Spolana invests over 200 million in a new heating plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spolana Neratovice, part of the refinery and petrochemical group Unipetrol, continues to modernize its production facility, as per Biznesalert.

Its management has signed a contract with the supply consortium CEZ Energeticke sluzby and Envir & Power Ostrava for construction of a new heating plant for production of steam that is essential for the site’s operation. The construction will commence in the second quarter of this year and its completion is planned for 2019. The total investment will reach CZK 200 million.

"Investments of CZK 200 million fit in our mid-term strategy of the total production modernization. The new gas-powered boiler house which will replace the existing heating plant fueled by brown coal in 2019 will meet the demanding emission limits that will come into force in 2020," explains Filip Mikolajczyk, Chief Investment Officer of Spolana.

Construction of the heating plant is a turnkey project. It includes all construction work including the installation of two steam boilers powered by natural gas, with output of 2 x 35 tons of steam per hour, control system, connection to steam piping, and preparation of reduction stations. The construction of the new power block will be carried out by CEZ Energeticke sluzby and Envir & Power Ostrava.

"The boilers are designed with regard to the strictest requirements to meet emission limits. By switching from brown coal to natural gas and by installing the modern boilers, the volume of pollutants discharged into the air will drop significantly. Sulphur dioxide emissions will drop by 99 percent, dust and nitrogen oxides emissions by 90 percent and carbon monoxide emissions by 60 percent," says Kamil Cermak, CEO of CEZ ESCO, the parent company of CEZ Energeticke sluzby. Spolana will thereby meet the requirements of Czech and EU air protection legislation in advance as it comes into force on July 1, 2020.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The April contract price of ethylene in Europe was agreed up by EUR10/tonne from March, but in a number of cases, European producers, on the contrary, either reduced their polyethylene (PE) prices or rolled them over from March for shipments to the CIS countries, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Negotiations over April PE shipments from Europe to the CIS markets began last week. Higher ethylene prices in the region did not cause a rise in export PE prices for buyers from the CIS countries, on the contrary, some producers reduced their PE prices for April shipments.

Negotiations over April shipments of low density polyethylene (HDPE) were held in the range of EUR1,000-1,080/tonne FCA, which virtually corresponded to March deals, although some producers raised their export prices, but they still remained within the general range.

Prices of black PE 100 still grew by EUR10-15/tonne in most cases and were discussed in the range of EUR1,285-1,340/tonne FCA.

Deals for April shipments of European low density polyethylene (LDPE) were negotiated in the range of EUR1,090-1,130/tonne FCA last week, down by EUR10-20/tonne from March.

April prices of hexene linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE C6) also grew by an average of EUR10/tonne. Deals were discussed in the range of EUR1,370-1,430/tonne FCA.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ProAmpac, one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing flexible packaging manufacturers, today announced the acquisition of Pactech Packaging (Pactech), a Rochester, New York-based manufacturer specializing in pouch converting. Pactech’s products complement ProAmpac’s existing flexible packaging offerings, which primarily serve the medical, industrial and consumer packaged goods markets, as per Canplastics.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "The acquisition of Pactech expands ProAmpac’s flexible packaging pouch manufacturing capabilities in dispensing and clean-environment production. In addition, the deal expands our short-run capabilities, allowing us to better serve our customers," said ProAmpac CEO Greg Tucker.

Sachin Desai, President of Mergers, Acquisitions and Manufacturing Services for ProAmpac, added, "ProAmpac is focused on expanding our product and manufacturing competencies across our flexible product offerings, but the culture has to work. When I met Pactech CEO Chad Buchta and the whole Pactech team for the first time, I was confident we had a winner and am excited to have them join the ProAmpac family."

"As an employee-centric business, it was important for us to join with a company that understood this. ProAmpac’s values drive its culture and that is a perfect fit for our employees and our customers," added Buchta.

