Covestro CEO Patrick Thomas to retire, hands over charge to Dr Markus Steilemann

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Supervisory Board of Covestro has agreed on an amicable retirement of Patrick Thomas’ tenure as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective May 31, 2018, at today’s meeting, as per Automotiveworld.

Patrick Thomas contract as CEO would have originally ended on September 30, 2018. Already in May 2017, Patrick Thomas had informed the Supervisory Board that he would not be available for a further term beyond 2018. Subsequently, the Supervisory Board appointed Dr. Markus Steilemann as his successor as CEO of Covestro thus ensuring continuity and a smooth transition.

Dr. Richard Pott, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said: "We have deep respect for Patrick Thomas’ excellent work at Covestro. He has significantly contributed to Covestro’s remarkable success story. Ever since Covestro became independent in 2015, the company achieved record results continuing its profitable growth path until today. Not only the financial metrics are notable: Under his leadership, Covestro developed an independent corporate culture and became a forerunner in innovation and sustainabilty in the chemical industry and a highly attractive employer. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for Patrick Thomas on behalf of the Supervisory Board and all Covestro employees."

Patrick Thomas has been CEO of Covestro and its predecessor Bayer MaterialScience since 2007. Prior to that, he held various positions across the chemicals industry. Thomas has been taking leading roles in numerous industry associations such as Cefic (Conseil Europeen de l’Industrie Chimique / European Chemical Council), WPC (World Plastics Council) and VCI (Verband der Chemischen Industrie). Furthermore, he was president of PlasticsEurope from 2011 to 2017. Patrick Thomas is also a member of the global jury of the ‘Young Champions of the Earth’ competition, an initiative by the United Nations and Covestro for young people to showcase innovative projects to save the environment.

Dr. Markus Steilemann, currently Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), will succeed Patrick Thomas, as announced already in May 2017. With the retirement of Patrick Thomas and Dr. Markus Steilemann becoming CEO of Covestro, the company’s Board of Management will consist of three members. Dr. Klaus Schafer, whose contract has been renewed in January 2018 until the end of 2022, will continue to act as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Dr. Thomas Toepfer, Covestro’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), came into office on April 1, 2018.

With 2017 sales of EUR 14.1 billion, Covestro is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, construction, wood processing and furniture, and electrical and electronics industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry itself. Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,200 people (calculated as full-time equivalents) at the end of 2017.

MRC

Topsoes sustainable SNOX emissions control technology enters the carbon black industry

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Orion Engineered Carbons LLC has signed a contract for Topsoe’s sustainable flue gas cleaning technology, SNOX, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The solution will remove SOx, NOx and dust particles from tail gases at Orion’s carbon black plant in Ivanhoe, Louisiana, USA. It is the first time that SNOX is applied in the carbon black industry.

Since 2014, Orion has conducted in-depth analyses of the SNOX process, including investigative site visits to existing Topsoe plants and testing the concept at one of Orion’s manufacturing facilities. In particular, Orion was convinced by the second-to-none sustainability profile of SNOX, which does not consume any reagents, apart from ammonia for the NOx reduction, and does not consume any water. Other factors that played a major role in their selection were the highest available energy efficiency and the very low emissions level that meets the stringent environmental regulations.

The agreement with Orion includes engineering, license, proprietary equipment, spare parts, catalyst, and future
supervision tasks during commissioning and start-up, as well as service obligations during commercial operation. The
SNOXplant is scheduled to be in full commercial operation by April 2021.

The SNOX™ process removes sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates from flue gases. The sulfur is recovered as sellable sulfuric acid and the nitrogen oxides are reduced to harmless free nitrogen. The process is based on catalytic reactions and does not consume water or absorbents. Neither does it produce any waste.
The heat generated in the process can be reused to preheat air in Orion’s process which improves overall efficiency
and economics considerably.
MRC

Celanese raises April VAM prices in Asia

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

The price rise of USD100/mt for Asia outside China was effective as of 10 April, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases.

As MRC wrote before, Celanese Corporation last raised its list and off-list selling VAM prices in Asia on 23 March 2018, as follows: CNY200/mt for China and USD50/mt for 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.
MRC

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

April prices of not all PE grade rose for CIS markets following higher ethylene prices

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