India to keep buying Iranian oil despite US sanctions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India will buy 9 million barrels of Iranian oil in November, two industry sources said, indicating that the world’s third-biggest oil importer is to continue purchasing crude from the Islamic republic despite US sanctions came into force on Nov. 4, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"Refiners have placed November nominations to lift 1.25 million tonnes (about 9 million barrels) of oil from Iran," one of the sources said.

Indian Oil Corp will lift 6 million barrels of Iranian oil and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd 3 million barrels, the source told Reuters.

The United States imposed new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector on Nov. 4 to try to stop the country’s involvement in conflicts in Syria and Iraq and bring Tehran to the negotiating table over its ballistic missile program.

The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media. Indian Oil and Mangalore Refinery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"India is continuing with its relationship with both its key energy partners Iran and the US," a second source said.

Indian refiners imported around 10 million barrels of Iranian oil in October, and its November shipments are expected to be lower.

In the previous round of sanctions, India continued to buy Iranian oil although it had to cut purchases significantly to protect its wider exposure to the US financial system.

India’s foreign minister said in May it abides only by sanctions imposed by the United Nations and not those imposed by any other country.

With the European Union considering the creation of a "special purpose vehicle" before November to facilitate trade with Iran, India hopes to find a way to settle payments to Tehran.

"Previously there was no European channel. This time Europe is not working with the US, so we intend to evolve a mechanism," the second source said.

India, Iran’s top client after China, has close diplomatic ties with Iran, where it is building a strategic port called Chabahar that is expected to be operational by 2019. At the same time, India is closely working with the United States to further its strategic interests.

"It is still early to say how India will settle its trade with Iran," the first source said, adding that India could consider paying Iran for crude with the rupee currency.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Electric vehicles and more efficient fuel technology will cut transportation demand for oil by 2040 more than previously expected, but the world may still face a supply crunch without enough investment in new production, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Oil demand is not expected to peak before 2040, the Paris-based IEA said in its 2018 World Energy Outlook. The IEA's central scenario is for demand to grow by around 1 million barrels per day (bpd) on average every year to 2025, before settling at a steadier rate of 250,000 bpd to 2040 when it will peak at 106.3 million bpd.

"In the New Policies Scenario, demand in 2040 has been revised up by more than 1 million bpd compared with last year’s outlook largely because of faster near-term growth and changes to fuel efficiency policies in the United States," the agency said.

The IEA believes there will be around 300 million electric vehicles on the road by 2040, no change on its estimate a year ago. But it now expects those vehicles will cut demand by 3.3 million bpd, up from a previous estimated loss of 2.5 million bpd in its last World Energy Outlook. "... Efficiency measures are even more important to stem oil demand growth: improvements in the efficiency of the non-electric car fleet avoid over 9 million bpd of oil demand in 2040," the IEA said.

Oil demand for road transport is expected to reach 44.9 million bpd by 2040, up from 41.2 million bpd in 2017, while industrial and petrochemical demand is forecast to reach 23.3 million bpd by 2040, from 17.8 million bpd in 2017.

All global oil demand growth will stem from developing economies, led by China and India, while demand in advanced economies is expected to drop by more than 400,000 bpd on average each year to 2040, the IEA said. The IEA, which advises Western governments on energy policy, maintained its forecast for the global car fleet to nearly double by 2040 from today, growing by 80 percent to 2 billion.

On the supply side, the United States, already the world's biggest producer, will dominate output growth to 2025, with an increase of 5.2 million bpd, from current levels around 11.6 million bpd.

From that point onwards, the IEA expects U.S. oil production to decline and the market share of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will climb to 45 percent by 2040, from closer to 30 percent today. New sources of supply will be needed whether or not demand peaks, the agency said.

"The analysis shows oil consumption growing in coming decades, due to rising petrochemicals, trucking and aviation demand. But meeting this growth in the near term means that approvals of conventional oil projects need to double from their current low levels," IEA director Fatih Birol said.

"Without such a pick-up in investment, U.S. shale production, which has already been expanding at record pace, would have to add more than 10 million bpd from today to 2025, the equivalent of adding another Russia to global supply in seven years – which would be an historically unprecedented feat."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Univar Inc. and Nexeo Solutions, Inc. announced that the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, relating to the previously-announced acquisition of Nexeo Solutions by Univar, expired on November 15, 2018, said the company.

The expiration of the waiting period is a condition to the closing of the transaction. The transaction remains subject to other customary closing conditions, including approval by other national regulatory authorities and shareholder approval. Nexeo Solutions' key stockholders, TPG and First Pacific, have agreed to provide consent for the proposed transaction. Subject to the satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions, the transaction is now expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2019.

