Petrobras to sell stakes in some refineries, keep others

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA is considering selling 60 percent stakes in two regional blocks comprising four refineries, and keeping full ownership of nine other units, it said in a securities filing on Thursday, reported Reuters.

Petrobras, as the company is known, is considering the sale of a 60 percent stake in two blocks of refineries in the Northeastern and Southern regions. Each block would have two refineries and logistical assets, and Petrobras would keep a minority stake.

The company plans to keep full ownership of nine other refining units in Brazil?s richest region, the Southeast, according to a presentation the company will show to investors at an event on Thursday.

This partnership model, including the 60 percent stake sale in four refineries and keeping the other nine refineries, will leave Petrobras with a 75 percent market share of refining in Brazil, according to the presentation.

The northeastern block would include refineries, pipelines and terminals in the states of Pernambuco and Bahia, while the southern block includes two units in the states of Parana and Rio Grande do Sul.

The partnership model to be presented is the result of internal discussions but no final decision has been made, and the company hopes to discuss it with private investors, the filing said.

As MRC informed earlier, Petrobras’s minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica were excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree published in Brazil’s Official Gazette in the second half of October 2017. The decree prevents Petrobras from immediately selling its minority stake in Braskem, which had been announced last year. A new decree will be required to release the stock sale.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos Styrolution has announced that it will commission an engineering study to build a world-scale styrene monomer plant on the US Gulf Coast, as per GV.

According to the company, the plant will benefit from access to low cost feedstock and energy from shale gas as well as a good infrastructure. A specific location is yet to be defined, said Ineos.

Steve Harrington, President Global Styrene Monomer and Asia-Pacific, commented: "This new plant will complement our existing SM production facilities and provide a sustained competitive advantage to enable us to supply the global market."

“This plan supports our ‘Triple Shift’ growth strategy and maintains our leading position as a global styrenics supplier to our key customers and industries”, added Kevin McQuade, CEO at Ineos Styrolution.

As MRC informed before, in March 2016, Ineos Group Ltd. unveiled plans of expansion of its plants in USA to take advantage of low-cost natural-gas liquids as feedstock for ethylene production. The company is likely to add 250 mln-1 bln lbs of annual ethylene production at its Chocolate Bayou site south of Houston, Dennis Seith, chief executive officer of the company’s U.S. olefins and polymers unit, said then. Additional polypropylene and alpha-olefins capacity may be added at the site.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a move to increase its presence in India’s plastics processing market, process cooling technology provider Frigel has established a 50-50 joint venture with India-based auxiliary equipment supplier Matsui Technologies India Limited (MTIL), as per Canplastics.

The JV is named Frigel Intelligent Cooling Systems India Private Ltd., and calls for Frigel to manufacture its line of Ecodry 3DK line of fluid coolers and Microgel RCS water-cooled chillers/TCUs in India. Operations will take place at a facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Frigel India will also supply other Frigel advanced and eco-friendly technologies to the Indian marketplace, including Heavygel centralized high-capacity and high-efficiency water chillers units and the Syncronized cooling system for Beverage production.

MTIL is a manufacturer of auxiliary equipment such as dryers, dehumidifiers, blenders, granulators, and centralized conveying systems. It has served the India marketplace since 2006.

"This is an important step for Frigel’s global strategic growth as we look to meet the rapidly growing need among processors in India for more advanced technologies and techniques to process cooling. This, in turn, will allow them to improve their operations and better serve their customers,” Frigel CEO Duccio Dorin said in a statement. “At the same time, we’re excited to further our relationship with Matsui, given their strong presence in India and their reputation as a leader of auxiliary equipment that complements Frigel’s process-cooling technologies."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC) has set up a regional management company for its performance polymers business in Singapore to expand the scale of the business in the fast-growing ASEAN markets, according to GV.

MCC's consolidated subsidiary, Advanced Plastic Compounds Singapore, was renamed Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers Asia Pacific (MCPP Asia Pacific), to take a strategic management role in the performance polymers business.

In addition to regional management, MCPP Asia Pacific produces and sells thermoplastic elastomers, polyvinyl chloride compounds and performance polyolefins.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2017, Ube Industries, JSR Corp. and MCC received European Commission (EC) approval for the planned integration of their acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) subsidiaries. The combination involves UMG ABS, a 50-50 joint venture of Ube and MCC, and Techno Polymer Co. (TPC), a JSR subsidiary. JSR and UMG ABS plan to acquire joint control over TPC, making TPC a joint venture of the two companies.

Mitsubishi Chemical with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, is a diversified chemical company involved in petrochemicals, polymers, agrochemicals, speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The company's main focus is on three business pillars: petrochemicals, performance and functional products, and health care.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel is launching its Awlgrip high performance yacht coatings brand in Brazil. Local production and distribution are due to start in July, as per Coatingsworld.

With 8,500 kilometers of navigable coastline and favorable conditions year-round, Brazil's yacht market is growing steadily. The introduction of Awlgrip will give customers easy access to the brand's respected portfolio of premium paints, primers and clearcoats.

"We're excited to bring yacht owners in Brazil a full range of quality products, design options, colors and effects," Segment Manager Hans Slegtenhorst said. "As a global leader in supplying protection and finishing for sports and leisure boats, we can offer a complete and unrivalled coatings system, from surface preparation to topcoat."

The launch of the Awlgrip brand in Brazil coincides perfectly with the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Itajai, on the country's east coast. All seven boats in the competition – including the team AkzoNobel race yacht – are coated with the company's Awlgrip and International products.

"The Volvo Ocean Race is famous the world over and is the ultimate test of performance," Slegtenhorst said. "It's a very special moment for us to be able to launch Awlgrip in Brazil while the event is here."

Renowned for its durability and consistency, the brand's portfolio in Brazil will consist of the Awlgrip 545 epoxy primer, Awlcraft SE Basecoat and Awlcraft 2000 Clearcoat. The products, which require professional application, meet the most demanding environmental restrictions, without compromising on performance
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