Cincinnati-based ProAmpac, one of the top 10 flexible packaging converters in the United States, is owned by PPC Partners along with management and other co-investors. With the acquisition of Pactech, ProAmpac has 28 manufacturing sites globally with nearly 3,400 employees supplying more than 5,000 customers in 90 countries. ProAmpac primarily manufactures flexible products servicing various consumer, retail and industrial goods markets and also provides secure packaging for the transport of cash and valuables.

Pactech, which began manufacturing innovative flexible packaging in 1993, has expertise in pouch fitment and dispensing technology. The business will become part of the ProAmpac brand and operate under Chief Commercial Officer Adam Grose.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India is set to grant Saudi Aramco a 50 percent stake in a planned 1.2 MMbpd west coast refinery, said an industry source privy to the deal, in a move that would give the kingdom a new stable outlet for its oil, reported Reuters.

A deal could be announced as early as Wednesday during Saudi oil minister Khalid Al-Falih’s visit to New Delhi to attend the International Energy Forum, a source, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the talks, told Reuters.

Aramco, like other major oil producers, wants to tap rising demand growth and invest in the world’s third-biggest consumer. Last year it opened an office in Delhi. India has so far outlined plans to expand its refining capacity by 77 percent to about 8.8 MMbpd by 2030.

"There are somlast-minutete negotiations on small issues, but both countries are almost ready to announce a deal today," the source told Reuters.

Aramco was not immediately reachable for comment.

Representatives of Aramco held a marathon meeting with their counterparts from Indian companies on Tuesday.

Indian companies - Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum - have floated a joint-venture Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals (RRPL), to build the proposed refinery in the western state of Maharashtra.

B. Ashoka , chief executive officer of RRPL, who attended the meeting declined to comment.

Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer is moving to invest in refineries overseas here to help lock in demand for its crude, and expand its market share ahead of an initial public offering here next year.

During his previous visit to Delhi in February, Falih had said Saudi Arabia would also sign oil supply deals as part of the agreement to buy stakes in Indian refineries, a strategy the kingdom has adopted to expand its market share in Asia and fend off rivals.

Last year, Saudi Arabia pledged billions of dollars of investments in refinery projects in Indonesia and Malaysia which came with long-term oil crude supply deals.

The kingdom is competing with Iraq to be India’s top oil supplier, with Iraq having displaced it for the first time on an annual basis in 2017, data compiled by Reuters showed.

As MRC informed before, Saudi Aramco and France's Total are 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.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide has recently signed a new long-term agreement with LyondellBasell, one of the world’s largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies, to supply oxygen to LyondellBasell’s new large-scale petrochemical plant which will be constructed in Channelview, Texas, according to BusinessWire.

LyondellBasell’s new propylene oxide/tertiary butyl alcohol plant (PO/TBA), is expected to be the largest of its kind plant in the world when completed.

The oxygen provided by Air Liquide will be sourced from its Gulf Coast Pipeline System, part of the largest industrial gas pipeline system in the world, which spans more than 2,000 miles along the coasts of southeast Texas and Louisiana.

LyondellBasell’s USD2.4 billion PO/TBA project is part of its announced organic growth program. The PO/TBA portion of this investment is designed to meet rising global demand for both urethanes and cleaner-burning oxyfuels. The construction of LyondellBasell’s new PO/TBA plant is expected to begin in the second half of 2018 and be completed in 2021.

Susan Ellerbusch, CEO of Air Liquide USA LLC, which is comprised of the company’s U.S. Large Industries and Electronics businesses, said: "We appreciate the confidence LyondellBasell has placed in Air Liquide as the oxygen supplier of choice for their largest ever PO plant. This long-term agreement further recognizes the unmatched reliability and flexibility of Air Liquide’s Gulf Coast oxygen pipeline system and our ability to help LyondellBasell realize the fullest potential of their new world scale investment."

As MRC informed previously, in February 2018, LyondellBasell and A. Schulman, Inc. a leading global supplier of high-performance plastic compounds, composites and powders, announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement under which LyondellBasell would acquire A. Schulman for a total consideration of USD2.25 billion.

LyondellBasell is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies and a member of the S&P 500. LyondellBasell manufactures products at 55 sites in 17 countries. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC