December 3, 2019

TPC fire idles Huntsman PO/MTBE unit

Huntsman said today its propylene oxide (PO)/methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) unit in Port Neches, Texas, will remain idled indefinitely following last week’s fire at TPC Group’s neighboring complex.

Fires burning at TPC’s Port Neches plant are ongoing but controlled following a blast at a butadiene unit 27 November. A distillation tower at the site collapsed due to the ongoing event at 12:30am ET yesterday.

The TPC site includes a 425,000 t/yr butadiene unit that accounts for 17pc of US capacity. The idled Huntsman unit can produce up to 779,000 t/y of MTBE.

While the PO/MTBE unit was not damaged by the blast, Huntsman stores MTBE at the TPC site and “certain dependencies” within that adjacent complex were damaged by the fire, the company said.

“While we await access to the adjacent site and further evaluate alternatives to safely bring this unit fully back on line, the expected duration of downtime and economic impact is unknown,” Huntsman said.

Except for the PO/MTBE unit, all other site operations at Huntsman’s Port Neches complex are back at pre-incident production levels.

Synthetic rubber producer Lion Elastomers is restarting the finishing portion of operations at its site next to the TPC plant on a limited basis before restarting its polymerization area. Lion’s Port Neches plant can produce up to 180,000 t/y of emulsion styrene-butadiene rubber. Its nearby plant in Orange, Texas, can produce up to 105,000 t/y of polybutadiene rubber and 25,000 t/y of solution styrene butadiene rubber. In August, Lion completed its acquisition of the Orange site from Firestone Polymers.

“We continue to work through logistical complications developed by the TPC fire on a priority basis,” Lion said.

Waterborne traffic on the nearby Sabine Pass, which is near two methanol plants and an LPG export facility, has resumed after being halted immediately following the blast last week.

TPC’s Insurance claims representatives are canvassing the neighborhoods today, as the blast damaged several homes and scattered debris. Jefferson County officials on 29 November lifted an evacuation order for residents in a 4-mile radius of the site.

By Steven McGinn and Amy Strahan

https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news/2026397-tpc-fire-idles-huntsman-pomtbe-unit

December 2, 2019

BASF Acquires 3D Print Company

BASF acquires 3D printing service provider Sculpteo

11/28/2019 – Heidelberg, Germany – BASF New Business GmbH has formally agreed to acquire the online 3D printing service provider Sculpteo.

The agreement was signed on November 14, 2019 and is expected to become effective in the next few weeks pending regulatory approval by the relevant authorities. The acquisition of the French 3D printing specialist based in Paris and San Francisco will enable BASF 3D Printing Solutions GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF New Business GmbH, to market and establish new industrial 3D printing materials more quickly. Sculpteo’s management team fully supports the acquisition and will remain in place to provide customers and partners with this expanded service spectrum. For around a decade already, Sculpteo has operated an online platform with integrated production for the manufacturing of prototypes, individual objects, and serial production components with a range of different additive manufacturing technologies. Customers in various industrial sectors around the world use the Sculpteo service to produce new components rapidly and reliably. BASF will develop the existing Sculpteo 3D printing platform further into a global network. For customers and partners, BASF 3D Printing Solutions will thus be able to offer an additional channel for marketing their services and expanding their own customer bases. “Through the acquisition of Sculpteo, we can provide customers and partners with even faster access to our innovative 3D printing solutions. In addition, our customers will benefit from an extended range of services”, explains Dr. Dietmar Bender, Managing Director BASF 3D Printing Solutions. “Together with Sculpteo, we are pursuing our goal of establishing additive manufacturing as a proven technology for industrial mass production”, says Bender. Combining the strengths of both companies will provide Sculpteo’s existing customers with access to a more extensive portfolio of 3D printing materials. “We are excited to join the BASF team and thus benefit from BASF’s outstanding R&D to provide our customers with innovative solutions”, says Clément Moreau, CEO and Co-Founder of Sculpteo. Moreau will stay with Sculpteo as CEO. Beyond this, the Sculpteo Design Studio and BASF’s technical experts will collaborate to be able to support customers in their 3D printing projects from the early planning phase right through to the final printed part. This will enable BASF to offer its customers end-to-end industrial 3D printing solutions.

http://rubberworld.com/news.asp?id=28865

December 2, 2019

BASF Acquires 3D Print Company

BASF acquires 3D printing service provider Sculpteo

11/28/2019 – Heidelberg, Germany – BASF New Business GmbH has formally agreed to acquire the online 3D printing service provider Sculpteo.

