OPaL in talks with local and overseas petrochemical companies to sell 25% stake in OPaL

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ONGC Petro additions Ltd (OPaL) is in talks with local and overseas petrochemical companies to sell as much as 25% in the company, three Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) officials familiar with the development said.

The company is jointly owned by ONGC, GAIL (India) Ltd and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. Ltd (GSPC). ONGC and GAIL hold 44% each in OPaL, and GSPC holds the rest.

ONGC also plans to sell shares to the public OPaL in a few years from now. Post the stake sale and the listing, ONGC said the envisaged equity structure would be: ONGC (26%), GAIL (15.5%), GSPC (0.5%), other public sector companies (8%), strategic investor 25%, and public shareholding (25%).

"We are in discussions with PSU (public sector undertaking) players as well as petrochemical players in the Middle East for taking up to a 25% stake in the project," said one of the three ONGC officials cited above. "OPaL is looking for a strategic investor for a portion of the balance untied equity who could bring value to the project," said an ONGC spokesperson, in reply to an email.

The USD4.5 bln mega petrochemical project is located at Dahej, Gujarat. The company has in the past held talks with several foreign firms for a stake sale but talks were stuck due to several delays in the project. The project was to be commissioned in 2011. The project has been delayed, leading to cost overruns. The plant was initially estimated to cost Rs.12,440 crore, but since then the cost has gone up to Rs.27,011 crore so far. OPaL is also in talks with private equity firms to offload stake in the company.

"They had met investment banks a month back as they are looking to raise nearly Rs.250-300 crore by selling stake to a private equity fund," said a person who had met ONGC officials to seek a mandate for the process.

As MRC wrote previously, in November 2015, Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) said it was close to signing a deal to acquire 45% of the OpaL chemical factory in India.Tthe company's chief executive Asaad Al-Saad attributed delays in the completion of the deal to tough Indian laws, but said he was optimistic due to the support of India's government and the strength of its economy.

OPaL is a joint venture of Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC - 26%), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL - 17%) and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. (GSPC - 5%), with the balance held by other investors and public shares.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The government plans to set up petrochemical complexes around all the 22 refineries in India to help generate one crore jobs, as per Plastemart.

"The government has decided to establish petrochemical hubs in and around all 22 refineries," Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar said at a seminar, adding that "This will result in savings as cluster approach can reduce costs. The projects need not be confined only to greenfield projects but also cover brownfield projects already running at various places."

The minister also urged the chemical industry "not to just rely on government incentives but become competitive" in feed stock, procurement of natural gas and production of end-products, towards doubling the sector’s growth to USD400 bln by 2021. "The government is a facilitator. We are here to support you. Please don’t just rely on incentives. That will be there. Become more competitive," he said.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, in January 2016, state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) received environmental clearance from Indian officials to expand its Visakhapatnam refinery in Andhra Pradesh from 8.33 MMtpy to 15.0 MMtpy. India's Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, approved the 18,400-crore expansion plan which was earlier rejected in 2013, citing a moratorium on industrial expansion in some of parts of Visakhapatnam. HPCL's expansion plans were not allowed to advance for the past several years due to environmental issues.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The market size is projected to reach USD4.75 bln by 2021, registering a CAGR of 5.6% between 2016 and 2021, as per Plastemart with reference to MarketsandMarkets.

The growth of the color masterbatch market is triggered by the rising demand from the packaging segment. It is widely used for industrial and household purposes. Change in lifestyle and globalization have triggered the demand from the packaging industry, which drives the market of color masterbatch. Color masterbatch for standard color to account for the major share of the market till 2021.

The color masterbatch market is segmented by type, namely, standard color, specialty color, and tailor-made color. Standard color accounts for a major share of the color masterbatch market, as it is extensively used to process polymers. They are used in a wide range of applications due to its mechanical, heat resistance, and weather resistance properties. Some of the applications of standard color masterbatch are packaging sheets & films, plastic bottles & containers, and cables & wire.

Polyethylene (PE) is a major carrier resin used to manufacture color masterbatch. It includes high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE). They are used to impart specific resin properties to processed polymers. Polyethylene products are mostly used in various end-use applications, such as packaging bags, general plastic films, medical packaging, mulch films, green house & tunnel films, and pipes.

Packaging is the dominating industry in the Color Masterbatch Market. It is widely used for industrial and household purposes. Improved lifestyle and globalization have triggered the demand from the packaging industry, which drives the market of color masterbatch. Moreover, the increasing use of plastics in consumer goods is also expected to have strong growth for the color masterbatch market.

