GS Engineering & Construction Co. inks USD4.5 bln petrochem deal in Uzbekistan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- GS Engineering & Construction Co., one of South Korea's major builders, said Thursday it has inked a deal on a petrochemical production project in Uzbekistan estimated at USD4.5 billion., said Yonhapnews.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Uzbekistan's state-run oil and gas firm Uzbekneftegaz, the South Korean builder will help set up a production unit to make olefin, used in making plastic materials, GS E&C said in a press release.

GS E&C will form a consortium with other South Korean investors to cover 50 percent of the project cost, while the remaining share will be held by the Uzbek gas company.

The two firms are currently negotiating the final cost and production capacity of the olefin facility, GS E&C said.

The latest MOU came amid Uzbek President Islam Karimov's meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Thursday to discuss ways to boost bilateral economic cooperation.

As MRC informed earlier, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will join UzIndoramaGazChemical, a joint venture that will build a USD2.5 bln complex to produce polyethylene at the Mubarek Gas Refinery in Uzbekistan's Kashkadarya region. CNPC had signed a memorandum to join Uzbek national oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz and Singapore's Indorama Group in the joint venture.

GS Engineering & Construction Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the fields of plant, power environment, housing, architecture, civil, and real estate development in South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Canada, China, Singapore, and internationally. The company operates through Infra Works, Architectural Construction, Plant Construction, Power, Hotel, and Others segments.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Kazakhstan fell over the first four months of 2015 by 49% year on year and totalled little more than 9,300 tonnes, reported MRC analysts.

April imports of unmixed PVC to Kazakhstan virtually remained at the level of March and totalled 3,100 tonnes. The overall imports of resin decreased to 9,300 tonnes from January to April 2015 versus 18,100 tonnes over the same period of 2014. Such a major fall in PVC imports to Kazakhstan was caused by both weaker demand for resin from local producers and virtually complete cessation of further re-import of resin to Russia.

The main PVC suppliers to the local market are producers from China because of the geographical factor, their share was about 98% of the local market over the stated period. Small PVC quantities were also supplied from Turkey.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sadara Chemical Co. has signed a 20-year supply agreement with Energy Chemicals Sources Co. (ECSC), a new joint venture of Halliburton and The Industrialization & Energy Services Co. (TAQA), to supply feedstock to ECSC's planned chemical production facility to be built in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, as per GV.

Under the agreement, Sadara will supply 60,000 t/y of ethylene oxide and 20,000 t/y propylene oxide via pipeline to the new specialty chemicals complex, which will be located in PlasChem Park. Construction on the facility is planned to begin this year with production expected in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The agreement with ECSC "is a key step forward in the development of the local oil and gas chemicals market," said Sadara Chief Executive Ziad Al-Labban. "Capitalizing on TAQA and Halliburton's combined knowledge and experience, and utilizing the chemicals that Sadara will be producing, we will together support the Kingdom's oil and gas industry through the manufacturing of essential oil and gas chemicals locally," he added.

PlasChem park is being developed under the collaborative efforts of Sadara and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. Located next to Sadara's new USD 20-billion petrochemical complex, the park is devoted exclusively to chemical and conversion industries.

As MRC wrote previously, in June 2013, Dow Chemical, an American multinational chemical corporation, announced the signing of the main financing for the Sadara project. Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara), Dow's joint venture with Saudi Aramco, entered into definitive agreements with certain export credit agencies, commercial banks and the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for approximately USD10.5 billion of additional project financing.

Sadara is building a world-scale, fully integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City 2, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The complex will be comprised of 26 manufacturing units, will possess flexible cracking capabilities and is expected to produce more than 3 million metric tons of high-value performance plastics and specialty chemical products. The first production units are expected to come on-line in the second half of 2015, with full production starting in mid-2016.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik Industries AG will globally increase the prices for selected product types of its PMMA molding compounds, which it markets under the PLEXIGLAS and PLEXIMID trademarks (ACRYLITE and ACRYMID in the Americas), as per the company's press release.

As far as permissible under existing agreements and according to the product type, the increase will amount to up to a double-digit percentage.

Earlier, in May 2015, Evonik announced that, effective June 1, 2015, Evonik Industries AG would increase the prices of its PMMA sheets and blocks, which it markets under the PLEXIGLAS and DEGLAS trademarks, and the ACRIFX products by 6.5%. The reason for this step is the ongoing considerable rise in the cost of upstream products, especially raw materials.

Evonik Industries is a worldwide manufacturer of PMMA products sold under the PLEXIGLAS trademark on the European, Asian, African and Australian continents and under the ACRYLITE trademark in the Americas.

As MRC informed previously, in March 2015, Evonik Industries presented PLEXIGLAS Resist AG 100 - a new specialty molding compound for manufacturing vehicle glazing.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2014 more than 33,000 employees generated sales of around EUR12.9 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of about EUR1.9 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe has announced a price increase for natural polycarbonate (PC), reported the company on its site.

Effective immediately, or as existing contract terms allow, the June contract and spot prices for the product listed below will increase as follows:

- CALIBRE polycarbonate resins - by EUR430 per metric ton;

This price increase is in response to escalating costs of key raw materials used in the production of polycarbonate and aims to restore balance to Polycarbonate supply and demand globally.

"Margins in the PC industry have been excessively low in the last three years which has triggered limited reinvestment, leading to an opportunity now for margin expansion in order to restore acceptable profitability levels," said Nicolas Joly, Global Business Director, Polycarbonate at Trinseo.

As MRC informed previously, Trinseo last raised its prices of natural PC from 3 March, 2015, as follows:

- CALIBRE polycarbonate resins - by EUR350/tonne.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo’s technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo is completing its renaming process in 1Q 2015.
MRC