A. Schulman announces two restructuring actions in its Americas segment

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A. Schulman has announced that it is consolidating its North American production facilities, reported the company on its site.

As part of its ongoing review of its manufacturing footprint, the company will close its plant in Stryker, Ohio, in April 2015 and shift the plant's production to other facilities in North America.

The Stryker plant has been producing products primarily for markets in the United States and Mexico. It employs approximately 70 people and was part of A. Schulman's acquisition of the Ferro Specialty Plastics Business, which was completed in July 2014.

Additionally, the company announced that it is making SG&A reductions in North America as part of its ongoing effort to drive further synergies from recent acquisitions and eliminate duplicate functions. As a result of this effort, the company expects headcount reductions at various locations to total approximately 10 people.

The majority of the costs associated with the manufacturing consolidation, approximately USD2.5 million, are expected to be included in the company's financial results for the fiscal 2015 first quarter ending November 30, 2014. The annualized savings, approximately USD3 million, will be realized in the second half of fiscal 2015. A portion of these savings were part of the previously stated USD5.5 million in net synergies related to the acquisition of Ferro's Specialty Plastics business.

As MRC wrote previously, in June 2014, A. Schulman agreed to purchase a majority of the assets of the specialty plastics business of Ferro Corp. for USD91 million in cash. The purchase agreement includes four facilities located in the US as well as operations in Spain.

A. Schulman is a global plastics supplier, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, and a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins, which are used as raw materials in a variety of markets. A. Schulman has 33 manufacturing facilities globally. A. Schulman's fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 69% amid continued sluggishness in European markets and higher-than-expected costs in Latin America, where the company has been consolidating its Brazilian operations.
MRC

Vinachem sells 11% stake in petrochem project to PetroVietnam

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroVietnam (PVN) has bought 11% stakes in the National Chemicals Group (Vinachem) in the Long Son Petrochemicals Complex project on Nov. 17, 2014, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

According to both the parties, the capital transfer, which was included in the government's restructuring plan national organisations, was approved by the Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, in August.

The transfer of stake aims to use the investment to speed up the USD4.5 million worth Ba Ria-Vung Tau-based Long Son Petrochemicals project.

Before the transfer, PVN contributed 18% of the project capital and Vinachem contributed 11%. Thailand and Qatar's investment accounted for the rest 71%. Now PVN contributes 29% of the project capital.

The 400 ha petrochemical complex, considered the biggest of its kind in Vietnam, will be located in the Long Son industrial zone near the Long Son oil refinery. The project is in the preparation stage that includes, building of infrastructure and selection of contractors.

It is designed to produce 2.7 million tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene, the raw materials required for the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other kinds of chemical products, to serve the increasing demand from the domestic petrochemical industry.

According to PVN, the local industries require up to USD2 billion worth of high-quality plastic resins annually.

The project is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2019.

As MRC wrote before, Rosneft and PetroVietnam discussed supplying Russian oil to PetroVietnam’s Dung Quat refinery and potential cooperation on modernizing the plant. Rosneft is in talks to buy Chevron’s stake in gas fields off southern Vietnam for about USD200 million, PetroVietnam CEO Do Van Hau told Bloomberg in an interview on Aug 22.

PetroVietnam, Japan’s Mitsui & Co. and Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production are partners in the Chevron project and have the first option on any stake up for sale, Hau said.

MRC

Chevron fights hike in South Africa fuel imports, citing harm to refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Corp. is trying to block an increase in fuel imports to Cape Town, where the US oil company operates one of South Africa’s refineries, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The country of 53 million people doesn’t produce enough fuel to meet demand from motorists, forcing shipments from refineries elsewhere. Burgan Cape Terminals wants to build storage tank near Chevron’s plant to supply the nearby Western Cape province. Chevron says that will undermine the profitability of its 110,000-bpd plant, first commissioned in 1966.

The San Ramon, California-based oil company "does not oppose the construction of the fuel storage and distribution terminal to provide access to new entrants," it said in an e- mail. "We do oppose imports which could have a detrimental impact on national manufacturing capacity and capability."

