PES to begin laying off union refinery workers

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Refiner Philadelphia Energy Solutions will begin dismissing some of its 640 union workers, more than a week before its stated Aug. 25 termination date, reported Reuters with reference to two sources familiar with the plan.

It was not clear how many of the workers would be dismissed early from the East Coast’s largest and oldest oil refinery, but one of the sources said it would be "a significant number."

Union employees are expected to be paid through Aug. 25, the sources said, as the fire-damaged plant continues to wind down operations after the company filed for bankruptcy protection last month. PES has said it hopes to sell the plant to a buyer that would restart it.

PES was not immediately available to comment.

The company has declined to offer workers severance pay and has said it would halt health insurance coverage at month’s end.

PES entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 21, a month after a fire at the 335,000-barrel-per-day plant destroyed an alkylation unit used in the production of gasoline. The company had emerged from a previous bankruptcy last year.

PES initially said it would dismiss union and non-union employees by mid-July following the fire, but it later extended the employment of the plant’s union workers.
MRC

Wittmann Battenfeld, Moldex3D partner on LSR injection moulding

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwanese supplier of plastic injection moulding simulation technology CoreTech System (Moldex3D) has partnered with Austrian machinery maker Wittmann Battenfeld to advance liquid silicone rubber (LSR) injection moulding and smart manufacturing, said Plasticsnewseurope.

In a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed 5 July, the two companies agreed to collaborate to further bolster the role of simulation in LSR injection moulding.

As part of the partnership, Moldex3D has invested in LSR injection moulding equipment, including a SmartPower 90/350 featuring a Unilog B8 control system from Wittmann Battenfeld and an LSR dosing system from Elmet.

The collaboration will involve applying Moldex3D simulations to acquire new insights into the LSR cold runner, mould design and process dynamics to improve part quality and reduce cycle time.

The two companies will aim to develop processes that enable manufacturers to integrate the virtual with the real world and improve performance and productivity.

"Furthermore, the integration of mould filling simulation and machine characterization is fully aligned with our vision of digitalizing the physical manufacturing world, enabling manufacturing companies to work smarter and better based on digital simulations," noted Wolfgang Roth, manager applications engineering at Wittmann Battenfeld.

Described by Moldex3D CEO Rong-Yeu Chang as “an important milestone toward smart design and manufacturing,” the MoU aims to create a total solution for the two companies’ mutual customers.

Based in Hsinchu, Taiwan, CoreTech System is a leading supplier of Moldex 3D CAE simulation solutions for the plastic injection moulding industry. Using this analysis technology supports the product development by optimising the design process, promoting design for manufacturability and shortening the time to market.
MRC

JXTG Nippon Oil restarts Sendai FCC unit

MOSCOW (MRC) -- JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy, has brought on-stream, its fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) unit last weekend, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan, informed that, the company has resumed operations at its unit, in early-August, 2019. The unit was shut for maintenance, on June 10, 2019.

Located at Sendai, Japan, the FCC unit has a propylene capacity of 100,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, on June 17, 2018, JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy resumed operations at its cracker following an unplanned shutdown. The cracker was taken off-line in end-May 2018 owing to furnace issues. Located at Kawasaki in Japan, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 540,000 mt/year.
MRC

Milacron tight-lipped on Hillenbrand deal in Q2 results

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Executives at Milacron Holdings Corp. remained tight-lipped on any new details regarding the July 12 announcement that Hillenbrand Inc. is buying the company, said Plasticsnewseurope.

Milacron President and CEO Tom Goeke told analysts 30 July in a second quarter earnings call that the company would not be taking any questions related to the transaction.

The blockbuster cash and stock deal is valued at about USD2bn (EUR1.8bn), including net debt of approximately USD686m (EUR615m), and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020 if approved by Milacron shareholders.

"Our board carefully and thoroughly reviewed the strategic and financial merits of this combination and unanimously concluded that this transaction represents a unique opportunity for Milacron," Goeke said during the conference call.

As part of the merger, Milacron shareholders will receive USD11.80 (EUR10.58) in cash and a fixed exchange ratio of 0.1612 shares of Hillenbrand stock for each share of Milacron stock they own. Under terms of the agreement, Hillenbrand shareholders will own approximately 84% of the combined company and Milacron shareholders will own about 16%.

Both companies are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Milacron opened at USD16.83 (EUR15.00) and were trading down 0.36% to USD16.73 during morning trading hours. Hillenbrand shares opened at USD34 (EUR30.49) and were trading down 1.2% at USD33.70 (EUR30.22). Overall trading on the stock exchange was slightly down for the morning hours on 30 July.

"In Hillenbrand, I believe we have found a tremendous partner," Goeke said. "Our goal at Milacron has always been to provide our customers with innovative products across our critical plastics and fluid technologies. Together with Hillenbrand, we will be able to continue delivering breakthrough products and customised systems to existing and new customers, and strengthen our service platforms and distribution capabilities."

Hillenbrand, based in Batesville, Ind., is the parent company of compounding extruder maker Coperion and auxiliary equipment firms K-Tron and Rotex. It is also the manufacturer of burial caskets under the 100-year-old Batesville Casket brand. Hillenbrand went public in 2008 and has been diversifying into industrial machinery.
MRC

LDPE prices in Russia are steady, maintenance works at Angarsk and Salavat plants are over

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Prices were steady in the Russian low density polyethylene (LDPE) market in the first half of August, supply of polymer has been gradually increasing due to the end of the outages at two production facilities, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Simultaneously, two Russian LDPE producers - Angarsk Polymers Plant and Gazprom neftekhim Salavat - shut down their production capacities for maintenance in late June-early July. Outages of two plants reduced the excessive supply of polyethylene (PE) in the market, but did not lead to a shortage. Prices have remained relatively steady in the Russian LDPE market since the second half of July. Tomskneftekhim and Kazanorgsintez will shut their production capacities for turnarounds in September.

The plants' customers said Angarsk Polymers Plant and Gazprom neftekhim Salavat finished their maintenance works much later than planned, at the same time, certain restrictions in operations remained. Ufaorgsintez also reported disruptions in its operations, some of the plant's LDPE production capacities were taken off-stream last weekend because of technical issues.

Nevertheless, production problems at some production sites neither affected the balance of the Russian LDPE market, nor did they put pressure on prices. In addition, some market participants reported an increase in supply of PE from the Belarusian producer.

Overall, prices of 108 grade LDPE have been in the range of Rb80,500-83,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, since early August. The price spread of 158 grade PE was wider, deals were done in the range of Rb81,000-85,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

Shutdowns for maintenance at three plants simultaneously are also scheduled from late August to September. In the last week of August, Ufaorgsintez will shut its production of 158 grade LDPE for a one-week turnaround, and in late September-early October, the output of 108 grade PE will be also reduced by 50%.

Tomskneftekhim plans to take off-stream its production capacities for a two-week turnaround in September, but the exact dates have not been announced yet.

In September, Kazanorgsintez also plans to carry out consecutive maintenance works, which will begin on 26 September and will last about 30 days, at some of its production capacities.
MRC