DATE : 2017-04-28
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) (00386) said its non-wholly owned subsidiary Sinopec Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical agreedto acquire 50% equity interest of Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Company Limited at US$1,681.5 million from BP Chemicals East China Investments Limited.
The target company is principally engaged in the production and sale of ethylene, polyethylene (PE), styrene monomer (SM), polystyrene (PS) propylene, acrylonitrile (AN), polypropylene (PP), butadiene, aromatics and byproducts; the sale of self-purchased production material and the provision of after-sales service and relevant technical consultation; the application and development of polymers and the provision of auxiliary utilities service to suppliers and processors. It is located in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park and has 13 chemical facilities leading by ethylene cracking unit with production capacity of 1.09 million ton per year.
Source ET Net
DATE : 201-04-17
Videolar Innova, the integrated styrene monomer (SM) and expanded polystyrene (EPS) company controlled by entrepreneur Lirio Parisotto, is ready to invest R$500mil and increase the capacity of its Triunfo (RS) plant. A raw material supply contract (benzene, ethylene) has been signed with Braskem paving the way for a three stage expansion that could involve R$1bil investments to 2018. Over the first stage it is manufacturing EPS under the Newcell brand. The styrene monomer capacity would reach 420,000 m tons per year and start operations by April 2019. SM is key for the range of products in the portfolio of Innova, polystyrene for general uses, high impact PS and expanded polystyrene.
Brazil presently imports half of the EPS demand and Newcell runs 25,000 m tons, eventually 50,000 m tons per year if demand proves strong. In 2016 Innova had a net income of R$2,05bil, from R$2bil in 2015, with Ebitda of R$332,5mil, less 8,7%.
Sales went up 3,6% to 416,300 m tons, with PS accounting for 237,000 m tons. Net profits were R$384,6mil, five times the R$72,4mil figure in 2015.
Source South America Business Information
DATE : 2017-04-10
High-performance polymer manufacturer Victrex is continuing to drive diversification. The company has acquired Zyex for an undisclosed amount. Zyex manufactures PEEK fibres and mainly supplies the aviation and automotive sectors. In addition to developing new and existing applications, the investment enables exploration of additive manufacturing (3D printing) in the fibres area, says Victrex. Zyex was formed, as was Victrex, from the former chemical company ICI in 1994.
David Hummel, chief executive of Victrex, said: “The acquisition of Zyex is compelling for Victrex, enabling us to drive future growth opportunities within well-aligned markets and developing application areas”. “The company´s capabilities and the teams´ expertise will further complement our product offering. Whilst Zyex is well-established, Victrex’s global reach, innovation focus and proven track record of building new markets offers an attractive opportunity to further develop the business over the coming years. This is in line with our strategy to offer selected and differentiated semi-finished product forms and parts for our customers, building on our core polymer offering”
Zyex´s product range focuses on PEEK polymer based fibres for applications such as process belting, filtration or wiring harnesses, with manufacturing facilities in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom.
Source PlastEurope/MPonline
DATE : 2017-04-13
ChemChina's US$43 billion planned takeover of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta has received approval from China's Ministry of Commerce), Reuters reports, citing the two companies.
"This represents a further step towards the closing of the transaction, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2017," they said in a statement.
China's approval comes without any conditions, Syngenta said in an email.
US and European Union competition authorities gave conditional approval last week and Mexico's anti-trust commission did so this week.
The agreed offer is for US$465 per share. Syngenta shares were up 3 percent at 464.20 Swiss francs (US$461.06) by 1222 GMT on Wednesday.
The deal is one of several reshaping the agricultural chemicals and seeds market, even as such tie-ups prompt fears among some farmers that bigger, more powerful suppliers could push up prices and economize on developing new herbicides and pesticides.
Source Hong Kong Economic Journal Company Limited
DATE : 2017-04-08
Project Status: Planning Stage
Industry: Agriculture
Product: Technical grade pesticides
Project Location: UPSIDC Industrial Area
Project State: Uttar Pradesh
Project Summary: Expansion Of Technical Grade Pesticides Manufacturing Unit In Dist. Amroha, Uttar Pradesh; Best Crop Science LLP is planning an expansion of its technical grade pesticides manufacturing unit in dist. Amroha, Uttar Pradesh.
Project Details: [Info as of: Apr. '16] Best Crop Science LLP, a part of Best Agro Group, is planning an expansion of its technical grade pesticides manufacturing unit at UPSIDC Industrial Area, dist. Amroha, Uttar Pradesh. EQMS India is the consultant. The company has purchased a running technical pesticides plant of Chemtura Chemicals India and is planning to manufacture additional 4,800 TPA technical grade pesticides. The project is waiting for environmental clearance and is planned for completion in 2017. According to MoEF sources, the existing plant manufactures 30 TPA clodinafop-propargyl technical and formulations. The expansion will entail addition of 1,100 TPA herbicide, 2,500 TPA insecticide, 900 TPA fungicide, 100 TPA plant growth regulator and 200 TPA R&D products. The total plot area is 54,891.39 sq. mtrs and 19,200 sq. mtrs has been developed as green belt area. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 300 million. 2 TPH boiler, in addition to the existing 0.850 TPH boiler will be installed. 99 KLD of effluent will be treated in ETP followed by RO and 85 KLD is to be processed in MEE. The power requirement 1,000 KVA will be met from UPPCL. UPDATE: [Info as of: Mar. '17] Best Crop Science LLP, a part of Best Agro Group, is planning an expansion of its technical grade pesticides manufacturing unit at UPSIDC Industrial Area, dist. Amroha, Uttar Pradesh. EQMS India is the environmental consultant. The expansion will entail addition of a 1,100 TPA herbicide, a 2,500 TPA insecticide, a 900 TPA fungicide, a 100 TPA plant growth regulator and a 200 TPA R&D products. Terms of Reference (ToR) has been received from Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The project is waiting for environmental clearance. Work on the project is expected to commence after receipt of environmental clearance.
