BASF signed a contract with EuroChem to sell its fertilizer activities in Belgium

(BASF) -- BASF has signed a contract with EuroChem, Moscow, Russia, to sell its fertilizer activities in Antwerp, Belgium. BASF also plans to sell its 50% share of the joint venture PEC-Rhin in Ottmarsheim, France, to EuroChem. The total transaction value is expected to be approximately EUR 700 million. The divestments are subject to approval by the appropriate antitrust authorities. BASF plans to complete the transactions by the end of the first quarter of 2012.


In Antwerp, the scope includes plants for CAN/AN (calcium ammonium nitrate/ammonium nitrate) fertilizers, Nitrophoska fertilizers and nitrophosphoric acid as well as three related nitric acid plants. BASF is in the process to carve out the activities into a separate company. About 330 employees will transfer to the new company which will be acquired by EuroChem.


BASF also plans to sell its shares in PEC-Rhin, which produces CAN/AN fertilizers and the respective intermediates, ammonia and nitric acid. The company is a 50-50 joint venture with GPN, a member of the French Total group, and currently has about 190 employees.


MRC

South Korea's petrochemical exports in August to increase 36.5%

(ICIS) -- Higher prices allowed South Korea's petrochemical exports in August to increase 36.5% year on year to USD 5.32bn (EUR 3.94bn), bolstering hopes that the value of monthly shipments will remain strong through end-2011 despite a weakening of global demand, analysts said on Monday.
The US, the world's biggest economy, is in a fragile state, while the eurozone is deep in its debt troubles. Meanwhile, China - South Korea's main export market for petrochemicals - is beset with its own problems of reining in inflation, creating a credit crunch within the country.
Against the gloomy global economic backdrop, demand prospects for South Korea's exports do no look very promising.


South Korea's overall exports to the US in August fell by 5.9% in the first 20 days in August while total shipments to China rose by 16.5%, according to the country's Ministry Knowledge Economy (MKE). Meanwhile, export volumes of most of South Korea's major petrochemical products grew on a year-on-year basis in August, according to data from Korea International Trade Association (KITA) showed.


MRC

Asia's MTBE prices may drift lower in the last quarter of the year

(ICIS) -- Asia's MTBE prices may drift lower in the last quarter of the year as a jittery global economy, accompanied by volatile crude values, will likely dampen demand for the octane booster in gasoline, traders said on Tuesday.


Spot MTBE prices were at USD 1,069-1,071/tonne (EUR 791-793/tonne) FOB (free on board) Singapore on Monday, down by an average of USD 45/tonne from USD 1,104-1,126/tonne in the week ended 23 September, ICIS data showed.


A slew of dismal economic data from Europe, the US and China sent global equities markets tumbling and crude prices falling by about $5/bbl on 22 September. Investors fled to the safety of bonds that significantly strengthened the US dollar. However, crude futures bounced higher on Tuesday, buoyed by news that the European Central Bank may work towards implementing more aggressive measures to remedy the region's mounting debt crisis.


MRC

Rosneft to increase its annual oil production output to 160-180 million tons

(RIA Novosti) -- Russia's oil giant Rosneft plans to increase its annual oil production output to 160-180 million tons (1,170-1,320 mln bbl) per year by 2020, company's Vice President Gani Gilayev said on Tuesday. Gilayev said that Rosneft oil production in 2010 was estimated at 119.6 million tons and the company's future plans envisage an annual production of 132 million tons by 2015 and the subsequent increase of up to 160-180 million tons by 2020. He said the company intends to up its oil output by increasing production in Russia's Siberian and Far Eastern regions.


MRC

USD 20 bln to be invested in future oil processing in Azerbaijan

(Trend) -- About USD 20 billion will be invested in future oil processing in Azerbaijan, the Minister of Energy and Industry Natig Aliyev said during a roundtable on Tuesday titled "Azerbaijan's State Independence: Industrial and Energy Complex on the Way to New Heights."


"After gaining independence, the Azerbaijani oil and gas sector has reached great achievements," the minister said. "The development was observed in all sectors, particularly in oil and gas production, processing, and chemical production."


The country's oil production amounted to about 9 million tons per year in the early 1990s. The figure exceeded 50 million tons last year, with an increase in growth of 5.5 times.


Aliyev said that success was achieved in gas production. Earlier Azerbaijan imported gas to meet its own needs but at present the country exports gas to several countries. Azerbaijan has an extensive gas transmission infrastructure.


MRC