SIBUR and Air Products sign papers on building industrial gas production unit in Perm

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR-Khimprom (a subsidiary of SIBUR Holding) and Air Products have entered into an agreement to build a new air separation unit in Perm and to supply the facility with locally produced gases, said the producer in its press release.

The document was signed by Air Products CEO Robert Peter Mills and SIBUR-Khimprom CEO Gennady Shilov.
Under the deal, Air Products will supply industrial gas to SIBUR's Perm subsidiary as agreed and invest its own cash to build and operate the new air separation unit.

SIBUR-Khimprom will build relevant facilities and utilities, lease out the site and act as the buyer under fixed price off-take contracts. This deal will help SIBUR-Khimprom cut down on industrial gas pricing, improve supply and focus on developing its new and current core operations.

The unit will comply with the most advanced usage, safety and efficiency standards. Its capacity will be c. 30,000 cu m of gaseous nitrogen per hour and c. 6,000 cu m of dry compressed air per hour, meeting the needs of SIBUR's Perm facility. The unit is set to come on stream in 2016. After the commissioning Air Products will supply industrial gases for SIBUR-Khimprom over the next 20 years.

This is the fourth SIBUR partnership for industrial gas production. Similar projects include facilities in Voronezh (in partnership with Air Products), Dzerzhinsk (with Linde Gas) and Tomsk (with Cryogenmash-Gas).

As MRC wrote before, SIBUR said in September that following the completion of the front-end engineering design (FEED) contracts and assessment of the design documentation, it is proceeding with the previously announced mega ZapSibNeftekhim project at Tobolsk, Russia. ZapSibNeftekhim's project is designed to operate a steam cracker (by Linde AG, Germany) with a capacity of 1.5 mtpa of ethylene, around 500 ktpa of propylene and 100 ktpa of butane-butylene fraction (BBF), along with units with a total capacity to produce 1.5 mtpa of various grades of polyethylene (by INEOS, UK) and a polypropylene unit of 500 ktpa (by LyondellBasell, Netherlands).

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.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Spanish oil company Repsol said it had reached a deal to buy Talisman Energy, Canada's fifth-largest independent oil producer, for USD13 billion, said Reuters.

The proposed acquisition will boost Repsol's exploration and production arm and fill a funding gap after the seizure of its Argentine business in 2012. It will also help to reduce the firm's reliance on high-risk oil producing areas such as Libya.

The oil price drop has lowered price tags on producers like Talisman, spurring interest from Repsol which has been on the search for oil and gas targets in North America or other countries with stable regulation.

The Spanish company said the acquisition would boost its oil production by 76% to 680,000 barrels per day while its reserves would increase 55%. It also said the acquisition would bring annual benefits worth USD220 million and would be neutral for its earnings in 2016 and become accretive in 2017.

The board of Talisman has approved the transaction and recommended shareholders accept it, Repsol said in a statement to Spain's stock market regulator.

Previous merger talks between the two companies broke down last summer because of Talisman's underperforming North Sea operations, much of which are in a joint venture with China's Sinopec.

As MRC informed earlier, in June 2014, Mexico's national oil company Pemex announced that it would sell a 7.9% stake in Spanish oil firm Repsol, worth about 2.2 billion euros (USD3.0 billion). The sale ends a long relationship between Pemex and Repsol that had run into trouble in recent years over disagreements on policies ranging from top management to the handling of Repsol's investments in Argentina.

Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayer MaterialScience has successfully concluded a major capital expenditure project in Germany, said the company in its press release.

The company brought an ultra-efficient and resource-conserving world-scale plant for the production of the chemical TDI, a main component in high-quality foams, on stream at its site in Dormagen, located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Valued at some EUR250 million, the high-tech plant was inaugurated at a ceremony attended by representatives from politics, industry, public administration authorities and the local community.

Including infrastructure and supplier costs, total capital expenditure at Chempark Dormagen amounts to more than EUR 400 million. The site is to become Bayer MaterialScience’s European center for TDI production. Under construction for 30 months, the new plant replaces a smaller production unit for toluene diisocyanate (TDI). The chemical is used in the production of flexible polyurethane foams, which is used to produce many everyday articles including mattresses, car seats and upholstered furniture. Demand for TDI is expected to continue growing steadily worldwide in the years ahead.

Hannelore Kraft, governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, said at the inauguration ceremony, "The investment clearly illustrates the capability of Bayer's Dormagen site. But it is also an important signal about the international competitiveness of North Rhine-Westphalia as a center of the chemical industry." She added that the fact that Bayer also sent clear signals with respect to environmental protection is the way of the future. Another key factor for the success of the local chemical industry besides the funding of training and education is the strengthening of public acceptance. "Bayer did an exemplary job in terms of local public involvement."

As MRC wrote before, Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) plans to invest EUR 15 million in the construction of a production line at its Dormagen site, which will use CO2 to produce a precursor for premium polyurethane foam. The line will have an annual production capacity of 5,000 metric tons.

