John Zillmer, President and CEO of Univar, said Arinos has highly complementary business model to Univar, and provides a strong platform for future growth in the large and rapidly growing Brazilian chemical distribution market.

Arinos is a leading chemical distributor in Brazil, providing a one-stop-shop for both specialty and commodity chemicals as well as high-value services. The company has strong relationships with over 60 chemical manufacturers, and delivers over 1,600 products to more than 6,500 customers in diverse end markets.

Arinos has also developed over 20 branded products through its formulation business. The company is well positioned in the Brazilian market, with a nationwide distribution network and deep expertise in high growth industries.

Terry Hill, Executive Vice President of Industry Relations and President of Emerging Markets for Univar, said Arinos and Univar have very similar approaches to the market.

Each company has very strong supplier relationships, and is focused on providing high value-added services and deep industry expertise to customers, said Hill.

Mateos Dias, CEO of Arinos noted that Univar is an excellent partner for Arinos. The combination will create many synergies by providing enhanced services for the company’s customers, access to a broader base of chemical manufacturers and products, and opportunities to leverage the global sourcing capabilities of Univar, said Dias.

Arinos is a leading distributor of specialty and commodity chemicals in Brazil. Arinos partners with over 60 key chemical producers and serves more than 6,500 customers in diverse end markets. Arinos distributes over 1,600 products from its state-of-the-art facilities, including more than 20 branded products from its formulation business. In 2010, Arinos reported net sales of R$168 million.

Univar is one of the world’s leading distributors of industrial and specialty chemicals. Univar represents over 2,500 chemical producers and provides its customer base, made up of 80,000 customers, with a full portfolio of products.

Univar operates a network of more than 170 facilities in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and Latin America, with additional sales offices located in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In 2010, Univar reported sales of $7.9 billion.

Sipcam Isagro is based in Uberaba, found in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.  Sipcam Isagro is a niche local producer and distributor in the Brazilian agrochemicals market. It has a formulation plant in Brazil with capabilities in various formulation types for crop protection products.

Jai Shroff, UPL Chief Executive Officer, said the investment comes as part of the firm’s strategy to break into the Brazilian market. According to Shroff, Brazil is a $7 billion market, ranking amongst the top 5 largest crop protection markets in the world. He further stated that given the high entry barriers this market enjoys, coupled with UPL’s limited presence locally, Sipcam Isagro represents a unique opportunity to kick start operations on a larger scale.

The joint development plan targets untapped and promising areas and addresses significant market opportunities, he said. UPL is the largest Indian agrochemical Company and is engaged in research, manufacturing, selling and distribution of agrochemicals and specialty chemicals across the globe. The Company’s revenue for the year ended March 2010 was about US$ 1,142 million.

The transaction is expected to close within month. Financial terms of the acquisition were however not disclosed. YES Bank was the advisor to UPL for the transaction.

UPL is a global generic crop protection, chemicals and seeds company, headquartered in India (Mumbai). UPL and Advanta, the two companies in the group, are listed on the Indian stock exchange, with a combined market capitalization of approx $2.5 billion.

Isagro operates on a global level, in 80 countries, in the agro-pharmaceuticals market– products for the protection of agricultural crops – and invests directly in the innovation and development of new molecules and other active ingredients with a low environmental impact.

The Group, with a headcount of roughly 800, carries out its production activities in 6 sites, 4 in Italy, 1 in India and 1 in Brazil, and distributes directly in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, India, Spain and the United States. It is also present in other countries thanks to important local partners.

The pipelines are expected to have a length of 1,200 kilometers and will transport up to 20 million cubic meters yearly by the year 2020, added Costa. He further added that construction work on the first stretch of pipeline will begin Tuesday in the city of Ribeirao Preto, the heart of the sugarcane industry in the interior of Sao Paulo state.

A group of six companies will set up a network for distribution and storage of ethanol and other liquids. The six companies, Petrobras and five partners, will establish a new company, with initial capital of 100 million reais ($58 million), for the purpose of setting up the network. Shareholders in the new firm include Petrobras, with 20%; Cosan SA Industria e Comercio SA, 20%; Copersucar SA, 20%; Odebrecht Transport Participacoes SA, 20%; Camargo Correa Oleo e Gas SA, 10% and Uniduto Logistica SA, 10%.

