EU Commission approves sale of Bayer crop-science assets to BASF

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European Commission approved on April 30 the acquisition of parts of Bayer’s business by fellow German chemical major BASF, after a pledge by the German pharmaceutical giant to sell some of its assets to address competition concerns raised by Brussels, according to NewEurope.

Bayer had agreed on April 26 to sell some more parts of its crop-science business for EUR1.7 billion, with BASF having already agreed to acquire a EUR5.9 billion remedy package of crop science businesses last October.

The Bayer Divestment Business includes Bayer’s entire vegetable and broad acre seed businesses, including its R&D organisation. A number of Bayer non-selective herbicide assets, in particular Bayer’s global glufosinate business assets and three lines of research, as well as Bayer’s nematicidal seed treatment assets and products (sold under the Poncho, VOTiVO, COPeO and ILeVO brands), and Bayer’s global digital agriculture assets and products are subject to a temporary licence from BASF to Bayer).

"Since BASF does not currently sell seeds or non-selective herbicides and has only recently started to develop a limited offering in digital agriculture, the Commission did not identify competition concerns with most parts of the transaction," said the Berlyamont.

Concerns remain, however, regarding reduced innovation competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) for the development of certain non-selective herbicides and potential competition for the production of nematicidal seed treatments. To address this, BASF has committed to divest one of its overlapping lines of research for the development of non-selective herbicides and a pipeline nematicidal seed treatment product with the branded name Trunemco.

The Commission has suggested that its recent decision "will not prejudge the outcome of that separate assessment," as this is an ongoing process for the EU Competition watchdog.

As MRC informed earlier, on 10 April 2018, Bayer shares jumped nearly 5% following a media report that the US Justice Department will allow the German drugs and pesticides group to acquire Monsanto in a USD62.5 billion deal.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech polymer materials. As an innovation company, it sets trends in research-intensive areas. Bayer's products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas has restarted its low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit following a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Malaysia informed that the company has resumed oprations at the unit end-April 2018. The unit was taken off-line for maintenance in mid-April, 2018.

Located at Kerteh in Terrenganu, Malaysia, LDPE plant has a production capacity of 255,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, in late March 2018, Petronas Chemicals secured a USD1-billion bridge loan from various local and international banks, fulfilling one of the conditions of its planned divestment of a 50% stake in PRPC Polymers to Aramco Overseas Holding Cooperatif (AOHC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
mrplast.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical reported Q1 EPS of USD2.20, USD0.04 better than the analyst estimate of USD2.16. Revenue for the quarter came in at USD2.15 billion versus the consensus estimate of USD2.14 billion, as per Reuters.

Record quarterly sales of USD2.15 billion.
Earnings per diluted share of USD2.20, an increase of 108% from the first quarter of 2017.
Record quarterly income from operations of USD401 million.
Record quarterly EBITDA of USD579 million.

"Demand remains strong for our products in both the Olefins and Vinyls segments due to continued growth in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and we continue to benefit from the investments made in 2017 to improve our operations and reliability," said Westlake CEO Albert Chao.

Lower income taxes as a result of US reforms in late 2017 and a $6m pre-tax gain from the redemption of debt in February 2018 also buoyed proftis during the quarter, Westlake added.

As MRC informed earlier, in February 2018, the Board of Directors of Westlake Chemical Corporation has declared a regular dividend distribution of USD0.2100 per share.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is an international 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, chlor-alkali and derivative products, PVC suspension and specialty resins, PVC Compounds, and PVC building products including siding, pipe, fittings and specialty components, windows, fence, deck and film.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, has increased list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in Europe, Middle East, Africa and in the Americas, as per the company's press release.

The price increases below were effective 18 April, 2018 or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, VAM prices were raised, as follows:

- by EUR75/mt - for Europe, Middle East & Africa;
- by USD0.05/lb - for the USA and Canada:
- by USD100/mt - for Mexico & South America.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese Corporation also increased list and off-list selling prices for Ateva EVA polymers sold in the Americas. The price rise was effective 1 May, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow. Thus, the company's EVA prices went up by USD0.05/lb for the said regions.

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, Celanese employs approximately 7,600 employees worldwide and had 2017 net sales of USD6.1 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Belgian chemicals group Solvay on Thursday posted a first-quarter core profit below expectations, as higher volumes were offset by the impact of a weaker U.S. dollar and slightly higher fixed costs, as per the company's press release.

Core profit (EBITDA) fell 2.6 percent in the first quarter to 533 million euros (USD638.8 million), slightly below the 541 million euros expected in a Reuters poll of seven analysts.

The profit decline was sharpest in its Performance Chemicals unit, which makes soda ash for the production of glass and suffered from higher energy and freight costs.

The group confirmed its 2018 outlook for EBITDA to grow 5 to 7 percent on a like-for-like basis and excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates. In the first quarter, this underlying profit figure was up 9 percent.
MRC