Technip wins contract from Petronas for Rapid project in Johor

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Technip, leader of a joint venture with Fluor, has been awarded a program management consultancy contract by Petronas for the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Johor, Malaysia, as per GV.

The contract includes overall project and site management for the project and provision of project management services for specific engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning packages within Rapid.

Rapid, part of Petronas’ larger Pengerang Integrated Complex project, will include a 300,000-b/d refinery, which is due to start up by early 2019 and will supply naphtha and liquid petroleum gas feedstock for the petrochemical portion of the complex. The complex will have the capacity to produce 7.7-million t/y of various petrochemicals.

As MRC wrote previously, Malaysian state oil and gas company Petronas has pushed back the completion date for its Johor refinery-petrochemical project to 2017 as a final investment decision has been delayed. The company was expected to give the project the green light this year but had to push it back due to political uncertainty during the national elections early this year, industry sources said.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has closed the sale of its water treatment business in Africa to AECI, domiciled in South Africa, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to officials' confirmation.

The total value of the divestment amounts to CHF 34 million in cash at closing. The transaction was subject to certain precedent conditions, as well as regulatory approvals.

AECI is an explosives and specialty chemicals group domiciled in South Africa and its businesses are characterized by application know-how and service delivery in many African countries.

It already has a footprint in the industrial water and municipal and wastewater markets in South Africa, supplying a total water solution to its customers.

The former Clariant water treatment business provides chemicals, services and engineering solutions to a wide range of industries such as mining, automotive, food and beverage, metals and many others. It also serves municipalities to supply of drinking water in many African communities.

"The divestment of the Water Treatment business is the result of our continuous active portfolio management. We are pleased to have found in AECI an owner who is able to focus on this service driven activity", said Hariolf Kottmann, CEO of Clariant.

As MRC informed previously, in April 2014, Clariant Chemicals (India ) Ltd., an affiliate of Clariant AG announced the successful closure of the acquisition of Plastichemix Industries - a Gujarat based masterbatches business in India, with production facilities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari. Clariant in India will now be one of the leading masterbatches producer, that will offer a wide range of products like black, white, additive, filler & colour masterbatches, flushed pigments & mono-concentrates and engineering plastics compounds.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, Huntsman, Shanghai Hua Yi (Group) Co., Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co. and Sinopec held a ceremony Tuesday kicking off the construction of a new 240,000 tpy plant for crude MDI (diphenylmethane diisocyanate) at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) in Caojing, China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With the new plant, the MDI capacity at this site will be doubled to 480,000 tpy. In addition, the partners plan to build a HCl (hydrogen chloride) recycling plant for the production of chlorine, a precursor for MDI.

The facility is expected to start up 2017. The project is subject to further approval of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

MDI is an important precursor in the manufacture of polyurethanes – versatile polymers that are used in industries like construction, automotive, appliance, and footwear. "Asia Pacific remains an important growth and investment region for BASF, with the fast growing Chinese market being a major focus," said Martin Brudermuller vice chairman of BASF's executive board.

"Polyurethanes are among the most versatile materials existing to address sustainability issues across numerous applications such as the automotive or construction industries,' he added. "With the new plant, BASF can participate in this dynamic market."

The new MDI plant is planned to be adjacent to the existing integrated isocyanates complex at the Shanghai park. This will enable the utilization and full access to raw materials and energy.

Shanghai Lianheng Isocyanate Co. has a production capacity of 240,000 tpy of crude MDI and includes manufacturing facilities for the precursors aniline and nitrobenzene built by BASF, Huntsman, Shanghai Hua Yi (Group) Co., Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co. and Sinopec. Commercial production started in 2006.

