Hot Chemical Companies To Invest In Right Now

Synthesis Energy Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: SYMX) shares were among the Friday’s biggest percentage gainers, all because it has a deal to become a leader in the clean coal gasification market in China.

The question is whether the deal really means much other than speculators in low-priced shares pushing the stock up.

The Houston company will partner with Zhangjiagang Chemical Machinery to form a joint venture called ZCM-SES Sino-U.S. Clean Energy Technologies.

ZCM will contribute approximately $16.5 million to the venture for a 65% ownership interest, while Synthesis Energy will contribute exclusive usage of its advanced, proprietary gasification technology in Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines and Vietnam for a 35% ownership interest.

The cash may be the most important part of the deal, as far as Synthesis Energy is concerned. It has had a rocky history. It had operated a commercial scale coal gasification plant in the Shandong Province of China, but the plant was shut down.

Top Biotech Companies For 2015: Johnson Matthey PLC (JMAT)

Johnson Matthey Plc is a global specialty chemicals company operating in three divisions: Environmental Technologies, Precious Metal Products and Fine Chemicals. Environmental Technologies is a supplier of catalysts and related technologies for applications, such as pollution control, cleaner fuel, hydrocarbons and the hydrogen economy. Precious Metal Products��activities comprise the marketing, distribution, refining and recycling of platinum group metals (pgms), fabrication of products using precious metals and related materials, manufactures pgm and base metal catalysts and pgm chemicals. Fine Chemicals is a supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients, fine chemicals and other specialty chemical products and services to chemical and pharmaceutical industry�� customer supplier of catalysts. In March 2012, Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. acquired U.S. patent 7,851,482 B2 for oxymorphone hydrochloride from the Company. In March 2013, the Company acquired Formox AB. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Atos declined 3.5 percent after an investor cut its stake in the company. Intermediate Capital Group Plc lost 3.5 percent after Numis Securities Ltd. lowered its rating on the money manager. European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. slid 1.2 percent after UBS AG removed it from its recommended list of stocks. Johnson Matthey Plc (JMAT) climbed 3.6 percent after reporting a profit increase in the first half of the year.

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  Barclays Plc (BARC) fell to a one-month low as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. sold a stake in the lender. Fiat SpA lost 6.5 percent as Chrysler Group LLC went in for a vehicle recall. France Telecom SA (FTE) rose after its Orange Business Services unit won a five-year deal to deploy a private network for Heineken NV. Johnson Matthey Plc (JMAT) jumped to its highest price in at least 23 years after posting full-year profit that beat estimates.

• [By Namitha Jagadeesh]

  British American Tobacco Plc and Imperial Tobacco Group Plc (IMT) each lost at least 1.5 percent as American peer Philip Morris International Inc. forecast 2014 profit growth below its long-term target. Antofagasta Plc (ANTO) and Vedanta Resources Plc (VED) followed miners lower, sliding at least 2 percent. Johnson Matthey Plc (JMAT) gained 3.9 percent after posting better-than-forecast profit and raising its dividend.

• [By Sarah Jones]

  Barclays Plc (BARC) led a selloff by U.K. lenders as Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. sold half of its stake in the bank. EasyJet Plc (EZJ) lost 4.1 percent as the carrier reported passenger numbers for May. Johnson Matthey Plc (JMAT) rallied 6.3 percent after posting pretax profit that beat analysts��estimates.

Hot Chemical Companies To Invest In Right Now: Cabot Corp (CBT)

Cabot Corporation (Cabot), incorporated in 1960, is a global specialty chemicals and performance materials company. The Company�� principal products are rubber and specialty grade carbon blacks, fumed metal oxides, inkjet colorants, aerogels and cesium formate drilling fluids. Cabot and its affiliates have manufacturing facilities and operations in the United States and approximately 20 other countries. The Company operates in four business segments: the Core Segment, the Performance Segment, the New Business Segment and the Specialty Fluids Segment. It is organized into three geographic regions: The Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. On January 23, 2012, the Company sold its Supermetals Business to Global Advanced Metals Pty Ltd. On August 1, 2012, it acquired Norit.

