Borouge launches new office in Indonesia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borouge, in line with its plan to increase its polyolefin production capacity to 4.5 million tpa by 2014, will open a representative office in Jakarta, Indonesia, during the second quarter of this year, GV.

The company, as part of a strategy to be closer to its customers, is also preparing to establish a market development team in Indonesia to support its growth in the country.

"A new representative office in Jakarta enhances Borouge’s ability to better understand the Indonesian market, customers’ needs, the local plastics value chain and seek for new value-adding product development opportunities, which help its customers grow and increase their profitability," said the company, which is a joint venture of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Austria's Borealis.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, Borouge and Borealis, leading providers of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, achieved another breakthrough by having their high stress crack resistant (HSCR) polyethylene PE100 polymer, BorSafe HE3490-LS-H, listed under the PE100+ Association's quality list.

Borouge is a joint venture of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Austria"s Borealis. It has two complementary ventures: Abu Dhabi Polymers Co Ltd (Borouge) - a production company based in Abu Dhabi - and Borouge Pte Ltd based in Singapore. Borouge is a leading supplier of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). They focus on differentiated high end applications in the Middle East and Asia Pacific with Borstar Enhanced Polyethylene produced in Abu Dhabi, UAE and the full range of Borealis specialities.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ube Industries has made the decision to cease production of caprolactam at its Sakai complex in Japan "after a fixed period of time, and dismantle the facili-ties", said Apic-online.

With the global economic slowdown, growth in caprolactam demand has weakened while market conditions for caprolactam have been heavily eroded by the entry of new manufacturers and successive production expansion of existing producers centering on Chinese companies, Ube explained. At the same time, prices for raw material benzene and auxiliary materials have risen, with the net effect being that the profitability of the caprolactam business has rapidly declined.

Ube, which has four caprolactam production facilities, noted that the 100,000-t/y Sakai site is the least competitive, due to high manufacturing costs based on the production technologies used, and facilities for auxiliary materials and steam utilities that are dependent on liquefied natural gas. The company said it has examined various ways to improve the profitability of the site, but the prospects at Sakai "are dim."

Along with the decision to end caprolactam production, Ube plans to discontinue production at the Sakai complex of related derivatives ammonia (200,000 t/y), liquefied carbon dioxide (99,000 t/y), ammonium sulfate (160,000 t/y) and 1,6-hexanediol (5,000 t/y). These units will also be dismantled. Thereafter, the Sakai site will be dedicated mainly to value-added specialty products.

As MRC wrote earlier, Ube Industries is planning to construct and add additional manufacturing capacity for nylon 6 at its subsidiary, Ube Engineering Plastics, in Castellon, Spain, in order to meet the growing demand for high added-value nylon in the European and North American markets.

Ube Industries, Ltd. is a Japanese chemical company. UBE Group is doing business worldwide, especially Thailand(Rayong Province) and Spain (Province of Castellon) are main sites for petrochemical business.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ALFA, one of Mexico's leading industrial companies, announced unaudited financial results for the three-month period ended December 31, 2012 (4Q12), said 4-traders.

Revenues grew 4% year-on-year, while EBITDA was 22% higher than the same period in the prior year. Market trends were positive for the autoparts, food, telecommunication and hydrocarbons businesses, while petrochemicals continued to face volatile industry conditions, especially in Asia.

"Our companies performed solidly during the quarter and throughout the year," said Alvaro Fernandez, ALFA's President. "Revenues grew on the back of strong demand, and margins were healthy in most of our companies. In the petrochemicals business, our high exposure to the North American consumer sectors helped to partially offset the effect of challenging dynamics in the export markets."

During 4Q12, capital expenditures totaled USD234 million. Funds were used for the cogeneration project at Alpek, and for the upgrade of existing production and distribution facilities across ALFA. Strong cash flow generation in the quarter allowed ALFA to reduce net debt, further improving its financial condition. At the end of the year, Net Debt to EBITDA and Interest Coverage ratios were 1.6 and 6.4 times, respectively.

