Global roundup

14 July 2003 00:00  [Source: ACN]

Creditors of TPI voted in favour of a government-nominated debt-plan administrator, while the company’s workers protested against the decision in the week 4–10 July. Vinachem decided to build Vietnam’s first DAP plant, thousands rallied against Hong Kong’s planned anti-subversion law, and two more wanted Iraqis were in US custody

From stories supplied by the CNI and ACN  teams. See www.cnionline.com. For exclusive news and analysis, see the rest of ACN

Malaysian PM's son in bid for Texmaco

4 July. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's eldest son is leading a group, Utara Capital, that is bidding for debt-distressed Texmaco Group, a source at the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency said.

Utara Capital is competing with companies such as China's National Bluestar, a Beijing based state-owned enterprise. The winning bidder for Texmaco will have to assume its debts, totalling Rp2800bn (US$6.16bn).

Toy-making cheer for acrylo producers

4 July. The arrival of the Christmas toy-making season in China is bringing cheer to acrylonitrile producers in Asia.

According to one trader, the production of Chinese Christmas toys, which are made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, had been delayed by two months because of the Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic in China.

But now that Sars is waning in China, the country's toy-making factories are working overtime. This means higher demand for acrylonitrile.

Man dies in mishap at PCS complex

7 July. One man has died after an accident at the Petrochemical Corp of Singapore's (PCS) complex on Jurong Island, a company source said.

The man died from injuries he sustained on 2 July after falling into a pit containing chemicals, the source said. He said the accident was being investigated.

There were no operational problems with the plant.

Govt-nominated debt manager for TPI

7 July. The government of Thailand effectively took managerial control of Thai Petrochemical Industry (TPI) today after the company's creditors voted 94% in favour of a government-nominated team to head TPI's debt-plan administration. The Central Bankruptcy Court is set to formally put the administrator in place on 11 July.

Vopak buys South Am terminal assets

7 July. Vopak has announced the acquisition of HCI/Brenntag's terminal assets in South America.

The deal comprises HCI/Brenntag's interests in Venezuela (Puerto Cabello), Colombia (Barranquilla and Cartagena), and its 50% participation in Sipressa with a terminal in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

It did not disclose the value of the acquisition, but said it would contribute to group net income this year.

CIA rejects EC's chemicals plan

7 July. The UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA) has described the European Commission's (EC) plan for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (Reach) as an 'unworkable bureaucratic monster'.

In its formal response to the EC's proposals, the CIA said it cannot support Reach in its present form, as the proposals are 'administratively burdensome and impractical'.

It said the planned legislation would seriously damage the European Union's attractiveness as a location for the chemicals industry and all its customer industries in the manufacturing chain.

China's polyolefins imports to double

8 July. Nexant ChemSystems and Sinodata Consulting expect a doubling of polyolefin imports by China, to more than 10m tonne by 2010, the consultant groups said in a study published today.

The study said total Chinese polyolefins demand is projected to increase from 15m tonne in 2002 to more than 28m tonne by 2010 - an increase of 1.5m tonne/year - but domestic capacity will not increase nearly as fast.

The net result is an increase in imports of about 1m tonne/year from 2003 to 2010, the study said.

Workers threaten strikes over wages

8 July. Workers in Brazil's chemical and pharmaceutical sectors have given employers an ultimatum to increase wages by 8% or face strikes, the president of the National Chemical workers Union SNQ Sergio Leite said.

According to Leite, union leaders negotiated an emergency wage increase with companies in the chemicals sector earlier this year because of the rapid rise in inflation. While many companies did raise wages by 8%, many companies - specifically petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals manufacturers - have refused to raise wages, Leite said.

Union officials will be notifying the companies that have not yet granted their workers wage increases and these companies will be given a 48-hour ultimatum, after which the workers plan to go on strike. Leite said he did not expect the strikes to begin before 14 July.

Titan gets new chairman

8 July. Titan Petrochemicals and Polymers has announced that James Chao will replace his father, TT Chao, who has stepped down, as chairman of the company.

The company said the senior Chao will remain a board member and will continue to serve as the chairman emeritus of Titan and chairman of the Westlake group in Houston, US, which he founded in 1985.

BIFR to decide fate of Citurgia

9 July. India's Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) is expected to decide the fate of Citurgia Biochemicals Ltd (CBL) in the next year or so.