Core Segment

Carbon black is a form of elemental carbon that is manufactured in a highly controlled process to produce particles and aggregates of varied structure and surface chemistry, resulting in many different performance characteristics for a variety of applications. Its rubber blacks products are used in tires and industrial products. The Company owns, or has a controlling interest in, and operates plants that produce rubber blacks in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, The Netherlands and the United States.

Performance Segment

The Performance Segment consists of two product lines: specialty grades of carbon black and thermoplastic concentrates; and fumed silica, fumed alumina and dispersions thereof. In each product line, it designs, manufactures and sells materials that deliver performance in a range of customer applications across the automotive, construction and infrastructure, and electronics and consumer products sectors. In addition, Cabot manufactures and sources thermoplastic concentrates and compounds that are marketed to the plastics industry. The Company owns, or has a ! controlling interest in, and operates plants that produce specialty grades of carbon black in China, The Netherlands and the United States. Its products are produced in facilities that it owns, or has a controlling interest in, located in Belgium, China and the United Arab Emirates. The Company also owns, or has a controlling interest in, manufacturing plants that produce fumed metal oxides in the United States, China, the United Kingdom and Germany. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011 (fiscal 2011), it closed its masterbatch manufacturing facility in Grigno, Italy.

New Business Segment

The Company�� New Business Segment consists of the Inkjet Colorants, Aerogel, Cabot Superior MicroPowders and Cabot Elastomer Composites Businesses. During fiscal 2011, its Cabot Elastomer Composites Business became part of its New Business Segment. The Company produces and sells aqueous inkjet colorants primarily to the inkjet printing market. Its inkjet colorants are produced for various inkjet printing applications, including small office and home office, corporate office, and commercial and industrial printing, as well as for other applications. Its inkjet colorants are manufactured at its facility in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Cabot�� aerogel is a hydrophobic, silica-based particle with a high surface area that is used in a variety of thermal insulation and specialty chemical applications. In the construction industry, the product is used in insulative composite building products and translucent skylight, window, wall and roof systems for insulating eco-daylighting applications. In the oil and gas industry, aerogel is used to insulate subsea pipelines. In the specialty chemicals industry, the product is used to provide matte finishing, insulating and thickening properties for use in a variety of applications. It manufactures its aerogel products at its facility in Frankfurt, Germany.

The Company manufactures its aerogel products at its facility in F! rankfurt,! Germany. Finished products for use in the oil and gas industry are fabricated at a facility in Billerica, Massachusetts. The principal area of commercial focus for Cabot Superior MicroPowders Business (CSMP) is in developing covert taggants for a range of anti-counterfeiting security applications. Development and manufacturing activities are conducted primarily at its facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Mountain View, California. In addition to the carbon black the Company makes using conventional carbon black manufacturing methods, it has developed elastomer composite products that are compounds of natural latex rubber and carbon black made by a liquid phase process. Its Cabot Elastomer Composites Business (CEC) products are targeted for tire, defense, mining, automotive and aerospace applications. It manufactures CEC products at its facility in Port Dickson, Malaysia.

Specialty Fluids Segment

The Company�� Specialty Fluids Segment produces and markets cesium formate as a drilling and completion fluid for use primarily in high pressure and high temperature oil and gas well construction. It has a mine and a cesium formate manufacturing facility in Manitoba, Canada, as well as fluid blending and reclamation facilities in Aberdeen, Scotland and in Bergen and Kristiansund, Norway.

The Company competes with Aspen Aerogel, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Cabot (NYSE: CBT  ) has elected not to shift its dividend policy for the time being. The company declared its latest common stock distribution, which is to be $0.20 per share paid on September 13 to shareholders of record as of August 30.�That amount matches each of the firm's previous five distributions, the most recent of which was handed out in the middle of last month. Prior to that, Cabot paid $0.18 per share.

• [By Victor Selva]

  The company has a current ratio of 17.8% which is higher than the industry mean of 6.55%. Also, it's higher than the one registered by Akzo Nobel NV (AKZOY), Cabot Corporation (CBT) and Olin Corporation (OLN). For investors looking for a higher ROE, PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) could be the option.