Burgan is 70% owned by terminal operator VTTI B.V., a joint venture of energy trader Vitol and Malaysian shipping company MISC. It’s applied to National Energy Regulator of South Africa, or Nersa, to construct fuel storage and distribution facilities near Chevron’s refinery, which accounts for almost a quarter of South Africa’s crude oil refining capacity. The regulator will hold a hearing on the matter today.

While most people using the tanks would get fuel from the refinery, they would also have the option to ship products in from abroad, said Muziwandile Mseleku, CEO of Burgan Cape Terminals.

As MRC wrote before, a pump serving ethylene unit No. 22 at Chevron Phillips Chemical's Sweeny, Texas plant has shut unexpectedly, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The ethylene unit has an production capacity of 300,000 m tpa. Chevron Phillips operates three steam crackers at the Sweeny site, with estimated ethylene production of 1.9 mln mtpa.

Chevron Phillips Chemica, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), US,l is one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping, and proprietary plastics. Chevron and Phillips 66 each own 50% of Chevron Phillips Chemical.
MRC

SIBUR reduces its export EPS prices by USD140/tonne

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR, Russia's leading producer of expandable polystyrene (EPS), has reduced its export EPS prices for December shipmentss, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Importers of Russian polystyrene (PS) to foreign markets reported a decrease in the supplier's price this week. Expectations of future prices and preliminary agreements on reducing contract prices were announced at the end of last week, but buyers heard the final confirmation on Monday, a source added.

Offer prices for EPS export shipments from the plant's warehouse (SIBUR-Khimprom) in December dropped by USD140/tonne. This contract price will be effective for shipments from 1 December.

SIBUR-Khimprom specializes in the processing of liquid hydrocarbons and production of a number of petrochemical products, among which are liquefied gases, styrene, butyl alcohol, methyl tert-butyl ether, liquid pyrolysis products (resins). In 2010, Sibur-Khimprom"started production of expandable polystyrene (EPS) of Alphapor grade. To date, the plant is the largest EPS producer in Russia and the CIS countries.
MRC

PP production in Russia increased by 19% in January - October 2014

MOSCOW (MRC) - Production of polypropylene (PP) in Russia increased to 833,800 tonne in In first ten months of this year, up 19% year on year, compared to the same period of 2013. The largest increase in production volumes showed new production sites in Omsk and Tobolsk, according to MRC ScanPlast.

October PP production in Russia rose to a record level in history, and reached 109,600 tonnes on the back of the resumption of production at Stavrolen (100,500 tonnes in September). Total PP production in Russia reached 833,800 tonnes in January - October 2014, compared with 698,400 tonnes year on year. Such a significant rise in production resulted from the increase in the production rates at Poliom and Tobolsk-Polimer, launched in 2013.

Structure of PP production over the reported period was as follows. Tobolsk-Polymer (SIBUR) came close to the 100% production rates in October, having produced 43,600 tonnes of PP. Total PP production at Tobolsk-Polymer was 194,400 tonnes in January - October 2014.

Poliom (GK Titan, Omsk) increased PP production in October to 17,500 tonnes, compared with 15,800 tonnes in September. The producer's PP output was 142,800 tonnes in the first ten months of 2014, up 62% year on year.

PP production at Nizhnekamskneftekhim and Ufaorgsintez increased by 3% in the first ten months of the year, reaching 177,600 tonnes and 100,700 tonnes respectively.

Tomskneftekhim because of many factors, including the high level of capacity utilisation, kept its PP production at the last year level - 104,500 tonnes of PP in the first ten months of this year.

Neftekhimia (Kapotnya), on the contrary, reduced PP production in January-October by 11% to 90,500 tonnes.

Stavrolen resumed PP production on 13, October, following long time emergency shutdown. The producer's PP production was 5,400 tonnes in less than a month of work. The producer's PP production was 23,400 tonnes in January-October 2014.


MRC