TransCanada lines up enough shippers to take Keystone XL forward

MOSCOW (MRC) -- TransCanada Corp said on Thursday customers committed to using about two-thirds of the capacity on its planned USD8 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline, bringing the company closer to a final decision on when it will begin construction, reported Reuters.

The controversial pipeline has pitted environmentalists worried about spills and global warming against industry advocates who say the project will shore up discounted Canadian oil prices and attract investment to Alberta's oil sands.

TransCanada has secured firm, 20-year commitments for about 500,000 barrels per day for the 830,000 bpd project as it concluded its open season that allowed shippers to commit to space on the pipeline.

"We are progressing towards final investment decision of this project. Having route approval in Nebraska and the necessary commercial support for KXL brings us closer to a final investment decision," TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha said in an email.

The commitments include 50,000 bpd from the Alberta provincial government, which receives some oil and gas royalties from producers in the form of bitumen. Alberta had previously committed to ship crude on TransCanada's canceled Energy East project, which would have transported 1.1 MMbpd to the Atlantic Coast.

Premier Rachel Notley told reporters in Calgary the province's oil industry needs more pipeline capacity to avoid crude getting bottlenecked in Alberta, which results in a deep discount on Canadian barrels versus benchmark U.S. crude.

"We can see very clearly right now the (price) differential is quite significant and what it means is that Albertans get a lower return," Notley said. "We remain committed to doing everything we can to diversify our market."

Canadian heavy crude is trading at a discount of around USD24 a barrel to U.S. crude, eating into producers' revenues even as global oil prices rise.

When completed, Keystone XL will ship from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska, linking crude from the oil-rich but landlocked Canadian province with U.S. refineries. Primary construction is expected to begin in 2019 and the company will continue to look for additional long-term contracted volumes, TransCanada said.
MRC

Clariant opens new masterbatch production site in Saudi Arabia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has officially opened its new state-of–the art masterbatch production site in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, as per the company's press release.

The site is owned by Clariant Masterbatches Saudi Arabia, a joint venture between Clariant and Rowad, a leading plastic products manufacturer in the Middle East and part of Tasnee, Saudi Arabia's second largest industrial company.

"As part of its commitment to intensify growth and increase profitability, Clariant invests in capacity expansions that provide competitive and innovative solutions to its customers. This joint investment with Rowad (Tasnee) expands our global network with a stronger position in the Middle East and Africa region, one of the important growth markets for plastic applications," said Patrick Jany, CFO of Clariant.

The new site is located in Yanbu, a city on the Red Sea which is home to many of Saudi Arabia’s leading industries including petrochemicals, hydrocarbon and minerals. It has been constructed on a 38,000 square meters property in Yanbu Industrial Zone 2 and will focus on the production of white masterbatches. This location provides the site easy access to key raw materials and enables it to supply customers in Saudi Arabia as well as the wider Middle East and Africa region thanks to a good logistics network that includes the nearby seaport and airport. It is the second manufacturing hub for Clariant Masterbatches in Saudi Arabia, supplementing an existing site in Riyadh.

"The project is one of the most important investments for the Business Unit Masterbatches in recent years and I am very proud to see it being opened. It’s a logical next step of our relationship with Rowad (Tasnee) and allows us to offer a broader product portfolio to customers in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East and Africa region", said Marco Cenisio, Head of Business Unit Masterbatches, Clariant.

Saeed Al Ajrafi, Board Member of the Clariant Masterbatches Saudi Arabia Joint Venture and Vice President Plastics at Tasnee, added: "We are very pleased to officially open this site. The additional capabilities allow us to grow and extend our market share in this region's downstream plastics industry."

As MRC informed before, in February 2106, Clariant Masterbatches Saudi Arabia started construction of a new masterbatch production unit in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC

Celanese to raise February LDPE prices in the Americas Region

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, will increase list and off-list selling prices for low density polyethylene (LDPE) in the Americas region, as per the company's press release.

The price increase will be effective February 1, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow and will be USD0.04/lb (USD0.09/kg or USD90/tonne).

As MRC wrote before, Celanese last raised its LDPE pricesfor North and South America on February 1, 2017. The price increase then was USD0.05/lb (USD0.11/kg or USD110/tonne).

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.
MRC

CPC Corporation delays restart of No.4 cracker

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CPC Corporation is likely to keep its No. 4 cracker off-line owing to technical issues, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the company has delayed the restart of the cracker until next week. The unit was taken off-line for maintenance in mid-November 2017 and was supposed to resume operations in this week.

Located in Linyuan, Taiwan, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 380,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 193,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, CPC Corporation shut its cracker No. 4 for maintenance on 11 December 2015 to 1 February, 2016.

All its crackers in Linyuan have a combined capacity of 1.08 million mt/year of ethylene as well as 500,000 mt/year of propylene.

CPC Corporation, Taiwan, is engaged in the exploration, production, refining, procurement, transportation, storage, and marketing of oil and gas. The company provides fuel oil, including automotive unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel, low-sulfur fuel oil, marine distillate fuels, marine residual fuels, and aviation fuel; petrochemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, para-xylene, and ortho-xylene; liquefied petroleum gas products comprising liquefied petroleum gas, propane, butane, and a propane/butane mixture; lubricants, motor oil, industrial oil, grease, and marilube oil; SNC products, including petroleum ether, naphtha, toluene, xylene, crude octene, methyl alcohol, normal paraffin, viscosity-graded asphalt cement, and sulfur; and natural gas.
MRC

Trinseo raises January prices for PS, ABS, SAN and PC in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe have increased prices for all grades of polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrne (ABS), acrylonitrile styrene copolymer and polycarbonate (PC).

Effective January 4, 2018, for PS and January 1, 2018, for other products or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below increased as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) - by EUR25 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR30 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR30 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR25 per metric ton;
- CALIBRE PC resins - by EUR250 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo last raised its contract and spot prices for all PS, ABS, SAN and PC grades in Europe effective 1 December, 2017, or as existing contract terms allowed, as follows:

- STYRON GPPS - by EUR95 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-TECH HIPS - by EUR95 per metric ton;
- CALIBRE PC resins - by EUR200 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR60 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR85 per metric ton.

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 completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.7 billion in net sales in 2016, with 15 manufacturing sites around the world, and nearly 2,200 employees.
MRC