The firms’ first pipeline will be constricted to run from Senador Canedo in Goias state, center-west Brazil, through Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo states to Sao Sebastiao port in Sao Paulo state. A second pipeline network will link Goias, Sao Paulo and Parana, ending at Foz do Iguacu, using river transport on the Parana and Tiete rivers, with a pipeline link to the first pipeline. The third pipeline will link the first pipeline with Ilha d’Agua port in Rio de Janeiro state.

Petrobras, Camargo Correa, Odebrecht and Uniduto have already carried out studies on the new project, Petrobras said in a statement last week. Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.

Petrobras is the world’s second-largest public listed company, the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere by market value. It remains a significant oil producer, with output of more than 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, as well as a major distributor of oil products.

The company also owns oil refineries and oil tankers. Petrobras is a world leader in development of advanced technology from deep-water and ultra-deep water oil production.

Joseph Gingo, A. Schulman chief executive officer and President noted the Brazilian market’s highly attractive nature given its size, diversity and robust macroeconomic vitals. The investment comes in the wake of another $200 million A. Schulman has done in 2010 for the acquisition of ICO, a compounder as well. According to Gingo, the Brazilian market presents one of the firm’s key markets that are crucial to Schulman’s overall growth strategy.

Schulman’s last major investment was in April, when it took over ICO Inc, inclusive of its two plants in Brazil. The Brazilian market is thus vital for Schulman’s progress into the future, in terms of growth; both inorganically and organically, said Gingo. Gingo further noted Brazil’s potential for growth of the market in terms of its relatively low per capita consumption of plastic, aspects he termed crucial for enhanced business.

Compared to per capita plastics consumption of around 130 kg in the US; Brazil’s resin consumption amounts to 27 kg only. ICO Inc. in Brazil targeted rotational molding with cross linked PE foam, PE, and PP, with offices in São Paulo, Bahia, and Minas Gerais.

Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, A. Schulman employs approximately 2,000 people and has 16 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe, Mexico and the Asia-Pacific region. A. Schulman stock is quoted through the Nasdaq National Market System.

A. Schulman is a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins, which are used as raw materials in a variety of markets. The Company’s principal product lines consist of proprietary and custom-formulated engineered plastic compounds, color concentrates and additives that improve the appearance and performance of plastics in a number of specialized applications.

Technology centers in North America and Europe are devoted to new product development and color research. The Company’s manufacturing facilities have their own product testing and quality control laboratories to ensure timely delivery of high-quality products to A. Schulman’s global customer base.

Founded in 2004, Mash Compostos Plasticos produces a wide range of additive concentrates, fillers and glass fibres, resin blends, color concentrates and base resins.

In an interview with Reuters, Graham Edwards, AECI chief executive officer said the firm is considering potential Brazilian acquisitions, but did not disclose a size of its potential investments. However, Edwards said the firm has been keen on an Indonesian expansion, to be potentially used as a hub for expansion in south East Asia. But even so, AECI is will consider controlled investment rate in South East Asia.

The Brazilian venture however is crucial to the firm’s expansion into Latin America’s most vibrant and growing markets. The South African firm is currently Africa’s biggest manufacturer of explosives for mines. AECI has gained from the surging commodity prices that have caused a resultant hike in capital expenditure by miners.

Nevertheless, the stronger South African currency has hurt South African manufactures, as demand has gone down for the company’s chemicals. The quest for expansion in Brazil is a direct reaction these challenges in the firm’s domestic South African markets. The South African rand has gained almost 30 per cent since the start of last year and is now trading almost at the highest level in two and half years.

Edward reiterated that sales to manufacturers could even decline by the end of this year, if the rand maintains its strong standing. But even as the South African seeks overseas investments, it could as well be the target of a potential acquisition if speculations are to be believed. Australian media have speculated that AECI’s mainstay explosives unit could be a takeover target for Australia’s Orica Ltd, which previously bid for the business.