Founded in 1924, Univar is a global chemical and ingredient distributor and provider of value-added services, working with leading suppliers worldwide. Supported by a comprehensive team of sales and technical professionals with deep specialty and market expertise, Univar operates hundreds of distribution facilities throughout North America, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Univar delivers tailored customer solutions through a broad product and services portfolio sustained by one of the most extensive industry distribution networks in the world.

Nexeo Solutions is a leading global chemicals and plastics distributor, representing products from world-class producers to a diverse customer base. From product specification to sustainable solutions, the Company goes beyond traditional logistics to provide value-added services across many industries, including chemicals manufacturing, oil and gas, coatings, personal care, healthcare, automotive and 3D printing. The Company leverages a centralized technology platform to identify efficiencies and create solutions to unlock value for suppliers and customers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shenyang Minghua Mould & Plastic Technology Co., Ltd. (Minghua), a leading supplier of automotive exterior parts for premium OEMs, has selected ELIX Polymers ABS H801 for spoiler and aeroblade parts for the new BMW X5, X7, and X6M cars, as per ELIX Polymers' press release.

This follows an intensive collaboration between Minghua and ELIX Polymers.

ELIX ABS H801, an ABS grade modified with polycarbonate (PC) has a number of advantages that make this material ideally suited for roof spoilers. These include high stiffness, heat and impact resistance, as well as excellent paintability.

Both the tensile modulus (2400 MPa) and flexural modulus (2300 MPa) of ELIX ABS H801 are higher than many PC/ABS grades with a greater PC content. Its impact resistance, with a Charpy notched impact strength at 23 C of 30 kJ/m2, is in the highest range of an ABS grade. High stiffness and impact are combined with a very good thermal resistance (Vicat B50 of 105 C).

The excellent performance of ELIX ABS H801 material in glue joint assembly, together with its great mechanical properties, allowed the use of the same material for both exterior painted parts such as "outer skin" and reinforcement interior parts.

Because all parts are manufactured with the same material, processors benefit from savings on inventory and investment. Assembling the parts using glue joints represents a further saving as there is no need to acquire sophisticated and expensive vibration welding machines and equipment. Moreover, at the vehicle’s end of life, the entire spoiler part can be treated as one single piece of ABS, without the need to selectively separate the parts.

Fabian Herter said: "A roof spoiler is one of the largest components in automotive, with a complex geometry. This aerodynamic part has to deliver an outstanding mechanical performance and it needs to have a very high aesthetic appeal, as it is considered one of the key elements that define the line style of the whole vehicle. The selection of a material that fulfils all the strict requirements of this application is therefore a crucial decision for the manufacturer."

"ELIX ABS H801 offers very good mechanical and thermal values as well as good processability in a part which requires both high physical and high aesthetic performance. Furthermore, the easy processing and excellent paintability in both body colour and deep black finished parts has definitely contributed to the selection of ELIX ABS H801."

ELIX Polymers’ global presence, proximity to customers and bespoke service reinforced the selection of ELIX ABS H801. Throughout the development process, Minghua and ELIX collaborated closely in all the steps of the project to fulfil the tough requirements of these technically demanding applications and obtain the best possible final results. As the homologation and production of these automotive parts was established in both China and the US, ELIX’ global presence was a clear advantage for a successful project cooperation. Teams from the two companies were in permanent contact, working together during the trials for process optimization.

Fabian Herter concluded: "The final result clearly demonstrates the benefits of using ELIX ABS H801 to meet the stringent requirements of this automotive part, leading to technical improvements and cost savings."

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2018, the company ELIX Polymers, a thermoplastics manufacturer located in Tarragona's Poligono Sur industrial complex, announced a new investment amounting to 4 million euros, whose objective is to optimize its ABS powder production facilities. The company expects to begin executing this new project in 2018, which it will continue to develop and consolidate throughout this year and 2019.

ELIX Polymers is one of the most important manufacturers of ABS resins and derivatives in Europe, with 40 years of experience in engineering plastics and an installed capacity of 180,000/year from their plant in Tarragona (Spain) to the world. The operation starts in 1975, when the Tarragona ABS and SAN production plant was inaugurated.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a move designed to extend its portfolio into preform tool manufacturing, filling and packaging technology manufacturer Krones has acquired MHT Holding, a Germany-based PET preform moldmaker, as per Canplastics.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Headquartered in Hochheim, MHT Holding and its subsidiaries offer a range of injection molding tools for food and beverage packaging producers. The company employs approximately 125 workers.

MHT will continue to operate from its current headquarters, while Krones will retain the current management of MHT to run the business.

Krones is a manufacturer of filling and packaging solutions, and is headquartered in Neutraubling, Germany.
MRC