Evonik invests in two leading Chinese funds to strengthen its footprint in the region

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik is extending its corporate venture capital activities in China with investments into GRC SinoGreen Fund V and Richland VC Fund III, as per the company's press release.

The two leading funds focus on advanced materials, high-end manufacturing equipment, digital transformation, and green technologies. They will strengthen Evonik’s activities in the region and will provide access to attractive technologies and business opportunities. Parties have agreed to not disclose the amount of the investment.

“China is one of the world’s fastest growing innovation leaders and therefore an attractive market for venture capital,” said Bernhard Mohr, head of Evonik Venture Capital. “By partnering with funds that have deep understanding of the innovation ecosystem in China and broad networks with local start-ups, Evonik is able to gain rapid access to new technologies and attractive business opportunities at an early stage.”

The Chinese venture capital fund GRC invests in material-focused green technology companies in China. GRC SinoGreen Fund V intends to focus on areas of circular economy, synthetic biology, 3D printing, battery materials and carbon materials. The investment marks a follow-up to Evonik’s participation in 2015 in the third fund of GRC (GRC SinoGreen Fund III).

Richland Capital invests in advanced materials and pays attention to new technologies such as advanced manufacturing equipment and digital technology. Therefore, it has set its investments focus on the value chain of materials, equipment and data, targeting strategic industries such as pan-semiconductor, e-mobility, digital manufacturing, 5G and alternative energy.

Evonik is a well-known corporate venture capital partner in China with a local presence since 2018 and several fund and direct investments over the years. The Venture Capital arm plays a strategic role in Evonik’s goal to become a best-in-class specialty chemicals company, by investing in innovative technologies and disruptive business models as well as enabling digital technologies.

As MRC reported earlier, in February, 2020, Dow and Evonik entered into an exclusive technology partnership. Together, they plan to bring a unique method for directly synthesizing propylene glycol (PG) from propylene and hydrogen peroxide to market maturity.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The focus on more specialty businesses, customer-oriented innovative prowess and a trustful and performance-oriented corporate culture form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. They are the lever for profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company. Evonik benefits specifically from its customer proximity and leading market positions. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world with more than 33,000 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. energy companies are moving to require that employees receive COVID-19 vaccinations as infection rates rise across the United States and energy workers, according to health surveys, remain among those most reluctant to get inoculations, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Calls to require vaccinations for employees who work closely together in oilfield and refinery operations come as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday fully approved the Pfizer-BioNTech shot. The second-largest U.S. oil producer, Chevron Corp, and refiner Valero Energy Corp will require jabs for certain field workers or new workers. Top oilfield services firm Schlumberger said last week some customers are requesting that its staff be vaccinated or tested before arriving on job sites.

"We continuously review our internal policies and procedures to ensure that we can meet our customers’ needs while prioritizing the health and safety of all our employees," a Schlumberger spokeswoman said in an email. San Antonio-based Valero this month became the first U.S. refiner to require vaccinations as a condition of employment for new workers at Texas and Louisiana oil refineries.

Oil producer Hess also said it will require workers at its U.S. Gulf of Mexico operations to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1. In a statement, the company pointed to the "highly infectious nature" of the Delta variant and rising number of COVID-19 cases in the United States.

Energy and construction workers have some of the lowest vaccine uptake rates, according to an online survey led by Wendy King, an associate epidemiology professor at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Some 45% of extraction and construction workers said they were hesitant to get the vaccine, versus just 7.3% in the computer and mathematical professions, the May survey showed.

Chevron's mandate will cover offshore workers in the Gulf of Mexico, some onshore support staff, expatriates and employees who travel internationally, a spokeswoman said in an email. Earlier this month, Chevron postponed a full return of employees in California and Texas to offices because of a resurgence in coronavirus cases related to the fast-spreading Delta variant.

As per MRC, Chevron and other partners said they are investing in a startup to build modular waste-to-green hydrogen and renewable synthetic fuel facilities in northern California with tentative plans to eventually grow worldwide. The USD20 million investment in Wyoming-based Raven SR is focused on technology to develop combustion-free, green hydrogen for transportation that is cleaner than so-called blue hydrogen derived from natural gas.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Funds advised by SK Capital Partners, LP, a private investment firm focused on the specialty materials, chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors, today announced the acquisition of the Monomers, Polymers and European businesses of Deltech Holdings, LLC, said the company.

SK Capital has acquired a majority interest in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based business. Bob Elefante, one of Deltech’s original founders and current President and CEO, is retaining a significant ownership stake in the Company and will remain actively involved in the business, including serving on the Board of Directors.

"Deltech is a world leader in the production of high-performance aromatic monomers and specialized crystal polystyrene,” said Mario Toukan, a Managing Director at SK Capital. “Deltech offers an attractive product portfolio with leading market positions in niche technologies. Their portfolio includes vinyl toluene (VT), divinyl benzene (DVB) and para methyl styrene (PMS), in addition to their specialty crystal polystyrene. Deltech’s products deliver critical attributes to products across a diverse set of end markets, including coatings and adhesives resins, ion exchange resins, insulation and molded composites, to name a few."

