I ndustry News
Tronox’s U.S. operations file Chapter 11
Tronox Inc. has announced that it and
certain of the company’s subsidiaries
have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the
U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The filing does
not include Tronox’s operations outside of the U.S., which are based in
Australia, Germany and the
Netherlands.
“After careful evaluation of all
strategic alternatives, we have concluded that a Chapter 11 filing is the
best way to address the company’s
debt, in particular its legacy liabilities,” said Dennis Wanlass, Tronox
chairman and chief executive officer.
“We want to assure customers, suppliers and employees that our operations
are continuing without interruption,
and during the restructuring period,
we will remain focused on continuing
to provide customers with quality
products and unsurpassed service.”
The company has taken steps to
ensure the continued supply of goods
and services to its customers, with a
commitment for up to $125 million in
new debtor-in-possession (DIP)
financing from its existing lending
group led by Credit Suisse.
The DIP financing provides Tronox
with ample liquidity to continue operations as usual during the restructuring process. The company will use the
financing to pay vendors for all goods
PRICING CHANGES
Troy: Jan. 30—up to 18% increase for all
Polyphase products; up to 5% for certain
Mergal biocides.
DISTRIBUTOR APPOINTMENTS
Leneta Co. has appointed B.H. Roettker
Co. as its distributor for KY, OH, IL, WV and
Western PA.
and services produced after the filing
date. Tronox has also requested court
approval to continue to pay employees
in the same manner as before the filing with no disruption, and expects
the request to be granted as part of
the court’s “first day” orders.
According to a statement released
by the company, the decision to file
was made to address legacy liabilities that Tronox incurred when it
was spun off in 2006 by Kerr-McGee
Corp., which has since been acquired
by Anadarko. The liabilities include
environmental remediation and litigation costs that Tronox was
required to assume at the time of the
spinoff. These liabilities are an
obstacle to Tronox’s financial stability and success.
NACE INTERNATIONAL
OPENS TRAINING CENTER
NACE International and the NACE
Foundation recently opened the
NACE International Training
Center. Located in Houston, TX, the
$2.4 million, 15,000-square-foot
facility is dedicated exclusively to
advancing corrosion education.
“This training center will help
develop the next generation of skilled
workers,” said Tony Keane, executive
director, NACE International. “We will
prepare them for a comprehensive
career in corrosion and help open the
doors for job opportunities and greater
earning potential.”
The new training center, along with
two existing NACE classrooms, can
accommodate more than 3,000 students annually attending more than
125 courses in corrosion identification,
prevention and mitigation technologies. The facility features tools such as
cathodic protection test field with
buried, electrified pipelines; a coatings
lab with a flash and spray booth; a virtual spray booth for classroom-based
applicator training; an equipment
preparation area; and the nation’s
only marine ballast tank immersion
tent, which simulates a ship’s ballast
tank for shipboard corrosion assessment training.
AKZONOBEL
ACQUIRES LII EUROPE
AkzoNobel has completed the acquisi-
tion of the business and assets of the
German-based company LII Europe.
The acquired activities will be inte-
grated into AkzoNobel Industrial
Chemicals. Financial details of the
deal were not disclosed. LIIEurope
operates a multi-client chlorine clus-
ter on the Hoechst Industrial Park
near Frankfurt. As well as its main
chlorine activities, the company also
runs a chlorinated hydrocarbon plant,
along with calcium chloride and solid
caustic facilities.
IN BRIEF
Angus Chemical has completed its
$10 million Market Development
Facility at the its Sterlington, LA
manufacturing site. The new site
allows for process optimization of its
existing nitroparrafins, as well as the
ability to create new products from
various feedstocks...OM Group and
Rahu Catalytics have entered into a
license and supply agreement for
technology in the field of additives for
coatings, inks and compos-ites...Brookfield Engineering offers
a number of training courses at its
Middleboro, MA facility
( www.brookfieldengineering.com)...
Huntsman has received official VOC
Exempt status for Jeffsol propylene
carbonate and Ultrapure propylene
carbonate.
CW
