The mazda pharma Guide 12th August to 18th August 2013 | Page 31

CHEMICALS NEWS VERSALIS ENTERS HYDROCARBON RESINS BUSINESS, SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH NEVILLE VENTURE ROME : Versalis, the chemicals arm of Eni (Rome), today announced that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Neville Venture (Pittsburgh, PA) for the production of hydrocarbon resins at the Versalis' Priolo, Italy complex and entered into a licence agreement related new facility. Earlier this year, Daniele Ferrari, CEO of Versalis,told CW that Neville is one of the companies Versalis is negotiating with. These new, high added-value products are used in specialty applications such as adhesives, inks, coatings and rubber. Neville Venture is a joint venture between US based companies Neville Chemical Co., a synthetic resins manufacturer, and GTC, an engineering and technology company in the chemical, refining and gas industry. ExxonMobil Chemical and Goodyear also produce hydrocarbon resins. The partnership represents an important step in the previously announced overhaul of the Priolo site. The new plant will use cracker cuts, which have so far not been utilized. “The overhaul activities started off at Priolo represent an example of industrial integrated model and this agreement is Versalis' tangible sign of its commitment to innovation and to application of technological excellence instrumental to enhancing the plant strengths”, Ferrari says. “The path we have taken enables us to find innovative business solutions that, in turn, translate into opportunities for the area and the community we are part of.” Versalis's Priolo complex—the largest petchems facility within the group—is undergoing a major restructuring. Plans include a permanent reduction in ethylene capacity from quarter. MITSUBISHI CHEMICAL AND SUMITOMO SWING TO PROFIT TOKYO : Mitsubishi Chemical reported a net profit of ¥44 billion ($546.5 million) for the fiscal first half ended September 30, 2010, compared with a net loss of ¥2.5 billion in the year-ago period. Sales increased 37%, to ¥1.56 790,000 m.t./year to 490,000 m.t./year as trillion. The increase in sales was a result of higher selling prices and the recovery of this month and the closure of a in demand in the company's performance products and industrial materials business segments, Mitsubishi says. Sales improved also because Mitsubishi Rayon became a consolidated subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical in March 2010. plant at the site. The cracker produces C5–C9 cuts, which at present are lost in the process. Versalis by entering the hydrocarbon resins business at the site will utilize some of these fractions. Extracting higher hydrocarbon fractions from the Priolo cracker could lead to the construction of an isoprene rubber plant at the site, Ferrari told CW earlier. to the feedstock which will be used in the 160,000-m.t./year linear low-density PE SASOL'S 2013 RESULTS BENEFIT FROM SYNFUELS BUT ARE OFFSET BY IMPAIRMENTS ON WAX PROJECT AND ARYA SASOL JOHANNESBURG : Sasol (Johannesburg), the synthetic fuels and chemicals producer, has released updated guidance on its results for the year ended 30 June 2013. The company now expects operational (“headline”) earnings per share to increase by 20%-30%, and reported earnings per share (EPS) by 7%17% in the financial year just ended. In earlier guidance on 7 June, the company had stated only that it would deliver solid operational performance and earnings, excluding major one-off items, for SUMITOMO CHEMICAL REPORTS HUGE RISE IN PROFITS KYOTO : Sumitomo Chemical reports a more than eight-fold increase in net profits for the fiscal first quarter, ended 30 June, compared with the year-ago quarter, to ¥7.77 billion ($79 million). First-quarter sales increased 5.2%, to ¥515.5 billion. Sumitomo's basic chemicals segment reports a 0.3% rise in first-quarter sales, compared with the year-ago period, to ¥66.8 billion. The segment reports an operating loss of ¥2.08 billion compared with an operating loss of ¥2.54 billion in the year-ago 32 THE MAZADA PHARMA GUIDE q - 18 August 2013 12 August