Wellington, July 7 NZPA - Nuplex Industries Ltd is hitting down speculation in the Australian media that it is considering merging its chemical trading unit with that of Australian company Orica Ltd with a view to divesting it.

The Herald Sun reported on Tuesday that the two are in talks to merge their units and then divest by a public share offer or trade sale. The merger talks were seen as another move by Orica to turn into a pure mining services player. Orica shareholders vote tomorrow on a plan to demerge the company's Dulux Group paint business.

"Nuplex is not involved in discussions with Orica on combining or merging its chemical trading platforms," the company said in a statement to NZX.

Nuplex is listed on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges. It is a manufacturer and distributor of polymer resins for coatings and composites, and specialty products for the construction, chemical, plastic and life sciences industries.

Nuplex shares were up 2c at $2.91 by early afternoon, having earlier been up 15c at $3 on the speculation.