusted earnings per share of USD1.61 versus USD1.47 in the prior quarter, as per the company's financial report.

The company's achieved record adjusted earnings of USD1.61 per share, up 10% from the prior quarter and 34% from the prior year quarter.

Celanese increased adjusted EBIT margin by 150 basis points from the prior quarter to 20.1%, driven by Consumer Specialties and Acetyl Intermediates.

"Celanese generated its highest ever adjusted EPS of USD1.61 per share in the third quarter of 2014. We expanded segment income margin to 20.1%, a 150 basis point improvement sequentially and a 300 basis point improvement year-over-year. Our excellent results demonstrate the strength of our business model to identify, develop and provide specified materials that add value to our customers and to Celanese. We are also driving strong results in our technology-enabled business through increased flexibility which allows us to benefit from prevailing industry trends," said Mark Rohr, chairman and chief executive officer. "Our earnings drove record adjusted free cash flow in the third quarter. We returned USD137 million of cash to shareholders, USD39 million toward dividends and USD98 million toward share repurchases. With these results, we should end the year with adjusted earnings in the range of USD5.55 to USD5.65 per share in 2014."

The company generated operating cash flow of USD379 million and adjusted free cash flow of USD227 million in the third quarter, which were both records, driven by strong adjusted earnings. Net investment in capital projects was USD145 million in the quarter, mainly related to the methanol unit at the company's integrated facility in Clear Lake, Texas and the natural gas boilers at its cellulose derivatives facility in Narrows, Virginia.

The company ended the quarter with net debt of less than USD1.9 billion, USD100 million lower than June 30, 2014.

"As we look forward to 2015, we are confident that the structural and productivity actions we are taking will help us offset the anticipated methanol headwinds as we move to our own production," said Rohr. "We also expect our customer-focused approach for the materials businesses and the commercial actions we will continue to take in our technology-enabled businesses will provide us with appropriate opportunities to offset other anticipated year-over-year headwinds like fewer industry outages, foreign exchange fluctuations and potential weakness in global economies. Adjusted EPS in 2015 that is in the range of our 2014 projections will keep us on track to deliver on our long-term growth objective."

As MRC wrote before, Celanese Corporation has increase the price of vinyl acetate-based emulsions sold in the Americas. Thus, PVAc homopolymer, vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE) and vinyl acrylic emulsions will increase by up to USD0.05/wet pound effective November 1, 2014, or as contracts allow. This price increase affects all applications including, but not limited to, adhesives, paints and coatings, building products, nonwovens, glass fiber, carpet, paper and textiles.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Texas, Celanese employs approximately 7,400 employees worldwide and had 2013 net sales of USD6.5 billion.
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