BASF expands Ludwigshafen polyisocyanates capacity

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has expanded its capacities for the production of Basonat hardeners at the Ludwigshafen site, said the producer on its site.

The high-quality polyisocyanates are used for the formulation of automotive and industrial coatings, furniture and flooring coatings as well as adhesives.

"With this investment, we further reinforce our position as a manufacturer of polyisocyanates used for crosslinking two-component PU coatings," says Ulf Neidlein, Vice President responsible for the resins and additives business in Europe. "This is our way of responding to the increasing demand of our customers for specialties in the field of aliphatic polyisocyanates and strengthening our delivery reliability."

In addition, BASF offers a broad portfolio of binders, light stabilizers and formulation additives for 2K PU coatings that combine perfectly with Basonat hardeners.

As MRC wrote previously, in the first half of January 2018, BASF started up a new production line for its high-temperature resistant thermoplastic Ultrason (polyarylsulfone) at its site in Yeosu, Korea. With the new line the global annual capacity for Ultrason will increase by 6,000 metric tons to 24,000 metric tons, serving the growing market demand worldwide. The plant in Yeosu was opened in 2014 as the first Ultrason plant in Asia. Ultrason is the tradename for BASF’s product range of polyethersulfone (Ultrason E), polysulfone (Ultrason S), and polyphenylsulfone (Ultrason P). Latest innovations include the optimized Ultrason Dimension, a highly filled polyethersulfone known for its extraordinary dimensional stability and excellent flow properties.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of EUR64.5 billion in 2017.
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MOCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical Corporation has announced that Mr. Roger Kearns has joined the company as Executive Vice President, Vinyls Chemicals, reporting to Mr. Albert Chao, Westlake’s President and CEO, reported CNBC.

In this role, Mr. Kearns will be responsible for Westlake’s chlor-alkali, derivatives, and PVC businesses in North America, Europe and Asia.

Mr. Kearns joins Westlake from Solvay SA, where he had been a member of the Executive Committee since 2008, with responsibility most recently for Solvay’s advanced materials business cluster, as well as the company’s corporate research organization and its North America region. He began his career with Solvay in 1986 as a polyethylene process engineer in Deer Park, Texas and then held a series of manufacturing, technical, marketing and business management positions in the United States, Europe and Asia. In 2004, he was appointed President of Solvay Advanced Polymers. From 2008 to 2012, he was responsible for Solvay’s Asia-Pacific businesses, including its vinyls operations in the region.

Mr. Kearns holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Stanford University.

Mr. Chao stated, "We are pleased to have an international chemical industry executive with Roger’s depth of experience join our management team. We are confident he will make an important contribution to the ongoing growth and development of Westlake."

As MRC informed previously, in February 2018, Westlake Chemical Corporation announced that it would expand capacities for the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) at three of its chemical facilities. Two of the plants are located in Germany (Burghausen, Gendorf) and one is located in Geismar, Louisiana. The expansions in Burghausen and Geismar are expected to be completed in 2019. The Gendorf expansions are expected to be completed in 2020 and 2021.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is an international manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, chlor-alkali and derivative products, PVC suspension and specialty resins, PVC Compounds, and PVC building products including siding, pipe, fittings and specialty components, windows, fence, deck and film.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco, the world's top oil company which is preparing to go public, said it has appointed new members to its board including a female executive, a milestone for Saudi Arabia and the oil industry where there are few women executives, reported Reuters.

The appointments, which bring in more international experience, come as the Saudi government plans to float around 5 percent of Aramco in an initial public offering (IPO) - the world's largest - later this year or early 2019.

Saudi Arabian Minister of Finance Mohammed al-Jadaan and Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammed al-Tuwaijri were appointed as members of the board of directors, Aramco said in a statement.

They are joined by Lynn Laverty Elsenhans, the former chairwoman, president and CEO of U.S. oil refiner Sunoco Inc. from 2008 to 2012.

Other new members also include Peter Cella, former president & CEO of Chevron Philips Chemical Co. LP, and Andrew Liveris, director of DowDuPont Inc, and the CEO of the Dow Chemical Company. Liveris's appointment is effective as of July 1, Aramco said.

The five new members of Aramco's board will join six returning members including Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, who is also Aramco's chairman, and Amin Nasser, Aramco's CEO. Minister of State Ibrahim al-Assaf and Managing Director of the government-owned Public Investment Fund (PIF) Yasir al-Rumayyan also remain on the board.

The outgoing board members are Majid Al-Moneef, advisor to the Saudi Royal Court; Khaled al-Sultan, Rector of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals; and Peter Woicke, former managing director of the World Bank and former vice president of the International Finance Corporation.

Appointment decisions to the new 11-member board of directors are made by the Saudi government.

Elsenhans was named by Forbes as one of the world's most powerful women in 2008. Prior to her role at Sunoco, Elsenhans was the executive vice president of global manufacturing for Royal Dutch Shell, where she worked for more than 28 years.

She also served on Baker Hughes's board of directors from 2012 to July 2017 and sits on the board of GlaxoSmithKline.

Only a handful of Saudi women are appointed to the board of major Saudi companies but that is slowly changing in the conservative kingdom, where women are subject to a male guardianship system which in many cases restricts their opportunities to work.

As MRC informed before, Saudi Arabia wants to complete talks with strategic investors such as China, Japan and South Korea before deciding where to list shares in state oil company Saudi Aramco.

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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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Specialty chemicals company LANXESS has followed up its successful fiscal year 2017 by posting the best quarterly result in its history, and has raised its earnings guidance for 2018, as per the company's press release.

In the opening quarter, global sales rose by almost 7 percent to EUR 2.565 billion, compared with EUR 2.401 billion in the previous year. EBITDA pre exceptionals improved significantly by 14 percent to EUR 375 million, compared with EUR 328 million in the prior-year quarter. Key factors in this positive performance chiefly included the contributions of the Chemtura businesses acquired in 2017. In addition, the phosphorus chemicals business purchased from Solvay in February 2018 made its first contribution. Negative currency effects curbed the positive EBITDA performance. The EBITDA margin pre exceptionals was up by almost one percentage point on the previous year at 14.6 percent. Net income improved significantly by 23 percent to EUR 96 million, compared with EUR 78 million the year before.

“LANXESS remains firmly on the track. We have made a dynamic start to the new fiscal year and improved our profitability again. This shows that our efforts to move the company forwards are increasingly paying off,” said Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the LANXESS Board of Management.

The Group has raised its guidance for fiscal year 2018, and now expects EBITDA pre exceptionals to increase by between 5 percent and 10 percent for the “New LANXESS” segments (Advanced Intermediates, Specialty Additives, Performance Chemicals and Engineering Materials). In the previous year, comparable EBITDA pre exceptionals stood at around EUR 925 million. At the annual press conference in March, Zachert envisaged only a slight increase for the year as a whole. The ARLANXEO segment, a joint venture between LANXESS and Saudi Aramco for synthetic rubber, is not included in the guidance for 2018, and will be reported separately from the second quarter onwards.
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MOSCOW (MRC) - Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) concluded the sale of petrochemical assets for USD435 million to Mexican petrochemicals company Alpek, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Petrobras said it sold its stakes in Companhia Petroquimica de Pernambuco and Companhia Integrada Textil de Pernambuco in line with a previously announced decision to divest itself from certain businesses and exit petrochemical operations.

As MRC informed earlier, in April, BP announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding to explore areas of cooperation with Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras).
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