BASF Completes Acquisition of
Parts of Ciech’s TDI Business
BASF has successfully completed its acquisition of parts of Ciech’s TDI (toluene
diisocyanate) business. The TDI production facility of Ciech’s subsidiary Zachem,
Poland, is not part of the transaction.
“With this acquisition, we are further
developing our leading position in the isocyanates market,” said Kenneth Lane, senior
vice president, global strategic marketing
and European polyurethane basic products.
“Our highest priority now is focusing
on a seamless integration for our customers and our employees,” Lane said.
TDI is a key component for the polyurethane industry. To a large extent it
is used in the furniture segment (e.g. in
flexible foams for mattresses, cushions or
wood coating) as well as in the automotive industry (e.g. in seating cushions and
interior applications).
Resinate Adds Jobs and
Expands Facilities
Resinate Materials Group, Inc., has announced the addition of personnel, and
the expansion of its laboratories and corporate offices. The facility expansion will
support Resinate’s growing pipeline of
polyurethane dispersion products and provide research space for its new employees.
The laboratory expansion will include
more than 6,000 sq. ft. of research and
development space, while the new corporate offices will provide 3,000 sq. ft. for
management, business development and
administrative activities. Over the last six
months, Resinate has hired six full-time
workers to support its burgeoning pipeline. In late 2012, Resinate launched its
first commercial product, a polyurethane
dispersion known as Resinate R-162 for
metal substrates, and 2013 is expected
to see additional launches of low VOC
polyurethane dispersion products and
the initiation of several new prototype
programs. Resinate expects to add five
to seven additional team members at the
chemist and technical sales level to support the additional products.
Kemira Sells its Stake in
Sachtleben to Rockwood
Kemira Oyj and Rockwood Holdings Inc.
have signed an agreement, according to
which Rockwood buys Kemira’s share
(39%) of the titanium dioxide (TiO2)
joint venture Sachtleben GmbH. The
transaction price of the deal is €97.5 million and will impact Kemira’s cash flow
positively in the first quarter of 2013.
Kemira will undertake a non-recurring
write-down related to the transaction of
approximately € 25 million, impacting
Kemira’s reported EBIT in the first quarter of 2013.
The joint venture Sachtleben GmbH,
which was established in September
2008 by combining Kemira Oyj’s and
Rockwood Holdings Inc’s TiO2 businesses, is a leading producer of specialty TiO2
pigments for the synthetic fiber, packaging inks, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and
food industries.
Eastman Ranked Seventh
In Bloomberg
Businessweek Top 50
Eastman Chemical Company was recently recognized by a number of leading
industry, business and trade publications
for its outstanding financial performance.
The most recent recognition is the
company’s ranking on the Bloomberg
Businessweek Top 50, a listing of the
S&P 500 companies with the best recent
performance and outlook for the future.
Eastman ranked seventh on the list, which
was based on four factors: one-year and
five-year risk-adjusted returns, consensus
analyst recommendations and projected
earnings growth.
Eastman was also recently named
by Chemical & Engineering News as
Company of the Year for its recent acquisition and integration of Solutia, and
Institutional Investor voted the company
one of the “Most Honored Companies”
in a survey of buy-side and sell-side
analysts. In addition, the company’s
chairman and CEO Jim Rogers was
named one of the Top 40 Power Players
by ICIS, the world’s largest petrochemical market information provider.
Coming in at 21, Rogers was recognized
for his leadership in the transformation
of Eastman to a global specialty chemical company and for the company’s recent financial performance.
“Without question, 2012 was a defining year for Eastman as we reached
new heights in our financial performance
and, with the successful acquisition of
Solutia, we furthered our transition to
a world-class specialty chemical company,” said Rogers. “This was a collective achievement through the hard work
of our 13,500 men and women around
the globe. The work that we have done
over the past several years to improve
our portfolio of businesses has positioned
us to deliver continued growth for years
to come. We are committed to continue
building on our strong performance.”
BASF with Positive Results
in Goals for Environment,
Health and Safety
In 2012, BASF reduced its greenhouse gas
emissions by 31.7% per metric ton of sales
product and increased its energy efficiency
by 19.3% compared with baseline 2002.
The number of work-related accidents
dropped in the same period by 48%.
BASF has set itself worldwide goals for
the year 2020. The company aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40%
per metric ton of sales product and increase energy efficiency by 35% compared
with baseline 2002 (excluding Oil & Gas).
“These goals are very ambitious, because our chemical plants already work
efficiently above average in an European
comparison. Altogether we are well on
track with climate protection,” said Dr.
Ulrich von Deessen, president of BASF’s
Competence Center Environment, Health
and safety and climate protection officer. However, in 2012, the reductions in
