Rohrer buys retail packaging maker Transparent Container

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a move that adds six manufacturing locations to its operations, packaging supplier Rohrer Corp. has acquired retail packaging manufacturer Transparent Container for an undisclosed amount, said Canplastics.

Headquartered in Addison, Ill., Transparent Container designs and manufactures blister and club packaging, clamshells, and printed plastic and paperboard folding cartons.

"This acquisition provides [us] with additional thermoforming capacity, expanded product range, and the largest combination run program for printed and thermoformed visual packaging products in the world, all under Rohrer’s ezCombo program," Rohrer said in a statement.

Rohrer is headquartered in Wadsworth, Ohio; the company was founded in 1973. Transparent Container’s chairman Dan Greiwe and president Scott Greiwe will be staying with the company as advisory board members. With this acquisition, the combined Rohrer and Transparent Container organization will be made up of more than 1,000 employees, with 11 manufacturing facilities across North America.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Corp wants to build or buy a refinery along the US Gulf Coast to process crude oil from its rapidly growing Permian Basin operations, reported Reuters with reference to a senior executive's statement.

The company would like to have refining operations on the Houston Ship Channel, in the western part of the US Gulf, to complement an existing eastern Gulf refinery in Mississippi that makes lubricants and other materials, Pierre Breber, Chevron’s head of downstream and chemicals, said.

"Something on the ship channel side could make a lot of sense for our company," Breber said in an interview on the sidelines of the Oil & Money conference in London.

Chevron is a major oil producer in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, the largest US oilfield. The company’s Permian production jumped 51 percent sequentially in the second quarter to 270,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. By expanding its refining capacity to Houston, Chevron would be able to process its Permian crude closer to where it is produced.

Most of Chevron’s refineries are in California and use a heavier type of crude than the light, sweet kind pumped from Permian shale wells.

"The ingredients to invest in the US Gulf are very sound," said Breber, who assumed his current role in 2016 and previously oversaw Chevron’s pipeline operations.

Rival Exxon Mobil Corp said last year it would invest USD20 billion on US Gulf refining projects.

The Houston Ship Channel links the busiest US petrochemical port to the Gulf of Mexico and is home to dozens of refineries and chemical facilities.

Mike Wirth, who became Chevron’s chief executive earlier this year, formerly ran the company’s refining arm and is widely seen by Wall Street as an advocate for expanding refining operations.

Separately, Berber said Chevron’s existing Mississippi refinery has seen shipments from Venezuela drop 25 percent to 75,000 barrels per day over the last two years. Chevron is the only remaining major US oil producer in the strife-torn country.

As MRC wrote before, in May 2018, Chevron Products Company, a division of Chevron USA Inc., and Novvi LLC announced that they entered into an agreement to jointly develop and bring to market novel renewable base oil technologies. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. One of the successor companies of Standard Oil, it is headquartered in San Ramon, California, and active in more than 180 countries. Chevron is engaged in every aspect of the oil, natural gas, and geothermal energy industries, including hydrocarbon exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Canadian vehicle purchases dropped by 7.4 per cent year-over-year (y/y) in September for a seventh consecutive month of year-on-year declines and the market’s steepest y/y contraction since 2009, a new report from Scotiabank says, as per Canplastics.

According to Scotiabank’s latest Auto News Flash, at an annualised pace of 1.97 million units sold on average each month during Q3 2018, quarterly sales averaged under 2.0 million units on a seasonally-adjusted annualised basis for the first time since Q4 2016. "A decline in business and consumer confidence between August and September, as reflected in survey readings, appears to be behind the drop in sales during the month,” the report said. “However, given the absence of other economic indicators for the month, it is still too early to tell what caused Canadians to hit pause on vehicle purchases. If it were a transitory issue, sales should bounce back in October on the basis of our broader macroeconomic forecast."

In the U.S., meanwhile, auto sales jumped to an annualised level of 17.36 million units in September supported by dealer inventory clear-outs of 2018 models, beating expectations for 17.0 million units sold.

"Last month’s print follows two consecutive months of sub-17 million vehicle deliveries for an average of 16.9 million vehicle purchases in the third quarter," Scotiabank said. "This marks the lowest quarterly performance since Q2 2017, and a decline from average sales levels of 17.1 million and 17.2 million units in the first and second quarters of 2018, respectively."

Scotiabank continues to expect U.S. vehicle sales to continue on a downward trajectory through year-end for an annual total of just over 17 million units sold in 2018. "Purchases contracted heavily by 5.9 per cent y/y from a high base last September that was generated by vehicle replacement demand following Hurricane Harvey’s landfall in the U.S. Gulf Coast,” the report said. “The Detroit Three automakers saw a combined drop of 7.5 per cent y/y, although Fiat-Chrysler’s (FCA) unit sales exceeded Ford’s for the first time since January 2016 while GM remains the king of Motor City."

Across all automakers, truck sales in the U.S. rose by 6.2 per cent y/y compared to a 17.5 per cent decline in car purchases, Scotiabank said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation has announced that Kim K.W. Rucker has been elected to the company's Board of Directors, as per the company's press release.

Formerly the executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of Andeavor (Tesoro Corp.), a premier highly integrated marketing, logistics and refining company, Kim is beginning her Celanese Board service immediately.

"Kim's career experiences are impressive, and we're delighted to welcome her to the Board and Celanese. Her leadership skills, keen insights on the importance of culture, corporate governance and oversight of companies undergoing tremendous growth complement our work, and we look forward to benefiting from her expertise and experience," said Mark Rohr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Before joining Andeavor, Kim served as EVP of corporate and legal affairs, general counsel and secretary at Kraft Foods Group. Prior to Kraft, Kim held a number of senior level positions at Avon Products and Energy Future Holdings that include general counsel, secretary, compliance officer and governance officer. This extensive background enabled her to cultivate a breadth of valuable business, leadership and corporate governance experience. Kim began her legal career at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago.

Kim currently serves on corporate boards at Marathon Petroleum Corporation and Lennox International Inc. She is also a member of the board of trustees and the International Committee at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Kim earned a B.B.A. in Economics from the University of Iowa, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and a Master in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, has increased October list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas. The price increases below were effective for orders shipped on or after October 1, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, VAM prices rose, as follows:

- by EUR50/mt - for Europe, Middle East & Africa;
- by USD0.03/lb - for the USA and Canada:
- by USD65/mt - for Mexico & South America.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,600 employees worldwide and had 2017 net sales of USD6.1 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC (Shell) today announced the successful installation of its quench tower – the largest piece of equipment at its Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex, currently under construction, said the company.

The heavy lift of the quench tower, undertaken October 7, marked an important milestone in the project. Since the start of main construction in November 2017, Shell has also safely erected two of three reactors associated with the planned polyethylene units and laid around 15 miles of underground pipe for the cooling, firewater and drainage systems.

The project is bringing economic growth and jobs to the region, with some 3,000 workers on site today. That number will likely increase to 6,000 by the end of 2019 through its construction phase. Shell expects around 600 onsite jobs when the complex is completed.

"Eleven months into main construction, I’m delighted with the progress we’re making in Pennsylvania,” said Graham van’t Hoff, Executive Vice President for Shell’s global chemicals business. “It’s great to see our world-class complex taking shape. The project is providing more economic opportunities in Pennsylvania and the region."

At approximately 2,000 tonnes and 87-metres-tall, the quench tower spent nearly three and a half weeks being towed up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Upon arrival in Pennsylvania, it was unloaded onto a dock and transported down a newly-created road – both specially-designed to handle the large quench tower.

In May 2018, Shell introduced its Shell Polymers line of business to customers.
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