Trinseo increases April price of PS and copolymers in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo (formerly known as Styron), the global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe has announced price increases for all polystyrene (PS) and copolymer grades, reported the company on its site.

Effective immediately, or as existing contract terms allow, the April contract and spot prices for the products listed below will increase as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS), STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR320/tonne;
- MAGNUM ABS and TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR230/tonne.

As MRC wrote before, Trinseo raised March contract and spot prices for all polystyrene (PS) and copolymer grades in Europe, as follows:

- STYRON GPPS, STYRON and STYRON A-TECH HIPS - by EUR195/tonne;
- MAGNUM ABS and TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR155/tonne.

Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo has completed the name change process for most legal entities around the world. Some Styron companies are still completing this process and will continue to do business as Styron until their respective name changes are complete.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo’s technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- A subsidiary of Fluor Corp. will manage the construction of Azerbaijan's new USD16.5 billion oil, gas and petrochemicals processing plant, the U.S. Embassy in the former Soviet republic said, as per Reuters.

The new complex will replace Azeri state energy company SOCAR's two ageing downstream refineries - the Baku and Azerneftyag oil refineries - as well as the Garadagh gas processing plant and the facilities of chemicals firm Azerikimya.

It will be built at Sangachal, 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of Baku, where Azerbaijan's main oil and gas pipelines reach the Caspian Sea. Fluor Ltd., which was chosen by SOCAR via tender, is a unit of Fluor Corp, one of the world's largest publicly traded engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance and project management companies.

Fluor will choose subcontractors to carry out engineering works. SOCAR said last week it would ask the oil-rich country's central bank for a 10-year loan worth 1 billion manats (USD952 million).

The money is needed for the first stage of the project, which is estimated to cost USD2.1 billion. Construction is expected to begin at the end of this year and be completed by 2020. SOCAR said last year it had delayed the completion date of the complex by four years until 2030 due to a lack of funds.

Within the complex, a gas processing plant and a petrochemicals plant are due to be completed by 2020 instead of 2017, and an oil refinery by 2030 instead of 2026. Industry sources say the new petrochemical complex will allow the country to profit from processing oil rather than just exporting it.

SOCAR hopes that investment firms and private companies will provide 70 percent of the funds for the project, and the rest will be financed by SOCAR and Azerbaijan's USD37 billion state oil fund. Once completed, annual oil refinery capacity will rise to 8 million tonnes of crude, from 6 million tonnes.

The gas processing plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 12 billion cubic metres (bcm), while the petrochemical plant will produce about 800,000 tonnes of polyethylene and 300,000 tonnes of polypropylene.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal DSM, the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company, announces it has successfully issued a EUR500 million 1.0% bond due 2025, said the company in its press release.

The terms are laid down in the EUR4 billion Debt Issuance Program of Royal DSM, the final terms and the supplements thereto, which are available in the Investor Relations section.

The re-offer price was 99.405%. Based on this price the yield is 1.063%. The bond will be listed on Euronext Amsterdam shortly.

This release does not constitute an offer or an invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities. The notes are being offered only by means of a prospectus.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wacker Chemie AG inaugurated its new production plant for food-grade polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) solid resins at its Nanjing site (Jiangsu province) in China, said Chemeurope.

PVAc solid resins find use in the manufacture of gumbase for chewing gum. With this investment, WACKER intends to secure sufficient long-term capacity to meet the strong demand for PVAc solid resins and thus continue to offer its Asia-Pacific customers high supply security and product quality. The Group invested around €20 million in the expansion project.

"The new solid-resins plant in Nanjing is an important milestone for our continued growth in the region," explained Auguste Willems, Wacker Chemie AG Executive Board member, at the opening ceremony. "Asia has become one of the biggest markets for chewing gum. Thanks to the new plant, we can keep pace with our customers’ strong demand for high-quality polyvinyl acetate solid resins in the region in the future – and are thus strengthening our position as the world’s leading manufacturer of solid resins for gumbase."

The company spent around EUR20m for the expansion project at the Nanjing complex. While strengthening its position as manufacturer of PVAc solid resins, the project allows the company to serve the demand for the product with sufficient long-term capacity.

The Nanjing complex already serves the construction, coating, adhesive and other industries by providing vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer dispersions and dispersible polymer powders.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Unipetrol, subsidiary of PKN ORLEN, welcomes the Office for the Protection of Competition final decision regarding the purchase of Eni’s 32.445% stake in Ceska rafinerska. After the transaction closing, which is expected in the second quarter of this year, Unipetrol will become a sole shareholder of Ceska rafinerska, reported the company on its site.

"In particular, we decided to purchase the stake in Ceska rafinerska to ensure the feedstock for our petrochemical production, which will be the main producer of the group's profit in future," says the CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Unipetrol, Marek Switajewski. "The acquisition opens up possibilities for further improvements of the operational management of the Czech refineries and will enable strategic control over these assets. We expect an improvement especially in terms of operational cost savings," adds Marek Switajewski.

After the acquisition of Shell's stake in early 2014, Unipetrol’s share in the share capital amounts to 67.555%. After the completion of the transaction with ENI, Unipetrol’s share will increase to 100%.

CESKA RAFINERSKA, a.s. operates refineries in Litvinov and Kralupy, currently the only two running refineries in the Czech Republic.

Unipetrol , a.s. is a group of companies operating in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005 Unipetrol became a part of the PKN ORLEN Group, the largest oil processor in Central Europe. The UNIPETROL Group is oriented mostly towards oil processing, fuel distribution and petrochemical production. In all of these business areas the Unipetrol Group is among the key players both in the Czech Republic and on the Central European market. The Group ranks among the leading firms in the Czech Republic in terms of its revenues, and employs almost 4,000 people.
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