Wacker Polymers to raise prices for dispersions and polyvinyl alcohol solutions in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wacker Polymers is to raise its prices for dispersions of the VINNAPAS and VINNOL brand as well as for polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) solutions of the POLYVIOL brand in Europe, as per the company's press release.

Effective July 15, 2017, prices will be raised by up to EUR70 per ton, or as customer contracts allow. This measure has been necessitated by the continued increase in costs, in particular for raw materials.

The price adjustment enables Wacker Polymers to continue providing customers with a wide-range of innovative quality products and comprehensive technical, sales and customer support services.

Dispersions of the VINNAPAS and VINNOL brand are applied in a broad variety of industries, ranging from adhesives, caulks, nonwovens, paints and coatings to paper, carpet and textiles. POLYVIOL PVOH solution are mainly used in the paper and printing industry.

As MRC informed previously, in 2013, Wacker Chemie AG officially launched its new production plant for ethylene-vinyl-acetate copolymer (EVA) dispersions at its Ulsan site in South Korea. The additional 40,000 tonnes from the second reactor line increased the site's EVA-dispersion capacity to a total of 90,000 tonnes per year. The production capacity of the site, thus, almost doubled, making the plant complex one of the biggest of its kind in South Korea.

Wacker Chemie AG is a worldwide operating company in the chemical business, founded 1914. The company is controlled by the Wacker-family holding more than 50 percent of the shares. The corporation is operating more than 25 production sites in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The product range includes silicone rubbers, polymer products like ethylene vinyl acetate redispersible polymer powder, chemical materials, polysilicon and wafers for semiconductor industry.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US-based Dow Chemical Company has announced plans to construct a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to produce a range of polymers for coatings and water-treatment applications in Saudi Arabia at an investment of over USD100 million, as per TradeArabia News Service, as per Plastemart.

Located in the PlasChem Park in Jubail, the coatings facility will service the needs of the Saudi market with an innovative range of acrylic-based polymers for industrial and architectural coatings and water-treatment and detergent applications. The new coatings facility will complement Dow’s existing coatings capabilities in the Middle East, which include an existing facility at Jebel Ali, in Dubai, UAE.

Apart from the waterborne polymer facility, the company has also signed an agreement for a feasibility study related to a proposed investment in the company’s Performance Silicones franchise.

"Dow has been a long-term strategic partner in Saudi Arabia for nearly four decades and is the largest foreign investor in the country," remarked Andrew Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer, after signing the agreements at a recent event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. "Through our global and regional experience and expertise, we have unmatched capabilities to deliver high value, innovative solutions that support the kingdom in key growth areas that help advance the Saudi’s Vision 2030 plan designed to create a vibrant society and a thriving diversified economy," he added.

According to him, the proposed silicones investment will include constructing a fully-integrated, world-scale siloxanes and high-performance silicones complex geared towards markets and industries such as home and personal care, automotive, high-performance building and construction, solar energy, medical devices, and oil and gas.

As MRC informed before, Dow Chemical's polyethylene (PE) expansion at its Freeport, Texas, complex is on track for a mid-2017 startup. The Freeport complex currently has a 640,000 mt/year of PE capacity and is expected to add 1,050,000 mt/year of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE).

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Saudi Aramco said its recoverable crude oil and condensate reserves slipped to 260.8 Bbbl at the end of 2016 but its daily crude oil production hit a new record of 10.5 MMbpd, said Reuters.

Aramco's reserves stood at 261.1 B in 2015. Its gas reserves rose to 298.7 trillion standard cubic feet from 297.6 T, Saudi Aramco said in its 2016 annual review.

The company said it had discovered two new oilfields, Jubah and Sahaban, and one new gas field, Hadidah, all located in the Eastern Province, the main oil region in Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter. Saudi Arabia's national oil company plans to list a stake through an initial public offering in 2018 which is expected to be the world's biggest IPO.

The review did not make a reference to updates on the IPO process, which is at the heart of Saudi Arabia's economic transformation program. "For Saudi Aramco, the most notable feature of the Kingdom's transformation will be the future offering of part of the company's shares in local and international stock markets," said Khalid al-Falih chairman of Aramco and Saudi energy minister.

