Company News

June 22, 2021

SKC Business Update

SKC: Earnings Momentum and Growth Potential

  • By Lee Jin-myung
  • June 11, 2021, 10:09

The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at jinmyung.lee93@shinhan.com. — Ed.

2Q21 OP to reach a quarterly high of KRW100.5bn (+23% QoQ)

SKC’s operating profit will likely reach a new quarterly high of KRW100.5bn (+23% QoQ) in 2Q21. The chemicals division is forecast to post all-time high earnings with operating profit of KRW64.7bn (+16% QoQ) and operating margin of 27% (+3%p QoQ). Strong chemicals earnings should be driven by: 1) continued tight supply for propylene oxide (PO); and 2) 89% QoQ rise in propylene glycol (PG) spread on brisk sales of high value-added products.

The mobility materials division is projected to report operating profit of KRW17.8bn (+7% QoQ) for 2Q. Sales growth is expected on partial reflection of shipments from the new fifth plant, but margin improvement should be limited due to increased costs (labor, etc.). Operating profit from industrial materials will likely grow 5% QoQ to KRW15.5bn on continued strength in downstream demand. Semiconductor materials earnings should continue on an uptrend thanks to the ramp-up of anew CMP pad plant.

2021 outlook: OP of KRW383bn (+101% YoY) on strong chemicals and copper foil

For full-year 2021, we project operating profit at KRW383bn (+101% YoY). Chemicals should post operating profit of KRW236.7bn (+168% YoY), driving up overall earnings. The PO spread is forecast to remain high in 2H given strong demand amid economic recovery. Additional profit growth is expected as high value-added PG sales will rise once a new DPG plant (35,000 tons) goes into production in 2H.

Mobility materials will likely report YoY growth of 73% in sales and 59% in operating profit. Earnings should be sluggish in 1H due to costs of capacity expansion, but we expect to see sharp increase in sales and profit for 2H with the fifth plant running at full capacity from 3Q. SKC moved up the ramp-up target for the sixth copper foil plant amid supply shortages, and also revised up its capacity expansion target to meet rapidly growing demand in downstream industries. Capacity additions planned in Malaysia, the US, and Europe should raise the company’s total copper foil capacity up to 250,000 tons by 2025.

http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=69372

June 21, 2021

Exclusive Negotiations

Indorama is in talks to buy Oxiteno

A purchase of the Brazilian specialty chemical firm would plunge the polyester producer deeper into surfactants

by Alexander H. Tullo
June 18, 2021

20210618lnp1-oxiteno.jpg Credit: Oxiteno Oxiteno’s new surfactants plant in Pasadena, Texas

The Thai chemical maker Indorama Ventures has entered exclusive negotiations with the Brazilian conglomerate Ultrapar Participações to buy Ultrapar’s specialty chemical business, Oxiteno.

The parties have yet to hammer out a purchase agreement. “Conditions of the transaction, including value, are still under consideration,” Ultra says.

Oxiteno is one of the linchpins of Brazil’s chemical industry. Among its key products are surfactants, solvents, glycols, ethanolamines, fatty alcohols, glycerin, and fatty acids. It earned $70 million in 2020 on $1.0 billion in sales. Its assets are valued at $1.7 billion.

In recent years, the company has been branching out of its home country. Its biggest such move came in 2018, when it started up a $150 million ethoxylation unit in Pasadena, Texas, on the site of a former vitamin E plant. Oxiteno claims to be the world’s second largest producer of ethoxylated chemicals, behind BASF.

Indorama has grown over the past 2 decades into a global giant in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resins and fibers. Its sales last year were about $10 billion. And as it built its polyester business, the company became involved in surfactants as well, a direction it has embraced as a diversification maneuver.

In 2012, Indorama bought Old World Industries, a producer of ethylene glycol—a PET raw material—in Clear Lake, Texas. That plant also makes ethylene oxide, the raw material needed for ethoxylated surfactants. Indorama subsequently strengthened the business by buying and refurbishing an ethylene plant to back-integrate ethylene oxide production.

In January 2020, Indorama built on this foundation when it completed the purchase of Huntsman’s chemical intermediates and surfactants unit, a competitor to Oxiteno. That $2.1 billion deal gave Indorama plants in Chocolate Bayou, Dayton, and Port Neches, Texas, and in India and Australia.

https://cen.acs.org/business/mergers-&-acquisitions/Indorama-talks-buy-Oxiteno/99/web/2021/06

June 21, 2021

Exclusive Negotiations

Indorama is in talks to buy Oxiteno

A purchase of the Brazilian specialty chemical firm would plunge the polyester producer deeper into surfactants

by Alexander H. Tullo
June 18, 2021

20210618lnp1-oxiteno.jpg Credit: Oxiteno Oxiteno’s new surfactants plant in Pasadena, Texas

The Thai chemical maker Indorama Ventures has entered exclusive negotiations with the Brazilian conglomerate Ultrapar Participações to buy Ultrapar’s specialty chemical business, Oxiteno.

The parties have yet to hammer out a purchase agreement. “Conditions of the transaction, including value, are still under consideration,” Ultra says.

Oxiteno is one of the linchpins of Brazil’s chemical industry. Among its key products are surfactants, solvents, glycols, ethanolamines, fatty alcohols, glycerin, and fatty acids. It earned $70 million in 2020 on $1.0 billion in sales. Its assets are valued at $1.7 billion.

In recent years, the company has been branching out of its home country. Its biggest such move came in 2018, when it started up a $150 million ethoxylation unit in Pasadena, Texas, on the site of a former vitamin E plant. Oxiteno claims to be the world’s second largest producer of ethoxylated chemicals, behind BASF.

Indorama has grown over the past 2 decades into a global giant in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resins and fibers. Its sales last year were about $10 billion. And as it built its polyester business, the company became involved in surfactants as well, a direction it has embraced as a diversification maneuver.

In 2012, Indorama bought Old World Industries, a producer of ethylene glycol—a PET raw material—in Clear Lake, Texas. That plant also makes ethylene oxide, the raw material needed for ethoxylated surfactants. Indorama subsequently strengthened the business by buying and refurbishing an ethylene plant to back-integrate ethylene oxide production.

In January 2020, Indorama built on this foundation when it completed the purchase of Huntsman’s chemical intermediates and surfactants unit, a competitor to Oxiteno. That $2.1 billion deal gave Indorama plants in Chocolate Bayou, Dayton, and Port Neches, Texas, and in India and Australia.

https://cen.acs.org/business/mergers-&-acquisitions/Indorama-talks-buy-Oxiteno/99/web/2021/06

June 21, 2021

Huntsman Introduces New TPU Grade



NEW IROGRAN® TPU GRADE FROM HUNTSMAN HAS IMPROVED PROPERTIES FOR FIRE HOSES AND TEXTILES

THE WOODLANDS, TX– Specialty Elastomers experts from Huntsman have developed a new thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) grade for technical extrusion parts and blown film applications that offers significant improvements over previous generation technologies when it comes to durability, production efficiency and reducing manufacturing waste. IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is the latest addition to a well-established family of elastomer products from Huntsman, which are renowned for their performance in a diverse range of industrial and consumer applications.

Developed in close partnership with Huntsman’s customers, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU has greater tensile strength than the standard IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 elastomer grade originally developed in 2004. The new grade also offers improved film extrusion quality and high melt strength, which makes it ideal for blown film applications. Delivering better resistance to force in its melted state, which makes it less likely that an extruded film will break during production, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU can help to significantly lower scrap rates, improve manufacturing throughput and cut waste in blown film processing.

IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is developed to solve the problems of customers in diverse markets including: 

  • TPU lay flat hoses used in high pressure industrial and municipal applications e.g., firefighting
  • Textile lamination – as a breathable, waterproof layer for rugged performance apparel.

In the manufacture of TPU lay flat hoses, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is applied via the “extrusion through-the-weave” process. In this application, the product’s greater tensile strength is highly advantageous – helping the resulting hoses cycle between periods of being tightly coiled and then extended and put under high water pressure levels. In the case of fire hoses, this pressure can typically be in the region of 8 and 20 bar (800 and 2000 kPa; 116 and 290 psi).

When it comes to textile lamination, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is an excellent material for creating a waterproof, breathable film in rugged performance apparel (including gloves and footwear). Blown to create an extremely thin layer, which is then added to fabrics, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU provides the protective properties needed to create high performance outdoor garments. Adhering well to different kinds of fabrics, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU can aid the stretch and recovery of the materials it is used on. The nature of the grade also means the resulting films can be engineered to have different surface finishes, including gloss, smooth and matte effects

Trent Shidaker, Global Marketing Director, Elastomers at Huntsman, said: “IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is a highly versatile and durable elastomer. Soft to the touch, it’s ideal for apparel applications that need to stay in contact with the wearer for hours at a time; but it’s also strong enough to be used in municipal and industrial hoses that have to perform under the toughest conditions. Applying its development expertise, our elastomers team has enhanced the processing properties of IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU, without compromising the key performance attributes expected of products in this range – namely excellent hydrolytic resistance; fantastic wear performance; and microbial resistance. The result is an elastomer that can enable manufacturers to work more efficiently, cut waste and create longer-lasting products; a compelling proposition for the markets we serve.”

The basis of the chemistry of IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU goes back to 2004 when the flagship product was first developed. Later variations of the product were developed to create the family of elastomer products from Huntsman that customers have learned to know and love.  

Other IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 TPU products available from Huntsman include:

  • IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 – a legacy product, launched in 2004, that was first introduced for thin wall technical parts, thin wall extrusion profiles, spiral hoses, cable jacketing and film and sheet
  • IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 FCM – launched in 2015, this grade has a similar base chemistry to the standard version of IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 but is formulated with raw materials that are compliant with FDA regulations for food processing belts and has an NSF 61 rating (approved for potable water applications).
  • IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 UV – also launched in 2015, this product is fortified with proprietary additives that enable it to withstand UV exposure while maintaining excellent physical properties and appearance. This product is used for pneumatic tubing for airlines and industrial equipment and fracking hoses.

IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is made at the Huntsman Polyurethanes manufacturing facility in Ringwood Illinois. For more information about the full range of IROGRAN A 85 P 4394 TPU products available from Huntsman, please contact: joanna_marzec@huntsman.com.

June 21, 2021

Huntsman Introduces New TPU Grade



NEW IROGRAN® TPU GRADE FROM HUNTSMAN HAS IMPROVED PROPERTIES FOR FIRE HOSES AND TEXTILES

THE WOODLANDS, TX– Specialty Elastomers experts from Huntsman have developed a new thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) grade for technical extrusion parts and blown film applications that offers significant improvements over previous generation technologies when it comes to durability, production efficiency and reducing manufacturing waste. IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is the latest addition to a well-established family of elastomer products from Huntsman, which are renowned for their performance in a diverse range of industrial and consumer applications.

Developed in close partnership with Huntsman’s customers, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU has greater tensile strength than the standard IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 elastomer grade originally developed in 2004. The new grade also offers improved film extrusion quality and high melt strength, which makes it ideal for blown film applications. Delivering better resistance to force in its melted state, which makes it less likely that an extruded film will break during production, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU can help to significantly lower scrap rates, improve manufacturing throughput and cut waste in blown film processing.

IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is developed to solve the problems of customers in diverse markets including: 

  • TPU lay flat hoses used in high pressure industrial and municipal applications e.g., firefighting
  • Textile lamination – as a breathable, waterproof layer for rugged performance apparel.

In the manufacture of TPU lay flat hoses, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is applied via the “extrusion through-the-weave” process. In this application, the product’s greater tensile strength is highly advantageous – helping the resulting hoses cycle between periods of being tightly coiled and then extended and put under high water pressure levels. In the case of fire hoses, this pressure can typically be in the region of 8 and 20 bar (800 and 2000 kPa; 116 and 290 psi).

When it comes to textile lamination, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is an excellent material for creating a waterproof, breathable film in rugged performance apparel (including gloves and footwear). Blown to create an extremely thin layer, which is then added to fabrics, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU provides the protective properties needed to create high performance outdoor garments. Adhering well to different kinds of fabrics, IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU can aid the stretch and recovery of the materials it is used on. The nature of the grade also means the resulting films can be engineered to have different surface finishes, including gloss, smooth and matte effects

Trent Shidaker, Global Marketing Director, Elastomers at Huntsman, said: “IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is a highly versatile and durable elastomer. Soft to the touch, it’s ideal for apparel applications that need to stay in contact with the wearer for hours at a time; but it’s also strong enough to be used in municipal and industrial hoses that have to perform under the toughest conditions. Applying its development expertise, our elastomers team has enhanced the processing properties of IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU, without compromising the key performance attributes expected of products in this range – namely excellent hydrolytic resistance; fantastic wear performance; and microbial resistance. The result is an elastomer that can enable manufacturers to work more efficiently, cut waste and create longer-lasting products; a compelling proposition for the markets we serve.”

The basis of the chemistry of IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU goes back to 2004 when the flagship product was first developed. Later variations of the product were developed to create the family of elastomer products from Huntsman that customers have learned to know and love.  

Other IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 TPU products available from Huntsman include:

  • IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 – a legacy product, launched in 2004, that was first introduced for thin wall technical parts, thin wall extrusion profiles, spiral hoses, cable jacketing and film and sheet
  • IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 FCM – launched in 2015, this grade has a similar base chemistry to the standard version of IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 but is formulated with raw materials that are compliant with FDA regulations for food processing belts and has an NSF 61 rating (approved for potable water applications).
  • IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 UV – also launched in 2015, this product is fortified with proprietary additives that enable it to withstand UV exposure while maintaining excellent physical properties and appearance. This product is used for pneumatic tubing for airlines and industrial equipment and fracking hoses.

IROGRAN® A 85 P 4394 HR TPU is made at the Huntsman Polyurethanes manufacturing facility in Ringwood Illinois. For more information about the full range of IROGRAN A 85 P 4394 TPU products available from Huntsman, please contact: joanna_marzec@huntsman.com.