Sabic manager to be appointed as Clariant CEO

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sabic installed one of its managers as chief executive officer of the Swiss chemicals maker Clariant and gained four seats on the board, said Bloomberg.

Ernesto Occhiello, a Sabic executive who came from Dow Chemical Co., will take the helm on Oct. 16, as outgoing CEO Hariolf Kottmann moves to become chairman. Muttenz, Switzerland-based Clariant also announced a merger of assets with Sabic to create a stronger plastics business. Investors applauded the move, sending Clariant shares up as much as 8.1 percent, the most in almost 16 months.

The changes could bring some stability to Clariant, which was the subject of recurring takeover speculation during the past decade that culminated in a failed merger with Huntsman Corp. and an attempt last year by an activist investor to break up the company. Instead, Sabic swooped in and bought a 25 percent holding.

"Clariant’s shares have lacked real momentum since the Huntsman deal was called off but today’s announcement gives the shares the convincing equity story they need," said Barclays analyst Alex Stewart.

The two makers of specialty chemicals have been locked in talks on how to leverage their relationship. Riyadh-based Sabic acquired General Electric Co.’s plastics division for USD11.6 billion a decade ago, with the operations now fitting with Clariant’s masterbatches and plastic compounding assets.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the worldпїЅs market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shanghai Golden Phillips Petrochemical Co has restarted a high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has resumed operations at the plant on September 12, 2018. The plant was shut for maintenance turnaround on August 14, 2018.

Located in Shanghai, China, the HDPE plant has a production capacity of 135,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, the company shut down its HDPE plant in Shanghai from end-May to 13 June, 2017, owing to a lack of feedstock availability.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Danish brewer Carlsberg says it will cut the amount of plastic used in traditional multi-packs by as much as 76 per cent by using glue to replace the plastic wrapping that holds together its six-packs of cans, as per Canplastics.

When rolled out, the new Snap Pack packaging will reduce plastic waste by over 1,200 tons per year, which is equivalent to 60 million plastic bags, Carlsberg said.

According to Carlsberg, the Snap Pack’s glue is strong enough to keep the cans together during transport and storage, but is easily pulled apart by the consumer when so desired.

"We’re constantly in pursuit of new ways to make probably the best beer in the world even better," Carlsberg said in a press release. "And not just the way it tastes. To reduce waste, we’re introducing our new snap pack, which uses a revolutionary glue technology."

The Carlsberg Group is a Danish brewing company founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen with headquarters located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company's flagship brand is Carlsberg Beer (named after Jacobsen's son Carl) but it also brews Tuborg, Kronenbourg, Somersby cider, Russia's best selling beer Baltika, Belgian Grimbergen abbey beers as well more than 500 local beers.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire swept through the headquarters of recycling machinery maker Herbold Meckesheim GmbH in Meckesheim, Germany on Sept. 10, damaging the central warehouse and the shipping department, said Canplastics.

In a statement posted on the website of Herbold’s American subsidiary Herbold Meckesheim USA, the company estimated that the damage will run “into the millions,” but that the office space, the test centre, and the production halls were not affected.

There were no casualties, the statement added.

"The production will continue with certain restrictions and compensated by existing structures,” the statement said. “Herbold will try to avoid serious delivery bottlenecks. The low in-house production depth and a high quantity of supplies from subcontractors will enable a quick restart of machine and spare parts deliveries as soon as logistics have been put back on track."
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Malaysia’s Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project, a venture between Petronas and Saudi Aramco, is seeking commitments from banks for a USD9.7 billion, 15-year loan, sources told LPC, a fixed income news service, reported Reuters.

Banks have already responded to an initial request for proposals and are required to respond by the end of this week with revised proposals, mainly around pricing.

The new borrowing comprises three tranches: an export credit agency facility, an ECA-covered portion and an uncovered commercial piece of around USD3.08 billion. ECAs from Japan, South Korean and Europe are expected to be involved.

The uncovered commercial tranche will carry different interest margins tied to completion of the project. The pre-completion period is expected to be two years, during which Petronas and Aramco will provide guarantees, and the all-in pricing is likely to be around 80 basis points over the London Interbank Offered Rate, LPC reported.

After the project is completed, guarantees fall away and the pricing will increase to around 150 bps.

An USD8 billion, 364-day bridge loan which RAPID completed in March paid similar all-in pricing based on an initial razor-thin interest margin of 40 bps over Libor and fees. The bridge attracted 19 banks.

Refinery operations are set to begin in 2019, with petrochemical operations to follow six to 12 months later.

Petronas and Aramco have equal stakes in the half-built, USD27 billion complex located between the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea. Aramco has agreed to supply at least 50 percent of the crude oil for the project.

As MRC informed before, a supertanker carrying the first crude oil cargo for a refinery joint-venture project between Petronas and Saudi Aramco is expected to reach Malaysia by end-September.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.

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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