Vietnamese sole refinery plans to sell 5%–6% stake in IPO in Q4

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Vietnam's Dung Quat oil refinery plans to sell a 5%–6% stake in the company in the fourth quarter of 2017 via an initial public offering (IPO), it said in a statement, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The IPO is part of a government plan to sell state-owned enterprises including Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co, which runs USD3 B Dung Quat. It is currently the sole refinery operating in the country.

The firm sell up to 36% to strategic partners within 12 months of the IPO, state media reported.

The statement did not disclose how much Binh Son might aim to raise in the IPO.

Binh Son's officials were not immediately available to comment.

Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, Gazprom Neft (GPN), Thailand's top energy company PTT and the Kuwait Petroleum Corp are among foreign firms that have expressed interest in Dung Quat, located in the central province of Quang Ngai.

The refinery will shut for maintenance from June 5 to July 23.

Vietnam's second oil refinery, Nghi Son, is being built by investors including Binh Son parent PetroVietnam at a cost of USD7.5 B. The commercial start-up of Vietnam's new USD7.5 B Nghi Son oil refinery will be delayed to 2018, from an initial expected start-up in the third quarter of this year, according to a notice on a government website.

As MRC wrote previously, in late September 2016, Russia's Rosneft signed a contract to supply 96 MMt of crude oil to PV Oil, an affiliate of state oil and gas PetroVietnam, starting this year. The contract, signed on the sidelines of an international economic forum in Russia's St Petersburg, will last between 2017 and 2040. The volume to be supplied by the Russian firm is equivalent to nearly six years of Vietnam's crude oil production, which totalled 16.7 MMt in 2015, based on Vietnam's government data.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) in Russia decreased to about 312,300 tonne in the first four months of 2017, down 6% year on year. Gazprom neftekhim Salavat and Nizhnekamskneftekhim showed a significant decrease in production, according to MRC ScanPlast report.

April HDPE production in Russia was 73,900 tonnes, while in March it was about 83,500 tonnes. Kazanorgsintez and Stavrolen reduced their capacity utilisation because of shutdowns for maintenance at ethylene production capacities. Overall HDPE output reached 312,300 tonnes in the first four months of 2017, compared to 330,700 tonnes a year earlier. Kazanorgsintez and Stavrolen's higher output did not allow to offset the reduction in production at the other two plants.

Structure of PE production over the reported period looked as follows.

Russia's April HDPE production at Kazanorgsintez decreased to 46,100 tonnes from 51,700 tonnes a month earlier. The producer's total HDPE production was 178,800 tonnes in the first four months of the year, up 14% year on year.

Stavrolen produced about 18,400 tonnes of HDPE in April, while in January it was produced about 25,000 tonnes. The plant's HDPE output reached 91,500 tonnes in the first four months of 2017, up by 2% year on year.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat increased its HDPE production to 9,400 tonnes in April because of a one-week shutdown for maintenance at the beginning of the month, compared to 6,700 tonnes a month earlier. Thus, overall HDPE production at the Baskhir plant reached 31,300 tonnes in the first four months of 2017, down by 14% year on year.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim shifted to the production of linear polyethylene and in the second half of January and returned to the production of HDPE only in May. HDPE production at Nizhnekamskneftekhim was 10,700 tonnes over an incomplete month of work.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CEO Patrick Thomas has confirmed to the Supervisory Board of Covestro that he will complete his contract as expected on September 30, 2018, said the company on its website.

The Supervisory Board has therefore decided on the succession of Patrick Thomas as Chairman of the Board of Management in today’s meeting.

Dr. Richard Pott, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said: "We sincerely regret Patrick Thomas’ retirement. However, with the end of his contract in fall 2018, Patrick Thomas will have been at the top of Covestro for more than ten years and of course we respect this step. Under his leadership, the company has achieved remarkable success, becoming a leading innovator in the chemical industry with outstanding financial results. We therefore thank him sincerely for his excellent work and support in facilitating a foresighted succession plan."

Patrick Thomas said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank all employees of Covestro. They have done a great job in the last few years and have made Covestro a very successful company. I look forward to ensuring a successful transition over the next 16 months."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Linde AG and Praxair Inc. agreed on a blueprint for their USD35 billion combination, leaving the fate of the proposed deal in the hands of a divided Linde supervisory board that derailed the plan for the merger of the industrial gas suppliers once before, said Bloomberg.

Teams from both companies put together a so-called business combination agreement, though there is no assurance the document will result in a transaction, Munich-based Linde said in a statement Wednesday. The companies announced a preliminary deal in December, and Linde’s board is scheduled to decide whether to proceed next week. Praxair’s board also needs to approve the agreement, the Danbury, Connecticut-based company said.

Having agreed on the finer points of the plan to create the world’s largest producer of industrial gases, chief dealmaker and Linde Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle now has to run the gauntlet of Linde’s 12 directors who are split over the proposal. France’s Air Liquide SA, the largest industrial-gas supplier, completed its biggest deal last year with the USD13 billion acquisition of Airgas Inc. Combining Linde and Praxair -- the world’s next-biggest providers -- would leave three major companies, including Air Products & Chemicals Inc.

Linde’s supervisory board shot down the idea of a transaction in 2016. The board remains in stalemate, split between executives who are for the deal and worker representatives worried about job losses, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

With the decisive vote a week away, Reitzle is willing to use his double voting right to overpower worker opposition, the people said. On top of worker protests, the proposal got a lukewarm reception from shareholders at the annual general meeting earlier this month, when Linde and Praxair had planned to present the merger document. Legal complexities led to the delay, the company said at the time.

At the AGM, Linde management was criticized for the way it’s going about getting a deal. A first attempt broke down in September, followed by a management shuffle and then a revival of talks in November.

The industry supplies gases such as oxygen and hydrogen used at hospitals, oil refineries, chemical plants and steel fabricators.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Klaus Engel has stepped down as CEO of Evonik, with Christian Kullmann taking over the role, reported EPPM.

This changeover occurred at the end of the annual shareholders’ meeting.

Engel has been on the executive board for Evonik since 2007, and then became chairman in 2009.

Werner Muller, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, told Engel: "You successfully led the company through the global financial and economic crisis and steered the development of Evonik from a conglomerate to one of the leading specialty chemical companies. Today Evonik is excellently positioned – and the recent acquisition of Air Products specialty additives business, which you successfully managed in May 2016, contributed to that."

Aldo Belloni, Chief Executive Officer of Linde, also joined the board, after being voted in by shareholders.

Engel said: "Evonik has all the prerequisites to actively and successfully shape the future and to take advantage of attractive and sustainable growth prospects. Therefore, I can leave Evonik in the hands of my successor with confidence."

As MRC informed previously, Evonik Resource Efficiency will invest in a capacity expansion of its performance foams business at its production site in Darmstadt, Germany. The investment will increase the output of the facility by about 20% as a first step. The company will be adding production equipment to its operations complex that manufactures products marketed under the Rohacell brand. The expanded production capacity is expected to be operational by the second half of 2017. Evonik’s Darmstadt plant is currently producing foam products that are used as a core material in the construction of sandwich composites. The global market has shown steady annual growth in the use of composites.

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