Bob Elefante stated, "SK Capital is the ideal partner given its track record of successfully supporting the growth of entrepreneur-owned businesses in the specialty chemicals industry. We have a shared vision for the future of Deltech, built upon the Company’s unique product portfolio and long-term commitment to serving our customers."

"Deltech’s superior service and delivery, combined with their high-performance products, have made the Company a preferred supplier to key global customers," added Jonathan Borell, a Managing Director at SK Capital. "Their knowledge of specialty monomers manufacturing and applications is unmatched. We look forward to partnering with Bob and the Deltech management team to expand the commercial applications for their highly specialized monomers and polymers."

Deltech employs 135 people across its Baton Rouge headquarters and manufacturing facility, its additional manufacturing facilities in Troy, Ohio and Haverhill, United Kingdom, and its global field operations.

As per MRC, SK Capital Partners, LP, a private investment firm focused on the specialty materials, chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors, has completed its previously announced acquisition of Ipackchem Group SAS, a leader in sustainability-oriented barrier packaging.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.


SK Capital is a private investment firm with a disciplined focus on the specialty materials, chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors. The firm seeks to build strong and growing businesses that create substantial long-term value. SK Capital aims to utilize its industry, operating and investment experience to identify opportunities to transform businesses into higher performing organizations with improved strategic positioning, growth and profitability, as well as lower operating risk. SK Capital’s portfolio of businesses generates revenues of approximately $11 billion annually, employs more than 16,000 people globally and operates 153 plants in 28 countries. The firm currently has greater than USD5 billion of assets under management.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has given up its 49% stake in a Dominican refinery as part of a swap for some of its defaulted bonds, the Dominican Republic's finance ministry and Venezuela's oil minister said in statements this week, reported Reuters.

The transaction represents a small breakthrough between the company and its creditors as US sanctions, aimed at ousting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, complicate efforts to restructure billions of dollars in debt that PDVSA and the government have defaulted on amidst an economic collapse.

As part of the deal, PDVSA subsidiary PDV Caribe S.A. first swapped its shares in the 34,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Refidomsa refinery for bonds held by a company named PATSA Ltd, a unit of Dominican cocoa company Grupo Rizek, which the finance ministry described as a "facilitator" of the transaction.

PATSA then immediately sold the shares to the Dominican government, which already owned the remaining 51% stake in the plant, for EUR74 million (USD88.1 million). The plant is now fully-owned by the Dominican government.

That was far below the USD135 million PDVSA paid for the minority stake in Refidomsa in 2010 as part of the late former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' efforts at boosting the OPEC member's influence in the Caribbean through petrodiplomacy. PDVSA has neither sent crude to the refinery, nor received refined products from the plant, for several years.

Venezuelan oil minister Tareck El Aissami said in a statement posted to Twitter that Venezuela and PDVSA reduced its outstanding debt as a result of the deal, without providing details.

The Dominican Republic's finance ministry said the sanctions had complicated Refidomsa's ability to get credit and invest in expansion projects. It said it informed the US government of the deal and that Washington did not object.

The United States under President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on PDVSA in 2019 to cut off cash flow to Maduro, who it labels a dictator and accuses of corruption, election-rigging and human rights violations. The Venezuelan government denies this and accuses the U.S. of pushing for regime change. (

As MRC informed earlier, in July 2021, PDVSA started producing two upgraded crude grades for domestic refining, aiming at reanimating the country's much-needed output of motor fuels, reported. Years of under-investment in PDVSA's 1.3 million-barrel-per-day capacity refining network and US sanctions since 2019 have led to intermittent scarcity of cooking gas, gasoline and diesel, making the nation more dependent on imports and forcing Venezuelans to line up for hours and even days to get fuel.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- At least one person died and five more are missing due to a fire that erupted on an offshore platform run by Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in the southern Gulf of Mexico, the Mexican state oil and gas company said, as per Reuters.

Three Pemex workers were injured and another was in a state of nervous shock, the company said in a statement. In addition, one Pemex worker died in the incident, it added.

Three workers of a contracting firm, Mexican oil services company COTEMAR, were injured and three more were missing, and another two from a firm named as Bufete de Monitoreo de Condiciones e Integridad were also missing, Pemex said.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed his sorrow at the incident at his daily morning news conference.

Pemex said it would investigate what caused the blaze at the E-Ku-A2 platform at the Ku-Maloob-Zaap oil field in the Bay of Campeche, which was brought under control on Sunday afternoon.

As per MRC, Pemex Petroquimica, a subsidiary of the Mexican state oil company Pemex, has resumed production of high-density polyethylene (LDPE) on line 2 in Cangrejera, Mexico after an unscheduled renovation. Earlier it was noted that Pemex postponed the restart of the second line with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year for the production of LDPE until August 10. It was originally planned that the launch of this production will begin at the end of July. The line was closed on 10 July.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is a Mexican state-owned oil and gas and petrochemical company. Since the nationalization of the Mexican oil industry in 1938, Pemex has remained a state-owned company and, by law, has exclusive rights to explore and produce oil in the country. Almost 60% of the company's revenues go to the state budget. Petrochemical products include, but are not limited to, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride.
MRC