Albemarle, Senze Meilu in Joint Venture - Analyst Blog
May 17 2013 - 9:10AM
Zacks
Specialty chemical company Albemarle Corporation
(ALB) has signed definitive agreements to form a joint venture with
Shanxi, China-based coal and bauxite mining company Senze Meilu
Company.
On receipt of the necessary approvals from the relevant Chinese
government authorities, the joint venture named “Albemarle Senze
Chemicals (Shanxi) Company, Ltd.” will build a new 50,000 MT
facility in Lvliang, Shanxi, to make MARTINAL fine precipitated
alumina trihydrate (ATH) flame retardants based on Albemarle's
proprietary technology, mainly used in wire and cable
applications. Production at the new facility is expected to
start by mid-2015.
Albemarle, which will hold a majority stake in the joint venture,
will market MARTINAL in the high-growth Asia-Pacific and Indian
markets.
This agreement will position Albemarle as a premiere player in the
flame retardant technologies and markets globally. It will also
enhance Albemarle’s place in the rapidly growing wire and cable
markets in Asia and India and complement Albemarle's existing world
scale production facility in Bergheim, Germany.
MARTINAL, an eco-friendly, mineral-based flame retardant and smoke
suppressant is used in a wide range of polyolefin resins. Low-smoke
wire and cable applications are the largely used applications in
the energy sector which is gaining momentum from rising energy
consumption in China and Asia-Pacific.
Albemarle came out with its first-quarter 2013 results last month.
The company reported adjusted earnings (excluding non-operating
items) of 93 cents a share in the quarter compared with $1.20 a
share earned in the year-ago quarter. The results fell behind the
Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.00, reflecting a negative surprise
of around 7%.
Profit, as reported, was $84 million or 94 cents per share. This
represents a roughly 26.5% decline from $114.3 million or $1.27 per
share posted in the prior-year quarter.
Revenues decreased 9.8% to $641.6
million in the quarter from $711.7 million in the year-ago quarter,
missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $674 million. The results
were impacted by Albemarle’s exit from the phosphorus flame
retardants business, lower metals surcharges and pricing on some
products.
Albemarle currently holds a Zacks
Rank #4 (Sell).
Other companies in the chemical
industry having favorable Zacks Rank are Shin-Etsu Chemical
Co., Ltd. (SHECY ), Celanese Corporation
(CE) and Methanex Corporation (MEOH). All of them
hold a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
ALBEMARLE CORP (ALB): Free Stock Analysis Report
CELANESE CP-A (CE): Free Stock Analysis Report
METHANEX CORP (MEOH): Free Stock Analysis Report
SHIN-ETSU CHEM (SHECY): Get Free Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2024 to Aug 2024
Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2023 to Aug 2024