Clariant inaugurates new additives production facilities in China

MOSCOW (MRC) --Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has announced the official opening of two new, fully-owned additives facilities at its site in Zhenjiang, China, said the producer in its press release.

This completes a multi-million CHF investment originally announced last year and puts Clariant’s Additives business in China on track to further expand its offering of customized, high-end solutions for the plastics, coatings & ink industries.

"This completed investment in the Zhenjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone marks another milestone in our commitment to expand capability and capacity in China, one of the most important strategic markets for Clariant. We are pursuing a dedicated strategy aimed at increasing and sharpening the focus on China. I am proud to see this being executed successfully and am excited about its benefits going forward", said Christian Kohlpaintner, member of Clariant's Executive Committee, at the opening ceremony.

The newly opened facilities are dedicated to the production of Ceridust micronized waxes and AddWorks synergistic additive solutions, both of which are used in various applications across the plastics, coatings and ink industries. Clariant ‘s Additives business is already a partner of choice for producers in these industries and the additional local production capacity will allow Clariant to provide more tailored solutions at shortened lead times. Such tailored solutions are a key component in continuing to expand Clariant’s China sales, as they fulfill the demand for environmentally compatible and safe products as outlined in China's 13th Five Year Plan and the industrial policy 'Made in China 2025', while allowing Clariant to differentiate itself in the market environment.

Stephan Lynen, Head of Clariant’s Business Unit Additives, told the audience: "We already have a strong focus on China, with our additives for plastics, coatings, and consumer industries". "With the new investment and our enhanced innovation capabilities, our focus on this market is being strengthened further. These two fully-owned production facilities complement the company’s long-standing regional network of commercial and technical support not only for China, but for the whole of Asia. We will continue to support the sustainable growth in this region."

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2016, Clariant inaugurated its new production plant for water-based pigment preparations in Mexico. The new plant located in Santa Clara doubles Clariant’s Mexico annual production capacity for water-based pigment preparations and enhances its ability to serve customers across North and Latin America.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints. Clariant India has local masterbatch production activities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari (Gujarat) and Vashere (Maharashtra) sites in India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Poland’s PKN Orlen has announced a petrochemical investment program amounting to approximately 8.3 billion zloty (USD2.3 billion), described as its largest on record, as per Chemanager-online.

The company said the investment would enable deeper integration of its refining and petrochemical segments and further diversity its revenue sources.

The projects will both add new capacity and expand existing output of products such as aromatic derivatives, olefins and phenol at its sites in Plock and Wloclawek by 2023. An undisclosed portion of the sum will also be invested in the company’s R&D center.

Once completed, the program could add as much as 1.5 billion zloty to its annual EBITDA, meaning that the investment would be returned in five to six years, Daniel Obajtek, CEO and president of PKN Orlen’s management board, said. The company also noted that the program would bring tangible benefits to the Polish economy by helping the country transition from a net importer of petrochemicals to a net exporter.

"The investment program will increase our petrochemical production capacity by approximately 30%. Importantly, the new products will be sold on the local market, improving Poland’s balance of trade in petrochemicals," Obajtek said. According to the Plock-based group, the value of Poland’s petrochemicals and base plastics market will double by 2040.

The company is currently constructing a metathesis plant in Plock, which will add 100,000 t/y of polymer-grade propylene, taking total output to 550,000 t/y. The project, costing more than 400 million zloty, is scheduled to go online in the second half of 2018. Technology has been licensed from Lummus Technology, a division of US contractor CB&I (now part of McDermott International), which is providing technical and engineering consultancy services.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Monday it extended a deadline to sign nondisclosure agreements for partnerships in refining, as requested by interested parties, reported Reuters.

Five companies have signed nondisclosure agreements and others have expressed interest, Petrobras said in a securities filing, without naming the firms. The new deadline was not disclosed.

Petrobras’ planned sale of a 60 percent stake in four refineries, announced on April 19, is part of a wider effort to unload assets to reduce debt. The refineries will be sold in two regional blocks, in the Northeast and in the southern region, with two refineries each.

Petrobras has said it will retain about 75 percent of its domestic refining capacity after the privatization of the four units.

Reuters reported on May 24 that Petrobras would accept nonbinding proposals by July. Among the potential bidders were buyout firms Patria Investimentos Ltda, which has an investment agreement with Blackstone Group LP, and First Reserve Management LP, as well Brazilian firms Ultrapar Participacoes SA and Cosan SA Industria e Comercio.

As MRC wrote previously, in October 2017, Petrobras’s minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica was excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree published in Brazil’s Official Gazette. The decree prevented 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.
MRC

April PP imports into Belarus were 9,200 tonnes versus 8,100 tonnes a month earlier, propylene copolymers accounted for the main increase in shipments. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 32,100 tonnes in January-April 2018, compared to 29,700 tonnes a year earlier.

The supply structure by PP grades looked the following way over the stated period.

April imports of homopolymers of propylene (homopolymer PP) to the Belarusian market grew to 5,700 tonnes from 5,500 tonnes a month earlier, local companies increased their purchasing of injection moulding PP in Russia. Thus, overall homopolymer PP imports reached 21,500 tonnes in the first four months of 2018, up by 6.8% year on year. Russian producers with the share of about 86% of the total shipments were the key suppliers.

April imports of propylene copolymers to Belarus were 3,500 tonnes, compared to 2,600 tonnes a month earlier, local companies reduced their procurement of injection moulding block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) in Russia and the Middle East. Thus, overall imports of propylene copolymers reached 10,700 tonnes in January-April 2018, whereas this figure was 9,600 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Total import of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to Belarus increased by 27.4% compared to the same period of 2017 and amounted to about 10,900 tonnes in the first four months of this year, according to MRC DateScope Report.

According to the statistical committee of the Republic of Belarus, local converters significantly reduced the volume of PVC purchases in April of this year due to large stocks left since March and weak demand for finished products. Total imports into the country were about 2,100 tonnes against 3,100 tonnes a month earlier.
Thus, imports of unmixed PVC rose to 10,900 tonnes in the first four months of the year against 8,600 tonnes a year earlier, the main increase in demand accounted for local window profile producers.

The key suppliers of PVC in the Republic of Belarus for the period under consideration were producers from Russia, their share in the Belarusian market was about 90%. The second and third place in the volume of supplies were taken by producers from Germany and Ukraine.
MRC