ADNOC seeks to expand downstream investment in Asia

MOSCOW (MRC) - Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is seeking to invest in more downstream assets, mainly in refining and petrochemicals, in strategic locations like India to find a stable outlet for its oil, said its chief executive officer, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"India is not only an important market for us. India is a very strategic partner for United Arab Emirates, spanning all ... sectors, energy being one of (them)," he told reporters on the sidelines of energy conference Petrotech.

ADNOC, along with Saudi Aramco, is participating in a planned 1.2 million-barrels-per-day (bpd) coastal refinery in western Maharashtra state. ADNOC is also keen to lease more strategic storage in India, Al Jaber said.

"Expanding our strategic reserve in India will be an item on the agenda to be discussed with our great friends in India," he told a conference in New Delhi.

ADNOC last year signed a preliminary agreement to use half of the Padur strategic reserve facility in southern India. The site can store about 2.5 million tonnes or 18 million barrels of crude.

India, which relies on oil imports for about 80 percent of its needs, has built underground emergency storage in three places to protect itself from any disruption.

The underground reserves can hold 36.87 million barrels or about 9.5 days of average demand.

ADNOC, the only foreign company with a deal to store oil in India’s strategic reserves, has another storage deal agreement at Mangalore’s strategic storage in Karnataka.

"We will always be looking for ways to enhance our cooperation with our Indian counterparts, catering for the Indian market and beyond," Al Jaber said.
MRC

Huntsman revenue up, profits down in 2018

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Houston-area chemical maker Huntsman Corporation saw mixed results in the fourth quarter as it weathered weakening demand and lower prices, but still still ended 2018 with a solid profit for the years, said the company.

The Woodlands company said it lost USD315 million in the fourth quarter, compared to a profit of USD287 million the same period last year. Its revenue for the fourth quarter stayed essentially flat at about USD2.2 billion.

For all of 2018, Huntsman reported USD615 million profit, down 17 percent from USD741 million in 2017. Revenues, however, jumped by USD1 billion, or 12 percent to USD9.3 billion last year from USD8.3 billion in 2017.

Huntsman blamed the decline in annual profits on its 49 percent holdings in Venator, the pigments and additives company that Huntsman spun off into a separate public company in 2017. Venator's stock price has plummeted 73 percent to USD5.50 per a share since it debuted because of volatility in the pigments and additives market.

Huntsman is trying to sell all or most of its shares in Venator, a Huntsman company spokesperson said.
Revenue from on its major segments, polyurethane, dipped in the fourth quarter because of lower average selling prices in China and Europe. Polyurethanes are chemicals used to make high-resilience foam seating, rigid foam insulation panels, microcellular foam seals and gaskets, durable elastomeric wheels and tires.

Lower polyurethane prices were partially offset by a 5 percent boost in production volume thanks to the start of a MDI polyurethane plant in China and the April 2018 acquisition of Demilec, a North American polyurethane spray foam company.

Uncertainty in global markets tied to Brexit and U.S.-Chinese trade talks spurred many of Huntsman's customers to rely on their existing inventories rather buy up new products in a "wait-and-see" approach known as destocking.
Despite all of this its MDI urethane business still reported the second best fourth quarter in terms of earnings in the company's history, Peter R. Huntsman, CEO of Huntsman told investors.

Looking ahead Huntsman's CEO told investors in Tuesday earnings call he expects demand to pick up in 2019 based on higher orders the company has seen so far this year. If a trade deal with China is reached that could boost demand too, Huntsman said. A Brexit deal could have a relatively minimal (USD15 million) negative impact on its supply chain in Europe, he added.
MRC

FTC approves application from Praxair and Linde for sale of industrial gases plant to Celanese

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Federal Trade Commission has approved an application from industrial gas suppliers Praxair and Linde to divest a hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide gas plant to Celanese Ltd, as per FTC.

The divestiture of the plant is required under the FTC’s October 22, 2018 proposed order, which requires Praxair and Linde to divest certain industrial gases assets to settle charges that the USD80 billion merger of Praxair and Linde would violate federal antitrust law.

The application proposes that Celanese Ltd. will acquire Linde’s hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide gas plant in Clear Lake, Texas. The Commission vote to approve the application was 4-0-1 (Commissioner Chopra abstaining).