The agreement was signed on November 14, 2019 and is expected to become effective in the next few weeks pending regulatory approval by the relevant authorities. The acquisition of the French 3D printing specialist based in Paris and San Francisco will enable BASF 3D Printing Solutions GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF New Business GmbH, to market and establish new industrial 3D printing materials more quickly. Sculpteo’s management team fully supports the acquisition and will remain in place to provide customers and partners with this expanded service spectrum. For around a decade already, Sculpteo has operated an online platform with integrated production for the manufacturing of prototypes, individual objects, and serial production components with a range of different additive manufacturing technologies. Customers in various industrial sectors around the world use the Sculpteo service to produce new components rapidly and reliably. BASF will develop the existing Sculpteo 3D printing platform further into a global network. For customers and partners, BASF 3D Printing Solutions will thus be able to offer an additional channel for marketing their services and expanding their own customer bases. “Through the acquisition of Sculpteo, we can provide customers and partners with even faster access to our innovative 3D printing solutions. In addition, our customers will benefit from an extended range of services”, explains Dr. Dietmar Bender, Managing Director BASF 3D Printing Solutions. “Together with Sculpteo, we are pursuing our goal of establishing additive manufacturing as a proven technology for industrial mass production”, says Bender. Combining the strengths of both companies will provide Sculpteo’s existing customers with access to a more extensive portfolio of 3D printing materials. “We are excited to join the BASF team and thus benefit from BASF’s outstanding R&D to provide our customers with innovative solutions”, says Clément Moreau, CEO and Co-Founder of Sculpteo. Moreau will stay with Sculpteo as CEO. Beyond this, the Sculpteo Design Studio and BASF’s technical experts will collaborate to be able to support customers in their 3D printing projects from the early planning phase right through to the final printed part. This will enable BASF to offer its customers end-to-end industrial 3D printing solutions.

http://rubberworld.com/news.asp?id=28865

November 29, 2019

BASF In Talks to Sell Construction Chemicals Unit

Exclusive: Lone Star in exclusive talks to buy BASF construction chemicals unit – sources

Arno Schuetze

3 Min Read

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Lone Star has entered exclusive negotiations to buy BASF’s (BASFn.DE) construction chemicals business as the German chemicals company seeks to focus on more profitable operations, people close to the matter said.

FILE PHOTO: The chemical company BASF building in Levallois-Perret, near Paris, France, is seen at sunset, November 29, 2018. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo

The private equity firm vied with a consortium comprising buyout groups Cinven – which owns peer Chryso – and Bain for the world’s largest maker of chemical additives for concrete, they said.

A BASF spokesman confirmed that the company had proceeded to talk with only one bidder but declined to comment further.

Lone Star declined to comment.

Financial details of the potential deal have not emerged, but sources close to the matter have said in the past that they expect the unit to be valued around 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion).

The sale has been long and drawn out as BASF put the business on the block a year ago.

BASF’s CEO Martin Brudermueller said in October that he expected the signing of a deal before the end of the year.

“We received confirmatory bids and are now progressing with a smaller number of interested parties,” he said at the time.

The chemicals giant had initially hoped to sell the unit to the world’s largest cement maker LafargeHolcim (LHN.S), but was unable to hammer out a deal.

Lone Star had previously walked away from the bidding but was invited back to the negotiating table, sources have said.

BASF’s construction chemicals unit is the world’s largest maker of additives for concrete. It also offers a range of substances including concrete repair fillers, grouts and sealants under a business dubbed Construction Systems, where BASF is the No. 4 player globally.

The business, whose products have been used to build train tunnels in London and the Swiss Alps, competes with GCP Applied Technologies (GCP.N) , Mapei, RPM Inc (RPM.N) and Sika (SIKA.S).

Analysts have said that BASF never managed to reconcile the construction chemicals unit’s dependence on small to mid-size builders with BASF’s focus on large industrial customers.

BASF purchased the construction chemicals business from Degussa in 2006 for 2.7 billion euros including debt.

Lone Star has German building materials maker Xella in its portfolio, while Cinven owns smaller French peer Chryso and Bain owns British building materials distributor MKM.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-basf-divestiture-exclusive/exclusive-lone-star-in-exclusive-talks-to-buy-basf-construction-chemicals-unit-sources-idUSKBN1Y11ZB