As MRC wrote previously, in early June 2014, BASF successfully closed the previously announced transaction to divest its PolyAd Services business unit to Edgewater Capital Partners, L.P., a private equity firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. PolyAd Services is a stand-alone global business that offers innovative specialty blends and services to solve additive incorporation problems for the plastics compounding and converting industry globally. The business serves a wide spectrum of plastic applications in industries, such as automotive, building and construction, packaging and electronics.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Specialty chemical companies Clariant and Ashland have formally sold their joint venture ASK Chemicals, headquartered in Hilden, Germany, to investment funds affiliated with Rhone, a London and New York-based private equity investment firm, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The enterprise value of the transaction before debt and assumed liabilities amounts to CHF 310 million (EUR 257 million). After adjustments for debt and assumed liabilities, total pre-tax proceeds to the sellers will be approximately CHF 180 million (EUR 149 million), which includes CHF 155 million (EUR 128 million) in cash and a CHF 25 million (EUR 21 million) buyer note.

Proceeds will be split evenly between Ashland and Clariant under terms of the 50/50 joint venture. "The divestment of our stake in ASK Chemicals is part of our continuous active portfolio management to reallocate capital towards our more profitable growth areas," said Hariolf Kottmann, CEO of Clariant.

With 1,800 employees in 25 countries ASK Chemicals is a leading foundry chemicals manufacturer. Its portfolio encompasses an exceptionally broad and innovative range of foundry resources such as binders, coatings, feeders, filters and release agents, as well as metallurgical products including inoculants, inoculation wires and master alloys for iron casting.

In full-year 2013 ASK Chemicals generated revenues of EUR 513 million.

As MRC reported earlier, this summer, Clariant and Tasnee, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Saudi Arabia, signed an agreement to establish a masterbatches joint venture in Saudi Arabia. Clariant's Masterbatches business unit is a recognized global leader in color and additive concentrates and performance solutions for plastics.

Clariant Chemicals (India) Limited and custom color and additive products with production of more than 10,000 color matches which are completed each year. With more than 50 manufacturing plants around the world, Clariant
Masterbatches products, technology and service deliver competitive advantages that foster long-term customer relationships.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The specialty chemicals company has taken its new plant for polyamide plastics in Antwerp, Belgium, into operation as planned. The world-scale facility for polyamide plastics is designed for an annual capacity of around 90,000 metric tons, said Jeccomposites.

It represents an investment volume of EUR 75 million. The main customer of lightweight plastics is the automotive industry. Following the current starting-up phase, the capacity utilization rate of the plant will be gradually increased in the coming months.

All plastics manufactured by the company at Antwerp will be processed within its global network of compounding facilities into the final Durethan-brand products. In addition, the new plant for the polymerization of high-tech plastics has been built in the direct vicinity of the caprolactam facility operated by the group in Antwerp. Caprolactam is the key intermediate for plastics manufacturing. With the inauguration of the polyamide plant, the company will be able to increase its captive use of caprolactam.

After the polymerization the plastics are reinforced among others with glass fibers to further improve their properties and adapt them to customer needs. The glass fibers required for this purpose are also produced at a Lanxess facility in Antwerp.

The automotive industry is a key customer of Lanxess’ High Performance Materials (HPM) business unit. Innovative materials help to build much lighter plastic parts that can replace metal ones in motor vehicles and thus contribute to reducing fuel consumption and emissions. A lightweight design can reduce weight by 10 to 50 percent, depending on the component. Those plastics are used, for instance, in engine applications, door structures, pedals, front ends and cockpit crossmembers. Furthermore, the materials enable automobile manufacturers and suppliers to achieve considerable savings in production and facilitate the assembly. Another field of application for high-tech plastics is the electrical and electronics industry.

As MRC said before, Lanxess has successfully concluded the pilot phase for a highly efficient production process for butyl rubber. In the past seven years, Lanxess worked on a fundamentally new technology for a more sustainable production. An important step in this process was the testing of the new technology in two pilot plants at its production site in Zwijndrecht/Belgium since spring 2012.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.3 billion in 2013 and roughly 17,300 employees in 31 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.

MRC