Subsidiary of Qatar Petroleum offering shares to foreigners

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qatar’s stock exchange began listing shares of Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Co. on 26 Feb. 2014, opening up trading in the company to foreigners, as per GV with reference to press reports from Doha.

Mesaieed Petrochemical, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qatar Petroleum (QP), recently raised USD 880-million in an initial public offering of nearly 26 % of the company’s shares to Qatari private citizens.

To be listed under the symbol MPHC, foreigners will be permitted to acquire up to 15% of Mesaieed Petrochemical in the secondary market.

As MRC reported earlier, Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO) have recently signed the FEED contract with Tecnimont SpA for the Al Sejeel Petrochemical Complex, to be built in Ras Laffan Industrial City. The signing of the FEED contract for the project, in which QP and QAPCO own respectively 80% and 20% equity interest, marks a strategic milestone for the progress of the mega-petrochemical complex.

The complex's construction scheduled for completion in 2018. It will comprise the worlds largest mixed-feed steam crackers, and is designed to produce 2.2 million tpa of polymers, including polyethylene (PE) - high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) - and polypropylene (PP) resins.

Mesaieed Petrochemical is a holding company for medium- and high-density polyethylene and 1-hexene producer Q-Chem I, high-density polyethylene and normal alpha olefins producer Q-Chem II, and Qatar Vinyl Co., a producer of caustic soda, ethylene dichloride and vinyl.

Qatar Petroleum is a state owned petroleum company in Qatar.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC) PTA India Corp. is likely to restart its No. 2 purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that the plant is likely to be restarted early next week. It was shut in late January 2014 for maintenance turnaround.

Located at Haldia in the eastern Indian state of west Bengal, the plant has a production capacity of 800,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, Taekwang Industrial shut its PTA plant for maintenance turnaround on March 10, 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around 10 days. Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 1 million mt/year.

Besides, China based company Xianglu Petrochemical started up its new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in end-November 2013. Located in Xiamen, China, the plant has a production capacity of 1.5 million mt/year.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), a Fortune 500 giant, is Japan’s largest diversified chemical company. It is among the top 10 Chemical Companies of the world. MCC has its operations in around 50 countries and leads about 282 affiliate companies across the globe. It is also the world’s second largest producer of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and began selling the imported chemical in India in the early 90’s.

Seeing the vast growth potential for polyester products in the country, MCC decided to set up its own PTA manufacturing facility in Haldia in 1997. It entered into a shareholders’ agreement with the Government of West Bengal, setting up an affiliate company, MCC PTA India Corp. Private Limited (MCPI), headquartered in Kolkata.
MRC

Moscow (MRC) - Ufaorgsintez, operated by United Petrochemical Company (UPC), announced an increase in the contract prices of polyethylene and polypropylene, effective from 11 March 2014, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

The company raised the contract price for the whole range of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) by Rb400-2,000/tonne, compared with the level in the beginning of March. Price for PP block copolymers grew most significantly. The structure of price increase looked as follows.

Prices for 158 LDPE and 108 LDPE rose by Rb1,100/tonne and Rb400/tonne, respectively. Prices for low-density polyethylene for shrinkable films increased by Rb850/tonne. Prices for homopolymer PP increased by Rb1,000-1,500/tonne; the low end of the price was typical for raffia, and upper price end - for injection moulding grades.
Injection moulding PP-block grew by Rb2,000/tonne.

Ufaorgsintez OAO was founded in 1956 and is based in Ufa, Russia. Ufaorgsintez OAO manufactures organic synthesis products in Russia and Europe. Its products include ethylene, propylene, ethanol, cumol, ethyl benzol, phenol, acetone, copolymer rubber, polyolefines, poly vinyl chloride and polyethylene items, thinners, and dilutants.In 1984 the company was incorporated.

The PP production capacity of the plant is 100,000 tonnes/year. The output of PP in February 2014 decreased to 6,600 tonnes, PP production, on the contrary, increased to 11,800 tonnes.

United Petrochemical Company owns 87.76% of Ufaorgsintez's capital. Bashneft sold Ufaorgsintez to United Petrochemical Company in May 2013.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOC) is planning to pump in around Rs.3,150 crore for setting up a polypropylene unit having a capacity of 0.7 mln tons in the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) proposed at Paradip in Odhisha, said Plastemart.

Approval of the board for the polypropylene unit is likely to come by this month end or next month.

As MRC informed before, IOC is likely to expand the production capacity of its refinery in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Production capacity of the refinery is planned to be increased from 13.5 million mt/year to 18 million mt/year. The capacity expansion will be undertaken at a cost of Rs 5,500. The expansion is likely to be completed in 2016-2017. The refinery is located in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in refining, transporting, and marketing petroleum products in India.The company’s products include LPG, natural gas, petrol/gasoline, diesel/gas oil, bitumen, petrochemicals, and crude oil. In addition, it offers special products, such as benzene, propylene, raw petroleum coke, sulphur, and toluene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea's Samsung Total Petrochemicals is set to expand oil product sales to the domestic and export markets once it starts production of gasoil and jet fuel from its new Daesan aromatics plant later this year, as per Plastemart.

The new plant will enable the petrochemical firm to produce gasoil for the very first time, from a 150,000 bpd condensate splitter primarily designed to supply feedstock for aromatics production. Capacity at the Samsung Total plant will comprise 1.05 mln mt of gasoil and 1.45 mln mt of jet fuel annually from its new aromatics plant that will start production as early as July this year.

The Won 1.66 trillion (USD1.56 bln) aromatics plant will be mechanically completed by end-April, followed by test runs over one or two months. Commercial production is scheduled to start in July or August. The plant also has a production capacity of 1 mln tpa paraxylene and 420,000 tpa of benzene.

Samsung Total is a 50-50 joint venture between South Korea's Samsung Group and the French chemical group Total.
MRC