Hot Chemical Companies To Invest In Right Now: PetroLogistics LP (PDH)

PetroLogistics LP owns and operates propane dehydrogenation (PDH) facility. The Company is located in the vicinity of the Houston Ship Channel. As of April 23, 2012, the Company had an annual production capacity of approximately 1.45 billion pounds of propylene. Its PDH facility uses a CATOFIN dehydrogenation technology pursuant to a fully-paid license from CB&I Lummus. It derives its sales from three different sources: propylene sales, hydrogen sales, and mixed stream of butane and butylenes (C4 mix stream) and heavier hydrocarbons (C5+ stream) sales.

Contracted Propylene Sales

The Company has propylene sales contracts with The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Total Petrochemicals USA, Inc. (Total), and INEOS Olefins and Polymers USA (INEOS), each of which use the propylene it supplies in the acrylic acid, polypropylene and acrylonitrile plants. Effective January 1, 2012, it added BASF Corporation (BASF) and LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LyondellBasell) as additional contracted customers. It delivers propylene to these customers through its integrated pipeline system, which connects its facility to the Dow and Total plants and the LyondellBasell system, and through interconnected third-party pipelines, which connect its facility to INEOS and BASF and to other potential propylene customers.

Spot-Market Propylene Sales

Through the Company�� integrated pipeline system, the Company accesses other consumers of propylene, which it is able to supply on a spot basis with its excess production capacity. It manages its contract and spot portfolio.

Hydrogen Gas Sales

As part of the PDH process, the Company produces commercial quantities of hydrogen. Hydrogen is consumed in refinery processes, including fuel desulphurization.

C4 Mix/C5+ Streams Sales

The Company produces commercial quantities of C4 mix/C5+ streams. It sells the C4 mix stream to specialty chemical consumers or refiners and these customers tran! sport the purchased volumes from its facility by truck. The C5+ stream, which is heavy in aromatics, is transported by its pipeline to a Kinder Morgan terminal, and then sold to Texas Aromatics for use in the chemical or gasoline markets.

The Company competes with Enterprise, Chevron Phillips, ExxonMobil Chemical, Shell Chemical, Flint Hills and the Williams Companies.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of propane company PetroLogistics (NYSE: PDH  ) fell as much as 10% today after reporting earnings.

  So what: Sales dropped 18% from a year ago to $159.4 million but the company swung to a net income of $41.4 million. On an adjusted basis net income fell from $64.4 million a year ago to $37.8 million in the second quarter. �

• [By Seth Jayson]

  PetroLogistics (NYSE: PDH  ) reported earnings on July 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), PetroLogistics met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on PetroLogistics (NYSE: PDH  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Hot Chemical Companies To Invest In Right Now: Tronox Ltd (TROX)

Tronox Limited, incorporated on September 21, 2011, is engaged in production and marketing of titanium bearing mineral sands and titanium dioxide pigment (TiO2). The Company�� TiO2 products are critical components of everyday applications, such as coatings, plastics, paper and other applications. The Company�� mineral sands business consists primarily of two product streams: titanium feedstock and zircon. The Company operates in three segments: mineral sands, pigment and corporate and other. The corporate and other include its electrolytic manufacturing business. It has operations in North America, Europe, South Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. The Company operates three TiO2 facilities at the locations in Hamilton, Mississippi, Botlek, The Netherlands, and Kwinana, Western Australia, representing approximately 465,000 tons of annual TiO2 production capacity. In addition, it operates three separate mining operations: KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Sands located in South Africa, Namakwa Sands located in South Africa and the Tiwest Joint Venture located in Western Australia, which has a combined annual production capacity of approximately 723,000 tons of titanium feedstock and approximately 265,000 tons of zircon. On June 15, 2012, the existing business of Tronox Incorporated was combined with the mineral sands business under Tronox Limited.

Mineral Sand segment

The Company's minerals segment includes the exploration, mining and beneficiation of mineral sands deposits. These operations produce titanium feedstock, including ilmenite, chloride slag, slag fines and rutile, as well as zircon, pig iron and activated charcoal. Titanium feedstock is used primarily to manufacture TiO2. Zircon is a mineral which is primarily used as an opacifier in ceramic glazes for tiles, plates, dishes and industrial products.

Pigment segment

The Company's pigment segment primarily produces and markets TiO2, and has production facilities in the United States, Australia, and the! Netherlands. TiO2 is used in a range of products due to its ability to impart whiteness, brightness and opacity. TiO2 is used in the manufacture of coatings, plastics and paper and in a range of other applications, including inks, fibers, rubber, food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. TiO2 is a critical component of everyday consumer applications due to its superior ability to cover or mask other materials effectively and efficiently relative to alternative white pigments and extenders.

