Celanese appoints Benita Casey as Chief Accounting Officer

MOSCOW (MRC) --- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, has announced the appointment of Benita M. Casey as chief accounting officer, as per the company's press release.

Casey assumes this role from Kevin Oliver, who, in addition to his chief accounting officer role, successfully served as interim chief financial officer until Scott Richardson's appointment in February. As part of the company's commitment to developing employees, Oliver is relocating to assume the role of CFO of Celanese's European headquarters in Amsterdam.

Casey joined the company in January as vice president, finance and controller. In her expanded role, she will add global responsibility for SEC reporting, internal reporting, accounting, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

"Benita has been a great addition to the team and is the natural choice for the position of chief accounting officer," said Chairman and CEO Mark Rohr. "As we congratulate Benita on her new role, we also celebrate Kevin Oliver who is expanding his experience with an assignment in Amsterdam. We deeply appreciate Kevin's work - including stepping in as interim CFO - and look forward to supporting his ongoing career growth at Celanese."

Immediately prior to joining the company, Casey held the position of senior vice president internal audit with J.C. Penney Company and was vice president corporate audit with Dr Pepper Snapple Group from 2008 to 2014. She also held a number of positions of increasing responsibility over 18 years with the public accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers and during her tenure at PepsiCo. She holds a bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Texas, Austin and is a Certified Public Accountant.

As MRC wrote before, Celanese Corporation will increase list and off-list selling prices for Ateva EVA polymers sold in the Americas. The price rise below will be effective 1 May, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow. Thus, the company's EVA prices will go up by USD0.05/lb for the said regions.

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) -- As a global leader in the chemical industry, Sabic will present its full Fluids product portfolio at IESD, the leading surfactants and detergents show for China and Asia, in Shanghai, April 24 -26, as per the company's press release.

Sabic Specialties provides high value, technologically advanced chemical derivatives for use in a wide range of applications. Employed as surfactants, detergents, emulsifiers, emollients and thickeners for consumer products ranging from cosmetic and personal care, home care and pharmaceuticals, to industrial products like textiles, paints and coatings. Additionally, these products find their way into industrial uses such as specialty lubricants, crop protection, and oil & gas applications.

A key aspect of Sabic Specialties Fluids business - not only within China, but for the broader Asia region - is its ability to deliver the added value only a dedicated, local team with stocked inventory and flexible packaging options, can supply. In addition to local team know-how and readiness, Sabic's Chinese operations are supported by a global team with significant expertise and production facilities around the globe. Focused on creating the right balance of properties and performance to meet the ever-increasing needs of consumers and industry, Sabic works closely with specifiers and formulators to develop vital constituents for game changing products.

At IESD Sabic will be introducing SAPEG 400 PH, its new pharma grade PEG400, conforming to USP-NF monograph and manufactured to EXCiPACT Good Manufacturing Practices of pharmaceutical excipients. It is used in liquid preparations as a viscosity modifier, in ointment and suppository bases as a melting point regulator, moisturizer and lubricant and in the preservation of pathological specimens. It can be used in the manufacturing of creams, lotions, toothpastes and in soaps as a humectant.

"Sabic Specialties has long been a pioneer in developing innovative chemicals and polymers to support the production of the latest and most advanced domestic and industrial applications", said Eric Jaarda, Senior Manager, Fluids Marketing Global at Sabic Specialties. "We are proud to present some of our most advanced and versatile offerings at this year’s IESD in Shanghai and to demonstrate our commitment to the Chinese and broader Asian market."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fairlawn, Ohio-based A. Schulman Inc. has set June 14 as the date for a special sharholders' meeting to vote on a merger agreement with global plastics, chemicals and refining company LyondellBasell Industries, as per Plasticsnews.

Schulman, a leading compounder and concentrates maker in both North America and Europe, said in a news release that it has established a record date of May 7 for the special meeting. The previously-announced deal with LyondellBasell Industries N.V. and LYB Americas Holdco Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of LyondellBasell, sets the value of the merger at USD2.25 billion.

Directors of Schulman recommend that stockholders vote in favor of the merger. The company said in the release that it expects the deal to close in the second half of this year, subject to shareholder approval, remaining regulatory approvals, and customary closing conditions.

If the merger is completed, Schulman stockholders will receive USD42 in cash and one "contingent value right" per share. Each contingent value right will provide a shareholder "with an opportunity to receive certain net proceeds, if any are recovered, from claims arising from" Schulman's Citadel and Lucent acquisitions.

When the merger deal was announced in February, the companies said the combined Schulman and LyondellBasell businesses had revenues of USD4.6 billion and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of USD446 million over the past 12 months.

Schulman has about 5,200 employees and 54 manufacturing facilities globally. It reported sales of about USD2.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2017.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Iraq has extended the deadline for foreign companies and investors to bid for the construction and operation of a new 100 Mbpd refinery near Mosul in the northern province of Nineveh, the oil ministry said on Sunday, as per Reuters.

Bidding documents provide for two investment models – build-own-operate (BOO) and build-operate-transfer (BOOT), the ministry said in a statement.

Documents for the bidding process will be now available until May 15 instead of April 1 and the bidding will close on June 14 instead of May 15, it said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shanghai Lianyungang Petrochemical Co., a subsidiary of Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co., has awarded a technology contract to CB&I for two new ethylene units at Lianyungang's petrochemical facility in Jiangsu Prov-ince, China, as per Apic-online.

CB&I's scope of work includes a process design package, heater engineering and technology license for the ethylene facilities, which will have a capacity of 1.25-million t/y each. A schedule for the project and value of the contract were not disclosed.

CB&I will utilize its "market-leading," low-cost ethane cracker flowsheet, which reduces investment costs by eliminating plant equipment, CB&I noted.

"Once complete, these will be China's first ethylene plants to crack 100% ethane feed, signifying a new wave of ethylene projects fed by shale gas ethane sourced from the U.S.," explained CB&I. "Currently all large ethylene plants in China crack mixed feeds of liquid feeds."
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