Linde completes new air separation unit at La Porte, Texas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Linde North America has completed installation of its air separation unit (ASU) and associated supporting facilities in La Porte, Texas, said the company in its press release.

The ASU produces oxygen, nitrogen and argon and is part of the USD250 million Linde North America is investing at the site that also includes a new gasification train and ancillary equipment and facilities.

The ASU will produce gaseous oxygen and nitrogen for the existing gasification units as well as a new gasifier under construction at the site. "The new gasification unit will be on stream this year, creating the world's largest gas-based partial oxidation complex for the production of syngas products for petrochemicals," Murphy said.

The new gasifier will convert natural gas into syngas and constituent products such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen and carbon dioxide which are also used to produce methanol, downstream chemicals and cleaner transportation fuels. The syngas products will be shipped by pipeline to a key customer. Linde also owns and operates three additional large, partial oxidation facilities that manufacture syngas products using Linde's world-leading technologies and know-how.

Liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon produced at the plant is being shipped by truck to serve the rapidly growing merchant market in and around the Houston Ship Channel. The liquid argon is also being shipped by rail to serve customers in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest – and points in between.

The La Porte investment is part of an overall Linde expansion plan that includes a new ASU in Lewisville, Arkansas, a nitrogen liquefier in Delta, Ohio, an expansion of ultra-high purity nitrogen and oxygen in Hillsboro, Oregon, upgrades of ASUs in Trail, BC, Canada, and Braddock, Pennsylvania, as well as a new specialty gases plant in Hammond, Indiana.

As MRC informed earlier, SIBUR, a Russian gas processing and petrochemicals company, and Linde Group, a German Technology company, have signed agreements to build and operate new air separation units in Dzerzhinsk, the Nizhny Novgorod Region. On a long-term basis, SIBUR will provide Linde with a leased site and power supply while Linde, in its turn, will supply technical gases to SIBUR.

Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group. In the 2014 financial year, The Linde Group generated revenue of USD 17.9 bn (EUR 17.047 bn), making it the largest gases and engineering company in the world with approximately 65,500 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont, embroiled in a proxy war with activist investor Trian Fund Management LP for board seats, said it would hold its annual shareholder meeting on May 13, said Reuters.

Trian is seeking four seats on DuPont's board, including one for its Chief Executive Nelson Peltz, to help it force the company to split into two. DuPont earlier this month rejected the hedge fund's proposal to add two nominees each to its board and the board of a unit it plans to spin off.

The chemical conglomerate, in an attempt to end the proxy war, has said it is prepared to accept one of the fund's nominees, but has refused to add Peltz to its board. DuPont had said is would spin off its performance chemicals business, but Peltz wants the company to also separate its volatile but cash flow-strong materials businesses from its nutrition and health, agriculture, and industrial biosciences divisions.

DuPont has rejected the proposal, stressing that keeping its businesses together would allow the company to benefit from its science platform, global scale, market access and brand. Peltz's Trian seemingly softened its stance on the break up in February, saying the fund was "open-minded" about keeping DuPont together.

However, Peltz said in interview to CNBC earlier this month that breaking up the company would be "the most efficient way" to get rid of USD2 billion to USD4 billion in costs.

"Trian's proposal grossly underestimates the significant upfront separation costs and dis-synergies associated with a breakup, both on a one-time and an ongoing basis," DuPont Chief Executive Ellen Kullman said in a letter to shareholders on Monday. A Trian spokeswoman declined to comment.

As MRC informed earlier, DuPont Co. posted an unexpected drop in fourth-quarter sales and forecast 2015 earnings that trailed analysts’ estimates. Revenue fell to USD7.38 billion from USD7.75 billion, Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont said in a statement Tuesday, compared with the USD7.79 billion average of 12 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Profit excluding some items was 71 cents a share, matching the average estimate.

DuPont is an American chemical company that was founded in July, 1802. The company manufactures a wide range of chemical products, leading extensive innovative research in this field. The company is the inventor of many unique plastics and other materials, including neoprene, nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, Mylar, Tyvek, etc. DuPont was the developer and main producer of Freon used in the production of refrigeration equipment.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the world's petrochemical major, has increased its prices for 1,6-hexanediol (HDO) in Europe with immediate effect or as contracts allow by EUR80/tonne, as per the company's press release.