ALFA reported Majority Net Income in the amount of USD115 million, which favorably compares to the USD72 million in 4Q11. The increase reflects improvements in the operating and financial performance of the ALFA companies.

As MRC wrote earlier, Alpek, the petrochemicals arm of Mexican conglomerate Alfa, reported net income of USD30mn in the fourth quarter of 2012, down 60% year-on-year from USD76mn.

ALFA - is a Mexican conglomerate composed of four business groups: Alpek (petrochemicals), Nemak (aluminum components), Sigma Alimentos (foods) and Alestra (electronics and telecommunications).
It is one of the world's largest producers of PTA, a petrochemical product, and has an outstanding position in the market for other petrochemicals in Mexico.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) --Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced that it was awarded a contract from Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Co. (Luberef) to provide project management consulting (PMC) services for an expansion project at its lube oil refinery in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, said Yourpetrochemicalnews.

Officials did not disclose the contract value, however noted that the overall expansion project cost is estimated at approximately USD1 billion. Jacobs' Leiden, Netherlands office is managing the overall project in collaboration with Jacobs’ offices in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia and other locations.

Under the terms of the agreement, Jacobs is providing PMC services for both inside battery limits (ISBL) and outside battery limits (OSBL). The ISBL services include a new lube oil unit, a new sulfur complex, a new hydrogen manufacturing unit, and an expansion of the propane de-asphalting unit. The OSBL services involve all utilities, tanks and infrastructure.

The Yanbu Refinery expansion is expected to increase base oil production to meet future demands for high quality GR-II and GR-III base oils; increase the GR-I Bright stock to almost double current production; produce higher-value byproducts (naphtha, diesel, and kerosene); and satisfy Kingdom requirements for producing drilling fluid, which is currently being imported.

Luberef's President and CEO Hasan Jamaan Alzahrani stated, "This expansion project will add value to the Kingdom's economy including employment, and provide high quality lubricants to the markets we serve. In addition, it is part of Luberef's overall strategy to provide high quality base oil with different product slates of GR-I, GR-II, and GR-III to strengthen Luberef's position as a leading supplier. Luberef is looking forward to working with Jacobs to execute this major milestone of the expansion project."

As MRC wrote earlier, Jacobs Engineering Group was selected by Reliance Industries (RIL) to provide engineering and procurement assistance services for a cracker complex at the Jamnagar refining and petrochemical site in Gujarat, on the West Coast of India.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., is an international engineering, architecture, and construction firm with offices located around the world. As a publicly traded company with 60,000 employees and 2011 revenues of more than $10 billion, Jacobs offers support to industrial, commercial, and government clients across multiple markets. In 2010, Jacobs was named by Forbes as one of America's 100 Most Trustworthy Companies.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - In 2012 Russia's market of caustic soda increased by 4% compared to the previous year. However, the psychological mark of 1 million tonnes and has not been reached, according to MRC ScanPlast.

The growth of caustic soda output in Russia contributed to the rising calculated consumption in 2012. Last year capacity of the Russian market of caustic soda increased by 4%, from 2011 and amounted to 969,000 tonnes.

The consumption of caustic soda in Russia grows for the third year in a row. As MRC wrote earlier, the least consumption of caustic soda was seen in Russia in 2009. After the crisis, the market has declined significantly - up to 866,000 tonnes.

Despite the growth in consumption in 2012, the total consumption of caustic soda in Russia are still below pre-crisis level. Russia's market of caustic soda reached peak capacity in 2006 and amounted to 1.09 million tonnes.

MRC analysts report that last year's output of caustic soda in Russia rose to 1.095 million tonnes. Total volumes of export shipments exceeded 160,000 tonnes. The imports of caustic soda to the Russian domestic market fell by 23% from 2011, and amounted to about 35,000 tonnes.

MRC