Company Name: Best Crop Science LLP
Address: Plant address : Plot Nos. C-6, 7& 8, UPSIDC Industrial Area, Phase-II, Gajraula, Dist. Amroha- India.
Pin Code: 244235
State: Uttar Pradesh
Website: www.bestagrochem.in
Source Domex Business Information Pvt. Ltd.
DATE : 2017-04-10
Saudi Methacrylates Company (SAMAC), a joint venture between Saudi Arabia’s SABIC and Japan’s Mitsubishi Rayon, has completed the construction of a new polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA) facility in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia, SABIC confirmed on Monday.
The plant, the construction of which began in mid-2014, will have a capacity of 40,000 tonnes/year and is expected to take six months to reach that capacity once commissioning begins.
A SAMAC source confirmed in late March that the methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant, which was constructed concurrently with the PMMA plant and has a capacity of 250,000 tonnes/year, is on schedule and will be ready to start in June.
Both plants were built at an estimated cost of Saudi riyals (SR)4.5bn ($1.2bn).
Source Icis News
DATE : 2017-03-30
Dow Chemical-DuPont Merger SK’s last obstacle to its acquisition of Dow Chemical’s ethylene acrylic acid (EAA) business unit has been eliminated due to EU’s approval of the merger of Dow Chemical and Du Pont SEOUL,KOREA30 March 2017 - 11:00amJung Min-hee
As the European Union (EU) has approved the proposed merger of Dow Chemical and Du Pont, SK Group gave a sigh of relief. Now, the company’s last obstacle to its acquisition of Dow Chemical’s ethylene acrylicacid (EAA) business unit has been eliminated.
EU regulators gave approval to proposed Dow Chemical-DuPont merger worth US$130 billion (144.77 trillion won) on March 27. Accordingly, SK Global Chemical is expected to take over Dow Chemical’ EAA business, which deal was signed in February this year, without any problems. If the EU had disapproved the Dow Chemical-DuPont merger, SK’s deal would have adversely affected in any way and fell through in the worst case.
As the obstacle is now cleared, SK will be able to reorganize the business structure more aggressively through M&A. This is because the acquisition of over Dow Chemical’ EAA business unit is the first M&A achievement of Chairman Chey Tae-won after he presented his business policy to create new values according to “Deep Change.”
An official from the business industry said, “SK Group has come up with a 17 trillion won (US$15.27 billion) investment plan this year and announced to take over Dow Chemical’ EAA business unit as symbolic of the plan. When the group fails the acquisition, it could have lost its confidence.”
This year, SK Group pushes ahead with large M&A deals at home and abroad. On the 29th, the bidding for Japan-based Toshiba’s semiconductor unit, which is the world’s second largest NAND flash producer, will be closed. It is hard for SK Hynix to turn away from the deal in order to secure the competitiveness in NAND flash chips, which are a main product in the global semiconductor market. However, the asking price has increased from 2 trillion to 3 trillion won (US$1.8 billion to 2.69 billion) to 20 trillion won (US$17.96 billion) as Toshiba has decided to sell the entire management right. So, SK Group needs to make the group-level strategic decision as it did when acquiring Hynix earlier.
SK Group is also seeking to acquire a stake in Shanghai SECCO worth 1.5 trillion to 2 trillion won (US$1.35 billion to 1.8 billion). Shanghai SECCO is jointly owned by state-owned China Petroleum & Chemical Corp(Sinopec) and British oil major BP. As BP has decided to sell its 50 percent stake, SK Global Chemical has entered the bidding battle for Shanghai SECCO. In the beginning, SK Group was expected to win the deal due to the fact that Chairman Chey is a person with a “special relationship” with Sinopec. However, the situation has become complicated after a Swiss company is trying to buy the company. An official from the industry said, “Sinopec is highly likely to buy the stake but the result can change depending on SK Group’s response.”
Source : Korean Business Daily News
DATE : 2017-03-31
INEOS has lifted the force majeure at its 280,000 tonne/year acrylonitrile (ACN) plant at Seal Sands in the UK, several sources said on Friday.
This could not be confirmed with INEOS.
European customers were placed on 80% allocation for March and this had severely limited availability, pushing prices above the cost pass through for feedstocks.
There was some discussion of how immediate an impact this would have on the market.
Contract sources were generally optimistic and thought that April contract would reflect feedstocks movements.
Suppliers pushed for greater increases in March because of tight availability.
A spot player said that it did not think there would be enough surplus to cater for the spot market and prices could continue to increase as a result.
Source Icis News