BASF’s customers use HDO to manufacture industrial coatings including lower volatile organic compound formulations, polyurethanes, adhesives and cosmetics. HDO also serves as a reactive thinner in the formulation of epoxy systems which are used for the efficient production of rotor blades for modern wind turbines as well as construction components for automotive lightweight applications.

BASF operates HDO production facilities at its Verbund sites in Freeport, Texas, and Ludwigshafen, Germany, with an annual production capacity of more than 50,000 tons of HDO.

As MRC informed earlier, in September 2014, BASF announced the start-up of a new butadiene extraction plant at its Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The plant has an annual production capacity of 155,000 metric tons.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- China National Chemical Corporation has reached an agreement with the controlling shareholders of tyremaker Pirelli with the aim of undertaking a EUR7bn takeover of the Italian group and delisting it from the Milan stock exchange, as per Financial Times.

Marco Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli chairman and chief executive, agreed the deal on Sunday with executives from CNCC, which has previously acquired businesses in Australia, France and Norway, according to people familiar with the matter. A statement is expected to be made on Monday.

The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions by Chinese investors in Italy, and the largest such deal so far. It will see CNCC acquire holding company Camfin, which owns 26 per cent of Pirelli, at EUR15 per share as a first step before launching a full takeover of the group.

Shareholders in Camfin, who include Mr Tronchetti Provera, Russian oil group Rosneft, and Italian banks UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, alongside CNCC intend to create a new holding company that will launch a full takeover offer for the remaining shares in the world’s fifth-largest tyre company by sales at the same price of €15 per share. If successful, Pirelli will delist from the Milan stock exchange by the summer.

The deal will mean that Rosneft, which is a target of US sanctions over Ukraine, will no longer be the largest shareholder in the tyremaker, a situation that has become uncomfortable for the group amid escalating tensions between Europe and Russia over Ukraine.

In a statement late on Sunday confirming the deal, CNCC and Camfin said it would allow Pirelli to double its volumes in the industrial tyres market from 6m to 12m. Mr Tronchetti Provera would remain chief executive of the group.

Mr Tronchetti Provera added that the deal would “guarantee Pirelli’s development and stability”, reflecting concerns among senior management within the company that without a transformative deal the Italian tyremaker would have become a target for a US or another Asian industrial rival. China’s largest chemical group with revenues of USD40bn.

As MRC informed earlier, Representatives of Russian Rosneft, Pirelli Tyre Russia and Rosneft- Armenia signed in Yerevan a memorandum of understanding today to establish a joint venture for production of butadiene- styrene rubber. The memorandum and several other agreements aimed at enhancing cooperation were signed after the meeting of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan with Rosneft head Igor Sechin.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd. (IVL; Bangkok, Thailand) has signed an agreement to acquire 100% shareholding of the Montreal-based purified terephthalic acid (PTA) business of Cepsa Quimica SA, Cepsa Chimie Montreal, said Chemengonline.

Cepsa’s plant is the only PTA facility in Canada, and one of only three PTA suppliers in North America. The acquisition, subject to the usual regulatory approvals, will allow the company to expand its footprint into Canada.

"This will be our inaugural entry into Canada," says Aloke Lohia, IVL group CEO. "Cepsa Chimie Montreal s.e.c. provides us the unique opportunity to acquire assets that will consolidate our North American polyester value chain businesses for added feedstock security. The acquisition is in line with our announced strategy to expand in our core businesses, primarily in the West."

Cepsa Chimie Montreal s.e.c. has, at this production site, a capacity of approximately 600,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of PTA and receives piped supply of its feedstock para-xylene from an adjacent refinery. The plant is logistically well-placed to economically serve customers via rail access or via the St. Lawrence River.

As MRC informed earlier, Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) informed that its subsidiary Indorama Petrochem Limited, Thailand has signed a definitive share purchase agreement with Bangkok Cable Company, Limited, a major shareholder, to acquire 94.91 percent equity stake in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymers maker Bangkok Polyester Public Company Limited (BPC), Thailand.

Indorama Ventures is a leading producer in the polyester value chain in Thailand with strong global network and manufacturing across Asia, Europe and North America. Its products serve major players in diversified end use markets, including food, beverages, personal and home care, health care, automotives, textile, and industrial. The company’s main products are PTA, PET and polyester fibre, which are distributed across the world.
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