Corporate and other

Corporate and other is comprised of corporate activities and businesses that are no longer in operation, as well as its electrolytic manufacturing and marketing operations, all of which are located in the United States. It�� electrolytic and other chemical products operations are focused on advanced battery materials, sodium chlorate and specialty boron products.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Another source of potential problems is the titanium dioxide market. DuPont has made substantial investments in boosting TiO2 production based on the extremely high demand seen a couple of years ago, but buyers stockpiled substantial amounts of the chemical in order to avoid paying ever-higher prices. DuPont joined competitors Huntsman (NYSE: HUN  ) and Tronox (NYSE: TROX  ) in implementing TiO2 price increases, with DuPont's effective July 1, but the question remains whether the paint makers that need the chemical will keep buying or continue to seek cheaper substitutes.

Hot Chemical Companies To Invest In Right Now: Koppers Holdings Inc (KOP)

Koppers Holdings Inc. (Koppers), incorporated on November 12, 2004,is a global provider of carbon compounds and commercial wood treatment products and services. The Company's products are used in a variety of niche applications in a diverse range of end-markets, including the aluminum, railroad, specialty chemical, utility, concrete and steel industries. The Company serves its customers through a global manufacturing and distribution networks, with manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Australia, China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark. The Company operates in two business segments: Carbon Materials & Chemicals and railroads & Utility Products.

The Company's operations are, to a substantial extent, vertically integrated. Through the Company's Carbon Materials & Chemicals business, the Company processes coal tar into a variety of products, including carbon pitch, creosote, naphthalene and phthalic anhydride, which are intermediate materials necessary in the production of aluminum, the pressure treatment of wood, the production of high-strength concrete, and the production of plasticizers and specialty chemicals, respectively. Through the Company's Railroad & Utility Products business, the Company believes that the Company is thesupplier of railroad crossties to the North American railroads.

Carbon Materials & Chemicals

Carbon pitch, naphthalene, and creosote are produced through the distillation of coal tar, a by-product generated through the processing of coal into coke for use in steel and iron manufacturing. Coal tar distillation involves the conversion of coal tar into a variety of intermediate chemical products in processes beginning with distillation. During the distillation process, heat and vacuum are utilized to separate coal tar into three primary components: carbon pitch (approximately 50%), chemical oils (approximately 20%) and creosote (approximately 30%).

The Company's Carbon Materials & Chemicals business! (CM&C) manufactures principal products, including carbon pitch, a critical raw material used in the production of aluminum and steel; naphthalene, used for the production of phthalic anhydride and as a surfactant in the production of concrete; phthalic anhydride, used in the production of plasticizers, polyester resins and alkyd paints, and creosote and carbon black feedstock, used in the treatment of wood or as a feedstock in the production of carbon black. The Company also uses naphthalene as a feedstock in the manufacture of phthalic anhydride. The primary markets for phthalic anhydride are in the production of plasticizers, unsaturated polyester resins and alkyd resins. The Company is a producer of carbon pitch for the aluminum industry.

Creosote is used as a commercial wood treatment chemical to preserve railroad crossties and lumber, utility poles and piling. The majority of the Company's domestically produced creosote is sold to its Railroad & Utility Products business. In Australia, China and Europe, creosote is sold primarily into the carbon black market for use as a feedstock in the production of carbon black. In Europe and China creosote is also sold to wood treaters. The Company's wood treating plants in the United States purchase substantially all of their creosote from the Company's tar distillation plants.

Other products include the sale of refined tars, benzole and specialty chemicals. The Company's CM&C business manufactures its primary products and sells them directly to the Company's global customer base under long-term contracts or through purchase orders negotiated by its regional sales personnel and coordinated through its global marketing group in the United States. The Company's nine coal tar distillation facilities including joint ventures and four carbon materials terminals give the Company the ability to offer customers multiple sourcing and a consistent supply of products.

Railroad & Utility Products

The Company's Railroad ! & Utility! Products business (R&UP) sells treated and untreated wood products, rail joint bars and services primarily to the railroad and public utility markets in the United States and Australia. The Company also produces concrete crossties, a complementary product to its wood treatment business, through a joint venture in the United States.

