Best Chemical Companies For 2014

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ��Energy stocks fell Friday, with Chevron Corp. the worst hit after it reported disappointing third-quarter earnings.

Chevron (CVX) �shares ended 1.6% lower, the worst-performing stock on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Chevron early Friday reported earnings of $2.57 a share, from $2.69 a share a year earlier. Analysts had expected earnings around $2.71 a share. The earnings miss was mostly due to weak refining margins. Chevron last month warned of significantly lower earnings for its refining, marketing, and chemicals operations.

Top Rising Stocks To Watch Right Now: LCY Chemical Corp (1704.TW)

LCY Chemical Corporation is principally engaged in the manufacture and distribution of polypropylene (PP), solvents and other chemical products. The Company provides methanol products, including methanol, formaldehyde, paraformaldehyde and dimethyl ether, among others; solvents, including ethyl acetate, isopropyl alcohol and methyl isobutyl ketone, as well as electronic chemical products, PP related products, thermoplastic rubber and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Its products are applied in the manufacture of resins, agricultural pesticides, catalysts, medicines, paintings, inks, artificial leather products, shoes, industrial products, electronic components, toys and electrical appliances, among others. On June 23, 2014, it acquired a certain shares of TECHNOLOGY CORP. After that, it holds 86.65% stake of LCY TECHNOLOGY CORP. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  Kraton Performance Polymers Inc.'s(KRA) board is no longer pushing for the company’s stockholders to approve its plans to combine with LCY Chemical Corp.'s(1704.TW) styrenic block copolymer operations.

Best Chemical Companies For 2014: Platform Specialty Products Corp (PAH)

Platform Specialty Products Corporation is a producer of technology specialty chemical products and provider of technical services. The Company�� business involves the manufacture of a range of specialty chemicals, which the Company creates by blending raw materials, and the incorporation of these chemicals into multi-step technological processes. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Luke Jacobi]

  13Fs were released after the close Thursday and resulted in some interesting trading activity Friday. Platform Specialty Products (NYSE: PAH), for example, rose almost six percent Ackman announced a large stake in the company. Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) rose more than two percent after Dan Loeb and Warren Buffett added positions in the company and David Tepper sold his stake.

Best Chemical Companies For 2014: Albemarle Corp (ALB)

Albemarle Corporation (Albemarle), incorporated in 1993, is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals, which meet customer needs across a range of end markets, including the petroleum refining, consumer electronics, plastics/packaging, construction, automotive, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, crop protection, food-safety and custom chemistry services markets. As of December 31, 2011, the Company and its joint ventures operated 50 facilities, encompassing production, research and development facilities, and administrative and sales offices in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australia. It serves approximately 3,000 customers in over 100 countries. It operates in three segments: Polymer Solutions, Catalysts and Fine Chemistry. On May 11, 2011, the Company acquired Catilin Inc. In October 2013, Albemarle Corp acquired Cambridge Chemical Co Ltd.

Polymer Solutions

The Company�� Polymer Solutions segment consists of two product market categories: flame retardants and stabilizers and curatives. Its products include plastic enclosures for consumer electronics, printed circuit boards, wire and cable, electrical connectors, textiles, foam insulation, and foam seating in furniture and automobiles. Its brominated flame retardants include products such as Saytex; its mineral-based flame retardants include products, such as Martinal and Magnifin, and its phosphorus-based flame retardants include products, such as Antiblaze and Ncendx.

The Company produces plastic additives, as well as other additives, such as curatives, antioxidants and stabilizers. Its additives products include curatives for polyurethane, polyurea, and epoxy system polymerization. This business also produces antioxidants and stabilizers. Its Ethacure curatives are used in cast elastomers, coatings, reaction injection molding (RIM) and specialty adhesives, which are incorporated into products, such as wheels, tires and rollers. Its line of Ethanox antioxi! dants is used by manufacturers of polyolefins to maintain physical properties during the manufacturing process, including the color of the final product. These antioxidants are found in applications, such as slit film, wire and cable, food packaging and pipes.

The Company produces antioxidants used in fuels and lubricants. Its line of Ethanox fuel and lubricant antioxidants is used by refiners and fuel marketers to extend fuel storage life and protect fuel systems, and by oil marketers and lubricant manufacturers to extend the useful life of lubricating oils, fluids and greases used in engines and various types of machinery. Its polymer solutions segment offers more than 80 products to a range of end-markets. It sells its products to chemical manufacturers and processors, such as polymer resin suppliers, lubricant manufacturers, refiners and other specialty chemical companies.

The Company competes with Chemtura Corporation, Israel Chemicals Ltd, Jiangsu Yoke Technology Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Wansheng Chemical Co., Ltd., J.M. Huber Corporation, Kyowa Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Nabaltec GmbH, BASF Corporation, Chemtura Corporation and Songwon Industrial Co., Ltd.,

Catalysts

The Company�� Catalysts segment includes its refinery catalysts and catalyst solutions businesses. Its main refinery catalysts product lines are hydroprocessing catalysts (HPC), and fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC), catalysts and additives. HPC catalysts are used to reduce the quantity of sulfur and other impurities in petroleum products, as well as to convert feedstock into lighter products. FCC catalysts assist in the cracking of petroleum streams into derivative, higher-value products, such as fuels and petrochemical feedstock. Its FCC additives are used to remove sulfur in gasoline and to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in FCC units. It offers approximately 130 different HPC catalysts products and approximately 40 different FCC catalysts and additives pro! ducts to ! its customers.

