MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nova Chemicals, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mubadala Investment Co. (Abu Dhabi), has announced that Todd Karran, president and CEO, has elected to retire, effective 1 August 2020, said Chemweek.
A career veteran of Nova Chemicals, Karran has served as president and CEO since 2015. He joined Nova in 1985 and was previously CFO; vice president/corporate development and treasurer; chief information officer; vice president/applications; and vice president and controller/olefins and polyolefins.
Karran has led the company through significant growth and expansion projects, including the completion and start-up of a new polyethylene reactor in Alberta, Canada; the decision to expand Nova’s geographical footprint into the US Gulf Coast; and building a second advanced Sclairtech technology facility in Ontario, Canada.
“There have been a number of important milestones achieved under [Karran’s] leadership and we truly appreciate his commitment to the Nova family and, not least, ensuring an unwavering focus on safety,” says Musabbeh al Kaabi, chairman of the board of directors. The board is currently finalizing arrangements to hire “a talented and experienced leader” to replace Karran, Kaabi says.
As MRC informed earlier, Borealis AG and NOVA Chemicals Corporation has announced they have reached an agreement for Borealis to buy NOVA Chemicals’ 50% ownership interest in Novealis Holdings LLC (Novealis). Formed in 2018, Novealis is the joint venture between affiliates of Borealis and NOVA Chemicals, which subsequently formed a 50/50 joint venture with an affiliate of Total S.A. to launch Bayport Polymers LLC (Baystar) in Houston, Texas, US.
As MRC reported earlier, in January 2017, NOVA Chemicals announced the start up of its new world-scale linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) gas phase reactor at its Joffre, Alberta site.
Besides, NOVA Chemicals expanded ethylene production capacity by 20% at its cracker in Corunna, Ontario from the previous capacity of about 839,000 tpy. The expansion occurred between 2014 and 2018 and was part of a wave of expansions and upgrades to NOVA's existing facilities near Sarnia, Ontario. Other upgrades in the plan included a debottlenecking of the Moore low-density polyethylene (LDPE) line and a retrofit of the Moore high-density polyethylene (HDPE) line.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim.
NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a plastics and chemical company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is wholly-owned ultimately by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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