Europe February propylene confirmed up €90/t at €1,105/t

27 January 2012 14:39  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--The European propylene contract price for February has been fully confirmed at €1,105/tonne ($1,454/tonne), up €90/tonne from January, two buyers and three producers said on Friday.

The initial propylene contract price was settled between one main producer and one non-integrated consumer. The same buyer followed the first settlement with a second manufacturer. A third producer also agreed the plus €90/tonne with a second buyer.

The contract price was agreed on a FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) basis.

A significant increase in the propylene contract price for February was widely expected because of intensified feedstock cost pressure since the last settlement.

The firmer tone in the upstream markets was further exacerbated by unfavourable exchange rate conditions, despite some slight rebound in the euro against the US dollar over the past week.

Sellers had been pushing for a three-digit hike for the February contract price, in view of spiking upstream costs and the urgent need to restore profitability at cracker level.

One of the settling manufacturers said that the upward move was also supported by an uptick in demand during January, which was expected to continue into February.

Some buyers reluctantly accepted that the recent jump in feedstock costs necessitated a substantial rise in the contract price, as well as reasonable to good demand, depending on derivative.

One of the buyers involved in the settlement said it was also hopeful that the increase in the contract price would help to kick-start much-needed margin improvement throughout the value chain. It added that it was looking to pass on downstream an increase larger than the propylene move.

Other buyers, had been looking for lower increases of €40-60/tonne, as they were concerned that such a steep increase would jeopardise downstream demand, which although slightly improved in January, is still fragile, amid ongoing macroeconomic concerns.

Sellers and some buyers considered this unrealistic, from a cost perspective. One customer added that its initial concerns about downstream export potential being dampened by a significant increase in the propylene contract price in Europe were being lessened by the firming sentiment in other regions, particularly in the US.

http://www.icis.com/Articles/2012/01/27/9527488/europe-february-propylene-confirmed-up-90t-at-1105t.html

Eastman Chemical to buy Solutia for $3.38 billion

Reuters – 47 minutes ago

By Matt Daily and Vaishnavi Bala

The deal is valued at $27.65 a share based on Thursday's closing prices, a 42 percent premium for Solutia shareholders. Shares of Solutia rose to $27.50 in trading before the market opened.

Eastman shares also rose in premarket trading, jumping roughly 8 percent in a sign that investors are happy with the deal.

Solutia, whose chemicals are used in products from tires to iPads, emerged from bankruptcy in 2008. Its shares fell 25 percent last year.

"Solutia has transformed itself into a financially strong, innovative performance materials and specialty chemicals company, with enviable market leading positions in virtually every market it serves," Eastman Chief Executive Officer Jim Rogers said in a statement announcing the deal.

After years of sluggish growth, Eastman is now expanding its lucrative specialty plastics and wood applications businesses, and its shares are up about 15 percent in the past 12 months.

The deal calls for Eastman to pay $22.00 in cash and 0.12 of a share for each Solutia share. Solutia has 122 million shares outstanding according to Thomson Reuters data, which would mean Eastman is paying about $2.69 billion in cash and $690 million in stock for the company.

The merger would add to earnings immediately, Eastman said, and the combined company would save about $100 million a year in costs by the end of 2013. The companies expect the deal to close around midyear.

Eastman said it now expects 2012 earnings to be around $5 a share, excluding acquisition-related costs and charges. It raised its 2013 earnings forecast to more than $6 per share.

Jefferies analyst Laurence Alexander said in a research note that the deal, along with Westlake Chemical's (NYSE:WLK - News) recent bid for Georgia Gulf Corp (NYSE:GGC - News), reflects a move toward consolidation among specialty chemical companies.

Alexander said that other companies generally thought to also be takeover candidates include Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - News), Celanese (NYSE:CE - News), Cytec (NYSE:CYT - News), Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - News), OMNOVA Solutions (NYSE:OMN - News), and W.R. Grace (NYSE:GRA - News).

Including debt, the Solutia deal is valued at about $4.7 billion, Eastman said. It plans to pay for Solutia with cash on hand, shares and debt.

The deal does not include a financing contingency, Eastman said, meaning the company would have to close on the deal even if it is not able to get banks to fund the purchase. Solutia would have to pay a break-up fee of $102 million if it walks away from the deal.

Eastman Chemical was formed in 1994, when Eastman Kodak (Other OTC:EKDKQ.PK - News) spun off its chemical business to help pay down debt. Kodak filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.

Citi (NYSE:C - News) and Barclays Capital (LSE:BARC.L - News) are financial advisers to Eastman, while Deutsche Bank Securities (DBKGn.DE) and Moelis & Co LLC advised Solutia.

(Reporting by Matt Daily in New York and Vaishnavi Bala in Bangalore, Additional reporting by Michael Erman in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Lisa Von Ahn, Dave Zimmerman)

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Eastman-Chemical-buy-Solutia-rb-1462125638.html?x=0

Spain Raids Polyurethane Foam Makers In Cartel Probe

http://www.law360.com/competition/articles/303703/spain-raids-polyurethane-foam-makers-in-cartel-probe

http://urethaneblog.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/raids-in-spain.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553931c4c88330167612e0a9f970b 2012-01-27T09:52:15-05:00 2012-01-27T09:52:15-05:00

PolyFlex Products Expands to Larger Facility Contract Manufacturing, Industry News Expansion is to 50,000 square foot facility in nearby Farmington Hills, MI, consolidating into one place. Share | Font size Manufacturing Group January 27, 2012 PolyFlex Products Inc., Livonia, MI,...

