Celanese to expand polyacetal production at Frankfurt facility

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, рфы announced a capital efficient debottlenecking project of its polyoxymethylene (POM) production unit at the Industriepark Hochst (IPH) facility in Frankfurt, Germany to support the continued growth of its global engineered materials business, as per the company's press release.

"Celanese continues to exhibit its leadership position in the manufacture and compounding of highly engineered materials, such as POM, by adding this capacity to support growth in sophisticated, functionalized polymers," said Scott Sutton, Chief Operating Officer. "We will continue to partner with our customers to deliver innovative solutions to meet ever-increasing customer needs and respond to the changing complexity in high-performance polymers."

Celanese expects to expand the production capacity of its IPH unit by 20 kilotonnes, making this the world's largest and most efficient POM plant.

"As we expand our polyacetal capacity and manufacturing capability globally - with production facilities in every region of the world - Celanese continues to demonstrate the expertise needed to efficiently run the world's largest polymer and chemical facilities," said Jon Mortimer, Vice President, Global Manufacturing for Celanese. "The debottlenecking of our IPH POM unit further demonstrates not only our ability to respond to global customer demand, but also the knowledge and expertise of our engineering talent that enables these world-class projects and expansions."

Celanese expects to complete the POM debottlenecking project at the IPH facility in the next 18-24 months. Financial details of the project are not being disclosed at this time.

As MRC wrote previously, Celanese Corporation 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) -- Overall imports of polyethylene (PE) into Belarus decreased by 7.6% year on year in the first eight months of 2018, reaching 75,800 tonnes. At the same time, local companies reduced purchasing of exclusively linear polyethylene (LLDPE), according to MRC's DataScope report.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of Belarus, August 2018 PE imports to Belarus dropped to 8,100 tonnes from 8,900 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies reduced their purchasing of low density polyethylene (LDPE). Overall PE imports totalled 75,800 tonnes in January-August 2018, compared to 82,100 tonnes a year earlier. Demand for LLDPE subsided significantly, whereas demand for high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased.

The structure of PE imports to Belarus by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

August 2018 total LDPE imports dropped to 3,200 tonnes from 3,900 tonnes a month earlier. Overall imports of this PE grade into Belarus totalled 25,800 tonnes in January-August 2018, which virtually corresponded to the last year's figure.

HDPE imports decreased to 4,200 tonnes in the last summer month from 4,500 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies reported limited PE shipments from Russia. Thus, overall HDPE imports totalled 36,900 tonnes in the first eight months of 2018, up by 21.2% year on year.

Overall LLDPE imports reached 12,200 tonnes over the stated period, whereas this figure was 26,200 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wood has been awarded a new contract by IRPC Plc for its Maximum Aromatics (MARS) project, leveraging its operations in the south-east Asian oil & gas market, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Wood will provide front-­­­­­­­­­end engineering design (FEED) for the world-scale paraxylene complex to be built at IRPC’s existing integrated petrochemical complex in Rayong Province, Thailand.

The one-year contract will be delivered from Wood’s offices in Sriracha, Thailand, and secures around 100 jobs in-country. The scope of work will include engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor pre-qualification; EPC contractor invitation to bid (ITB) preparation and EPC contractor bid evaluation support services to support IRPC’s expansion of their aromatics business.

Dave Stewart, CEO of Wood’s Asset Solutions business in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia said: "Wood has been working in partnership with IRPC for more than a decade and the award of this latest contract is a clear demonstration of its confidence in our ability to provide the highest quality services under challenging schedule requirements.

"Growing our share in the oil & gas market in this region is a key strategic focus for Wood. We look forward to leveraging our strong customer knowledge and expertise on large-scale FEED projects to support the development of this asset, which will contribute significantly to Thailand’s growing energy and petrochemical needs."

As MRC wrote previously, in October 2017, Wood was awarded a new multi-million dollar contract by Total, supporting their Lindsey Oil Refinery located in North Killinghome, Lincolnshire, UK. The 5-yr contract is to provide onshore maintenance services and includes the option to be extended up to 2 yr.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plastics recycling machinery maker Herbold Meckesheim GmbH is returning to a normal production level following a major fire on Sept. 10 at its plant and headquarters in Meckesheim, Germany, as per Canplastics.

The fire destroyed the company’s central warehouse and dispatch department; the office space, test centre, and the production halls were not affected. There were no casualties in the fire, and cause of the blaze was eventually traced to a technical defect in electrical equipment.

"As of the second half of October, [we] are producing again at almost the same level as before the blaze,” Werner Herbold, one of the family-owned company’s managing directors, said in a statement. “The insurer approved our measures to restore an interim operation and granted a sufficient advance so we can realize the necessary investments without delay. The restocking of the parts destroyed in our central warehouse is also in full swing…and all parts of the buildings, undamaged by the fire, will continue to be used as usual."

Herbold Meckesheim is also planning to expand as it rebuilds facilities. “In our direct neighbourhood an incoming goods department and a warehouse have been established and not too far away, a one-time 2,500-square-meter machine hall will be transformed for production,” Werner Herbold said.

The new storage facility is expected to open in November.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a bid to expand its packaging solutions portfolio, blow molding machinery maker Sidel Group has acquired blow molder and packaging designer PET Engineering Srl, as per Camplastics.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Founded in 1999 and based in San Vendemiano, Italy, PET Engineering has 40 employees and a global customer base.

"With packaging increasingly playing a key role in any marketing mix, we are confident that Sidel and PET Engineering’s complementary strengths in packaging design, qualification and blowing process will bring the Sidel Group more business opportunities while offering customers a diversified choice of partners to materialise their creative requirements," Pavel Shevchuk, Sidel Group’s executive vice president of services, said in a statement.

"PET Engineering is perfectly established to help Sidel expand its packaging offering – especially regarding the design of containers for water, soft drinks, liquid dairy products and beer," PET Engineering CEO Moreno Barel said in the statement.
MRC