Orica is the world’s biggest explosives maker and competes with AECI in the Indonesian market. Talks between the two over the sale of AECI’s explosives unit broke down in 1999. AECI Limited is a South African chemicals group and operates companies in market segments such as mining solutions (explosives and initiating systems), Specialty fibres, Specialty, chemicals and Real Estate.

At the same time, the Group confirmed the investment of substantial sums in its future growth. The firm as well provides value-adding solutions to customers through science, technology and industry knowledge. AECI’s core businesses serve both global and regional markets.

The discoveries of mega offshore oil prospects in Brazil have enhanced its repute as a major energy frontier given its deep water fields. Petrobas’ planned investment in the pre-salt region refers to a vast geological formation of around 200km wide and more than 800 km long off the country’s southern coast. This area is thought to have reservoirs deep below a salt layer on the ocean floor that is thought to hold immense amounts of light oil, projected at approximately 50 to 100 billion barrels of recoverable crude.

The Brazilian government had earlier said that it would buy as many shares as possible in the company’s planned sale, according to the Oil, Gas and Renewable Fuels Secretary, Marco Antonio Martins Almeida. However, if the shares are bought by minority shareholders, the government’s stake in Petrobas will still remain intact; if there is a stock left over, the government will come in and increase its share, added the Minister.

Last week, the country’s lawmakers voted to allow the company issue new shares in exchange for the rights to tap government reserves off the country’s coast. In Petrobas’ plans, much of its earlier planned $220 billion investment through 2014, the world’s biggest oil-industry investment program, as it seeks to develop fields such as the offshore Tupi block, the largest crude discovery in the Americas since 1976; will be raised from the share sell and other sources.

The government, according to the Minister, can transfer over 5 billion barrels of government owned oil to the company, in return, Petrobas would forfeit exploration rights to the government after extracting the agreed 5 billion barrels its entitled to. Banco Bradesco SA, Citigroup Inc., Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit, Morgan Stanley and Banco Santander SA were selected by Petrobas on June 2 as global coordinators of the share sale.

The Brazilian government owns a 32% stake in the company and controls it through a majority of voting shares. Petrobas is the biggest oil company in the Latin Americas with various exploration rights both in Brazil and overseas.

With the investments plans in high gear, the company expects to increase that figure further. De Marchi said, other than the fact that the 30% figure was impressive; the company would better have it at 30% of a higher amount. He said Brazil still had some considerable logistics inadequacies to overcome for it to become an export base, adding that logistics for successful Brazilian exports are already difficult with regard to distances to foreign markets vis a vis other challenges to transporting products to ports and shipping them out. Subsequently, the whole process is made tedious and expensive.

Additionally, Brazil is currently witnessing an increasingly strong real; therefore, the exchange rate against the dollar has greatly impacted exporter’s profitability. De March noted the impacts of the exchange rate on all industrial sectors, other than the chemical segment. Even so, he was quick to point out that domestic issues play a crucial role apropos the competitiveness of exports.

According to De Marchi, interest rates and the availability of credit are also key factors to the country’s exports. Last year, Rhonda’s subsidiary in Brazil generated about US$1.01 billion, representing 17% of worldwide sales. Out of the total average, emerging areas such as Latin America and Asia, gave the group about 45% of their revenues in 2009. The company’s investments in Brazil are pegged at around US$50 million per annum, with about 70% capacity for expansions to meet the pace of demand growth in the Brazilian market, said the chief executive.

The French stock listed company specializes in chemicals, offering products such as polymers, organic and inorganic chemicals, and formulations. Created in 1998, the company provides solutions to a range of markets, including automotive, electronics, flavors and fragrances, health, personal and home care, consumer goods and industrial, through its six global enterprises: Polyamide, Novecare, Silcea, Energy Services, Acetow and Eco Services. Established in 25 countries worldwide, Rhodia has manufacturing facilities and R&D centers in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. In Latin America, it operates in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. It employs 13,600 workers worldwide and had sales of 4.03 billion Euros in 2009.