Celanese Corporation declares quarterly dividend of USD0.36 per share

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company and a global leader in vinyl acetate ethylene (EVA) emulsions, has declared a quarterly dividend of USD0.36 per share on its Series A common stock, payable on March 3, 2017, as per the company's press release.

The dividend is payable for the period beginning November 1, 2016 and ending on and including January 31, 2017 to stockholders of record as of February 21, 2017.

As MRC wrote before, Celanese Corporation increased list and off-list selling prices for low density polyethylene (LDPE) polymers. The price increase was effective February 1, 2017, or as contracts allow. Thus, LDPE prices grew by USD0.05/lb (USD0.11/kg or USD110/tonne) for North and South America.

Besides, Celanese Corporation announced that it will increase the price of emulsions sold in the Americas. Thus, vinyl acetate homopolymer emulsions, vinyl acrylic emulsions, vinyl acetate ethylene emulsions, and acrylic emulsions will increase by up to USD0.03/wet pound effective March 1, 2017, or as contracts allow. This price increase affects all applications including, but not limited to, adhesives, paints and coatings, building and construction, nonwovens, glass fiber, carpet, paper and textiles. This announcement is in addition to the price increase for vinyl acetate based emulsions which was announced on October 14, 2016, and effective November 15, 2016.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,300 employees worldwide and had 2016 net sales of USD5.4 billion.
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Saudi Aramco inks first oil contract with Chinese Huajin

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State oil giant Saudi Aramco has signed a contract with Chinese oil refiner North Huajin Chemical Industries Group Corp to supply crude in 2017, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Monday, reported Reuters.

The contract, the first between Aramco and Huajin, comes as Saudi Arabia attempts to regain its status as the top crude supplier to China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, this year after losing the top spot to Russia in 2016.

Saudi Aramco will supply Arab Extra Light crude to Huajin to enable the Chinese state-controlled refiner to produce more naphtha for its petrochemical production, one of the sources said.

Saudi Aramco did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Huajin, a unit of China's military group NORINCO, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Top global oil exporter Saudi Arabia has been exploring new ways to sell more crude to China by offering spot cargoes and providing better credit terms.

Saudi Aramco could also start supplying crude to the Huizhou refinery owned by China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) after an expansion that is expected to finish in the second quarter.

Huajin operates a crude oil refinery in Panjin in Liaoning province with a processing capacity of 6 MMtpy and a petrochemical plant in Panjin that produces 700,000 tpy of ethylene, according to an announcement from its listed unit North Huajin Chemical Industries Co Ltd.

The company also has fertilizer plants in the Inner Mongolia region and in the Xinjiang region.

As MRC informed earlier, in June 2016, Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) became one step closer to building their first plant to process crude directly into chemicals, cutting out a link in the production chain from hydrocarbons to the finished products that go into plastics and other consumer goods. The state-owned companies signed an agreement to study such a project to be located in Saudi Arabia, they said in a statement. A joint venture is possible if the companies decide to move ahead after the study is completed by early 2017, they said. Oil companies normally refine crude into transportation fuels including gasoline and diesel and leave byproducts such as naphtha to be processed separately into chemicals.

audi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
MRC

Victrex and Tri-Mack JV to accelerate commercial adoption of PAEK within aerospace industry

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Victrex and Tri-Mack Plastics Manufacturing Corporation have established a joint venture, TxV Aero Composites, to accelerate the commercial adoption of polyketone (PAEK) composite applications within the aerospace industry, through the manufacture of parts utilizing new and innovative processes, according to Plastemart.

The multi-million dollar investment includes the establishment of a new US-based manufacturing facility. The new company will be a total solutions provider for polyketone composites, from concept development through commercialization. By combining world-class expertise in materials, engineering, development and manufacturing, TxV Aero Composites will be able to address customer challenges with dedicated speed and focus. The intent is to offer a range of PAEK composites, from custom laminates to pre-formed composite inserts for hybrid molding processes, as well as finished composite parts and complete over-molded hybrid composite components and assemblies.

These innovative products can deliver weight savings of up to 60% over conventional metallic solutions, and offer continuous manufacturing processes and cycle times measured in minutes versus hours for thermoset alternatives. One example is VICTREX AE 250 composites, a new lower temperature processing PAEK-based composite product family that enables a unique hybrid mold¬ing process. This innovation combines the strength of continuously-reinforced thermoplastic composites with the design flexibility and proven performance of VICTREX PEEK injection molding polymers.

