Braskem posts 8% sequential sales growth in Q3

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Higher sales volume and the Brazilian currency depreciating by 2% against the US dollar, helped Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem, the largest thermoplastics resins producer in the Americas, clock 8% sequential sales growth in the third quarter of 2014, according to fibre2fashion.

Braskem said it posted net revenue of R12 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2014, or 8% higher from the second quarter of 2014.

Braskem's sales of thermoplastic resins, which include polyethylene, polypropylene and PVC rose 5% from same quarter of 2013, to reach 939 kilo tons in the reporting quarter.

"This reflects third-quarter seasonality and the stronger performance of industries related to durable goods and the performance accompanied the growth in the Brazilian market," Braskem explained.

Braskem's petrochemical complexes operated at capacity utilization rates of 90%, increasing 6% points from the second quarter of 2104.

The resumption of operations on one of the lines at the Triunfo Petrochemical Complex from a shutdown and higher capacity utilization rate at Duque de Caxias Complex offset the shutdown at the ABC Complex.

Braskem recorded EBITDA of R1.5 billion dollars, benefitting from the higher spreads of petrochemical products in the international market and sales volume growth. And its leverage, as measured by the ratio of net debt to EBITDA, declined slightly to 2.71 times.

In October, Fitch revised its rating outlook for Braskem from 'Negative' to 'Stable', reflecting the reduction in its leverage levels and continuous improvement in operating results.

Braskem posted net income of R230 million dollars in the third quarter of 2014, down 42% from the third quarter of 2013.

According to Braskem, despite the stronger demand in the third quarter, the scenario remains challenging due to the weak performance of the Brazilian economy. In this context, Braskem considers it important that the Brazilian government continue to work on measures to stimulate growth in the country's manufacturing industry, focusing on costs and the availability of feedstock and electricity.

"Specifically in the chemical industry, the challenge is even greater, given the competition from US petrochemical producers, which use competitive ethane derived from shale gas as feedstock," said Braskem CEO Carlos Fadigas.

Braskem invested nearly R2 billion dollars in the first nine months of 2014 on maintenance and expansion activities. Of this, around 60% or R1.2 billion dollars was spent on scheduled maintenance shutdowns at the Triunfo and ABC Paulista complexes. The rest was allocated to the expansion strategy in the Americas, which seeks to take advantage of competitive feedstock in Mexico.

As MRC reported previously, in July 2014, Braskem announced its plans for the construction of an Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) plant at its site in La Porte, Texas. Construction is expected to last approximately 18 months with a targeted completion date during the first half of 2016.

Braskem is Brazilian main producer of polyethylene and polypropylene. In addition with ongoing plants located in both petrochemical complexes, in April 2008 Braskem opened a 300,000 metric ton polypropylene plant in the city of Paulinia (Sao Paulo).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Chemical is not pursuing US exports of shale-derived ethane for its European ethylene crackers, instead focusing on enhancing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) infrastructure, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"In our view, ethane to Europe does not make economic sense," said Jim Fitterling, Dow's executive vice president. He spoke to reporters at the company's investor day in Lake Jackson, Texas.

Dow is already moving LPG from the US to Europe for use in its crackers, the company said.

"According to our math, people should be doing LPG cracking in Europe, versus going to ethane and building large ethane carriers," said Dow CEO Andrew Liveris.

Dow has already invested in expanding its LPG cracking capacity at its Tarragona complex in Spain, it said. The company can also crack LPG at its Terneuzen plant in the Netherlands.

Fitterling said more announcements would be made in 2015 in regards to expanding its European LPG infrastructure.

"When we look at it, it doesn't make sense for us to," said Fitterling. "Once you land ethane into Europe, the spread that you’re playing with is very thin compared to LPG."

Fitterling says that European LPG margins have grown by five times over the past four years.

Dow's choice to not pursue US ethane for its European operations is in contrast to companies including Sabic, Borealis and Ineos.

As MRC reported earlier, in May 2014, Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe confirmed that it had reached an agreement with Evergas to expand its contract for a series of state-of-the-art ethane vessels, that are currently under construction in China, to six vessels. In January 2013 Ineos agreed a 15-year shipping agreement with Evergas for the transportation of ethane into Europe from the US Mariner East project, as the world’s first US ethane export contract.

Besides, in November 2014, Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe confirmed that it had reached an agreement with Evergas to order an additional two state-of-the-art ethane vessels, known as "Dragon Class" ships, to bring US ethane from shale gas to its manufacturing plants in Scotland and Norway.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. As of 2007, it is the second-largest chemical manufacturer in the world by revenue (after BASF) and as of February 2009, the third-largest chemical company in the world by market capitalization (after BASF and DuPont). Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Four workers died and a fifth was hospitalized Saturday after a chemical leak at a DuPont facility near Houston, said Reuters.

The workers were performing routine maintenance tasks at the company's manufacturing facility in La Porte, Texas, when the chemical, methyl mercaptan, began to leak at around 4 a.m. Central Time (5 a.m. ET), spokesman Aaron Woods said.

Woods would not say how the company learned of the leak, but said that the Harris County Medical Examiner pronounced four of the workers dead at the scene.

The chemical, used to make insecticides and fungicides, is liquid when it is contained, but becomes a gas when it is released and mixes with oxygen, Woods said.

"This is a tragic loss for the entire Du Pont family," Woods said. "Our thoughts are with the family members as they continue to process the loss of their loved ones."

The company would not release the names, ages or genders of the victims, at the request of their families, Woods said. The company did not yet know how the chemical began to leak, he said.

"Our focus at the moment is solely on the employees and the family members that are impacted and the individual that is in the hospital," Woods said. "But as we move past that we will begin a full investigation to understand what went wrong and what we need to do to prevent this from ever happening again."

As MRC wrote before, DuPont had a phosgene release at its plant in Belle West, Virginia, resulting in one fatality.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Neogroup is in plans to restart a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Lithuania , reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Lithuania informed that the plant is planned to be restarted in end-November 2014. It was shut in early October 2014 for maintenance turnaround.

Located at Klapeida in Lithuania, the line has a production capacity of 160,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, the plant engineering and construction specialists, Uhde Inventa-Fischer, executed the revamp of a plant for the production of bottle and packaging-grade PET for Indorama Ventures Poland Sp. Z.o.o. in Wloclawek, Poland, in September 2014.

The capacity of the polycondensation plant, which was built and commissioned by Uhde Inventa-Fischer in 2002, was increased from 160,000 to 216,000 tonnes per annum. At the same time, the production costs have been considerably reduced through economies of scale and an improvement in energy and feedstock efficiency.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Australian packaging company Amcor Ltd. is developing its own films that do not use Barex resin in the wake of an announcement its Barex supplier will close its Lima, Ohio factory early next year, said Plasticsnews.

In the meantime, the Melbourne-based manufacturer is working on a deal with the supplier, Ineos Group, based in Rolle, Switzerland, for a continued source of Barex-brand polyacrylonitrile (PAN) resin to meet its customers’ needs for the next three years.

John Murray, Amcor executive general manager of corporate affairs, told Plastics News the priority is to secure sufficient Barex PAN to meet immediate needs. Amcor is working with its customers, Ineos and film converters on a technical, legal and commercial framework that will ensure supply until its replacement film is commercialized.

Murray said they hope to finalize a deal “in the next week” but will not comment further until the deal is reached.

He did not specifically respond to Plastics News’ query on whether Amcor would consider buying the Ohio factory, nor would he say what quantity of resin was involved in the three-year supply, nor its cost.

Amcor uses Barex in manufacturing packaging for pharmaceutical, medical and food products. Murray said its inert chemical properties provide a superior barrier for sensitive and aggressive products, such as nicotine and analgesic patches, and animal health products.

As MRC wrote before, Amcor Ltd. is rapidly expanding its presence in the Asian market. The company’s top official in the region said it will soon announce plans for a new plant. Amcor also is expanding capacity at its two Indian plants.

Amcor Limited is an Australian-based multinational packaging company. It operates manufacturing plants in 42 countries. It is the world's largest manufacturer of plastic bottles.

MRC