| Welcome |
| Welcome to the first ICIS logistics and distribution e-newsletter. These will give you detailed but succinct insights into the goings on of the chemical distribution sector each month. |
| Stories are selected by ICIS’s specialist logistics editor Elaine Burridge and selected from the best coverage by ICIS reporters around the world. |
| This month, Vinmar in the US has been raided by US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials looking into allegations the Houston-based trader has been doing business with Iran. Business operations have not been interrupted, says Vinmar. |
| Also, last week saw the opening of an important rail link between the Netherlands and Germany, part of the European Union’s enhanced transport network to encourage freight off the road. The first train on the line ran from the Port of Rotterdam to Hungary, to pick up corn for export. |
| Elsewhere, DSM has linked up with Resin Express to expand its engineering plastics business in eastern Europe and Russia, and Vopak has bought extra terminal capacity in Brazil. |
Elaine Burridge
Logistics editor, ICIS Chemical Business
Tel: +44 20 8652 8123
EMAIL: Elaine.burridge@icis.com
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| Vinmar raided by FBI |
| The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) visited Vinmar International's Houston head office after claims that it had business links with Iran, a company source has revealed. The source told ICIS news that operations at the company had not been affected. |
| "We were told the [FBI] came to the office earlier in the day, but left within half a day. Apparently, the [FBI] wanted to know whether our company had any dealings with some Iranian companies, which could be against US laws," said the source, who works at one of Vinmar's Asian offices. The source could not say if anything arose from the visit but added that operations in all their offices were "as per normal".
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| The FBI declined to comment, citing standard bureau practice of not confirming or denying the existence of any ongoing investigation. Vinmar is a trading house founded in the US in 1978 to market polymers and other bulk chemicals. It is now headquartered in Houston and has a strong presence in the Middle East and African markets. Iran, after recent mega expansions, is a major exporter of many bulk chemicals, particularly to northeast and southeast Asia. But US companies are not allowed by law to have any business dealings with Iran. Instead, most of Iran’s chemical exports to Asia are handled by Japanese, Chinese and Singapore companies. |
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| Freight rail link opens |
| On Monday 18 June, the first commercial train ran on the new Betuweroute rail link between the port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, and Germany. The train was bound for Hungary, where it was going to load corn for delivery to the Maassilo area in Botlek, the Netherlands. The train will run twice a day, travelling empty on the eastwards route. |
| The rail line, operated by Keyrail, is a priority section of the trans-European transport network and is capable of carrying 160 trains a day at speeds of 120km/hour (74 miles/hour). The European Commission expects some 37m tonnes/year of freight to travel down the line, which is dedicated solely to freight transport. |
| The Port of Rotterdam has seen rail transportation increase to 11% of all shipments in 2006, up from 9% in 2005. Road haulage is still the dominant transport into and out of the port, at 59%, with inland shipping accounting for 30%. |
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| DSM links with Resin Express in eastern Europe |
| DSM has entered an agreement with Resin Express to strengthen the marketing and sales of its engineering plastics in northeast Europe, the Dutch specialty chemicals group said on Thursday. |
| Under the agreement, DSM Engineering Plastics and Belgium-based plastics distributor Resin Express would operate together in the Baltic States, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. |
| DSM said the deal was in line with its ‘Vision 2010’ strategy to focus on new and emerging markets. |
| The two companies already have plastics distribution agreements in France, UK and Benelux. |
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| Vopak buys Brazilian terminal |
| Vopak has reached an agreement with oil storage and distribution company Puma Group to buy a newly built terminal in Suape, Brazil. Financial details were not disclosed, but Vopak said both parties want to complete the deal by 1 August. |
| The terminal consists of 10 tanks with a total capacity of 83,000m (2.9m ft), and stores ethanol and petroleum products. The facility can be expanded to just over 100,000m if needed. |
| Vopak said there are plans for a new refinery in Suape, which is in the fast-developing northeast region of Brazil, that will stimulate further development of the local chemical industry. |
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| Hoyer reveals sales increase |
| Germany’s Hoyer saw sales increase 3.3% to E837m ($1.12bn) in 2006, from E811m in 2005. Operating earnings also increased, but not so strongly, to E11.8m. |
| Ortwin Nast, CEO since last October, comments that rising costs from suppliers in the chemical transport business were the major factor hitting earnings development. An additional burden, he notes, were the high pre-operating expenses for new business in mineral oil distribution in Germany and Sweden. |
| Hoyer spent E91m last year replacing rental containers by self-owned containers, compared to just E29.5m in 2005. In the liquid chemical sector, Hoyer Chemilog did not meet its expectations in 2006, is spite of a good order situation. This was mainly due to increased subcontractor costs and fuel costs. |
| Hoyer expects to push through price increases in 2007 and benefit from positive volume development in the market. Sales and earnings are expected to be higher than for 2006. |
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| Recent ICIS features: |
| Marc Fermont of DistriConsult in Switzerland analyses recent M&A activity in European distribution and the way regulations are moving to prevent build ups of dominant positions in regional markets. |
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ICIS looks at recent developments in North American M&A in the distribution area, notably the acquisition of ChemCentralby Univar. |
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