Milliken & Company announces leadership transition

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Milliken & Company’s board of directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Halsey M. Cook Jr. as president and CEO effective September 1, 2018. J. Harold Chandler will return to his role as chair of the board of directors, as per the company's press release.

"The board of directors is confident that Halsey is the right leader for Milliken’s next era," said current chair, president and CEO, Harold Chandler. "He has the experience to accelerate what is working very well today at Milliken and, importantly, introduce change where the organization can further leverage our emphasis on innovation, manufacturing excellence and customer care. He will lead an organization with a proven management team that knows how to translate strategy into effective execution and sustainable results. His experience in growing diversified, global businesses and his leadership style are an excellent fit for Milliken’s values, culture and commitment to the community."

Cook’s 30-year career leading a wide range of large, diversified global businesses with significant manufacturing and distribution networks has prepared him to lead family-owned Milliken. His leadership roles in sales, marketing and product development have included international- and U.S.-based assignments across a variety of companies such as United Technologies and Legrand North America. Most recently, Cook was the president and CEO for Sonepar USA, a family-owned global distributor of electrical products and related solutions. These experiences provided opportunities for Cook to drive growth through organic innovation programs and strategic acquisitions. Cook has a B.A. in Economics and English from the University of the South and an MBA from the University of Virginia.

On joining the Milliken team, Cook commented, "I am honored and excited to have been selected to lead Milliken. It is an esteemed company with talented associates and an opportunity-rich future. I am looking forward to meeting the team and listening to their ideas and aspirations for the next chapter of Milliken & Company."

As MRC reported before, in H1 2018, Milliken Chemical intoduced containers of NX UltraClear polypropylene (PP) made using its Millad NX 8000 clarifier. Containers made with NX UltraClear PP are lightweight, microwaveable, can be hot-filled, and are recyclable.

Milliken is an innovation company that has been exploring, discovering, and creating ways to enhance people’s lives since 1865. The company creates coatings, specialty chemicals, and advanced additive and colorant technologies that transform the way we experience products from automotive plastics to children's art supplies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of engineering giant Larsen & Toubro, has announced it has won an onshore Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract from HPCL-Mittal Energy (HMEL), a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Mittal Energy Investment, as per EnergyWorld.

Under the contract, LTHE would set up seven cracker furnaces at the Bathinda refinery in Punjab. The order for setting up the furnaces of 1,200 kilo-tonne per annum (KTPA) dual-feed cracker unit is part of HPCL-Mittal Energy's Guru Gobind Singh Polymer Addition project.

The firm said that the scope of work under the contract covers project management, residual engineering, procurement and supply of cracker furnace systems, components, auxiliaries, fabrication in modules, erection, construction and commissioning.

LTHE plans to use its modular fabrication facilities in Hazira, Gujarat for fabrication of furnace modules.

The process licensor for the cracker unit was McDermott, an American multinational EPC and installation company, the company in a statement.

As MRC informed before, in March 2018, HMEL received clearance from India’s ministry of environments for the polymer addition project at its Guru Gobind Singh refinery and petrochemical complex.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is an Indian state-owned oil and natural gas company with its headquarters at Mumbai, Maharashtra and with Navratna status. HPCL has about 25% marketing share in India among PSUs and a strong marketing infrastructure. The Government of India owns 51.11% shares in HPCL and others are distributed amongst financial institutes, public and other investors.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- RDS, a KCA Deutag business, and Kavin Engineering And Services Private (Kavin) have partnered to combine their strengths and expertise to jointly pursue design and engineering projects across the upstream and midstream oil and gas market, as per Compelo.

RDS is a leading drilling facilities design and engineering specialist, which has been delivering world-class projects for over four decades and has over 60 designs in operation.

Kavin is a global leader in design and engineering of process facilities for FPSO Topsides, having successfully delivered complete process topside solutions for 7 FPSOs and single/multiple modules for about 80 FPSOs, over a period of 16 years.

Working closely together, RDS and Kavin will provide services from their operations across five continents, focusing on innovative, cost effective, fit for purpose solutions for clients.

This alliance enables RDS and Kavin to execute onshore and offshore projects from the seabed up, leveraging the strengths and experience of the combined companies across the full project lifecycle.

Albert Allan, Senior Vice President of RDS said, “This exciting new relationship presents a broader and deeper market offering that will enable us to draw on the strengths of both organisations to deliver high value, high quality projects across a wider spectrum and I look forward to our first joint delivery."

Ramachandran, CEO of Kavin said, “We feel proud to have achieved this important milestone. This agreement will strengthen the co-operation between RDS and Kavin and will be an enabler for delivering quality custom built solutions. We are very hopeful that the two organisations will leverage each other’s strength to achieve success."

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The August contract price of ethylene was settled in Europe at the level of July.
However, European producers reduced their low density polyethylene (LDPE) prices for August shipments to the CIS markets, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Negotiations over August polyethylene (PE) shipments from Europe to the CIS countries began last week.
On the back of the ethylene price stability, most European producers announced a roll-over of July high density polyethylene (HDPE) prices for this month, whereas LDPE prices, on the contrary, went down.

Negotiations over August HDPE shipments were held in the range of EUR1,080-1,155/tonne FCA, which virtually corresponded to July prices. European producers had no major restrictions on August shipments, despite shutdowns for maintenance at a number of plants.

Prices of black PE 100 remained unchanged with a few exceptions, deals for August deliveries were discussed in the range of EUR1,360-1,415/tonne FCA. Most producers had no restrictions on shipments this month.

Deals for August shipments of European LDPE were negotiated in the range of EUR1,045-1,090/tonne FCA, whereas prices were at an average of EUR1,100/tonne FCA a month earlier.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - China proposed retaliatory tariffs on USD60 billion worth of U.S. goods ranging from liquefied natural gas (LNG) to some aircraft on Friday, as a senior Chinese diplomat cast doubt on prospects of talks with Washington to solve their bitter trade conflict, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Trump administration tightened pressure for trade concessions from Beijing this week by proposing a higher 25 percent tariff on USD200 billion worth of Chinese imports. China vowed to retaliate while also urging Washington to act rationally and return to talks to resolve the dispute.

The United States and China implemented tariffs on USD34 billion worth of each others’ goods in July. Washington is expected to soon implement tariffs on an additional USD16 billion of Chinese goods, which China has already announced it will match immediately.

China has now either imposed or proposed tariffs on USD110 billion of U.S. goods, representing the vast majority of China’s annual imports of American products. Last year, China imported about USD130 billion of U.S. goods.

China’s finance ministry unveiled new sets of additional tariffs on 5,207 goods imported from the United States, with the extra levies ranging from 5 to 25 percent.

Timing will depend on the actions of the United States, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a separate statement.

"The U.S. side has repeatedly escalated the situation against the interests of both enterprises and consumers," it said. "China has to take necessary countermeasures to defend its dignity and the interests of its people, free trade and the multilateral system."
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