Indian Oil shuts Panipat HDPE/LLDPE swing plant after fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State-owned Indian Oil Corp shut its 350,000 mt/year high density polyethylene/linear low density polyethylene swing plant in Panipat, Haryana, following a fire at the unit Monday, a company source said Tuesday, reported Apic-online.

There are no further details on the length of the shutdown or the impact to customers, the source said.

A 300,000 mt/year HDPE plant and a 600,000 mt/year polypropylene plant at the complex are not affected, the source added.

The upstream naphtha-fed steam cracker at the site is also not affected and operating normally, the source said. The cracker has a nameplate capacity of 857,000 mt/year of ethylene.

As MRC informed before, one contractual employee of IOCL was reportedly killed in the accident while 5 others were injured. An investigation by technical team is underway to understand the cause of the accident.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Egypt's Finance Minister Amr El Garhy said on Sunday the country had paid USD200 million in arrears owed to foreign oil companies in January, and would pay another USD550 million in February and March, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Egypt owed foreign oil companies USD2.4 billion at the end of June 2017, the petroleum ministry said this week. There was no newer figure.

Cairo has pledged to eliminate arrears by the end of June 2019 and not to accumulate more, part of its drive to draw new foreign investment to an energy sector that is attracting interest following several major gas discoveries.

As MRC informed before, by 2020, Egypt plans to produce more than three million tons of chemical products, under a 20-year national plan, which involves a range of products from ethylene and polyethylene (PE) to olefins and aromatics.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexichem SAB de CV (Mexchem) has received the approval of the antitrust authority in Brazil CADE (Administrative Council of Economic Defense) for the acquisition of Netafim Ltd in that country, said Worldofchemicals.

Following the expiration of a 15-day waiting period (from the date of the publication in the Brazilian Official Gazette) with confirmation from CADE that no appeal has been filed, this will be one of the relevant approvals for the transaction to be completed.

Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, Netafim is a global leader in developing, manufacturing and distributing advanced drip and micro-irrigation solutions, with local presence in more than 30 countries, 17 manufacturing plants, more than 4,300 employees and sales in more than 110 countries worldwide. Netafim’s advanced technologies and end-to-end solutions help growers across the world achieve higher and better crop yields while reducing the use of water and other inputs, such as manpower, nutrients and crop protection.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Following a meeting of the World Plastics Council’s (WPC) Executive Committee in Dubai, Mr. Abulrahman Al-Fageeh (SABIC) has announced that Mr. James (Jim) Seward (LyondellBasell) had been elected to succeed him as the next Chairman of the WPC, reported PlasticsEurope.

"The WPC is fortunate to have an exceptionally talented group of visionary executive leaders, and we are particularly pleased with the Executive Committee’s election of our colleague Jim Seward as our next Chair," said Al-Fageeh. "We look forward to leveraging Jim’s global perspective and deep enthusiasm for our industry to drive further success."

"Under Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh’s leadership the WPC has grown in numbers, we have engaged with global stakeholders, and we have delivered results. On behalf of the entire General Assembly we thank him for his commitment to our work - and for his friendship," said Mr. Seward.

The WPC was founded in 2014 with the goal of becoming the plastic industry’s platform to accelerate cooperation and alignment, and to deliver improved outcomes for the benefit of society and the global plastics industry.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, will increase list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, as per the company's press release.

The price increases below will be effective February 1, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, VAM prices will be raised, as follows:

- by EUR50/mt - for Europe and the Middle East;
- by USD0.05/lb - for USA and Canada;
- by USD100/mt - for Mexico and South America.

As MRC wrote previously, Celanese Corporation last increased its list and off-list selling VAM prices in Europe on 1 January, 2018. The price increase was EUR100 per tonne. Besides, the company raised January VAM prices in The Middle East and Africa, as stated below:

- for Asia outside China - by USD100 per tonne;
- for China - by CNY300 per tonne;
- for Middle East and Africa - by USD100/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. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,300 employees worldwide and had 2016 net sales of USD5.4 billion.
MRC