Railroad products include procuring and treating items such as crossties, switch ties and various types of lumber used for railroad bridges and crossings. Railroad products also include manufacturing and selling rail joint bars, which are steel bars used to join rails together for railroads. Utility products include transmission and distribution poles for electric and telephone utilities and piling used in industrial foundations, beach housing, docks and piers. The R&UP business operates 13 wood treating plants, one rail joint bar manufacturing facility, one co-generation facility and 13 pole distribution yards located throughout the United States and Australia. The Company's network of plants is strategically located near timber supplies to enable the Company to access raw materials and service customers effectively. In addition, the Company's crosstie treating plants are typically adjacent to its railroad customers' track lines, and its pole distribution yards are typically located near its utility customers.

In the United States, hardwood lumber is procured by the Company from hundreds of small sawmills throughout the northeastern, midwestern and southern areas of the country. The crossties are shipped via rail car or trucked directly to one of the Company's crosstie treating plants, all of which are on line with a railroad. The crossties are either air-stacked for a period of six to twelve months or artificially dried by a process called boultonizing. Once dried, the crossties are pressure treated with creosote, a product of the Company's CM&C business.

The Company's R&UP business' customer base is the North American Class I railroa! d market,! which buys approximately 80% of all crossties produced in the United States and Canada. The Company also has relationships with many of the approximately 550 short-line and regional rail lines. This also forms the customer base for the Company's rail joint bar products. The railroad crosstie market is a mature market with approximately 23 million replacement crossties (both wood and non-wood) purchased during 2012. The Company supplies all seven of the North American Class I railroads and have contracts with six of them. The Company treats poles with a variety of preservatives, including pentachlorophenol, copper chrome arsenates and creosotes .In the United States the market for utility pole products is characterized by a number of small producers selling into a price-sensitive industry. The utility pole market is fragmented domestically, with over 200 investor-owned electric and telephone utilities and 2,900 smaller municipal utilities and rural electric associations.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  What: Shares of Koppers Holdings (NYSE: KOP  ) were looking rusty today, falling as much as 12% after the company cut its outlook for the current quarter.

Hot Chemical Companies To Invest In Right Now: Passport Potash Inc (PPI)

Passport Potash Inc. is a Canada-based exploration-stage company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral resource properties. The Company is engaged in the exploration and development of potash properties. The Company has an interest in or has the right to earn an interest in six properties, Southwest Exploration Property, Twin Buttes Ranch, Sweetwater/American Potash, Mesa Uranium, Ringbolt Property and Fitzgerald Ranch (the Holbrook Basin properties), which are all located in Arizona. The Company has not established any proven or probable reserves on its mineral property interests. The Company's Holbrook Basin project is located seven miles east of Holbrook, Arizona. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arrow Analysis]

  The merger between the two companies had been in the works since September, but hit many a bump on the road. The two major obstacles in the path were the Chinese regulations and the ongoing tax investigation regarding Nokia�� Indian plant, operating in Chennai. While China green-lighted the deal easily, the Indian authorities were less obliging. The end result is that the Indian facility was not a part of the acquisitions and will be retained by Nokia. Although Nokia has not announced any conclusive plans, the fact that it offered its 7500+ Indian workers early retirement scheme suggests that the plant may soon be shut down. Also, noticeably absent from the terms of the merger was the ��tate of the art��South Korean plant in Masan. The deal closed for $7.5 billion. As previously decided, Nokia�� former CEO Stephen Elop will be reporting to Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella and will be appointed executive vice president of Microsoft Devices Group. He will be overseeing the division that, from hence on, will be in charge of expanding the business of Lumia smartphones and tablets, Xbox hardware, Perceptive Pixel (PPI) products and accessories. Microsoft also plans to export more than 25,000 of Nokia�� former 90,000 employees.What does it mean for Microsoft�� future?

• [By JulieYoung789]

  On Friday, June 13 the Commerce Department released its monthly report on producer prices which is one measure used to gauge the direction of price inflation in the U.S. The May Producer Price Index (PPI) reading showed a decrease of 0.2% seasonally adjusted. The Producer Price Index is a significant market moving news release and the worse than expected results likely had an effect on the market�� downward turn for the week.