Exports of Russian EPS fell by a quarter

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exports of Russian expandable polystyrene (EPS) to foreign markets dropped from January to July 2014 by 25% year on year, according to MRC ScanPlast.

Overall, Russia exported 10,500 tons of EPS over the stated period versus 14,000 tons a year earlier. SIBUR remained the main exporter. Plastik (Uzlovaya) also shipped its material to foreign markets, the plant's exports totalled 138 tonnes.

Ukraine remained the main consumer of Russian EPS. The Ukrainian market accounts for about 95% of the total Russia's exports.

The reduced presence in foreign markets was caused by increased shipments to the domestic market on the back of strong demand for Russian EPS in the first half of 2014, and it was not connected with the situation in Ukraine.

Demand from foreign markets remained strong, however, SIBUR met increased demand of local customers.
As reported earlier, higher domestic supplies resulted in reduced EPS imports. EPS imports to Russia dropped over the first seven months of 2014 by 9% year on year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exxon Mobil Corporation’s board of directors has elected David S. Rosenthal as vice president and controller and Jeffrey J. Woodbury as vice president of investor relations and secretary, effective 1 September, reported the company on its site.

Rosenthal, 58, is currently vice president of investor relations and secretary. He began his career with Exxon in 1979 as a financial analyst at Exxon Chemical Americas in Houston, Texas.

Woodbury, 54, is currently vice president of safety, security, health and environment for Exxon Mobil Corporation. He joined Exxon Corporation in 1983 as a reservoir engineer in Los Angeles, California and held various technical, planning, operations and management positions with Exxon Company USA, Esso Australia and ExxonMobil Production Company.

As MRC wrote before, in March 2014, ExxonMobil Chemical announced that it will build facilities to manufacture premium halobutyl rubber and Escorez hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin at its recently-expanded petrochemical complex in Singapore. Engineering and procurement activities have begun, with construction expected to begin in the second half of 2014 and completion anticipated in 2017.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical is in plans to shut its low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the plant is planned to be shut in end-August 2014. It is likely to remain shut for around one month.

Located at Map Ta Phut in Thailand, the plant has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

We remind that PTTGC is likely to shut down its I4-No.2 cracker for maintenance turnaround in late September 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month. Located at Map ta Phut, Thailand, the cracker has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, last year, Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina signed an agreement to purchase petrochemical products from Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical. The agreement serves as a pre-marketing strategy for Pertamina and PTT’s joint Indonesian petrochemical business. Under the agreement, PTT will deliver at least 5,000 tonnes of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) products each month to Pertamina for sale in Indonesia.

Recently, Pertamina and PTTGC have announced that they would start joint shipments of PE to the Indonesian market from 1 July 2014. However, they will postpone their shipments to Indonesia till August.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Group-wide restructuring program initiated by Lanxess' Board of Management on July 24, 2014 will initially focus on the first area - the Business & Administration structure competitiveness, as per the company's press release.

Preparations for the following phases have already begun.

Lanxess will merge certain business units, reducing their number from 14 to 10. In addition, the company is streamlining its global administration by reducing the workforce on a cross-functional basis and consolidating specific areas of activity. The respective employee representatives will be involved in the process.

This more efficient organizational structure is designed to enhance Lanxess' market and customer focus and reduce costs. Lanxess is also aiming for savings on all cost types.

Lanxess will combine the Butyl Rubber (BTR) and Performance Butadiene Rubbers (PBR) business units to form the Tire & Specialty Rubbers (TSR) business unit. This takes account of the overlapping customer and regional structures in the established markets, as well as complementary strengths in the emerging economies. The future head of this business unit is Jorge Nogueira.

In addition, Lanxess will recombine the High Performance Elastomers (HPE) and Keltan Elastomers (KEL) business units under the name High Performance Elastomers (HPE). This, too, is prompted mainly by overlaps in the customer structure. Jan Paul de Vries will head the new business unit.

The Rubber Chemicals (RUC) business unit's specialty chemicals product line, the Functional Chemicals (FCC) business unit and the Rhein Chemie (RCH) business unit will be combined to form the new Rhein Chemie Additives (ADD) business unit. Bundling the additives businesses will open up new markets and attract new customers for Lanxess. The head of this new business unit will be Anno Borkowsky.

As announced in September 2013, Lanxess is examining strategic options for the RUC business unit's antioxidants and accelerators business lines. At the same time, the company is considering merging these product lines and placing them into the Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit (AII). A decision in favor of one of these options will be made by the end of the third quarter of 2014 at the latest.

The second phase - Operations Competitiveness - will involve an "operational excellence initiative" to examine all production facilities with respect to market requirements and synergy potential. Par Singh will lead this initiative. A "marketing and sales excellence initiative" - led by Torsten Derr - will evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of Lanxess' international distribution structures.

Lanxess has already taken first steps in the third area - Portfolio Competitiveness.

As MRC reported previously, in May 2014, Lanxess, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of synthetic rubber, undertook a complete rebranding of its butyl rubber products. A package encompassing a global ability to deliver products anywhere, anytime, extensive technical expertise, a focus on innovative solutions and customer demands - all this is what the new LANXESS X_Butyl brand stands for. The new brand family is called X_Butyl.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.3 billion in 2013 and roughly 17,000 employees in 31 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jacobs Engineering Group was awarded a contract from ExxonMobil Chemical to provide engineering, procurement and construction services as part of a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker project in ExxonMobil’s complex in Baytown, Texas, and associated premium product facilities in Mont Belvieu, Texas, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Company officials did not disclose the contract value.

Under the terms of the contract, Jacobs is providing site enabling works and interconnections services for the two sites. Jacobs’ scope of work includes site preparation of 350 acres for the ethane cracker in Baytown and 100 acres for the product facilities in Mont Belvieu.

Jacobs is also working on the interconnectivity of the two sites by integrating into ExxonMobil’s existing facilities a new 1.5 million tpy ethane steam cracker in Baytown and two new high-performance polyethylene (PE) lines in Mont Belvieu, with a capacity of 650,000 tpy.

This aspect of the project requires approximately 63,000 feet of pipe to integrate into the existing Baytown facility and 43,000 feet of pipe to integrate into the existing Mont Belvieu facility.

"Our interface management and integration role is crucial to the success of this expansion project," said Jacobs vice president Mike Autrey. "We are excited to bring our execution skills and experience to support ExxonMobil in this important venture."

As MRC reported earlier, in late June 2014, ExxonMobil Chemical Company announced that it has started construction of a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker at its Baytown, Texas, complex and associated premium product facilities in nearby Mont Belvieu.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC