Celanese raises April EVA polymers prices in Asia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, has increased list and off-list selling prices for Ateva EVA polymers sold in Asia, as per the company's press release.

The price rixe below was effective as of 4 April, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow.

Thus, the company's EVA prices went up by USD150/mt for the said region.

As MRC informed before, Celanese Corporation has also announced an increase in April prices of vinyl acetate-based emulsions sold in Asia. The price increase was effective March 27, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allowed. Thus, prices rose by RMB200/mt in Greater China, and by USD50/mt in Asia outside of China.

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 7,600 employees worldwide and had 2017 net sales of USD6.1 billion.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brunei Methanol Co (BMC) has taken off-stream its methanol plant at the Sungai Liang industrial park, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Brunei informed that the company has started turnaround at the the plant over the weekend. The plant is likely remain under maintenance for around 8-10 days.

Located at Sungai Liang Industrial Park in Brunei, the plant has a production capacity of 850,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, in early April 2018, Salalah Methanol Co (SMC) took off-stream its methanol plant for maintenance. The plant is expected to remain under maintenance for around 6 weeks. Located in Salalah, Oman, the plant has a production capacity of 1.3 million mt/year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Packaging manufacturer Coveris Holdings SA is selling its Americas business to Canadian packaging firm TC Transcontinental Inc. for an aggregate purchase price of USD1.320bn (EUR1.07bn), the company announced 2 April, as per Plasticsnewseurope.

The proceeds of the Americas Sale, said Coveris, will be used to pay the company’s existing debts. Post-transaction, Coveris’ remaining operations will consist of its Rigid, EMEA, and UK Food & Consumer businesses, and it will have 44 manufacturing facilities in 14 countries.

"This sale will enable us to focus on our operations in Europe, where we are one of the largest players in the flexibles and rigid packaging market," said Jakob A. Mosser, chief executive officer of Coveris.

The move, according to Mosser, supports the company’s recent strategic focus which envisages supplying high-performance and sustainable packaging to the food, pet food, medical and pharmaceutical markets.

Coveris Americas generated sales of USD966m and earnings (adjusted EBITDA) of USD128m for the year 2017.

TC Transcontinental is Canada’s largest printer and a key supplier of flexible packaging in North America. The Corporation is also a leader in its speciality media segments.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wood is delivering front-end engineering design (FEED) for Statoil’s Mongstad refinery near Bergen, Norway, as part of a new contract secured under an existing framework agreement, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Effective immediately, the scope of the contract includes the design, engineering and analysis for modifications to reduce sulphur content in gasoline produced at the refinery.

Wood’s in-country engineering teams will also focus on the design to upgrade the refinery’s naphtha hydrotreating and storage systems to meet new fuel specifications on the sulphur content of gasoline, drawing on the company’s experience in the onshore process market, globally.

Dave Stewart, CEO of Wood’s Asset Solutions business in Europe, Africa, Asia & Australia comments: "Wood has developed a strong relationship with Statoil over two decades and this award clearly demonstrates their confidence in our technical capabilities, experience in the onshore process industry and our ability to provide local support and engineering expertise.

"This new contract also supports Wood’s strategic focus on expanding our footprint in the onshore market in Norway and across Europe, providing engineering and technology for the refining process."

In 2015, Wood secured a six-year main contractor framework agreement worth approximately USD400 million to deliver maintenance and modification services to Statoil installations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

As MRC reported earlier, in October 2017, Wood was awarded a new multi-million dollar contract by Total, supporting their Lindsey Oil Refinery located in North Killinghome, Lincolnshire, UK. The 5-yr contract is to provide onshore maintenance services and includes the option to be extended up to 2 yr.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco will sign eight deals worth USD10 billion with French firms, the chief executive of the state-run oil giant said- the main contracts expected to be sealed during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to France, as per ArabNews.

The powerful young prince who is behind modernizing reforms in Saudi Arabia is on a three-day trip at a time when relations between the two countries have become more complicated, including over how to address Iran's role in the region.

Amin Nasser told Saudi-run Al Arabiya TV on Monday that his company would finalize the accords on Tuesday. A Saudi-France economic forum is due to take place on Tuesday with an official signing ceremony in the afternoon.

Aramco and French oil major Total plan to sign an agreement to expand their joint venture refinery in Saudi Arabia, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on April 5.

Total declined to comment and Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The prince is not due to sign mega-contracts in France as he did in the United States and Britain in the past month. A French presidency statement said the two leaders would work on a strategic document that would lead to contracts by the year's end, when Macron travels to Saudi Arabia.

French officials dismiss suggestions that the lack of lucrative accords reflects a weakening in the relationship. They say a new "method" of working together does not depend on eye-catching new business.

As MRC wrote previously, in July 2017, Saudi Aramco and France's Total began considering building a mixed-feed cracker and derivatives in Jubail, near their joint refining complex. The cracker is expected to have a capacity of 1.5 MMtpy, said a source familiar with the plans, who described them as at an initial stage. The feedstock would partially come from SATORP, the existing Aramco-Total joint refining venture, and from Sadara, a joint venture between Aramco and Dow Chemical, also in Jubail. Sadara operates a mixed-feed cracker, the first in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
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