In its latest results, CBL said it was registered by BIFR as a sick company on 28 May after the complete erosion of its net worth (equity plus reserves) through accumulated losses. The results show that the company had a negative net worth of Rs7.3m (US$157 640) as of 31 March 2003.

CBL suspended production of citric acid at its 6250 tonne/year plant in the Surat district of Gujarat in the first quarter of 2003 in the face of stiff competition in the domestic market. It had earlier suspended operations at its loss-incurring 40 000 tonne/year calcium carbonate plant at Rishikesh in Uttaranchal.

Two more wanted Iraqis in US custody

9 July. US forces have captured former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's interior minister and another wanted top official has surrendered, the US military said today.

Both men were on a US list of most wanted officials linked to the ousted leader's government.

The military said in a statement that Mahmoud Diyab al-Ahmed, the former interior minister, was captured by coalition forces yesterday. It did not say where he was detained.

He was No29 and seven of spades on the US 'deck of cards' of 55 most wanted Iraqis given to US troops in Iraq.

Also yesterday, Mizban Khidr Hadi gave himself up to US forces in Baghdad, the statement said. Hadi, a senior member of the Baath Party and the Revolutionary Command Council, was No23 on the list and the nine of hearts.

BP Solvay shifts hdPE output to new plant

9 July. BP Solvay said it is discontinuing production of 117967 tonne of hdPE at its Deer Park, Texas, US, facility and replacing it with production from a new plant in the region, as announced last November.

BP Solvay will replace the lost capacity at Deer Park with production from a new 317 604 tonne/year hdPE slurry loop at Cedar Bayou, Texas. That facility was constructed through a joint-ownership project with Chevron Phillips Chemical and started production in the last three weeks, according to BP Solvay spokesman Jan Lawler.

N Korea reprocessed n-rods, says Seoul

9 July. North Korea recently reprocessed a small number of its estimated 8000 spent nuclear fuel rods and has also tested devices used to trigger atomic explosions, South Korea's intelligence agency said today.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) statement to parliament on recent North Korean nuclear activity followed similar reports in US newspapers and came as Seoul and its allies are trying to draw Pyongyang into talks.

The NIS reported to the National Assembly intelligence committee that the fuel rods were kept at Yongbyon. Yongbyon, the base of North Korea's nuclear programme, is 75km north of the capital, Pyongyang. The 8000 spent fuel rods were part of a plutonium-based nuclear weapons programme that was frozen under a 1994 nuclear agreement between North Korea and the US.

Kilburn's net profit up 60.8%

9 July. Kilburn Chemicals has increased net profit by 60.8% to Rs42.35m (US$914 550) in its financial year to 31 March 2003, from Rs26.34m in the previous year.

The factors that contributed to profitability were improved sales margins, a fall in interest on borrowings and a substantial reduction in provision towards deferred tax.

Kilburn has the capacity to produce about 5000 tonne/ year of anatase-grade titanium dioxide, 8580 tonne/year of ferrous sulphate heptahydrate and 9000 tonne/year of mixed sulphate salts. Its plant is located at Thoothukkudi in Tamil Nadu, India.

The company improved sales by 3.9% to Rs385.4m from Rs370.9m. Expenditure grew by 3.1% to Rs286.1m from Rs277.3m. Operating profit increased by 6.1% to Rs99.3m from Rs93.5m.

Vietnam's first DAP plant to be built

9 July. Vinachem is to build Vietnam's first diamonnium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser plant in the port city of Haiphong later this month. Marketing director Chu Van Tuan said the plant would jumpstart the country's flagging fertiliser production and help reduce its reliance on imports.

The 330 000 tonne/year plant is to be located in the Dinh Vu industrial park, 100 km northeast of Hanoi. Vietnam currently relies completely on imports of DAP fertiliser to satisfy an domestic demand of around 500 000 tonne/year.

Van Tuan admitted a funding problem had delayed a start on construction by several months. However, he said the problem had been overcome and that the company was committed to commissioning the plant by end-2005 or early 2006.

XIL to expand polymers business

9 July. Xpro India Ltd (XIL) is to expand and consolidate its presence in its polymers business while it plans to sell its cotton-yarn business. XIL is considering acquiring a bi-axially oriented PP (BOPP) film unit, although it has not named the company with which it is negotiating.

However, analysts see a link between XIL's move and last month's announcement by Supreme Industries Ltd that it had decided to sell its 2500 tonne/year BOPP plant at Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh, India, at a price of at least Rs140m (US$3.0m) to an unnamed buyer.

