Henkel to build strategic alliance with RLE International

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Henkel and RLE International has announced that they have agreed to form a strategic alliance to drive automotive innovation, expand value creation opportunities and become the premier design-in engineering solution provider for the mobility industry, as per the company's press release.

Automotive megatrends and future mobility concepts driven by increasing environmental legislation, e-mobility and autonomous driving are shaping the engineering challenges of the industry: New architecture designs and solutions are required to reduce weight and increase safety. Furthermore, the integration and protection of batteries and electronic components play a crucial role in development and manufacturing.

"To design new e-mobility concepts and lightweight innovations, the combination of material science and engineering expertise is a significant competitive advantage", says Dr. Christian Kirsten, Corporate Senior Vice President, Henkel Transport & Metal. "Together with RLE International we will create ‘The Mobility Alliance’ with advanced simulation capabilities of full vehicle crash behavior to improve passenger safety, and component design competence to improve vehicle performance", adds Chuck Evans, Corporate Vice President, Henkel Automotive OEM Design.

RLE’s core business includes effective and technologically sophisticated engineering expertise in vehicle component development and design. "This involves the fields of concept development, vehicle and safety engineering, as well as electrics/electronics, e-mobility and lightweight design", says Ralf Laufenberg, CEO RLE International, "Once combined with Henkel’s advanced materials know-how in high performance adhesives and sealants, structural foams and sound-deadeners we will become the go-to engineering partner and preferred advanced material supplier in the industry."

This joint approach to market will grant customers access to a unique global combination of long-term engineering know-how and best-in-class material science which will enable next generation design solutions and new levels of lightweight structures.

Through a holistic development approach from concept to launch and series production, Henkel and RLE International will ensure process security and sustainability of all development, engineering and material processes.

As MRC informed earlier, in June 2015, Henkel Russia opened a new dry building mixes plant in the Novosibirsk region. The production site reportedly places the company closer to customers in the Siberian and Far East regions of Russia.

Henkel operates in three business units, including laundry and home care, beauty care and adhesive technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco will sign five crude oil supply agreements with Chinese customers, it said in a statement on Wednesday, taking the volume of its 2019 China crude oil supply agreements to 1.67 million barrels per day, reported Reuters.

As MRC wrote before, in early October 2018, Saudi Aramco signed a long-term deal with Zhejiang Rongsheng to supply crude oil to the Chinese company’s new refinery in eastern China.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) will remain wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi government and has no plan to go public, but the firm aspires to compete with Big Oil by expanding in refining and gas, ADNOC’s CEO told Reuters.

ADNOC, which announced two gas deals with France’s Total and Italy’s Eni this week, will strike more agreements in that sector and seek investment opportunities abroad in liquefied natural gas (LNG), Sultan al-Jaber said.

"ADNOC will continue to be wholly owned by one and only one shareholder, and that is the Abu Dhabi government," al-Jaber said.

But the company will continue to "unlock the potential" of its other subsidiaries and assets as it works to gain access to new markets abroad and expand its share in oil and gas, he said.

"There will be more initiative (gas) plans," al-Jaber said in an interview in Abu Dhabi. "We are not going to expand beyond our borders in upstream. We don’t need to. We have access to vast, vast oil and gas reserves," he said.

"Our expansion is going to be in downstream, whether refining or petrochemicals," he added.On Sunday, ADNOC said it had signed an agreement with Total granting the French company a 40 percent stake in the Ruwais Diyab unconventional gas concession.

ADNOC aims to reach 1 billion cubic feet per day of unconventional gas production before 2030.

"This is untapped. No one is doing this at this scale in this region," he said of the tight-gas project with Total.

On Tuesday ADNOC signed a deal with Eni, awarding the Italian company a 25 percent stake in an offshore ultra-sour gas project.

A day earlier the Abu Dhabi producer also signed a framework agreement with national energy company Saudi Aramco to explore investment opportunities in natural gas and LNG.

As MRC wrote previously, a USD3.1 billion project to introduce crude processing flexibility, at the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) owned Ruwais oil refinery, was announced in February, 2018. Known as the Crude Flexibility Project (CFP), the announcement was another significant step forward as ADNOC accelerates delivery of its Downstream refining strategy that aims to enhance margins by introducing asset flexibility, backed by strong crude and product marketing initiatives.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide Engineering & Construction has been selected as a technology licensor by Pertamina, the state-owned National Oil & Gas Company of Indonesia, engaged in the oil, gas and renewable energy sectors, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Air Liquide Engineering & Construction will provide a license and basic engineering for a hydrogen production unit, Steam Methane Reformer (SMR), with a production capacity of 120,000 Nm3/h to be installed on Pertamina’s refinery site in Balikpapan, Borneo Island, Indonesia.

This contract is part of a Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) undertaken by Pertamina. The RDMP will increase the Balikpapan refinery’s crude processing capacity as well as enable the production of cleaner fuels conforming to Euro 5 standard.

Air Liquide Engineering & Construction's full portfolio of hydrogen technologies and excellence in process experience combined with decades of operational experience ensures the competitiveness, reliability and long-term sustainability of the solutions for customers.

"We appreciate the confidence Pertamina has placed in Air Liquide Engineering & Construction. This new contract further enhances our position as the leading technology provider for large-scale hydrogen solutions in the refinery sector," Domenico D’Elia, Senior Vice President, Sales & Technology, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction said.

As MRC informed before, in 2016, PT Pertamina and Russia’s Rosneft OAO signed a cooperation agreement that includes a plan to build a new oil refinery in the Southeast Asian nation.

Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin (established 1961) and Permina (established 1957). Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Ukraine decreased by 36% in the first ten months of this year, compared to the same period in 2017 and reached about 57,100 tonnes. The main reason is the growth of own production volumes, according to MRC DataScope.

Last month's SPVC imports to the Ukrainian market dropped to 3,900 tonnes from 4,100 tonnes in September, with US resin accounting for the main decrease. Overall SPVC imports reached 57,100 tonnes in January-October 2018, compared to 89,000 tonnes a year earlier. Stable work of Karpatneftekhim after many years of shutdown helped reduce the dependence of the Ukrainian market on imports.

Structure of PVC imports into Ukraine over the reported period was as follows.

Last month's imports of US SPVC shrank to 1,000 tonnes from 1,600 tonnes in September. Thus, imports of US PVC totalled 34,000 tonnes in the first seven months of 2018, compared to 44,600 tonnes a year earlier. February-March accounted for the peak of imports.

October imports of European PVC into Ukraine increased to 2,900 tonnes, compared with 2,400 tonnes in September. Total imports of European PVC into Ukraine were about 21,800 tonnes in the first ten months of the year, compared with 29,400 tonnes year on year.


As reported earlier, Karpatneftekhim shut down its PVC production for a scheduled turnaround on 5 November. The shutdown will be quite long and will last approximately until 9 December. The plant's overall annual PVC production capacity is 300,000 tonnes.

MRC