Likely recovery in crude markets justifies new ethylene investments

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global crude prices are poised to recover toward the USD100/bbl range by the year 2020, meaning that many of the world's recently-planned ethylene investments from non-oil feedstocks are still economical moving forward, a leading industry consultant believes, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Steve Lewandowski, senior director of global olefins at IHS Chemical, offered his ethylene outlook on Thursday at the 30th annual IHS World Petrochemical Conference. He noted that the margin advantage for US ethane-based plants and Chinese coal-based projects have dipped in 2015 due to low pricing for rival oil-based naphtha production elsewhere, but those advantages are expected to largely recover in coming years.

Lewandowski says that this runs in great contrast to the past few years, where some areas like the US Gulf Coast had very high margins due to advantaged feedstock costs in a high crude environment. Meanwhile, producers in other regions saw much lower margins as their feedstock pricing moved more closely to crude oil price movements. That led to a wave of new ethylene capacity announcements planned to start up in the second half of this decade, many based on non-oil feedstocks such as natural gas liquids (NGLs) in North America and coal in China.

For now, many of those companies might be nervous, considering the current margins aren't what they were in 2012 and 2013, when many of the projects were formulated. But by the time those new ethylene crackers actually start operations toward the end of this decade, margins should be well on the road to recovery.

Current crude prices, which have hovered between USD50/bbl and USD60/bbl for much of 2015, have reduced the advantage that NGL and coal-based crackers would have relative to naphtha-based crackers elsewhere in the world. But IHS says it sees crude prices "bottoming out" in 2015, with the 2015 low point driven by reduced global demand, production increases in North America and a more stable production rate out of Libya.

Starting in the second half of 2015, the reduction in production due to depressed crude prices and a pick-up in global demand growth will gradually pull prices back up, with a recovery to the USD100/bbl range by the end of ths decade.

The margins aren't predicted to be quite as rosy as they were a year or two ago, but they are projected to be very healthy, Lewandowski maintains.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF now offers Sparkling Red, opening new styling possibilities in the red color space
Ludwigshafen, Germany - March 26, 2015 - BASF will expand its capacity for the production of Paliocrom effect pigments by more than 20 percent by 2017 in Ludwigshafen, Germany, said the company on its site.

The investment will enable the company to accommodate for the growing demand of its aluminum-based effect pigments in the automotive coatings sector. With an investment of approximately EUR10 million, BASF aims to strengthen its position in this fast-growing market.

The expansion of the Paliocrom production is being made in view of the recent color trends and the projected rising demand. BASF expects the Paliocrom product group to grow significantly above the general pigment market for automotive coatings.

Paliocrom features gold, orange and new red pigments. BASF also launched Paliocrom Sparkling Red as an exclusive bluish red product in the market. Paliocrom's uniqueness comes from high chroma, metallic luster and hiding power and it is suitable for high-quality automotive finishes and industrial paints.

As MRC informed earlier, in September 2014, BASF announced the start-up of a new butadiene extraction plant at its Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The plant has an annual production capacity of 155,000 metric tons.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of over EUR74 billion in 2014 and over 113,000 employees as of the end of the year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemical and polymer manufacturing firm Sabic has revealed that Mark Williams will replace Koos van Haasteren as vice president Europe, said the producer in its press release.

Williams, who is currently senior general manager manufacturing, will officially take up the role on 1 April. The 47-year-old has been with the company since September 1989, when he joined ICI Chemicals & Polymers in Teesside.

In 1999, the company was bought by Huntsman and subsequently acquired by Sabic in 2007.

Williams has held various management positions in Europe and the United States and during the last two years he has been responsible for Sabic’s petrochemical and polymers facilities across Europe.

As MRC informed earlier, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic), reported a 29% drop in fourth-quarter profit as lower oil prices reduced returns from its own products. Net income dropped to 4.36 billion riyals (USD1.16 billion) from 6.16 billion riyals a year earlier, the Riyadh-based company said in a statement today. Sales slipped 10% to 43.4 billion riyals.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the worldпїЅs top petrochemical companies. The company is among the worldпїЅs market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC has recently broadened its SABIC PCG portfolio for healthcare with the addition of a new LDPE grade to help the global IV packaging industry benefit from consistent and reliable supply, said the producer in its press release.

