Curbell Plastics buys distributor Nationwide Plastics

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plastic product distributor Curbell Plastics Inc. has purchased Nationwide Plastics Inc., a full-service distributor with extensive plastic part fabrication and precision machining capabilities, for an undisclosed amount, said Canplastics.

The acquisition adds Nationwide Plastics’ 50-plus employees and three facilities – in Arlington and Houston, Tex., and Jackson, Miss. – to the national Curbell distribution network, which now numbers 22 locations. Curbell has its own location in Arlington, and the two Arlington locations will eventually combine to form the largest Curbell branch, Curbell said in an Aug. 26 statement.

Founded in 1942, Curbell is headquartered in Orchard Park, N.Y., and distributes performance plastic sheet, rod, tube, film, adhesives, sealants, and prototyping materials for manufacturing. It also offers fabrication and machining services that include complete CNC plastics machining, and many different types of plastics molding and processing.

Curbell said that Nationwide Plastics will operate as a division of Curbell for the immediate future, and that customers of each company will continue to receive access to both organization’s technically trained sales and business development teams, as well as the Curbell and Nationwide Plastics e-commerce websites.

“We’re confident Nationwide Plastics customers will quickly see that the service level they’re used to will get even better as we combine our resources and talents with Curbell,” Nationwide Plastics vice president Chris Jones said in the statement.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nebraska is known for its corn-growing and husking, but injection molding training supplier RJG Inc. is partnering with Nebraska’s Central Community College (CCC) to bring injection molding training to the state, said Canplastics.

CCC and RJG will be opening a new training facility on the CCC campus in the town of Grand Island in the beginning of 2020, with RJG’s curriculum becoming part of the college’s program.

“RJG’s award-winning courses have trained countless injection molding professionals in a real-world, hands-on capacity to improve their careers and lives,” said Gary Chastain, consulting and training director at RJG. “CCC has a passion for teaching real-world skills, including injection molding, so the partnership made sense. They’ve been working hard to get the training facility up and running as quickly as possible for their students."

Currently, the mechanicals are in place, Chastain said, and the floor will soon receive its new finish in the 4,000-square-foot lab. One of the injection molding machines arrives.

The opening of the new facility has been assisted by many local injection molding companies, with machines donated by Becton Dickinson, Molex, Arburg, and Toyo. “Advanced Engineering is donating the complete cooling system, and Major Mold is helping with molds,” Chastain said. Other smaller donations include conveyors, robots, and more, he added.

“We are very excited to open up this opportunity to CCC students,” Chastain said. “Learning new skills through hands-on training is invaluable, especially today as less and less students choose manufacturing-based careers. We hope to instill a love of the trade and provide new opportunities to future molders."

CCC is a multi-campus community college serving a 25-county area in central Nebraska, and offers 36 career and technical education programs with a focus on degree, diploma, and certificate programs requiring two years or less to complete.

RJG is headquartered in Traverse City, Mich., and offers certifications including Master Molder I, II, and III,
Systematic molding, Injection molding essentials, and more.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, has increased September list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in Asia outside China (AOC), as per the company's press release.

The price increase was effective for orders shipped on or after 29 August, 2019, or as contracts otherwise allow, and is incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, September VAM prices rose by USD50/mt - for AOC.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese last raised its VAM prices for AOC on 19 July, 2019, by the sam amount.

According to MRC's DataScope report, July EVA imports to Russia increased by 4% year on year to 3,490 tonnes from 3,350 tonnes in July 2018, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation decreased in January-July 2019 by 14, 3% year on year to 22,440 tonnes (26,170 tonnes in the first seven months of 2018).

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French oil major Total said it had signed deals to transfer some of its assets in Kenya, Guyana and Namibia to Qatar Petroleum, reported Reuters.

In Namibia, Total will transfer to Qatar Petroleum a 30% interest in Block 2913B while keeping a 40% interest. Total will also transfer 28.33% in Block 2912 while retaining a 37.78% stake.

In Guyana, Qatar Petroleum will have 40% of the company holding Total's existing 25% interests in the Orinduik and Kanuku blocks. In Kenya, Total and Eni will transfer a combined 25% interest in Blocks L11A, L11B and L12 to Qatar Petroleum.

As MRC wrote previously, in H2 May 2019, Total said it had curbed output at its German refinery at Leuna due to continuing problems with contaminated Russian crude oil supply. Russia’s oil export flows were disrupted since April when high levels of organic chloride were found in crude pumped via the Druzhba pipeline to the Baltic port of Ust-Luga and elsewhere in Europe via Poland.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bolivian Fiscal Petroleum Reservoirs (YPFB) on Friday launched a public tender to hire an international company with a recognized track record in the petrochemical industry, to carry out the engineering of the "Propylene and Polypropylene Plants" project, said Bnamericas.

"This engineering consists in determining the necessary facilities to be built in these plants, as well as their auxiliary systems, so that this petrochemical complex has a production of 250,000 metric tons of polypropylene annually," said YPFB President Oscar Barriga Arteaga. The raw material that will be used by this petrochemical complex that will be located in the town of Palmar Chico (Yacuiba), 10 km north of the Carlos Villegas Plant, is propane from the liquid separator plant.

In the act of launching this tender, the president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Evo Morales Ayma, the Minister of Hydrocarbons, Luis Alberto Sanchez, the president of YPFB, Oscar Barriga Arteaga and regional authorities of the Gran Chaco province of the department of Tarija.

At the end of this engineering, the final designs of the petrochemical complex will be carried out, which will allow us to continue with the following stages regarding the “Purchase of Machinery and Equipment” and “Construction and Assembly”.

The national industry may use polypropylene as a raw material for the manufacture of finished products, such as household appliances, auto parts and other products for daily use, which have a greater added value. This industry will allow generating development poles that will boost the economy not only by the industries but also by the services that they require for its operation.

The installation of industries in towns near the Propylene and Polypropylene Plants, such as Yacuiba, Villa Montes and Carapari, in addition to other regions of Bolivia, will allow the manufacture of finished products intended for both internal consumption and export.

At the moment, progress was made with Conceptual Engineering and product development processes (PDP). Likewise, an investment of more than USD2 billion is estimated, for which a loan from the Central Bank of Bolivia is available.

The project will be dedicated to the production of polymers to obtain soft and hard plastics. It will also allow adding value to natural gas and thus promoting the plastics processing industry to consolidate the petrochemical industry in Bolivia.

This YPFB release was published using machine translation.
MRC