Teijin to close Japan film plant, as part of broader restructuring

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An increasingly competitive polyester films market is prompting Teijin DuPont Films Japan Ltd. to close its Gifu, Japan, manufacturing facility, Tokyo-based Teijin announced Jan. 15, said Plasticsnews.

In a filing to Tokyo Stock Exchange, the company said Gifu would stop commercial production in September 2016 and its business would shift to the company’s Utsunomiya, Japan, factory or overseas locations. It’s the latest of a series of restructuring plans first unveiled by Teijin in November.

"To date, TDFJ has implemented numerous measures to reduce costs, including discontinuing production at its Ibaraki factory, to make its polyester films business more competitive," it said in a statement.

"Despite these efforts, increasingly intense rivalry in global markets persuaded the company of the need to further integrate its production facilities to enhance production efficiency and ensure profitability going forward," Teijin said.
Gifu, which has annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons, will continue as a research and development center.

Teijin said 240 employees work in the manufacturing department there and that "as much as possible" it will try to find other jobs for them within Teijin.

In its November announcement, the company said it would scale back some operations in more commodity plastics, such as closing its polycarbonate manufacturing plant in Singapore later this year because the plant has high feedstock costs.

At the same time, it said it would increase investment in other materials, including carbon-fiber reinforced thermoplastics and blends of PC and polyphenylene sulfide plastic, and study establishing a CFRP production facility in the United States.

Teijin, which has 16,000 employees, posted sales of USD7.7 billion in its fiscal year end March 31.

As MRC wrote before, Teijin Ltd. has disclosed "dramatic restructuring" initiatives that reflect changes in the business environment and are intended to move the company toward a solutions-oriented business model. Among the planned actions, Teijin said it will with-draw by the end of December 2015 from its Teijin Polycarbonate Singapore subsidiary which lacks competitiveness in terms of energy costs. According to a recent notice to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Singapore plant has 225,000 t/y of polycarbonate (PC) capacity. The company explained that the plastics business has been impacted by a supply-demand balance that remains persistently adverse, and an inability to pass on price increases for raw materials by raising sales prices.

Teijin is a technology-driven global group offering advanced solutions in the areas of sustainable transportation, information and electronics, safety and protection, environment and energy, and healthcare. Its main fields of operation are high-performance fibers such as aramid, carbon fibers & composites, healthcare, films, resin & plastic processing, polyester fibers, products converting and IT. The group has some 150 companies and around 17,000 employees spread out over 20 countries worldwide. It posted consolidated sales of JPY745.7 billion (USD 7.4 billion) and total assets of JPY 762.4 billion (USD7.6 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF is enlarging its product range of extruded polystyrene rigid foam panels (XPS) with the brand name Styrodur to include a new product: Styrodur 3000 CS has the same thermal conductivity of 33 mW/mK across all panel thicknesses from 30 to 240 mm, as per the company's press release.

The thermal conductivity of the insulation panels is up to 15% better than standard Styrodur grades.

The new production technology involves joining together several thinner panels with excellent technical properties. This now means panels with a thickness of more than 140 mm can be manufactured with improved thermal conductivity. "With this technology, for which we have filed a patent application, BASF offers an extruded foam providing the proven high quality of Styrodur with lots of advantages for builders, the building material suppliers, planners and architects," says Klaus Ries, who is responsible for BASF’s styrene foams business in Europe.

Besides improved thermal conductivity, the new technology also leads to faster availability of thick insulation panels. The resulting flexibility benefits primarily the building material suppliers and construction site management.

The new Styrodur 3000 CS provides architects and planners with a product for many structural and civil engineering applications. Using Styrodur 3000 CS simplifies calculations as a result of it having the same thermal conductivity for all thicknesses. Thanks to the better thermal conductivity, the U-values (thermal transfer coefficient) required by law can be achieved with much thinner boards. In addition, it is now possible to install the insulation in one layer, allowing the insulation to be installed by the craftsman at the building site more quickly and cost-efficiently. This means that Styrodur 3000 CS insulation is particularly economical in perimeter areas and inverted roofs.

As MRC wrote before, BASF is the first European manufacturer to have completely switched a production plant for XPS (extruded polystyrene rigid foam) to a new polymeric flame retardant (PolyFR).

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN).
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MOSCOW (MRC) - SIBUR Group, the largest producer (Sibur-Khimprom) and exporter of expandable polystyrene (EPS), announced a significant decrease the export prices for January delivery, compared with the price level in December, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

The producer decreased its contract price for EPS for January delivery by USD330/tonne, compared with the December level, reported buyers in the foreign markets.

The reason for the decline in prices was a general downtrend of styrene and styrene plastics prices in foreign markets. Chinese and European producers have kept the policy of reducing prices in January on the back of cheapening feedstock and a decrease in costs of production of the polymer.

As previously reported, January styrene monomer prices in Europe were agreed at EUR958/tonne, down EUR290/tonne compared to the previous month.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- In 2006, the first Responsible Care Charter was signed in France by the French Union des Industries Chimiques and its member companies, including Arkema. By signing this latest charter, Arkema renews its commitment to sustainable growth while continuously working towards improvements in safety and the protection of health and the environment in accordance with the guiding principles of the ICCA, reported Arkema on its site.

The Arkema Group gears its research efforts to sustainable development and the key challenges of our planet. It creates innovative solutions for new energies, lighter materials, access to water, the development of renewable raw materials, and recycling.

As a responsible chemicals manufacturer, Arkema ensures the safe management of its products while involving every player in the supply chain from raw material procurement to customer. Accordingly, the Group has now joined the Together for Sustainability platform to evaluate and optimize the sustainable development practices of the various players in the chemical industry supply chain. Furthermore, the Group performs life cycle analyses of its products to help minimize the environmental impact of its activities.

As MRC informed previously, in order to guarantee flawless bottles to bottle manufacturers, Arkema, a France-based chemical manufacturer, has developed major technological innovations in protective coatings, combined with an audit and training service, and a product certification that is unique in the profession.

Arkema with annual revenue of EUR6.1 billion is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mohawk Industries Inc., which bills itself as the world’s largest flooring company, is acquiring IVC Group - a rapidly growing manufacturer of luxury vinyl tile (LVT) in Europe - in a USD1.2 billion deal that the two companies have talked about for years, said Plasicsnews.

Based in Calhoun, Ga., Mohawk has spent the last decade transforming itself from a U.S. carpet maker to a global flooring manufacturer with operations in 10 countries and net sales of USD7.3 billion in 2013 and USD5.9 billion through the third quarter of 2014.

IVC, which got its start in Belgium in 1997, has been growing, too. The company, which also makes sheet vinyl and laminate, has sales of about USD700 million. In Europe, IVC built the first high-speed LVT production line in the world to compete with imports and it is building a luxury vinyl plank and tile facility in Dalton, Ga. that will have a capacity of USD200 million.

Overseas on IVC’s home turf, Mohawk is constructing an LVT factory with about USD150 million of capacity in Belgium, which gives the two companies a lot of potential synergies in terms of sales, manufacturing, transportation and administration in Europe and the United States, Mohawk Chairman and CEO Jeff Lorberbaum said in a Jan. 14 conference call.

LVT, which replicates the look of natural hardwood planks, mosaic tile and stone, is about a USD1 billion market in the United States, and it is taking share from laminate, sheet and ceramic flooring for both residential and commercial customers.

The U.S. market, which makes up about 70% of Mohawk’s business, will continue to be the company’s primary focus, Loberbaum said.
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