Univar and Chemours Reach Exclusive Distribution Agreement in USA for Hydrochloric Acid

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Univar Inc., a global chemical and ingredient distributor and provider of value-added services, announces an exclusive distribution agreement with The Chemours Company for Hydrochloric Acid produced at Chemours' Parkersburg, West Virginia, plant, said Reuters.

Hydrochloric Acid, with a total market of over five million tons, is widely used in a number of industrial applications, including pH control for water treatment processes, steel manufacturing, and oil and gas drilling. With this agreement, Univar brings this important product closer to its customers in these markets, shortening the supply chain and improving service response times.

Jerry Panock, Univar's vice president of growth in the basic chemicals segment, said, "Customers will benefit from Chemours and Univar's shared safety culture and focus on productivity and efficiency to help manage their cost to serve. Additionally, it will help provide customers with a competitive and long term supply of Hydrochloric Acid, critical to their operations."

Founded in 1924, Univar (NYSE: UNVR) is a global chemical and ingredients distributor and provider of value-added services, working with leading suppliers worldwide. Supported by a comprehensive team of sales and technical professionals with deep specialty and market expertise, Univar operates hundreds of distribution facilities throughout North America, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Univar delivers tailored customer solutions through a broad product and services portfolio sustained by one of the most extensive industry distribution networks in the world.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kraton Corporation, a leading global producer of styrenic block copolymers, specialty polymers and high-value performance products derived from pine wood pulping co-products, has announced a general price increase of USD250/tonne for all its HSBC polymers, reported GV.

Subject to the terms of any applicable contracts, these price increases took effect on 6 February 2018.

As MRC wrote earlier, in February 2016, expanding on its global footprint and expertise in thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) innovation and design, PolyOne Corporation announced it has acquired certain technologies and assets from Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc.

Kraton Corporation, formerly known as Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc. is a leading global producer of styrenic block copolymers, specialty polymers and high-value performance products derived from pine wood pulping co-products. Kraton's polymers are used in a wide range of applications, including adhesives, coatings, consumer and personal care products, sealants and lubricants, and medical, packaging, automotive, paving and roofing applications. As the largest global provider in the pine chemicals industry, the company's pine-based specialty products are sold into adhesive, road and construction and tire markets, and it produces and sells a broad range of chemical intermediates into markets that include fuel additives, oilfield chemicals, coatings, metalworking fluids and lubricants, inks, flavors and fragrances and mining. Kraton offers its products to a diverse customer base in over 60 countries worldwide.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -– Emerson is expanding its Plantweb digital ecosystem with today’s launch of DeltaV version 14, a cybersecurity-certified control system designed to deliver new value in capital projects and make plant operations more connected and productive, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The latest release provides significant innovations to the entire DeltaV architecture and was built with customers’ digital transformation initiatives in mind.

This major update to the DeltaV automation system includes several meaningful enhancements to eliminate costs and reduce complexity in capital projects, plus improve productivity during operations through enhanced access to production and equipment data, improved usability and greater security.

“More than ever, an integrated plant data environment is essential to achieve digital transformation. With DeltaV, we’re reducing the engineering effort required to securely connect plant, operational and information systems,” said Jamie Froedge, president of Process Systems and Solutions, Emerson Automation Solutions. “Our customers will have more capabilities in their distributed control and safety systems to help them successfully execute capital projects and optimize operations."

Continuing to advance the impact of DeltaV Electronic Marshalling with CHARMs on capital project engineering, CHARM I/O Block takes CHARMs—which achieved more than one million deployments at more than 1100 sites in only five years—closer to the field. Small enclosures with up to 12 CHARMs can now be installed closer to field devices, significantly reducing wiring and overall installation costs by as much as 60 percent and providing more engineering flexibility.

Smart Commissioning, launched in 2016, took one of most engineering intensive operations off a project’s critical path. Traditionally, commissioning has been a manual task that requires more than two hours per device for thousands of devices. Smart Commissioning reduced commissioning time to 25 minutes. Emerson is now expanding these capabilities and reducing device commissioning time to as little as 10 minutes, a nearly 93 percent reduction in costly commissioning time that could save several hundred-thousand dollars in engineering costs.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis, a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins and base chemicals, announces a net profit of EUR 247 million for the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to EUR 239 million in the same quarter of 2016, as per the company's press-release.

For the full year 2017 the company recorded a net profit of EUR 1,095 million, compared to EUR 1,107 million in 2016. The 2017 result was driven by healthy European integrated polyolefin margins and an improved profit contribution from Borouge.

The contribution from Base Chemicals was lower compared to 2016 as a result of a continued weak fertilizer business environment. In the fourth quarter, net debt reduced by EUR 335 million. Over the full year 2017, net debt increased by EUR 140 million largely driven by the high investment level related to growth projects and turnarounds as well as the payment of a EUR 750 million dividend to Borealis' shareholders mostly offset by the strong cash inflow from the solid business result. Consequently, Borealis’ financial position remains strong, with a gearing of 12% at year-end 2017.
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MOSCOW (MRC) --- Belgium’s Solvay has completed the sale of its Charleston plant and associated phosphorus business in the US to German specialty chemicals producer Lanxess for an undisclosed fee, as per Solvay's press release.

Lanxess and Solvay agreed on the transaction in mid-November 2017.

The deal includes the Charleston site in South Carolina which houses six production units for phosphorus chloride and its derivatives.

The products at the Charleston site are used primarily as intermediates in plastic additives, flame retardants and agricultural applications.

According to Lanxess, the business in Charleston represents annual sales of roughly EUR65m.

As MRC wrote before, in early July 2016, Solvay completed the divestment of its shareholding in Inovyn (London), bringing to an end Solvay's chlorvinyls joint venture with Ineos. Solvay received exit cash proceeds amounting to EUR335 million (USD370.7 million). The dissolution of the jv follows regulatory clearances from the relevant authorities.

Inovyn was formed on 1 July 2015 as a jv between Ineos and SolVin, a subsidiary of Solvay. Solvay and Ineos signaled their decision to end their chlorvinyls jv in March this year.

Solvay, with a market share 27%, is the second largest PVC manufacturer in Europe, after Kerling with 29% of the market. Solvay is headquartered in Brussels with about 30,900 employees spread across 53 countries. It generated pro forma net sales of EUR12.4 bn in 2015, with 90% made from activities where it ranks among the world’s top 3 players.
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