The Urethane Blog

PolyFlex Products Expands to Larger Facility

Contract Manufacturing, Industry News

Expansion is to 50,000 square foot facility in nearby Farmington Hills, MI, consolidating into one place.

Share |

Font size

Manufacturing Group January 27, 2012

PolyFlex Products Inc., Livonia, MI, is moving its headquarters and manufacturing operations to a 50,000ft² facility in Farmington Hills, MI.

Mark Kirchmer, PolyFlex, CEO, states “Our continued growth during the past decade had forced us to have operations in multiple facilities.  This new facility allows us to consolodate everything under one roof while providing additional room for future expansion.

“We recently increased our overall injection molding capacity by 30% and also doubled our foamed urethane capacity with the addition of a new RIM machine.  Moving forward, this new facility provides the expansion room needed for our forecasted growth.” he concludes.  

The new address is: 23093 Commerce Drive, Farmington Hills, MI 48335. 

PolyFlex Products engineers and manufactures plastic, urethane and rubber material handling products including custom returnable part handling containers,  protective shipping containers, plus custom and standard dunnage systems.  Its sister company, ThermoFlex, has capabilities for heavy-gauge thermoforming, injection molding and cast urethane molding operations.

http://www.onlinetmd.com/manufacturing-design-polyflex-products-012712.aspx

http://urethaneblog.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/polyflex-expansion.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553931c4c88330167612e06c0970b 2012-01-27T09:50:12-05:00 2012-01-27T09:50:24-05:00

Propylene Producer Nominates Price Hike for February 12:01 PM MST | January 26, 2012 | Lindsey Bewley A U.S. propylene producer has nominated a 22-cts/lb increase for February contracts, market players say. The nomination is a 40% premium to current...

The Urethane Blog

Propylene Producer Nominates Price Hike for February

 

12:01 PM MST | January 26, 2012 | Lindsey Bewley

 

A U.S. propylene producer has nominated a 22-cts/lb increase for February contracts, market players say. The nomination is a 40% premium to current propylene contracts of 56 cts/lb for polymer-grade propylene (PGP) and 54.5 cts/lb for chemical-grade propylene...

http://www.chemweek.com/pricewatch/olefins/Propylene-Producer-Nominates-Price-Hike-for-February_40802.html

http://urethaneblog.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/22clb-propylene-increase-nomination-for-february.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553931c4c88330168e6226df4970c 2012-01-26T15:03:46-05:00 2012-01-26T15:03:46-05:00

Tempur-Pedic plans lower-priced line, targeting $1,499 for queen set First mattresses under $2,000 will double size of addressable market, says CEO David Perry -- Furniture Today, January 26, 2012 LEXINGTON, Ky. — Memory foam bedding leader Tempur-Pedic is bidding to...

The Urethane Blog

Tempur-Pedic plans lower-priced line, targeting $1,499 for queen set

First mattresses under $2,000 will double size of addressable market, says CEO

David Perry -- Furniture Today, January 26, 2012

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Memory foam bedding leader Tempur-Pedic is bidding to dramatically expand its business with the introduction of a new line targeting the $1,499 price point.

The three-bed line, to be introduced at the Las Vegas Market next week, marks a $500 step down in price points for Tempur-Pedic, thus significantly expanding the company's consumer reach, officials said.

The industry has been buzzing in recent weeks about the possibility that Tempur-Pedic would introduce a lower-priced memory foam line.

Tempur-Pedic CEO Mark Sarvary revealed an outline of the new line in his comments to analysts earlier this week when the company released its latest quarterly results, which represented another strong performance for Tempur-Pedic.

"There are consumer segments that we do not currently address, and one of our four initiatives is to use research and development to ensure there is a Tempur mattress and pillow that appeals to everyone," Sarvary said. "So as we did with the Cloud Collection, we've identified another major opportunity to expand our appeal and meaningfully grow our business. The $1,000 to $2,000 price tag represents a very large market segment that we currently do not address in a meaningful way."

Sarvary said that segment "has the same dollar value as all the segments above $2,000 added together. So I'm excited to announce that we will be introducing a three-bed line, with varying feels, priced at $1,499 for a queen set next week at the Las Vegas bedding show. The introduction of this line effectively doubles the size of our addressable market."

He said Tempur-Pedic spent two years developing the collection, and he called it "the most researched product we have ever launched. It is both consumer preferred to the competitive set and vastly incremental to our existing product portfolio."

