Fluor awarded EPCM services contract for Sabic PPE plant recommissioning project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fluor Corporation has announced that it was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services contract by SABIC for the recommissioning of its polyphenylene ether (PPE) resin plant in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Fluor will book the undisclosed contract value in the first quarter of 2019.

"We are pleased to support SABIC with this important recommissioning project at the Bergen op Zoom site where Fluor has more than 30 years of experience of providing innovative solutions to the client," said Simon Nottingham, president of Fluor’s Energy & Chemicals business in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. "Fluor’s proven track record in brownfield projects and construction-driven execution will minimize disruption at this complex operations site and provide cost and schedule certainty."

SABIC announced the project last year, in response to high global customer demand for its unique NORYLTM resins, based on PPE resin technology. NORYL resins are SABIC’s proprietary family of modified compounds. Recommissioning the Bergen op Zoom PPE resin facility will provide customers with a second source of NORYL resins globally, and affirms SABIC’s commitment to the European market and global customers who specify their NORYL resin material needs from Europe. When operational, the Bergen op Zoom facility is expected to add more than 40% global capacity over a 2017 baseline.

The 14-month project began in January 2019 led by Fluor’s Bergen op Zoom office and will be supported by Fluor’s Cebu office in the Philippines.

As MRC reported earlier, in response to customer needs, in February 2018, Sabic announced projects in Asia and the Netherlands designed to increase global capacity for two of its high-performance engineering thermoplastic materials, Ultem and Noryl resins. The planned new production facility in Singapore is expected to go online in the first half of 2021. The company also plans to recommission operations at its Bergen op Zoom PPE resin plant in the Netherlands by the end of 2019 to produce polyphenylene ether (PPE), the base resin for its line of Noryl resins and oligomers.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the worldпїЅs market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Pertamina said on Thursday it plans to process its share of Malaysian and Iraqi crude oil production at Petronas’ refineries in Malaysia in return for gasoline as Indonesia strives to reduce oil imports, reported Reuters.

"We’re approaching (Petronas) on whether we can utilize Petronas refinery to process our crude (produced) from Malaysia’s fields," Heru Setiawan, director of investment planning and risk management at Pertamina told reporters."

"We can also bring our crude from Iraq field to Petronas’ refinery," he said.

The two companies agreed earlier this week to a crude swap deal.

Separately, Dharmawan Samsu, Pertamina’s upstream director, said the company is also looking at increasing its stakes in Malaysia’s oil and gas fields.

The companies are also exploring further cooperation in the oil and gas exploration sector in the Middle East and Africa as both companies have assets in countries such as Gabon and Iraq, the officials said.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2018, Pertamina signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to upgrade Balikpapan refinery in 2019.

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) -- Mexichem announced its unaudited results for the fourth quarter of 2018 and full-year 2018, said the company.

The figures have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, having U.S. dollars as the functional and reporting currency. All comparisons are made against the same period of the prior year except for Netafim’s Q1 2017 P&L figures, which are not included in the comparisons. However, proforma financials are included in this report in Appendix I.

Unless specified to the contrary, all figures are in millions. In the comments in this report, we will refer to the term Organic Basis or Organically, which excludes: i) Netafim’s results for the quarter; and ii) the related expenses of the CADE and Netafim Ltd. acquisition. For the full-year 2018 numbers, Mexichem also excludes a Brazilian tax legal settlement benefit. The FX translation effect numbers, which are numbers on a constant currency basis or without the FX translation effects, do not includes any positive or negative effect from Venezuela due to the uncertainties of the economic fundamentals of its FX market and due that any effect is not material for the whole Company’s results. In some cases, numbers and percentages have been rounded and may not add up.

During the fourth quarter of 2018, Mexichem posted a 15% year-over-year (YOY) increase in net sales to USD1.69 billion, and a 129% YOY increase in net majority income to USD32 million. Mexichem also reported consolidated net income of USD46 million, compared to a loss of USD22 million reported during last years fourth quarter.

This was a challenging quarter due to market conditions and some movements in certain variables in our Vinyl business, but despite these challenges, we were able to achieve our full-year EBITDA guidance while we continue to advance on the execution of our long-term strategy, said Daniel Mart­nez-Valle, Mexichem CEO. During this transformation journey, Mexichem has been working closely with our partners and customers across all our business groups to identify opportunities and provide innovative, best-for-world solutions to solve them. Our full-year earnings success proves we are on the right track.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Production of polypropylene (PP) in Russia decreased to about 100,900 tonne in January 2019, down 23% year on year, compared to the same period of 2018. A significant increase in production volumes showed two plants, according to MRC ScanPlast report.

January PP production in the country fell to 100,900 tonnes, compared with 131,300 tonnes in January 2018; SIBUR Tobolsk and Stavrolen decreased their capacity utilisation significantly. Total PP production in Russia exceeded 1.370,500 mln tonnes in 2018.

The structure of PP production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

Last month, due to technical problems, SIBUR Tobolsk worked with reduced capacity utilisation, the total production decreased to 18,600 tonnes against 47,700 tonnes a year earlier. Total PP production at SIBUR Tobolsk in 2018 reached 436,100 tonnes.

Poliom (Titan Group) last month produced about 19,300 tonnes of polypropylene, compared with 18,500 tonnes in January 2018. Total PP production at Poliom plant in 2018 was about 214,200 tonnes.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim produced 18,400 tonnes of propylene polymers in January versus 18,300 tonnes a month earlier. Nizhnekamskneftekhim's production of polymer rose to 215,800 tonnes in 2018.

Tomskneftekhim last month produced about 12,600 tonnes against 12,700 tonnes in January 2018. Total PP production at the plant in 2018 was about 141,300 tonnes.

January PP production at Ufaorgsintez reached about 11,700 tonnes from 11,600 tonnes a month earlier. Ufaorgsintez's production of polymer did not exceed to 119,300 tonnes in 2018.

Neftekhimiya (Kapotnya) last month produced about 12,500 tonnes of PP, compared with 12,300 tonnes in January 2018. The plant's overall production reached 131,400 tonnes last year.

Stavrolen (LUKOIL) produced slightly more than 7,800 tonnes of PP in January against 10,200 tonnes year on year. The Budenovsk plant's overall production of propylene polymers reached 111,800 tonnes last year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has expanded its pipeline of solutions for agriculture significantly and by 2028, will launch innovations with projected peak sales of more than EUR6 billion, said the company.

The pipeline contains a wealth of chemical and biological crop protection products, seeds and traits, as well as digital solutions. This will further strengthen the company’s leading position in innovative and sustainable agriculture. BASF’s innovation pipeline demonstrates tangible progress based on continuous investment in research and development, the integration of acquired businesses and strong partnerships. In 2019, BASF will spend around €900 million on R&D for agricultural solutions.

"We provide farmers with a full toolbox of innovative technologies, solutions and know-how, helping them develop their businesses successfully while addressing the demands of the food value chain," said Markus Heldt, President of BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division. “We are actively steering our current and future portfolio towards more sustainable solutions. Sustainability is firmly embedded in our entire R&D decision process, from early research to product development. This enables us to develop highly-effective, innovative compounds that benefit farmers, society and the planet."

Feeding the world’s growing population, while facing challenges such as unpredictable weather, efficient control of diseases and pests, scarcity of natural resources and available farmland, makes the need for innovation even more essential. These global trends are influencing food security and the overall sustainability of food and agricultural systems. BASF’s state-of-the-art innovation pipeline offers farmers new technologies and solutions in all key crops and regions to rise to these challenges.

An example of BASF’s innovation strength is its research and development for soybean production. One of the most important and in-demand crops in agriculture and trade, soybeans make a vital contribution to global food and feed supply. BASF has developed innovative solutions for soybean farmers to gain high yield and quality including:

BASF’s new soybean seed with the LibertyLinkGT27TM trait platform allows farmers to apply Liberty® herbicide, glyphosate, and pending regulatory approval, a new mode of action herbicide for post-emergence weed control. This innovative soybean technology will be available to farmers under BASF’s Credenz brand and licensee brands. The launch is planned for 2020.

As a corresponding disease and pest management tool, the company offers ILeVO® nematicide/fungicide seed treatment. It is the only product on the U.S. market that provides effective protection against Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) and nematodes in the seed zone, resulting in healthier plants and higher yield potential. A further registration is anticipated in Brazil by 2020.

To ensure that farmers worldwide continue to have access to effective weed management, BASF has developed Tirexor® herbicide. This new active ingredient has been specifically designed to control resistant weeds including key grass and broadleaf weeds. The company submitted a regulatory dossier for this new herbicide in Australia and North America in 2018. Pending regulatory approvals, BASF expects first market introductions of Tirexor-based products in Australia in 2020.

To further expand its insecticide portfolio and offer additional solutions to farmers, BASF has co-developed Broflanilide with Mitsui Chemicals Agro, Inc. This active ingredient is a powerful and versatile new mode of action insecticide to control chewing pests. Initial market launches are expected in 2020.

BASF offers a similarly diverse and promising innovation pipeline across the entire crop cycle for further important crops such as canola, wheat, rice, as well as fruit and vegetables. The recently acquired businesses have significantly enlarged the scope of the company’s innovation platform, enabling BASF to offer even more comprehensive crop solutions and provide farmers with a real choice in a consolidated industry.
MRC