The Company has three business units in its performance catalyst solutions (PCS) division: polymer catalysts, chemical catalysts and electronic materials. It manufactures organometallic co-catalysts, as well as metallocene components and co-catalysts. It also offers finished Single-Site catalysts with or without its ActivCat technology and a range of Ziegler-Natta catalysts under the Advantage brand. Its co-catalysts and finished catalysts are used in its customers��production of polyolefin polymers. Such polymers are commodity (Ziegler Natta polymerization technology) and specialty (Single Site polymerization technology) plastics serving a range of end markets, including packaging, non-packaging, films and injection molding. Some of its organometallic products are also used in the manufacture of alpha-olefins (hexene, octane and decene). In electronic materials, it manufacture and sells metal organic products into electronic applications, such as the production of light emitting diodes (LEDs) for displays and general lighting, as well as other products used in the production of solar cells. Its chemical catalysts include a range of catalysts used in the chemical industry.

The Company competes with Criterion Catalysts and Technologies, W.R. Grace & Co./Advanced Refining Technologies, Haldor Topsoe, W.R. Grace & Co., BASF Corporation, AkzoNobel and Chemtura Corporation.

Fine Chemistry

The Company�� Fine Chemistry segment consists of two categories: performance chemicals, and fine chemistry services and intermediates. Performance chemicals include products, such as elemental bromine, alkyl bromides, inorganic bromides, brominated powdered activated carbon and a range of bromine fine chemicals. Its products are used in chemical synthesis, oil and gas well drilling and completion fluids, mercury control, paper manufacturing, water purification, beef and poultry processing and other industrial applications. Other performance chemicals, wh! ich it pr! oduces include tertiary amines for surfactants, biocides, disinfectants and sanitizers; potassium-based products used in industrial applications; alkenyl succinic anhydride used in paper-sizing formulations, and aluminum oxides used in a range of refractory, ceramic and polishing applications. It sells these products to customers globally for use in personal care products, automotive insulation, foundry bricks and other industrial products.

The Company�� fine chemistry services business offers custom manufacturing, research and chemical scale-up services for companies. Its pharmaceutical bulk active is ibuprofen. Ibuprofen is used to provide pain relief and fever reduction. Bulk ibuprofen is formulated by pharmaceutical companies, which sells in both the prescription and over-the-counter markets. The Company also produces a range of intermediates used in the manufacture of a range of over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

The Company�� agrichemicals are sold to agrichemical manufacturers and distributors, which produce and distribute finished agricultural herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and soil fumigants. Its products include orthoalkylated anilines used in the acetanilide family of pre-emergent herbicides used with corn, soybeans and other crops and methyl bromide, which is used as a soil fumigant. It also manufactures and supplies a range of custom chemical intermediates for the agricultural industry.

The Company competes with Chemtura Corporation, Israel Chemicals, BASF Corporation, Lonza, Clariant Ltd. and Cilag AG.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Specialty chemicals maker�Albemarle (NYSE: ALB  ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.24 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters after raising the payout 20% from $0.20 per share.

• [By James E. Brumley]

  If you're looking for some trading action, then Organovo Holdings Inc. (NYSEMKT:ONVO) and Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) are the two top names to put on your radar today. Granted, they're trading candidates for completely opposing reasons. In fact, the best "play" may be to swap one for the other. However you want to play it though, here's what you need to know about ALB and ONVO.

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) has agreed to acquire Rockwood Holdings (NYSE: ROC) for $6.2 billion, or $85.53 per share. The acquisition represents a roughly 13 percent premium to Rockwood Holdings' closing price. The newly formed company will combine two of the world's largest specialty chemical companies. According to Albemarle's CEO Luther Kissam the acquisition will result in a “broader customer reach, increased diversity across end markets, technologies and geographies, and more consistent and predictable earnings growth.” Shares of Albemarle hit new 52-week highs of $76.28 before turning negative and closing the day at $70.03, down 3.57 percent. However, shares of Rockwood Holdings hit new 52-week highs of $86.18 before closing the day at $83.14, up 9.83 percent.

Best Chemical Companies For 2014: OCI Partners LP (OCIP)

OCI Partners LP, incorporated on February 07, 2013, owns and operates an integrated methanol and ammonia production facility that is strategically located on the Texas Gulf Coast near Beaumont. The Company is a methanol producer in the United States with an annual methanol production capacity of approximately 730,000 metric tons and an annual ammonia production capacity of approximately 265,000 metric tons, and it is in the early stages of a debottlenecking project that increases its annual methanol production capacity by 25% to approximately 912,500 metric tons and its annual ammonia production capacity by 15% to approximately 305,000 metric tons.

Both methanol and ammonia are global commodities that are essential building blocks for numerous end-use products. Methanol is a liquid petrochemical that is used in a variety of industrial and energy-related applications. Methanol is used in industrial applications to produce adhesives used in manufacturing wood products, such as plywood, particle board and laminates, resins to treat paper and plastic products, paint and varnish removers, solvents for the textile industry and polyester fibers for clothing and carpeting. Methanol is also used outside of the United States as a direct fuel for automobile engines, as a fuel blended with gasoline and as an octane booster in reformulated gasoline. In the United States, ammonia is primarily used as a feedstock to produce nitrogen fertilizers, such as urea and ammonium sulfate, and is also directly applied to soil as a fertilizer. In addition, ammonia is widely used in industrial applications, particularly in the Texas Gulf Coast market, including in the production of plastics, synthetic fibers, resins and numerous other chemical compounds.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  OCI Partners (Nasdaq: OCIP) owns and operates OCI Beaumont, an integrated methanol and ammonia production facility on the Texas Gulf Coast. OCI Beaumont has a methanol production capacity of 730,000 metric tons (MT) per year and an ammonia production capacity of 265,000 MT per year. The facility is in the middle of a debottlenecking project that will increase its annual methanol production capacity by 25 percent and its annual ammonia production capacity by 15 percent.