Change in leadership: BASF decides on succession

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Effective at the end of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on May 4, 2018, Dr. Martin Brudermuller (56), currently Vice Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, will become Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, said the company on its web-site.

The Supervisory Board appointed Brudermuller in its meeting today. Brudermuller will succeed Dr. Kurt Bock (59), who is BASF’s Chairman since 2011 and has been a member of the Board of Executive Directors since 2003. This change will allow Bock to be elected as a member and chair of BASF’s Supervisory Board in 2020 after the end of the statutory two-years cooling-off period.

Dr. Hans-Ulrich Engel (58) was appointed as new Vice Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors. Furthermore, the Supervisory Board extended the appointments of Brudermuller, Engel and Sanjeev Gandhi (51) to the Board of Executive Directors by five years until the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting 2023. In the course of the changes, the number of Board members will be reduced from eight to seven in May 2018.

“The change next year is part of the long-term succession planning for the Supervisory Board and the Board of Executive Directors of BASF,” said Dr. Jurgen Hambrecht (71), Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BASF SE. “During the past seven years, Kurt Bock has successfully shaped the company and developed it further. We have asked him to stand for election to the Supervisory Board in 2020, so that the company can continue to benefit from his expertise and experience. With Martin Brudermuller we have again named a very competent and experienced successor from within the company."

Brudermuller was appointed as Vice Chairman in 2011. In addition, he is Chief Technology Officer of BASF SE. Brudermuller has been a member of the Board of Executive Directors since 2006. During this time, he was among others responsible for the Asia Pacific region headquartered in Hong Kong.

Engel became a member of the Board of Executive Directors in 2008 and was among others responsible for the region North America headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey. Since 2011 he is Chief Financial Officer of BASF SE.

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 114,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of about EUR58 billion in 2016. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yeochun NCC (YNCC) is likely to undertake planned maintenance at its No.3 naphtha cracker at Yeosu, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the company has planned to shut the cracker for a maintenance turnaround in 2018. The plant is likely to be shut in October/November 2018 for a period of around one month.

Located in Yeosu, South Korea, the No.3 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 470,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 230,000 mt/year. Currently the cracker is running at full production capacity levels.

As MRC wrote before, last year, YNCC shut its 578,000 tonne/year No 2 naphtha cracker in Yeosu since 10 March for a regular maintenance. The company resumed operations on 9 April.

South Korea’s Yeochun NCC (YNCC) pyrolyzes naphtha to produce basic feedstock materials for the petrochemical industry. YNCC, a joint venture between South Korean firms Hanwha and Daelim, is a key exporter of ethylene and propylene in the country.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nanjing Chengzhi Yongqing Energy Technology Co. has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract to Wison Engineering (China) Ltd. for a new methanol-to-olefins (MTO) plant and butadiene unit in Nanjing, China, as per GV.

The 600,000 t/y MTO plant will utilize Honeywell UOP's advanced process technologies and Wison Engineering's high recovery olefin separation technology to produce ethylene and propylene.

Nanjing Chengzhi's 100,000 t/y butadiene plant will be based on Wison's proprietary Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Butene to Butadiene technology.

The projects, for which a cost was not given, are scheduled for completion in December 2018.

As MRC informed previously, in November 2016, China’s Jilin Connell Chemical Industry Co. selected Honeywell UOP’s Advanced methanol-to-olefins (MTO) process to tap domestic coal resources to produce ethylene and propylene. Jilin Connell is the ninth company to license the Honeywell UOP technology, which produces superior yields at lower cost compared to competing technologies. The new plant, scheduled for completion in 2017, will be located in Jilin City in China’s Jilin Province, and will convert domestic sources of methanol into 300 Mtpy of ethylene and propylene. The new plant’s offtake will be supplied to ethylene oxide and propylene oxide manufacturers currently operating in the same industrial park.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Chinese customs in Nanjing city has seized 12 Mt of smuggled fuel worth USD12.98 MM, state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The seizure is a result of months of investigations in coastal provinces of Jiangsu, Fujian and Zhejiang province. The authorities have also arrested 17 suspects.

Smuggling was carried out outside the mouth of Yangtze River and at sea, through ship-to-ship loadings with foreign vessels, said Xinhua, which cites state-run Legal Daily as saying. The report did not specify which refined products were smuggled.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has declared force majeure for its methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) production in Chongqing, China, on 12 December 2017, due to a supply shortage of natural gas at its syngas supplier, as per GV.

According to the company, the supplier has not yet provided a timeline for restart of the syngas. BASF said it will inform customers of the MDI plant restart as soon as syngas supply resumes.

As MRC informed before, in early 2017, BASF completed a capacity increase of its MDI production facilities at the company's Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The capacity increase brings the annual production of MDI in Antwerp from 560,000 metric tons per year to 650,000 metric tons per year.

MDI is an important component for polyurethanes – an extremely versatile plastics material. It contributes to improved insulation, provides lighter materials for cars, and helps save energy in buildings.

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.
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