Tri-Mack Plastics is a proven and long-standing partner of Victrex and has an excellent reputation for developing and manufacturing complex parts and assemblies for the Aerospace industry.

TxV Aero Composites will establish a purpose-built polyketone composite center of excellence in the USA, due to be completed in 2017.

Commercial aircraft use thousands of brackets and system attachments from the cockpit to the tail of the plane. The total amount of these components on an aircraft can add a significant amount of cost and weight especially if they are made from machined metal or thermoset layups. The VICTREX PAEK-based components can be manufactured more efficiently than conventional thermoset alternatives, and can deliver significant weight savings compared to stainless steel and titanium while offering equivalent or better mechanical properties such as strength, stiffness, and fatigue.

As MRC informed previously, global thermoplastic composites end product market is expected to reach at USD9.9 bln in 2020 at a CAGR of 6.5% over the period of 2015 to 2020. Thermoplastic composites market can be classified as continuous and discontinuous composite. The widely used thermoplastic composites are LFT, SFT, and GMT. Enhancement in product performance by innovation and lower overall cost for consumers is expected to further drive the market. The biggest challenge in the industry is relatively higher cost of materials compared to competing materials. Further market development is expected to depend upon material availability at reasonable prices.
MRC

Petrokimia Gresik provides status update of new facility under construction

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesia's Petrokimia Gresik expects to start production at its ammonia and urea facility in December 2017, reported Apic-online with reference to Antara News Agency.

Construction is in the final stage of completion. The project is on schedule and "any delay in its development would become the responsibility of the contractor," said the report citing Widodo Heru, a company spokesman.

A consortium of Wuhuan Engineering and Adhi Karya (Persero) earlier received the construction contract for the project. Value of the contract is Rp 8.1-trillion.

Petrokimia Gresik currently has an ammonia plant with a production capacity of 445,000 t/y and a 460,000-t/y urea unit.

PCN earlier reported that the project would include construction of a 660,000-t/y ammonia and urea facility and was scheduled to begin production in 2018.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, Indonesia's largest petrochemical producer Chandra Asri Petrochemical (CAP) plans to invest USD6 bln in several projects from 2016 to 2021. In the first phase of its investment plan, Chandra Asri plans to spend USD150 mln this year alone to ramp up production capacity on a number of petrochemical products like butadiene. Chandra Asri also plans to expand its Nafta Cracker factory in Banten - the country's only Naphtha Cracker factory.
MRC

Chandra Asri to invest USD6 bln in several capacity expansion projects from 2016 to 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesia's largest petrochemical producer Chandra Asri Petrochemical (CAP) plans to invest USD6 bln in several projects from 2016 to 2021, as per a company executive in Jakarta Globe, reported Plastemart.

In the first phase of its investment plan, Chandra Asri plans to spend USD150 mln this year alone to ramp up production capacity on a number of petrochemical products like butadiene. Chandra Asri also plans to expand its Nafta Cracker factory in Banten - the country's only Naphtha Cracker factory.

Vice President for Corporate Relations Suhat did not say anything about the other phases in the investment drive.
Chandra Asri also intends to secure tax holiday or tax allowance from the government, considering the size of its future investment.

As MRC informed before, in September 2016, CAP signed an agreement with Univation Technologies, LLC, located in the United States, to use the UNIPOL PE Progress for a new world scale 400,000 tpa polyethylene (PE) plant at its integrated naphtha cracker complex in Cilegon, Banten. The agreement covers process design package, including licence, to produce linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE) and metallocene LLDPE (mLLDPE). This commitment is a major milestone in CAP's strategic plan to build a new PE plant with final investment decision expected by mid 2017 and now CAP is doing a process design package (PDP).

Chandra Asri Petrochemical (CAP) is the largest vertically integrated petrochemical company in Indonesia with facilities located in Ciwandan, Cilegon and Puloampel, Serang in Banten Province. CAP is Indonesia's premier petrochemical plant incorporating world-class, state-of-the-art technology and supporting facilities. At the heart of CAP lies the Lummus Naphtha Cracker producing high quality Ethylene, Propylene, Mixed C4, and Pyrolysis Gasoline (Py-Gas) for the Indonesian as well as regional export markets.
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