Aramco, which has exclusive rights to explore and develop Saudi Arabia's oil and gas, boosted oil production to a new record of 10.5 MMbpd in 2016, from 10.2 MMbpd in 2015, it said in the review. Its oil exports rose to 7.6 MMbpd in 2016 from 7.1 MMbpd in 2015. Asia still accounts for the lion's share of Saudi Aramco's exports at 66%, up from 65% in 2015, followed by exports to the United States, whose share dropped to 15.8% from 16.6% in 2015.

Aramco has also raised processing capacity of raw gas to 12 Bscfd. After raw gas is processed, output of sales gas or methane, used mainly for electricity and petrochemicals, hit a new record of 8.3 Bscfd.

Ethane production, the favourite feedstock for petrochemicals was also higher to 920 MMscfd from 794 MMscfd in 2015.

Saudi Aramco plans to double its gas production to 23 Bscfd in a decade by including "unconventional gas" in the mix and by continuing to develop gas non-associated with oil to help it limit the use of oil in power generation and provide feedstock to the petrochemical industry it is keen to grow.

Its share of chemical production capacity almost doubled to 13,285 ktpy from 7,016 ktpy in 2015 partly thanks to the start-up of commercial operations at Sadara, its joint venture with US Dow Chemical.

Its Wasit gas plant fed by non-associated gas from offshore fields Hasbah and Arabiyah hit full capacity of 2.5 Bscfd. Aramco said more than 40% of non-associated gas now comes from the two fields. Progress continued to be made in the unconventional gas program as the company completed wells in northern Saudi Arabia to deliver 55 MMscfd of gas by year-end 2017 to industrial and electrical power facilities in the Wa'ad Al Shamal industrial city, a phosphate project run by Saudi mining company Ma'aden.

Saudi Aramco has responded to the challenges of the industry by lowering costs of its operations across the board.

As part of technological advancements, it said in the review it implemented new techniques to lower gas production costs such as the use resin-enhanced local sand to fracture a gas well with further trials to follow this year.

Another gas project Midyan is almost complete, it said while on the oil side, the expansion of Arab Light Khurais oilfield to 1.5 MMbpd will be on stream by mid-2018.

Midyan is one of the new gas fields in northwest Saudi Arabia to produce gas for power plants and potentially supply other industries in a region rich in iron ore deposits.

It was discovered in the 1980s and has significant reserves.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide Engineering & Construction has just signed a new contract to supply an air separation unit (ASU) to Shandong Lianmeng Chemical, a large chemical company in China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Air Liquide Engineering & Construction will design and build for Shandong Lianmeng Chemical, a new ASU with a production capacity of 2,300 t of oxygen per day, to supply oxygen and nitrogen to the chemical plant.

This new unit will be built by using Air Liquide’s expertise and best in class technology which enables to maximize energy efficiency and minimize the environmental footprint.

Founded in 1970, Shandong Lianmeng Chemical is among top 100 chemical enterprises in China. It’s the first time that Shandong Lianmeng Chemical and Air Liquide E&C entered into agreement.

"We are delighted to have been selected by a new customer, Lianmeng Chemical to supply this ASU," said Domenico D’Elia, Vice President and Chairman of Air Liquide Engineering & Construction. “The new contract reaffirms our expertise in oxygen production technologies, the value of our solutions and underscores our abilities to meet the needs of the chemical industry. Air Liquide is committed to support China industries to realize the scale-up and transformation."

As MRC informed earlier, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction has been selected to supply two hydrogen production steam methane reformer (SMR) units to Dangote Group, the largest manufacturing conglomerate in West Africa.

L'Air Liquide S.A., or Air Liquide, is a French multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services to various industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser met Pertamina boss Elia Massa Manik in Jakarta on Friday to reaffirm its commitment to their Cilacap Refinery joint development, said Reuters.

The meeting was held "to reaffirm Aramco's commitment to Indonesia joint venture project development," Aramco said on its official Twitter account, without providing further details.

Manik, formerly head of state-owned agriculture holding company PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) III, was appointed boss of Pertamina in March.

In June, Pertamina said it was awaiting approval from Saudi Aramco to delay completion of a USD5 B upgrade of the Cilacap Refinery in Central Java to 2023 from 2021.

The upgrade will increase capacity to 400,000 bpd from 348,000 bpd.

As MRC informed earlier, Saudi Aramco and France's Total are considering building a mixed-feed cracker and derivatives in Jubail, near their joint refining complex. The cracker is expected to have a capacity of 1.5 MMtpy.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
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