The new grade, SABIC LDPE PCG06 is typically for use in semi-rigid plastic bottles obtained from the Blown Fill Seal (BFS) process to package a variety of Large Volume Parenteral (LVP) solutions such as saline or dextrose. "SABIC is committed to enabling our existing and potential customers to address risks and to providing a much needed credible supply to the industry globally as demand grows, thus improving confidence in the supply chain" said Hery Randrianantoandro, Healthcare Segment Leader at SABIC in Europe.

The grade has been tested on a Rommelag Blown-Fill-Seal bottlepack type 321 machine in close collaboration with Kocher-Plastik Maschinenbau GmbH of Germany, it requires only minor adjustments during processing compared to the market benchmark. "Based on tests performed on our machine type 321, this new grade SABIC LDPE PCG06 can be processed on a bottlepack machine for bottles with our LDPE equipment" emphasized Martin Groh, Technical Manager at Kocher-Plastik.

This new grade will not only be helping improve confidence in the supply chain but also can offer potential improvements in barrier properties, such as permeability to oxygen and water vapor, and higher autoclaving sterilization temperature compared to the market benchmark, thanks to its optimized structural density. "Improving the preservation of the efficacy and integrity of the drug product during its expected shelf-life is a continuous challenge for our customers," said Marnik Vaes, Technical Marketing Healthcare at SABIC, "It is an area where we are stepping up effort and focus in order to support our customers further," he added.

SABIC LDPE PCG06 fully complies with the European and US Pharmacopoeia standard and will be available worldwide.

As MRC informed earlier, SABIC has announced its commitment to developing innovation in additive manufacturing at NPE2015. The world's first 3D printed car, developed with SABIC material technology, manufactured by Local Motors. Leveraging its global technology centers in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Saudi Arabia, SABIC is expanding its application development focus in additive manufacturing technology.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the worldпїЅs top petrochemical companies. The company is among the worldпїЅs market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Teressa Szelest, currently Senior Vice President, Global Business Unit Hygiene, Ludwigshafen, has been named President, Market & Business Development North America, effective May 1, 2015, reported the company on its site.

She will be located in Florham Park, New Jersey. Szelest succeeds Dr. Beate Ehle who will take a sabbatical until the end of 2015 at her own request.

As MRC wrote previously, in October 2014, the Board of Executive Directors of BASF, the world's petrochemical major, announced the personnel changes, as follows:

Gabriel Tanbourgi, President of the Care Chemicals division, will retire effective December 31, 2014. He will be succeeded by Hans-W. Reiners, who is currently President of the Performance Chemicals division, effective January 1, 2015.

Prof. Dr. Christian Fischer, President, Advanced Materials & Systems Research, will assume responsibility for the Performance Chemicals division effective January 1, 2015. Dr. Harald Lauke, President, Biological & Effect Systems Research, will succeed Fischer at the same time.

Dr. Peter Eckes, President, Plant Science, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, will assume responsibility for the new research division, Bioscience Research, Research Triangle Park, as of January 1, 2015.

Dr. Stefan Blank, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of BASF New Business, Ludwigshafen, will become President of the Intermediates division, Ludwigshafen, effective December 1, 2014. The current head of the division, Sanjeev Gandhi, has been appointed to the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE. Dr. Guido Voit, Senior Vice President, Intermediates Asia Pacific, BASF East Asia RHQ Ltd., Hong Kong, will succeed Blank as head of BASF New Business at the same time.

Besides, effective September 1, 2014, Ralf A. Spettmann, previously Senior Vice President, Pigments & Resins Europe, Ludwigshafen, became President of the Construction Chemicals operating division headquartered in Ludwigshafen. Spettmann succeeds Dr. Tilman Krauch, who took up a new position at another company.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of over EUR74 billion in 2014 and over 113,000 employees as of the end of the year.
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