The color masterbatch market is broadly segmented into five regions, namely, Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and South America. Asia-Pacific is the largest market of color masterbatch, in terms of volume. The growing packaging industry coupled with the increased demand from retail industry drives the market of color masterbatch in the region. End-use industries are witnessing a high growth in developing nations such as India, Indonesia, and Brazil due to their growing economies.

Currently, the global color masterbatch market is dominated by various market players, such as Clariant AG (Switzerland), A. Schulman, Inc. (U.S.), PolyOne Corporation (U.S.), Plastika Kritis S.A. (Greece), and Plastiblends India Ltd. (India). The leading players mainly concentrate on expansions to enhance their market reach and make innovative products available to a large number of customers.

As MRC informed previously, the masterbatch market is estimated to have accounted for USD8.35 bln in 2014 and is projected to reach USD12.61 bln by 2020, registering a CAGR of 7% between 2015 and 2020. The market is largely driven by the increased demand from the end-use industries such as packaging, consumer goods, and others, as per MarketsandMarkets.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas has received the tallest and heaviest propylene fractionator process column for the steam cracker facility located within its Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) in Pengerang, Johor, reported Plastemart.

The arrival has set a new record as the tallest and heaviest process column to have ever landed on Malaysia’s shores. The process column measures 121.3 metre high and weighs 1,808.6 tons . This is as tall as a building of about 37 storeys, and similar in weight as a fully-fuelled A380 Airbus and a Boeing 747 airplane combined. The process column travelled 8 days aboard the Jumbo Maritime-operated vessel MV Fairmaster, from the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea, before arriving at the Material Offloading Facility (MOLF) port in Tanjung Setapa, Johor.

“I am proud to announce that our propylene fractionator has been recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records as the tallest and heaviest process column in Malaysia,” said Petronas Senior Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Corporation Sdn Bhd (PRPC), Ir Dr Colin Wong Hee Huing.

PIC is a mega-scale, high-complexity development consisting of 23 process plants for refinery, steam cracker, petrochemicals and associate facilities. The project is entering the construction phase and is progressing as scheduled. The vessel also carried a smaller-scale propylene fractionator and an ethylene fractionator. All three process columns are part of the main structures for PIC’s steam cracker complex, to be constructed by a consortium of Toyo Engineering Corporation and Toyo Engineering & Construction Sdn Bhd.

As MRC informed before, Petronas is seeking to raise USD7.2 bln (RM29.5 bln) for its Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project in one of the largest project financings from Asia in recent years. The state-owned oil company has asked banks for underwriting commitments of at least USD500 mln (RM2 bln). The project in the southern state of Johor is set to be Malaysia’s largest liquid-based green-field downstream development. It will consist of a 300,000-bpd refinery and petrochemical complex, with a combined chemical output capacity of 7.7 mln tpa.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik and Transferra Nanosciences, Inc., formerly known as Northern Lipids Inc., have signed an asset purchase agreement on June 21st, 2016 to acquire the business and assets of Transferra Nanosciences Inc., a biotechnology company based in Burnaby close to Vancouver (Canada). Both parties have agreed to not disclose the purchase price, said the company in its press-release.

The transaction is scheduled to close at the end of July 2016.

Transferra is a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) that provides services as well as products to biotechnology companies engaged in the development of pharmaceutical products, using the company’s unique expertise in liposomal drug delivery systems. The acquisition allows Evonik to further expand the portfolio of its Business Line Heath Care in the area of parenteral drug delivery technologies and services.

Transferra services include prototype identification, scale-up and process development, analytical support and qualification of methods, production of test articles for toxicology studies and cGMP manufacturing of clinical trial materials. In addition Transferra offers a range of benchtop LIPEX extruders, as well as custom-built LIPEX® extruders for large scale manufacture of commercial drug products.

Evonik Health Care has recently developed into a leading provider of formulation development and GMP manufacturing services to the Pharmaceutical Industries for advanced parenteral drug depot formulations, building on the acquisition of the RESOMER portfolio of bioresorbable polymers and Surmodics Pharmaceuticals in Birmingham (Alabama, USA).

As MRC informed earlier, Evonik is conducting research into biodegradable high-strength composites, which could potentially replace metal in implants used for the internal fixation of fractured bones.

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.

MRC