Krones acquires PET preform moldmaker MHT Holding

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SP Chemicals has restarted its No.1 vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant following maintenance, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has resumed operations at the plant on November 5, 2018. The plant was taken off-line on October 22, 2018.

Located at Taixing in Jiangsu province of China, the No. 1 plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, this year, the company had already shut this plant for maintenance from 20 August to 14 September. Iinitially, the company planned to take off-sream plant No. 1 for a one-month turnaround from early August, 2018.

SP Chemicals, a Singapore-based company is one of the largest ion-membrane chlor-alkali producer and aniline producer in the PRC. SP Chemicals engages in the manufacture and sale of the chemical industry's basic building blocks - caustic soda, chlorine, hydrogen and its related downstream products. The company's products include: aniline, caustic soda, chlorine, chlorobenzene, nitrochlorobenzene, nitrobenzene, vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). To further drive its growth, SP Chemicals plans to invest approximately RMB1.1 billion in facilities for the production of styrene monomer, an intermediate raw chemical used in making polystyrene plastics, protective coatings, polyesters and resins.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos, the privately owned energy and chemicals group run by Britain’s richest man, is in exclusive talks with US oil major ConocoPhillips to acquire its assets in the North Sea, reported FT.

The potential deal, which has a price tag of more than USD3bn according to industry sources, could transform Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company into a major operator in North Sea oil and gas production, building on other acquisitions and its ownership of infrastructure, refineries and chemical plants fed by the basin.

People familiar with the sale process said Ineos had paid ConocoPhillips a "substantial" deposit to give it exclusivity over the talks for three months, fearing competition from other buyers including private equity companies that have a growing role in the North Sea.

The ConocoPhillips assets are one of a handful on the block that give companies an opportunity to acquire a substantial North Sea footprint at a time when the energy majors, particularly from the US, have been scaling back in the mature basin to focus on the US shale sector and other prospects.

A spokeswoman for ConocoPhillips said it was in "exclusive negotiations with Ineos" for its UK assets, excluding the Teesside oil terminal and London.

If a deal is reached it would be the latest audacious move by Sir Jim who has built his business empire by borrowing to fund acquisitions in the last decade. Ineos is Britain’s biggest privately owned company with sales of USD60bn and earnings before interest, tax and other charges of USD7bn last year.

Sir Jim founded the company in 1998 and owns a majority stake in the business. The company has expanded from its petrochemicals roots into an industrial conglomerate with positions in other industries including shale exploration, automotive and fashion. Last week Ineos added the resins business of US-based Ashland Global Holdings in a USD1.1bn deal.

Ineos also owns the Grangemouth refinery and petrochemical sites in Scotland’s central belt, and the associated Forties Pipeline System that delivers much of the North Sea oil and gas to shore.

The ConocoPhillips assets include a 7.5 per cent interest in the Clair field, which the US company had already disposed of a 16.5 per cent stake in July through an asset swap with BP.

Neptune Energy, a private equity backed energy company run by former Centrica chief executive Sam Laidlaw, is said to have also been in the running for the ConocoPhillips assets. Chrysaor, another private equity backed group that bought a host of North Sea assets from Royal Dutch Shell last year, was also in the running, people familiar with the talks said. Both companies declined to comment.

Ineos confirmed on Sunday it was in talks with ConocoPhillips, which were first reported by the Sunday Times, but did not comment on the exclusivity arrangement.

As MRC informed before, in November 2017, Ineos completed its acquisition of the Forties Pipeline System (FPS) and associated pipelines and facilities from BP. The 235-mile pipeline system links 85 North Sea oil and gas assets to the UK mainland and the Ineos site in Grangemouth, Scotland, delivering almost 40% of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas production.

Ineos Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- MAN Energy Solutions has won the contract to design and deliver an LNG regasification terminal for the Forchem company in Rauma. Forchem, an innovative and industry-leading company producing chemical and Animal feed products from tall oil, has chosen to convert the boiler for generating steam for the refinery processing to natural gas/ bio-gas, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

MAN Energy Solution will deliver a tailormade installation, including offloading skid for LNG trailers, vertically standing, vacuum-insulated tank and vaporizer unit.

The installation will be located besides Forchems plant, enabling Forchem to receive deliveries of LNG and LBG (Liquified Bio Gas) via tank-truck deliveries. It is designed specifically for Forchem’s requirements considering local climate conditions, minimum maintenance requirements and long lifetime. MAN Energy Solutions was chosen as supplier owing to its extensive experience with cryogenic solutions, a well-thought-through design, and a global aftermarket support through MAN PrimeServ.

"LNG has become very attractive and competitive compared to other fuels and is low in emissions. We see a growing market for small scale LNG solutions for both captive and grid connected applications and are currently commissioning a similar project, where MAN Energy Solutions has provided highly efficient gas and dual fuel engines for a new power plant to secure the future energy supply in Gibraltar. Also many regions in South East Asia may profit from the flexibility such solutions can offer", says Carsten Dommermuth, Senior Manager International Business Development at MAN Energy Solutions.

The company is also happy to grow its presence in the Finnish market with this project, adds Roger Gothberg, Managing Director MAN Energy Solutions in Finland and Sweden. "We see growth potential both within the industrial and marine segments. Having established the Finnish Branch office in 2017, we are now seeing a growing interest in our solutions."

The Finnish company, Wega Group, assisted Forchem with the procurement of the LNG regasification terminal. Wega is an independent energy company, specialised in smart-energy sourcing. Wega has experience from several LNG projects and sees a growing demand for LNG in industrial applications, shipping and road transport in Finland.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Products announced its Lu’an coal gasification project, located in Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, China, has come fully onstream to supply syngas and other industrial gases to Shanxi Lu’an Coal-based Clean Energy Co., Ltd.’s (Lu’an Clean Energy) syngas-to-liquids production, said the company.

The successful startup of Air Products’ first-of-its-kind project further reinforces its leadership and operational excellence as the premier gasification company in the world.

The world-scale gasification project involves four large air separation units (ASUs), four gasifiers and two syngas clean-up systems which have operated at full capacity to support one of China’s landmark clean energy demonstration projects. The gasifiers, which represent the largest pulverized coal gasifiers adopting Shell’s proven gasification technologies, have been delivering outstanding performance in feedstock input, gases output, carbon conversion rate and operational efficiency.

Air Products signed an agreement with Lu’an Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. in 2013 to build, own and operate the four ASUs capable of supplying over 10,000 tons per day (TPD) of oxygen, over 6,000 TPD of nitrogen and over 700 TPD of instrument air to its subsidiary Lu’an Clean Energy in Changzhi. In September 2017, the company formed a joint venture with Lu’an Clean Energy, holding a 60 percent stake, to own and operate the ASUs, and gasification and syngas clean-up systems at the Changzhi site, extending Air Products’ industrial gas supply scope to include coal gasification and syngas supply.
MRC