News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

Cancarb Limited announced today that it has appointed Özzsahin Sun’Í Kösele Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S. as its Turkish distributor of Thermax® medium thermal carbon blacks effective September 1, 2014. Previously Cancarb’s Turkish distributor for more than 25 years was Teknik Servis, owned and operated by semi-retiring co-founders Tugrul Sirel and Metin Tüfekcioglu. “Ozsahin brings to the table over 70 years of experience in the rubber industry,” said Dave Petrie, President of Cancarb. “This wealth of knowledge coupled with the support of key personnel from Cancarb’s previous distributor Teknik Servis Ltd. will assure a smooth transition and allow us to continue to provide the premium customer experience to which our customers are accustomed.”

Here is the press release.

In April 2014, Japanese carbon black company Tokai Carbon completed an acquisition of Cancarb Limited.

Having successfully concluded its initial public offering, Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. is using the cash to repaying a shareholder loan and refinance its debt. In the offering, which began July 25 and closed July 30, Orion floated 19.5 million common shares at $18 per share. Shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol OEC. Following the offering, Orion is owned by Kinove Luxembourg Holdings 1 S.a.r.l. (57.3%), public shareholders (about 32.7%), and management (about 10%). Rhone Capital L.L.C. and Triton Advisors Ltd. are Orion’s largest investors, together holding more than 50% of the firm, according to Charles Herlinger, Orion’s CFO. According to an article in Rubber & Plastics News, about €200 million ($267.6 million) of the proceeds will repay a shareholder loan in full. The IPO also will allow Orion to refinance its debt down from more than 10% to about 4-5%. 

Rubber & Plastics News reports that the US International Trade Commission has moved into the final phase of its investigation into potential dumping of Chinese passenger car and light truck tires into the United States. On August 21, the ITC announced a finding that the US tire industry has been “materially injured or threatened with material injury” due to the imports. Based on the finding, the ITC may impose countervailing and/or anti-dumping duties on Chinese tires and/or against individual Chinese tire makers. The US Department of Commerce began its investigation on July 21, 2014 in response to petitions submitted to the ITC on June 3 by the United Steelworkers union. The Obama administration previously imposed import tariffs against Chinese tire tires in September 2009, but the higher duties were allowed to expire in September 2012.