With 2013 sales of EUR 11.2 billion, Bayer MaterialScience is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction and the sports and leisure industries. At the end of 2013, Bayer MaterialScience had 30 production sites and employed approximately 14,300 people around the globe. Bayer MaterialScience is a Bayer Group company.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- To offer customers in the United States and Canada greater availability of specialty styrenic materials, Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, is expanding its distribution arrangements with PolyOne and Entec Polymers, reported the company on its site.

Moving forward, both companies will now offer Styrolution's full portfolio of specialty products. PolyOne and Entec Polymers were selected for expanded relationships based on their best-in-class customer support with regards to technical, industry and market segment expertise, service, logistical capabilities and geographical competencies. These distribution channels will provide significant value to customers in both the healthcare and automotive industries due to both companies' proven expertise in these industry segments.

Resulting from the expansion, PolyOne will now add to their line of specialty polymers Luran (SAN), Terlux (transparent ABS), Novodur (specialty ABS), Luran S (ASA), Styrolux (SBC) and Styroflex (SBC). These products complete PolyOne's existing portfolio of Styrolution products, which also includes Styrolution's full range of transparent styrenic polymers and polystyrene. Additionally, Entec Polymers will also offer the full range of Styrolution's specialty polymers by enhancing its transparent styrenic offerings with the additions of Zylar (MBS), NAS (SMMA) and Clearblend (MBS).

These expanded distribution relationships come shortly after the company's recent announcement of new transparent grades, Zylar 670 and Clearblend 155, which are also available through PolyOne and Entec Polymers.

The expanded distribution network advances the goals of Styrolution's "Triple Shift" growth strategy, which calls for a focus on styrenic specialties and ABS Standard, higher-growth industries and growth in emerging markets. Through these expanded relationships and by leveraging the deep industry-specific expertise of PolyOne and Entec Polymers, Styrolution continues to elevate its specialties product lines while providing customers with the support and insights necessary to develop market-leading applications.

Bill Bryant, Director of Sales, Styrenic Specialties & Distribution, Styrolution: "We are committed to providing our customers around the world and especially in North America, with the material solutions necessary to address their application requirements, no matter the industry. This includes working with distributors with a reputation and legacy of best-in-class customer and technical support, and industry expertise. As such, we are pleased to expand our distribution network with proven and experienced companies like PolyOne and Entec Polymers to offer our customers greater access to the materials and insights they need for success."

As MRC wrote before, in February 2014, in order to further strengthen its polystyrene (PS) business in North America, Styrolution announced it plans to consolidate PS capacity in the region. In addition, Styrolution will accelerate growth in styrenic specialties through an expansion of its offering for high-performance transparent styrenics, by providing local supply in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Part of Styrolution's Triple Shift growth strategy, these measures will further enhance the company's position as the global leader in styrenics.

The Styrolution Group GmbH is a global provider of styrenics , headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. The company is a joint venture between BASF (50%) and INEOS (50%), were merged into the main styrene operations of the two partners. Its main focus is on the production of monomer, polystyrene, styrenic specialties, and ABS. The company offers styrene plastics for a variety of everyday products from different industries, such as automotive, electronics, construction, household, leisure, packaging, medicine and health. In 2013, the company's sales were at EUR5.8 billion, resulting in an EBITDA before special items of EUR442 million. Styrolution employs approximately 3,200 people and operates 17 production sites in ten countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's imports of polypropylene (PP) decreased by 19% in the first eleven months of this year. Decrease in imports largely resulted from the growth of its own PP production, but in recent months the pressure on import put the sharp devaluation of the national currency, according to MRC DataScope.

Russia's PP imports increased to 9,900 tonnes in November, from 13,400 tonnes in October. Total PP imports in Russia decreased to 157,400 tonnes in January - November 2014, compared with 195,100 tonnes year on year.

Significant increase in the production volumes (up 20%) reduced the dependence of the Russian market of homopolymer PP (down 34%).
Devaluation of the rouble led to a reduction in demand for imported propylene copolymers.

PP imports in Russia over the reported period looked as follows.

November imports of homopolymer PP to Russia decreased to 2,700 tonnes, compared with 3,500 tonnes in October because of the reduced supplies of Turkmenistan raffia. Total imports of homopolymer PP into Russia were 51,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of this year, down 34% year on year.

November imports of PP block copolymer reduced to 2,100 tonnes, from 3,600 tonnes in October) on the back of the seasonal factor and price rise for imported material. Total imports of block copolymers of propylene into Russia decreased to 41,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of the year, compared with 50,900 tonnes year on year, with the largest reduction in demand occurred for the pipe producers.

Imports of PP random copolymers into Russia were 2,800 tonnes in November, compared with 3,600 tonnes in October because of weaker demand for BOPP films. Total imports of PP random copolymers into Russia decreased to 32,100 tonnes in January - November, compared with 36,000 tonnes year on year.

The main drop in demand occurred for injection moulding (down 21%) and extrusion grades (down 36%), while the demand for the copolymers from the producers of BOPP films increased by 8%.

Imports of other PP grades grew to 33,300 tonnes in the first eleven months of the year, compared with 30,400 tonnes.


MRC