Automotive plastics market for passenger cars worth USD46,112 mln by 2018

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The global automotive plastics revenue is expected to grow from USD21,617 mln in 2012 to USD46,112 mln by 2018 at an estimated CAGR of 13.4% from 2013 to 2018, as per Plastemart with reference to MarketsandMarkets.

In 2012, Asia-Pacific was leading in the automotive plastics consumption volume by 50.5%, followed by Europe (28%), North America (11.3%), and rest of the world (10.1%). Among these regions polypropylene leads consumption by 37%, followed by polyurethanes (PU) (17.3%), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) (12.3%), composites (11.5%), high density polyethylene (HDPE) (10.8%), polycarbonates (PC) (6.8%), and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) (4.4%), due to their easy forming properties and their availability at cheaper price than other materials.

The automotive plastics are among one of the widely preferred alternatives for light-weighting of automobile as they offer enhanced properties such as superior impact strength, easy mold-ability, improved aesthetics, and reduced weight as compared to conventional automotive components such as High speed steel (HSS) and Aluminum. The increasing demand of passenger cars and the supply to fulfill the same in Asia-Pacific is one of the main drivers for increasing consumption of automotive plastics globally.

As MRC wrote earlier, BASF opens new center in Thailand for Asian growing automotive market. BASF has set up a new Coatings Technical Competence Center ASEAN in Bangkok, Thailand. This new facility supports technical and laboratory activities mainly in motorcycle coatings including technology transfer, product development, performance testing, color design and development, and houses a sales and marketing team as well as a technical service team of more than 20 professionals, all catering to motorcycle manufacturers in the ASEAN region.
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MOSCOW (MRC) - Plans by Mexican state-run oil monopoly Pemex to build a new USD10 billion refinery in the eastern state of Hidalgo do not appear in the company's updated five-year business plan, but a Pemex spokesperson said on Saturday that the project has not been formally cancelled, said Reuters.

While some local media was reporting that the refinery project had been cancelled, Pemex said it had not made any such announcement.

"We have not said the project is being terminated," said a Pemex spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with company policy.

To date, only a wall enclosing the perimeter of the project has been completed at Tula, 51 miles (82 km) north of Mexico City.

In September, Pemex announced a USD3.5 billion expansion of the existing refinery at Tula, the country's second biggest, near the planned the location for the new refinery. The existing Tula refinery can process 325,000 bpd.

Pemex's updated 184-page business plan was issued on Friday and details projects from the company's four subsidiaries from 2014 through 2018.

The plan does note that gasoline projects at Pemex's Tula and Salamanca refineries "will suffer major deviations due to disagreements over the allocation process and poor contractor performance," but does not further detail the plans for the Tula refinery.

As MRC wrote before, Pemex) said one person was killed while five others suffered injuries on Tuesday afternoon when an explosion rocked its crude oil refinery in the state of Hidalgo. The incident took place at the Miguel Hidalgo refinery which is situated in the town of Tula.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene.MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron has as expected finally signed on the dotted line for its USD10 billion deal with Ukraine for the Olesska shale production sharing agreement, said Upstreamonline.

Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and Chevron regional president James Johnson were on hand for the signing at the presidential palace in Kiev.

Yanukovych said that the deal - along with a similar USD10 billion pact inked with Shell in January for the eastern Yuzivska block - would introduce modern technologies and experience to Ukraine as well as strengthen its energy security.

"Implementation of large-scale projects with Shell and Chevron will have let Ukraine satisfy its gas needs completely and, under the optimistic scenario, export energy resources by 2020," he said in remarks posted the Ukrainian presidency website.

Chevron had initially agreed with the Ukrainian government in May 2012 on a 50-year licence for the acreage in western Ukraine, but wrangling over regional approvals has slowed the deal’s progress.

In August, deputies in the Ivano-Frankovsk region rejected the original terms of the licence before agreeing to amended terms a month later that granted regional authorities a 10% slice of state revenues from Olesska.

Last month, deputies in the Lviv region also accepted the new PSA, clearing the final hurdle for the agreement to be signed.

Ukraine's State Geological Service estimates the reserves of gas-rich Olesska could total between 800 billion and 1.5 trillion cubic metres.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese has informed employee delegates in Roussillon, France, and work council in Tarragona, Spain, of contemplated closures of the Roussillon acetic anhydride facility and the vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) production unit in Tarragona, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Celanese announced on May 22, 2013, that it wanted to find credible buyer for both properties, with the primary focus on industrial candidates.

The company said it placed great effort in identifying credible buyers that could ensure sustainable operations, retain employees and meet the financial criteria defined by the company to ensure successful future operations of the VAM production unit in Tarragona and the acetic anhydride plant in Roussillon.

To date, no credible buyers have been identified and no offers for acquiring these facilities were made.

Therefore, Celanese said it will begin discussions concerning the possible closure of both the acetic anhydride facility in Roussillon and the VAM production unit in Tarragona. This action is initiated to safeguard the competitiveness of the Celanese acetyl business.

The need for these contemplated projects emerged from an assessment of Celanese’s overall corporate strategy, which included an assessment of the company’s global manufacturing facilities. Specifically, in support of the company’s acetyl portfolio, the manufacturing footprint strategy favors integrated production sites that provide critical economies of scale.

Celanese subsidiaries that operte these facilities expect to soon begin the consultation process with local employee representatives to mitigate the social impact of the closures to the best possible extent.

As MRC wrote before, Celanese and Mitsui & Co. have agreed to form a 50-50 joint venture for a previously announced project to produce methanol at Celanese's integrated chemical plant at Clear Lake, TX.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell third quarter 2013 earnings, on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis, were USD4.2 billion compared with USD6.2 billion in the same quarter a year ago, said Yourpetrochemicalnews.

Third quarter 2013 CCS earnings excluding identified items were USD4.5 billion compared with USD6.6 billion in the third quarter of 2012.

Compared with the third quarter 2012, CCS earnings excluding identified items were impacted by significantly weaker industry refining conditions, increased Upstream operating expenses and exploration expenses, as well as production volume impacts from maintenance and asset replacement activities. Earnings also reflected the impact of the challenging operating environment in Nigeria and lower dividends from an LNG venture. This was partly offset by higher contributions from Chemicals and increased underlying Upstream production volumes, led by Integrated Gas.
Basic CCS earnings per share excluding identified items decreased by 32% versus the third quarter 2012.

Cash flow from operating activities for the third quarter 2013 was USD10.4 billion, compared with USD9.5 billion in the same quarter last year. Excluding working capital movements, cash flow from operating activities for the third quarter 2013 was USD9.9 billion, compared with USD11.7 billion in the third quarter 2012.

Capital investment for the third quarter 2013 was USD9.7 billion. Net capital investment for the quarter was USD9.4 billion.

Total dividends distributed in the quarter were USD2.8 billion, of which USD1.2 billion were settled under the Scrip Dividend Programme. During the third quarter some 45.5 million shares were bought back for cancellation for a consideration of USD1.5 billion.

As MRC informed previously, Ukraine took its first major step away from dependency on Russian gas imports when it signed a USD10 billion shale gas deal with Shell in early 2013.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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