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers.

As MRC reported before, Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, has raised its February list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in Asia Outside China (AOC). The price increase below was effective as of 31 January, or as contracts otherwise allow, and was incremental to any previously announced increases. Thus, Celanese raised VAM list and off-list selling prices by USD50/mt for AOC.

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

BASF invests in new mobile emissions catalysts production facility in Shanghai to meet customer demand in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -– BASF is investing in a new production facility for mobile emissions catalysts at its Pudong site in Shanghai, China, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new 30,000-square-meter facility will house multiple manufacturing lines, providing a full range of emissions control technologies for heavy-duty and light-duty vehicle manufacturers.

Construction is underway, with start-up planned for the end of 2019. The plant will manufacture innovative catalysts for gasoline and diesel vehicles in the growing Chinese market.

The catalysts will help automotive customers meet more stringent emission control requirements ahead of China Stage 6 implementation in 2020. "BASF is committed to supporting customers in China with state-of-the-art environmental catalysts solutions," said Dr. Stephan Kothrade, President Functions Asia Pacific, President and Chairman Greater China, BASF. "We want to greatly contribute to China’s three-year plan to protect blue skies, with advanced mobile emissions catalysts that meet the strictest environmental regulation requirements in China."

"BASF continues to support strong business growth in China through production capacity and innovation capabilities to meet local customer needs," said Dr. Dirk Demuth, Senior Vice President, Mobile Emissions Catalysts, BASF. "Our new facility in China will enable BASF to support our customers in this growing market. The new facility offers flexibility for future expansion and upgrades to adapt to market requirements in the years ahead."

As MRC informed before, in December 2017, BASF’s Coatings division inaugurated a new automotive coatings plant at its Bangpoo manufacturing site, Samutprakarn province, Thailand. The new plant is the first BASF automotive coatings manufacturing facility in ASEAN, and will produce solventborne and waterborne automotive coatings to meet growing market demand in the region.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

Intertape Polymer commissions new line at US plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Intertape Polymer Group Inc. announced it has successfully commissioned its second water-activated tapes line at the Midland, North Carolina manufacturing facility on time and on budget, said the producer.

With the commissioning, the second line is producing commercial tapes at scale. Water-activated tapes are primarily used in the e-commerce market for carton sealing which can help reduce both pilferage and workforce injury from repetitive motion as well as provide the option for attractive prints on the tape. All amounts in this press release are denominated in US dollars.

"The e-commerce market is the fastest growing segment of our business. Our expansion at Midland enables us to match production with the growth in demand we are experiencing now and anticipate in the future," said Greg Yull, President and CEO of IPG. “The second line leverages the original investment at the facility, which is on track to meeting our after tax internal rate of return threshold of 15%. As such, we anticipate a step function improvement in the return from the second line once it's operating at optimal production. As a result, the second line is an important element of our two-year capital investment plan in which we targeted $80 to $90 million in deployed capital in fiscal 2017 and 2018. Given the growth in e-commerce as a proportion of the retail market, the expansion at Midland, together with our acquisition of protective packaging solutions, strengthens our product bundle for our direct accounts that are leaders in the e-commerce market."

IPG completed construction of the Midland facility in 2017 and commissioned the first line in the fourth quarter of 2017 for total invested capital of approximately USD48 million. The second line, which is a sister line to the first, doubles the capacity of the facility and was installed for total invested capital of $13.4 million with no new construction required. IPG invested in additional water-activated tapes capacity in anticipation of demand. The first line is at capacity so the second line provides new capacity for growth. The footprint of the site and the design of the facility also allow for additional expansion, if necessary, however expansion of the facility itself may be required. In addition to the Midland facility, IPG also produces water-activated tapes at its Menasha, Wisconsin, facility.

Intertape Polymer Group Inc. is a recognized leader in the development, manufacture and sale of a variety of paper- and film-based pressure sensitive and water-activated tapes, polyethylene and specialized polyolefin films, protective packaging, woven coated fabrics and complementary packaging systems for industrial and retail use. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec and Sarasota, Florida, IPG employs approximately 3,500 employees with operations in 29 locations, including 22 manufacturing facilities in North America, two in Asia and one in Europe.
MRC