Initial retail feedback on the line "has been very positive," Sarvary added. He said Tempur-Pedic will reveal more details of the line in Las Vegas next week.

http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/547614-Tempur_Pedic_plans_lower_priced_line_targeting_1_499_for_queen_set.php

http://urethaneblog.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/tempur-plans-new-line.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553931c4c88330167611fe961970b 2012-01-26T13:32:24-05:00 2012-01-26T13:32:24-05:00

NPRA Marks New Era with Name Change Officially Becomes AFPM, Launches New Website Effective today, January 25, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) is now the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM). While our name and logo have changed...

The Urethane Blog

 

NPRA Marks New Era with Name Change
Officially Becomes AFPM, Launches New Website

Effective today, January 25, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) is now the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM). While our name and logo have changed to better describe who we are and what we do, our 110-year commitment to serving the petrochemical and refining industries remains the same.

Our address and phone numbers remain:

1667 K Street, NW, Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20006

Phone 202.457.0480
Fax 202.457.0486

We have also launched a redesigned website — www.afpm.org, with a fresh, new look, updated information, and easy access to information on meetings and public policy positions. All staff e-mail addresses now have the new extension of afpm.org, so please update your contacts accordingly.

Our new website provides more detail on the name change, but please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions. We look forward to working with you as we begin an exciting new era for our Association.

http://urethaneblog.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/npra-changes-name.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553931c4c88330163002ad201970d 2012-01-26T13:25:52-05:00 2012-01-26T13:25:52-05:00

The Urethane Blog

http://urethaneblog.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/poll-results-did-your-company-see-an-end-of-year-slowdown.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553931c4c88330163002ace3b970d 2012-01-26T13:23:29-05:00 2012-01-26T13:23:29-05:00

Today, CPI re-launched its www.polyurethane.org website and it looks great! We reorganized the information so resources are easier to find and gave the site a fresh, updated look. Websites should always be works in progress so rest assured that we...

The Urethane Blog

Today, CPI re-launched its www.polyurethane.org website and it looks great! We reorganized the information so resources are easier to find and gave the site a fresh, updated look. Websites should always be works in progress so rest assured that we will continue to develop the website, add new content and make it the destination website for information about the polyurethane value chain.

 

Key improvements include:

 

• Better, more consistent look and faster download times
• A single, more easily found Resources Library for guidance documents, brochures, videos, etc.
• Shorter, updated end use market application descriptions
• Integration of the Truck Bed Liner Health and Safety website
• An simpler link to a database that supports polyurethane recycling opportunities called  www.PlasticsMarket.org
• Better analytics to track website traffic

 

Take a look and let us know what you think!

 

http://urethaneblog.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/cpi-launches-new-website.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553931c4c88330168e612f98d970c 2012-01-25T14:22:48-05:00 2012-01-25T14:22:48-05:00

Genomatica and Novamont form JV to Produce BDO from Renewable Feedstocks SpecialChem - Jan 23, 2012 Genomatica and Novamont announced they have signed a definitive agreement establishing a joint venture (JV) for the first industrial plant in Europe producing butanediol...

The Urethane Blog

Genomatica and Novamont form JV to Produce BDO from Renewable Feedstocks

SpecialChem - Jan 23, 2012

Genomatica and Novamont announced they have signed a definitive agreement establishing a joint venture (JV) for the first industrial plant in Europe producing butanediol (BDO) directly from renewable feedstocks. This follows the announcement in mid 2011 of a letter of intent between the companies. Novamont will have a majority of the equity in the JV, and Genomatica a minority interest. Novamont, a leading producer of biodegradable bioplastics, will consume the BDO for its own internal use to meet the increasing demand for its biopolymer products that incorporate BDO as a key monomer.

Under the agreement, Novamont is converting an existing facility in Adria, Italy to use Genomatica's BDO process. Novamont is financing the plant conversion and will operate the plant, which is expected to have a production capacity of approximately 40 million pounds per year. Initial production is expected in 2013. Novamont has committed to purchasing all of the output from the plant, while Genomatica may purchase a portion at its discretion to support further market development. The agreement also contemplates Novamont building and operating a second BDO plant using Genomatica's process, which is expected to use biomass sugars as the renewable feedstock.

novamont genomatica plant Novamont will use Genomatica's process to produce approximately 40 million pounds of BDO per year from renewable feedstocks at a facility they are converting in Adria, Italy.

"Genomatica's BDO process provides Novamont with BDO made from renewable feedstocks, which is consistent with our business strategy to use more bio-based raw materials in MATER-BI biopolymer products. Genomatica's BDO is the exact same chemical we've been using, and is the direct equivalent of petroleum-based BDO but with a smaller environmental footprint," said Novamont CEO, Catia Bastioli.

"Genomatica's process technologies enable a new approach to chemical production - smaller-scale, capital-efficient manufacturing from renewable feedstocks that we believe fulfills customer needs across the value chain," said Christophe Schilling, CEO of Genomatica. "Novamont is a leader in one of the most rapidly-growing polymer segments of the BDO market and has demonstrated its ability to accelerate commercialization of innovative polymers, along with its commitment to sustainable development."

http://www.specialchem4adhesives.com/resources/latest/displaynews.aspx?id=5559&lr=mas12185&li=100082402

http://urethaneblog.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/european-bio-bdo-plant-announcement.html