XIL currently operates a 4600 tonne/year BOPP film plant at Barjora in West Bengal.

One dead, 10 warded in PC plant mishap

9 July. One Teijin Chemical employee has died and at least 10 others have been hospitalised after an accident at a polycarbonate (PC) plant in Matsuyama, Ehime prefecture, Japan, a company spokesman said today.

Rescue personnel found the workers unconscious on the second floor of the 120 000 tonne/year PC plant.

The spokesman said the company was still investigating the cause of the accident. It is understood the plant was shut down at the time for maintenance work and the accident could have been caused by a carbon monoxide leak.

Thousands in Hong Kong anti-govt rally

9 July. Thousands of people surrounded Hong Kong's legislature today to denounce the government and its planned anti-subversion bill, cranking up pressure on the territory's embattled chief executive.

Dragging effigies of the unpopular Beijing-backed leader and some of his ministers, some shouted: 'Step down Tung Chee-hwa!' Organisers expected 50 000 people to converge at the heart of the city for the candlelit vigil, a week after half a million protesters took to the streets to condemn the bill in the city's biggest demonstration since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Widespread anger at Tung over the security bill and his failure to revive the ailing economy have snowballed into Hong Kong's biggest political crisis in years.

Though he reluctantly agreed on 7 July to postpone the bill for more public consultation, frustration with his leadership in the last six years has reached boiling point. Many ordinary people have lost faith in his ability to govern.

Vopak acquires Dow's chem tank terminal

9 July. Vopak has acquired Dow Chemical's chemical tank terminal in Long Beach, California, US. Vopak said the terminal consists of 55 tanks with a total capacity of 56 000 m3.

TPI workers go on strike

9 July. Workers at Thai Petrochemical Industry's (TPI's) complex in Rayong, Thailand, went on strike today to protest against the country's bankruptcy laws and a creditors' decision to approve a government-nominated administrator for the company.

A source at the company said TPI's complex had been shut down from early this morning and that the strike would continue until late this evening.

TPI's union in the past has resisted moves to remove or weaken the power of the company's founder and current co-administrator, Prachai Leophairatana.

Sadaf signs deal for styrene expansion

9 July. Saudi Petrochemical Co (Sadaf) announced today that it has signed an independent power project (IPP) contract for the construction of a 250mW plant to serve its expanding styrene capacity at Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Sadaf signed the US$170m IPP contract with Jubail Energy Company to build and operate the co-generation plant, which is planned to start up in Q2 2005. Jubail Energy Co is a 75:25 joint venture between Saudi group National Power Co and US firm CMS Generation Co.

China's chem producers in Brazil for talks

9 July. A delegation of Chinese chemical producers met Brazilian chemical producers at a meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil, today to promote trade between the two countries.

The president of the Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce, Charles Tang, said 16 representatives from the Shanghai Chemical Producers' Association, including the Huayai group, one of China's largest chemical producers, are visiting Brazil in an effort to increase sales.

More than 70 Brazilian companies also were present at the meeting, many of which are interested in selling chemical products to China.

Ipiranga builds distribution centre

9 July. Ipiranga Quimica is investing Real 30m (US$10.4m) in a new distribution centre in Brazil, Ipiranga's director, Fernando Abrantes, said.

The company expects to double sales by 2005 as a result of the new investment, Abrantes said. Sales revenues are expected to grow by 40% this year alone, he added. It had sales of Real 345m in 2002, a 15% increase over 2001.

While Ipiranga will continue to focus on petrochemicals distribution and storage, the company also has been working to expand its sales and distribution of chemicals used to manufacture cosmetics.

Eterindo to build No2 phenolic resin line

10 July. Eterindo Wahanatama plans to build a second 4000 tonne/year phenolic resin line in the next two years. Its subsidiary, Eterindo Buana Chemical Indonesia (EBCI), started operations at its first 4000 tonne/year linelast month in Gresik, East Java, Indonesia.

A source said EBCI had stopped operations at its di-octyl phthalate (DOP) plant last year and will concentrate more on speciality resins such as phenolic resin.

Eterindo holds a 94.78% share in EBCI, but is concluding a debt-restructuring agreement with creditors that will reduce the stake to 30.73%.

The debt restructuring will also see a reduction in Eterindo's stake in other subsidiaries. Its share in phthalic anhydride producer Petrowidada will fall to 23.02% from 75.72%, while its stake in DOP producer Eterindo Nusa Graha will be reduced to 1.38% from 48.34%.

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