Al Waha Petrochemical restarts production after fixing technical glitch

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia's Sahara Petrochemical Co subsidiary - Al Waha Petrochemical, had fixed a technical fault at a utilities unit and was now working on restarting production, as per Plastemart.

Sahara, which ended merger talks with Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) in June, said Aug. 17 a shutdown in polypropylene output had occurred at Al Waha Petrochemicals which could reduce third-quarter profit at the parent firm by nearly 9 million riyals (USD2.4 mln).

As MRC wrote before, Sahara Petrochemical Co., the Saudi Arabia-based firm which last month announced plans to merge with Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) in the first half of this year, has earned net profit of SR578.7 million in 2013, registering a growth of 183% compared to net profit of SR204.4 million in 2012.

Sahara Petrochemical is involved in building and operating petrochemical projects, especially propylene, polypropylene, ethylene and mixed polyethylene industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel announced that it will establish a new organization for its Performance Coatings Business Area in order to drive leading performance, said the producer in its press release.

The simplified new structure – due to become fully operational in January 2015 – will reduce the number of global management layers. As a result, Performance Coatings will be managed through seven Strategic Market Units under the leadership of Executive Committee Member Conrad Keijzer. The seven units will focus on specific customer segments and technologies. They will be: Marine Coatings, Metal Coatings, Powder Coatings, Protective Coatings, Specialty Coatings, Vehicle Refinishes and Wood Coatings.

"Following the launch of our new strategy in 2013, we have initiated a process of change throughout the organization," explained AkzoNobel CEO Ton Buchner. "This planned reduction in management layers will not only enhance decision-making efficiency, but we will also create an organization that is more customer focused, agile and lean.

"We consider these to be key elements with regard to driving leading performance," he added. "Because in addition to delivering on our organic growth and operational excellence strategy, the changes will also improve our profitability and help to deliver on our 2015 targets and beyond."

The costs associated with this reorganization are included within the guidance of at least EUR250 million of total restructuring charges for 2014.

Performance Coatings is one of three Business Areas within AkzoNobel, operating alongside Decorative Paints and Specialty Chemicals. In 2013, Performance Coatings generated revenues of EUR5.6 billion and an operating income of EUR525 million, with 21,400 employees located worldwide.

As MRC wrote before, AkzoNobel has completed the sale of its Primary Amides chemicals business to PMC Group effective December 31, 2013.

Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people.

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Once again, PSA Peugeot Citroen has presented awards to its best suppliers. BASF’s Coatings division received the award for its CathoGuard 800 cathodic e-coat, as per BASF's press release.

This is applied to the vehicle body to protect it from corrosion. The special benefit it offers PSA is its cost savings potential.

By presenting this award, the French automaker is paying tribute not just to the product CathoGuard 800 but also to BASF’s commitment.

"As the main supplier to PSA, we are very pleased and proud to receive this award. It shows recognition for BASF’s power to create innovative high-quality products which save costs and are globally available. The award also confirms the close partnership that exists between BASF and PSA," says Laurent Vaucenat, Global Account Manager Renault/Nissan and PSA at BASF.

The BASF Coatings division has already been awarded the title of core supplier by PSA in 2012.

The cathodic e-coat is the first layer of the paint system. CathoGuard 800 is in great demand as an alternative to conventional e-coats that often incorporate tin. CathoGuard 800 also has a low solvent content and saves material due to its high efficiency. In addition, this technology is highly suitable for integrated painting processes that dispense with primer application.

As MRC wrote before, in July 2014, BASF Shanghai Coatings Co., Ltd. inaugurated its new automotive coatings plant at the Shanghai Chemicail Industry Park in Shanghai, China. The expansion of its automotive coatings production capacity with an investment of around EUR50 million further strengthens BASF’s presence in China and its position as a leading coatings supplier to the automotive industry.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s leading oil and gas producer PetroChina posted a 15% rise in its second-quarter profit, matching estimates, partly due to higher upstream earnings and improved refining margins, said Upstreamonline.

Net profit rose to 33.9 billion yuan (USD5.5 billion) in the period from 29.5 billion yuan a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations based on PetroChina's first-half results released on Thursday.

That compares with an average forecast of 33.2 billion yuan by six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

PetroChina said in March that it would cut capital spending for the second consecutive year in 2014 as it sought to boost shareholder returns in the midst of a massive corruption probe.

It has been selling down its pipeline assets to focus more on exploration and production.

As MRC wrote before, PetroChina plans to spend more than 10 billion yuan (USD1.6 billion) on shale gas this year. PetroChina's decision to triple its shale gas spending from expenditures on the unconventional fuel over the past few years comes just months after Sinopec lifted hopes that China is near a breakthrough by announcing a commercial find.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR, Russia's uniquely positioned vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company, has initiated liquefied petroleum gas supplies to China, as per the company's press release.

In late August, SIBUR signed a long-term contract with a Chinese customer for regular liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supplies to the growing Chinese market.

The product will be shipped by rail from Nyagan GPP (gas processing plant), a subsidiary of SIBUR. Initial supply volumes will total around 20 ktpa with further increase outlook.

SIBUR will be the first Russian company to supply LPG to China. When planning the transportation route, it was important to take into account that there are no LPG transshipment facilities on the Russian–Chinese border. It was therefore decided to supply the product in tank containers and further transport them through China by low loaders. A test shipment of LPG to China was made in July, and this proved the efficiency of this approach.

LPG consumption in China is growing rapidly. According to IHS, it amounted to 27.6 mt in 2013, up 9% y-o-y, with 3 mt imported annually.

Projects to expand hydrocarbon processing in Russia boost LPG output. SIBUR's strategic priority is to convert this feedstock into bulk polymers as end product locally in Russia. For this purpose, as MRC informed previously, the company is running large-scale petrochemical construction projects in the Tyumen Region (Tobolsk-Polymer), Nizhniy Novgorod Region (Rusvinyl), and other regions.

However, the domestic LPG demand from the petrochemical industry, utilities, and natural gas powered vehicles is much lower than supply. Thus, further LPG output growth requires efficient export channels. Having launched its LPG transshipment terminal in Ust-Luga last year, the company gained access to new markets in Northwestern Europe. Currently, the Ust-Luga terminal's LPG transshipment capacities are fully utilised. As LPG output is expected to grow, supplies to China are expected to become another step towards further LPG market expansion.

SIBUR is a uniquely positioned vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. SIBUR owns and operates Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes, and is a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry. As of 31 March 2014, SIBUR operated 27 production sites located all over Russia, had over 1,400 large customers engaged in the energy, chemical, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, construction and other industries in approximately 70 countries worldwide and employed over 27,000 personnel.
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