Zhongyuan Petrochemical resumes operations at No.2 PP plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhongyuan Petrochemical (part of Sinopec) has restarted operations at its No. 2 polypropylene (PP) plant in Henan, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company had shut operations at the plant on November 5, 2018 owing to shutdown of its upstream MTO unit. The company has resumed operations at the MTO plant over the weekend of February 16-17, 2019. The plant was shut on November 5, 2018 owing to bearish market conditions. The No.2 PP plant was brought back on-stream recently.

Located in Henan, China, the No.2 PP plant has a production capacity of 110,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, Sinopec Corp shut down its largest refinery for maintenance throughout May 2018, and at least four independent oil plants had started overhauls that month, curbing China's crude oil demand.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec Limited is a Chinese oil and gas company based in Beijing, China. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York . Sinopec is the worlds fifth biggest company by revenue.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco has added Goldman Sachs as a bookrunner for a planned bond which will help finance its purchase of a stake in Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The US investment bank flew out a team of senior executives including partner Dina Powell, a veteran of the administration of US President Donald Trump, to pitch for the deal, the sources said.

Saudi Aramco did not respond to queries for immediate comment. Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

The state oil giant had already picked a group of banks including JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi, HSBC and Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank to help with the financing, Reuters reported on Feb. 14. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley were appointed joint global coordinators and, together with the other banks, joint bookrunners.

Aramco, the world’s top oil producer, plans to issue its first international bonds, likely worth about USD10 billion, in the second quarter of 2019, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said last month.

Sources previously told Reuters it could borrow as much as USD50 billion from international investors to fund the purchase of all, or nearly all, of the 70 percent stake in SABIC held by the Public Investment Fund, the kingdom’s top sovereign wealth fund.

Goldman Sachs has won a slew of mandates in the kingdom recently, including one to advise Riyad bank on merger talks with National Commercial Bank.

It also advised Abu Dhabi’s state oil firm ADNOC on the sale of a stake in its refining unit.

As MRC reported before, a proposed reshuffle of state assets would allow Saudi Arabia to delay the listing of national oil giant Aramco until 2020 or beyond while still spending on economic development projects. In the second half of July 2018, Aramco confirmed a Reuters report that it was working on a possible purchase of a "strategic stake" in local petrochemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp from the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom’s top sovereign wealth fund.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, announces today that a new cooperation has been agreed with Tecnopol in Iberia (Spain, Portugal), as per the company's press release.

In order to be set up for growth in the Iberia region, INEOS Styrolution agreed on a new cooperation with Tecnopol for its standards business in Spain and Portugal. The new agreement is effective as of the beginning of 2019. INEOS Styrolution and Tecnopol are already looking back at a successful cooperation in Italy for the standard and a selected specialty portfolio. The agreement for Iberia covers INEOS Styrolution’s entire standards business (polystyrene and ABS standard polymers).

Alberto Borio and Giancarlo Rizzi, managing directors at Tecnopol, comment: "We are pleased to expand the cooperation with INEOS Styrolution. The company brings a very strong product portfolio to the market and we are looking forward to growing together based on this new agreement as we did in Italy since 2001."

Natasza Bil, Senior Distribution Manager at INEOS Styrolution concludes: "Today’s announcement is an extension to the new distribution structure announced a year ago. The new agreement gives us an optimised access to the market in Spain and Portugal and allows addressing new business opportunities for INEOS Styrolution’s standards polymer business."

The announced changes have no impact on INEOS Styrolution’s specialties business nor do they affect the existing relationships with other distribution partners in the region.

As MRC informed before, in September 2018, Total accepted an offer from INEOS Styrolution, the leading global styrenics supplier, to acquire its polystyrene business in China. It includes in particular two facilities with a production capacity of 200,000 tons per year each, located in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, and in Foshan, Guangdong Province.

INEOS Styrolution is the leading, global styrenics supplier with a focus on styrene monomer, polystyrene, ABS Standard and styrenic specialties. With world-class production facilities and more than 85 years of experience, INEOS Styrolution helps its customers succeed by offering the best possible solution, designed to give them a competitive edge in their markets. The company provides styrenic applications for many everyday products across a broad range of industries, including Automotive, Electronics, Household, Construction, Healthcare, Packaging and Toys/ Sports/ Leisure. In 2017, sales were at 5.3 billion euros. INEOS Styrolution employs approximately 3,300 people and operates 18 production sites in nine countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State-owned Saudi Aramco has signed an agreement to acquire nine percent of Chinese project Zhejiang Petrochemical, reported Reuters with reference to Saudi state news agency SPA.

The agreement, which formalizes a previously announced plan, came during a visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Beijing.

Zhejiang Petrochemical is controlled by private Chinese chemical group Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Group.

Zhejiang Petrochemical is building a refinery and petrochemical complex in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang.

As MRC wrote before, in October 2018, State oil giant Saudi Aramco signed an agreement to invest in a refinery-petrochemical project in eastern China, part of its strategy to expand in downstream operations globally.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC