TransCanada to change its name to TC Energy

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Canadian pipeline operator TransCanada Corp said on Wednesday it would change the company’s name to TC Energy to better reflect its scope of operations, as per Reuters.

"We believe the name TC Energy clearly articulates our complete business – pipelines, power generation and energy storage operations," Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling said.

The company said it will continue to trade under "TRP" on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

TransCanada shareholders will be voting to approve the name change at the next annual meeting in the second quarter of 2019, the company said in a statement.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- PolyOne Corporation, a premier global provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions, today announced the acquisition of Fiber-Line, a global leader in customized engineered fibers and composite materials for USD120 million, said the company.

Founded in 1987, Fiber-Line has utilized its customer-centric culture and specialty innovation to establish a leading portfolio of materials serving the fiber optic cable, oil & gas, industrial and consumer industries. With five manufacturing locations in North America, Europe and Asia, Fiber-Line provides material science and polymer formulation expertise to engineer specified performance characteristics for fiber. These include strength, abrasion and chemical resistance, and specialty colorants.

"Fiber-Line is an innovative and unique addition to our portfolio of fiber and composite solutions with tremendous upside for growth," said Robert M. Patterson, chairman, president and CEO, PolyOne Corporation. "They provide an immediate leadership position in serving the build out of fiber optic cable and future 5G networks." Mr. Patterson added, "This acquisition represents a significant investment for our Specialty Engineered Materials segment. We expect it to add nearly USD100 million in revenue in 2019 and be immediately accretive to EPS."

Fiber-Line's leading technologies complement PolyOne's existing specialty composite solutions and wire & cable applications. PolyOne will utilize its proven invest-to-grow integration strategy to increase innovation for Fiber-Line customers, by leveraging deeper formulation expertise and a global commercial presence that accelerates growth.

"Joining the PolyOne team represents another important and exciting milestone for Fiber-Line employees and our valued customers," said Dale Outhous, CEO, Fiber-Line. "Through PolyOne's future investments in Fiber-Line's technical capabilities, operations and commercial reach, we will be able to serve our customers better than ever before."

Mr. Patterson added, "We're very excited to welcome Dale and his accomplished Fiber-Line management team to PolyOne. Through increased collaboration with customers, we'll capture both near-term growth prospects as well as benefit from the expansion of 5G networks. Longer term, we expect future growth to be driven by significant technology synergies between fiber and composites, utilizing specialty colorants and coatings, which PolyOne is well positioned to develop."

PolyOne Corporation, with 2017 revenues of USD3.2 billion, is a premier provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions. The company is dedicated to serving customers in diverse industries around the globe, by creating value through collaboration, innovation and an unwavering commitment to excellence. Guided by its Core Values, Sustainability Promise and No Surprises PledgeSM, PolyOne is an ACC Responsible Care certified company committed to its customers, employees, communities and shareholders through ethical, sustainable and fiscally responsible principles.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ivory Coast’s SIR oil refinery, the largest in French-speaking West Africa, has secured a USD660 million loan, lead arranger Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) announced, allowing it to reduce debt and keep buying crude, reported Reuters.

SIR has struggled with towering debt levels for years, potentially threatening its ability to buy oil for Ivory Coast’s fast-growing economy. In 2016, the country implemented debt-relief measures for the refinery using public and private funds.

The new loan comprises a euro tranche with a 9-year maturity and a West African CFA franc tranche with a 7-year maturity.

Other banks involved in the loan include Deutsche Bank, ICBC Standard Bank, United Bank for Africa, NSIA Bank and Bridge Bank. Lawyers Norton Rose Fulbright and Bile-Aka, Brizoua-Bi & Associes advised on the transaction.

With a refining capacity of 3.8 million tonnes in 2018, SIR serves Ivory Coast and nearby countries.

As MRC wrote previously, in October 2016, Ivory Coast signed a partnership pact to create a consortium headed by France's Total to build a LNG import terminal that could have begun receiving gas shipments by mid-2018.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco, a world-leading integrated energy and chemicals company, and Lanxes AG, a leading German specialty chemicals company, have announced the completion of Saudi Aramco’s acquisition of Lanxess‘ interest in ARLANXEO Holding B.V., a Netherlands-based specialty chemicals joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Lanxess launched in 2016, as per Saudi Aramco's press release.

All relevant authorities have granted approvals for the transaction which was first announced in August 2018.

Saudi Aramco’s purchase of Lanxess' 50% share in ARLANXEO, valued at EUR1.5 billion on an enterprise value basis, makes it 100% owner of ARLANXEO, enabling further diversification of Saudi Aramco’s downstream portfolio, and strengthening the company’s capabilities across the energy and chemicals value-chain.

ARLANXEO is a world-class synthetic rubber and elastomer products company that supplies feedstocks to leading tire and auto-parts manufacturers around the globe. As a fully owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, ARLANXEO will accelerate development of growth opportunities integrating the strong feedstock position of Saudi Aramco.

In addition, full ownership of ARLANXEO will enhance Saudi Aramco’s sustainability efforts to optimize tire performance-related fuel consumption in line with its efficient fuel/engine R&D strategy, which is focused on increasing fuel efficiency and reducing engine emissions. All of these efforts are well-aligned with Saudi Aramco’s overarching downstream aspiration to drive value by expanding and integrating its portfolio and partnerships, as well as creating additional revenue streams.

Abdulaziz Al-Judaimi, Saudi Aramco Senior Vice President of Downstream, commented on the acquisition by saying: "ARLANXEO, now as a 100% owned Saudi Aramco subsidiary, represents an essential component to our global position in the chemicals market. Full ownership of ARLANXEO will further diversify Saudi Aramco’s downstream portfolio and strengthen capabilities along the energy and chemicals value chains. I am positive about the upside and the future of product innovation that will serve our customers around the world."

As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, ARLANXEO will continue to serve the development, production, marketing, sale and distribution of specialty chemicals and synthetic rubber products, principally for the high-volume global tire and automotive industries. ARLANXEO will maintain its current base in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

As MRC wrote before, in March 2018, Arlanxeo signed an agreement with Saudi Aramco Products Trading company, headquartered in Dhahran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, pertaining to the marketing and sales of EPDM rubber.

Arlanxeo was established in April 2016 as a joint venture of Lanxess - a world-leading specialty chemicals company based in Cologne, Germany - and Saudi Aramco - a major global energy and chemicals enterprise headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The two partners each hold a 50-percent interest in the joint venture. The business operations of Arlanxeo are assigned to the High Performance Elastomers and Tire & Specialty Rubbers business units.

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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has restarted its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant following an unplanned outage, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that the company has resumed operations at the plant early this week. The plant was shut owing to technical issues on December 18, 2018.

Located at Hazira in the western Indian state of Gujarat, the plant has a production capacity of 360,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, RIL took off-stream its another PVC plant in Dahej for a maintenance turnaround last year. The company commenced turnaround in the first half of November 2018. The plant remained under maintenance for about two weeks. Located at Dahej in Gujarat, India, the plant has a production capacity of 315,000 mt/year.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. The company produces polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride and other petrochemical products.
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