January
Solvay completed
the acquisition of a controlling interest in Mumbai-based
surfactants producer Sunshield Chemicals Ltd.
The 62.36%, Û11.7m (around $15m) acquisition will enable
the expansion of Solvay’s Novecare business in India.
Turkey-based Ciner
Group signed a $1.35bn deal with China
Tianchen Engineering Corp. (TCC) to build the
world’s biggest soda ash facility in the country’s
capital city, Ankara. The production facility, which will
produce 2.5m tpa dense soda ash and 200,000 tpa sodium
bicarbonate, is expected to be up and running by early
2017.
Penrice Soda Holdings
Ltd said it will close its Adelaide, Australia-based
soda ash manufacturing facility after experiencing
“increasingly difficult domestic trading conditions”.
Several factors, including the strength of the Australian
dollar; lower international shipping costs; increased energy
and labour costs; and increasing taxes, have made the import of
soda ash more than 40% cheaper than producing domestically.
Natural Resource Partners
L.P. (NRP) acquired a 48.51% general partner interest
in natural trona soda ash producer OCI Wyoming
L.P. from subsidiaries of Anadarko Petroleum
Corp. for $292.5m.
Six unnamed companies located
outside of Tanzania placed bids to set up a $500m soda ash
plant at Lake Natron, according to the country’s
National Development Corp. (NDC). The deposit
holds the potential to produce 1m tpa soda ash as well as to
bring benefits to the local area.
February
Speaking at a press conference in
Minsk at the beginning of February, Belarus
Architecture and Construction Minister, Anatoly Nichkasov said
soda ash could soon be produced in Belarus under a joint
venture agreement with Russia. The soda ash would be sold both
in Belarus and in the neighbouring countries.
The directorate general of
Customs Valuation in Karachi, Pakistan,
revised the customs value on imports of soda ash, which will
now be assessed for import duties with the customs value of
$265/tonne for synthetic dense soda ash; $255/tonne for
synthetic light soda ash and $250/tonne for natural dense light
soda ash.
March
US soda ash
producers could gain equal footing over Chinese
competitors following the introduction of a bipartisan bill
that would provide the US soda ash industry temporary royalty
relief. Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis introduced the American
Soda Ash Competitiveness Act bill on 5 March.
May
By May, it was revealed that
royalty rates for soda ash produced on Federal land in the US
could be restored to 2% after the House Natural
Resources Committee voted in favour of the American
Soda Ash Competitiveness Act.
July
Novacarb announced
plans to increase capacity at its European operations as well
to develop a new facility in South-East Asia. It said it will
expand capacity at its Nancy production plant in France by an
additional 30,000 tpa, using an investment of Û25m
($32m).
Kenya has reinforced security along
the Somali border in a measure against the illegal export of
soda ash, which is reportedly being used by Al
Shabab terrorists to manufacture bomb explosives. The
intensified security along the check-points followed the
impounding of a truck on the Wajir border, found to be carrying
soda ash as well as other explosives ingredients.
RUSAL Achinsk
entered into an addendum to its soda ash supply contract with
the privately-listed company Eniseyskiy CBK
LLC. The updated supply agreement, for around 4,000
tonnes soda ash, at approximately $1.13m, is in addition to the
previously-agreed contract for 9,360 tonnes soda ash, at around
$2.63m. The new contract will run until 31 December 2013.
September
FMC Wyoming Corp.
said it will increase the price of two soda ash grades sold to
South African customers by $30/tonne. The increase will apply
to FMC Wyoming’s Grade 260 “dense” soda ash and
Grade 100 “light” soda ash sold to South African
customers. FMC Wyoming said the move was necessary in order for
it to recover increasing costs and continue to invest in its
soda ash operations.
OCI Resources,
which operates the Wyoming Green River facility in the US,
offered a Master Limited Partnership (MLP) IPO on the New York
Stock Exchange.
October
Solvay revealed
plans to build a new sodium bicarbonate plant in Thailand,
which is set to become the largest of its kind in South-East
Asia. Addressing growing demand for sodium bicarbonate for the
healthcare and food markets, Solvay will construct the 100,000
tpa plant on its existing site in Map Ta Phut Industrial
Estate, Rayong province.
Royalty rates for soda ash produced
on Federal land in the US were reduced to 4% after months of
action concluded in the acceptance of temporary
legislation.
Tata Chemicals Europe
(TCE) revealed restructuring proposals for its
Cheshire, UK-based operations that could mean closing its soda
ash and calcium chloride factory in Winnington. TCE announced
the proposal in response to “high and rising” energy
prices. If the action goes ahead it could result in more than
220 redundancies across its Winnington and Lostock operations
and from support services.
Clariant International
Ltd signed an agreement for the sale of its detergents
and intermediates business to International Chemical Investors
Group (ICIG), an industry of mid-sized chemicals and
pharmaceuticals.
November
Regional demand for soda ash in the
GCC is growing by 15-20% a year, representing a growth
opportunity for soda ash development in Saudi Arabia, the
commercial and corporate affairs director for IDEA Soda
Ash & Calcium Chloride told delegates at the
Middle East Industrial Minerals conference in Oman.
Solvay announced
plans to build a new distiller at its soda ash plant in Devnya,
Bulgaria, within one or two years. Spyros Nomikos, general
manager and CEO of Bulgaria-based Solvay Chemicals, said that
it will invest BGN 55m ($37.9m) for the construction of the new
distiller. The distiller will significantly reduce production
costs, by optimising steam consumption and reducing
CO2 emission.