Import of PVC to Kazakhstan decreased by 5% in January-September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Kazakhstan decreased in January-September 2017 by 5% year on year to 41,700 tonnes, reported MRC analysts.

PVC imports into Kazakhstan decreased in September, reaching 3,400 tonnes compared with 7,100 tonnes in August.
Total SPVC imports to Kazakhstan reached about 41,700 tonnes in the first nine months of this year, compared to 43,900 tonnes in the same period in 2016.

Due to the geographical position, the main suppliers of PVC to Kazakhstan were Chinese producers, with the share of about 92% of the local market over the stated period.

PVC shipments from Russia have grown significantly more than 3,400 tonnes this year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- RockRose Energy has signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Idemitsu Petroleum UK from Idemitsu Kosan, a Japanese corporation, said Drillingandproduction.

The Acquisition will be funded out of the existing facilities and cash resources of the Company. The Acquisition will be funded out of the existing facilities and cash resources of the Company. Completion of the Acquisition is conditional upon confirmation from the UK Oil and Gas Authority that there is no objection to change of control.

The Acquisition also brings with it a number of key employees and its premises in London, which will enhance RockRose's internal expertise providing continuity on the acquired assets and assisting with the management of the wider portfolio.

On closure of this Acquisition and previously announced transactions, RockRose will have a projected 6,200 - 7,000 boepd of production in 2018 on an aggregated basis.

Andrew Austin, Chairman of RockRose said: "RockRose is continuing to deliver on its stated strategy of building a business through the acquisition of mature producing assets. We believe that this acquisition is a significant one for the Company and that this portfolio also has a lot of potential for extended field life and gives Rockrose access to significant tax losses."

"We continue to review further acquisition opportunities in North West Europe and, post completion of this along with the previously announced Maersk, Sojitz and Egerton transactions by the end of this year, will have established a material business in the North Sea, set to deliver value to our shareholders."

The Acquisition constitutes a reverse takeover for the purposes of the listing rules, the Company has requested that the UK Listing Authority to suspend the listing of the shares with immediate effect. The Company will proceed to prepare and publish a new prospectus in the coming weeks which will include a competent persons report on the assets of the Company as enlarged by the Acquisition.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical is in plans to shut its naphtha cracker for a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the company is likely to undertake planned turnaround at the cracker in early-May, 2018. The cracker is expected to remain under maintenance for a period of around two months.

Located at Kashima in Japan, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 540,000 mt/year and a propylene capacity of 260,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, in July 2016, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings unveiled plans to sell its PTA business, the primary raw material used to manufacture various polyester products and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), in India and China amid profitability concerns with oversupply of the acid, mainly from China.

Mitsubishi Chemical with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, is a diversified chemical company involved in petrochemicals, polymers, agrochemicals, speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The company's main focus is on three business pillars: petrochemicals, performance and functional products, and health care.
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MOSCOW (MRC) — The European Commission on Wednesday cleared USD154.12 MM of investment aid Hungary granted to oil and gas company MOL for expanding a plant in the North of the country, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

MOL will invest a total of 874 MM euros to expand production at its Tiszaujvaros plant in northern Hungary, to include petrochemical products used in car manufacturing.

The Commission, which acts as the competition watchdog in the European Union, said that without the funding, the project would not have been carried out in the Northern Hungary region, eligible for rural development aid.

"The Commission therefore concluded that the positive effects of the project on regional development clearly outweigh any distortion of competition brought about by the State aid," it said in a statement.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, has announced plans to expand the capacity of its global compounding assets and certain product-specific manufacturing production sites to support the significant growth in its engineered materials business, as per the company's press release.

"As the global demand for specialty materials increases in key industries such as medical, automotive, consumer goods and electronics, Celanese is partnering with our customers to deliver the innovative materials found in products that consumers around the world use every day," said Scott Richardson, senior vice president, Celanese engineered materials business. "These planned capacity expansions at selected Celanese facilities - along with our recent acquisitions - will enable us to continue to support a growing and diverse customer base and respond to the increasing need for compounded specialty materials, long-fiber thermoplastics and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene."

Expansions are planned within the global Celanese manufacturing network as follows:

1. Compounding Capacity Expansions:

- In the Asia region, Celanese will add two production lines at its Nanjing, China, facility and one production line at its recently acquired Suzhou, China, facility.
- In the Americas region, Celanese will add two production lines at its Florence, Kentucky, facility, as well as expand compounding production capacity at its Bishop, Texas, facility.
- In the European region, Celanese will add one new production line at its recently acquired Forli, Italy, facility.

Celanese expects these new production lines and expansions will add approximately 50-60kt per year in compounding capacity. The company also expects through the debottlenecking of existing global production lines to see an additional 10-15kt per year capacity of compounded material production capability.

2.Celstran LFT Capacity Expansions:

- In the Americas region, Celanese is in the process of adding one new Celstran® long-fiber thermoplastics (LFT) production line at its Winona, Minnesota, facility as well as debottlenecking existing production lines at this facility.

The company expects through this expansion and the debottlenecking of existing global LFT production lines to see an additional 9kt per year of capacity.

3. GUR UHMW-PE Capacity Expansions:

- In the Asia region, Celanese is in the planning stages of one new GUR® ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) production line at its Nanjing, China, facility.

The company expects this new production line to add approximately 15kt per year of new GUR® UHMW-PE product capacity.

These announced projects are expected to be completed in the 2018-2019 timeframe and financial details are not being disclosed at this time.

As MRC wrote before, Celanese Corporation will increase list and off-list selling prices for ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA) in the Americas. The price increase below will be effective as of 1 November 2017, or as contracts otherwise allow, and is incremental to the previously announced increases. Thus, the company's EVA prices will go up by USD0,05/lb for the mentioned above regions.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,300 employees worldwide and had 2016 net sales of USD5.4 billion.
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