MRPL initiates downward integration with OMPL

MOSCOW (MRC) -- MRPL has initiated its downward integration by amalgamation with ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Limited (OMPL), said Moneycontrol.

"A scheme of amalgamation of OMPL with the company has been proposed for approval of various regulatory authorities. The synergy between OMPL and MRPL will provide higher returns for stakeholders, adding further value to the product streams of your refinery and flexibility to increase its GRM, optimal utilization of the plants of MRPL," MRPL chairman D K Saraff said.

OMPL had recently commissioned a state-of-the-art Aromatic Complex with 914,000 tpa capacity of Paraxylene and 283,000 tpa capacity Benzene adjacent to the refinery. The amalgamation will ensure optimal utilization of resources which will lead to improvement in overall working culture and environment.

On the industry, he said that with the progress made on the Iran nuclear deal framework, the company is expected to benefit from import of Iran crude. "There are hopes that lower crude oil prices would lead to lower under recoveries for OMCs and presents an opportunity for the company to foray into retail markets," he said.

The polypropylene unit built with an investment of around Rs 1,800 crore has commenced commercial production, Mr Saraff said. "In South India, the annual Polypropylene demand is about 500,000 tonnes and MRPL's Polypropylene Unit is the only producing unit which can meet the entire demand in this region."

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), is an oil refinery at Mangalore and is a subsidiary of ONGC, set up in 1993. The refinery is located at Katipalla, north from centre of Mangalore city. The refinery was established after displacing five villages of Bala, Kalavar, Kuthetoor, Katipalla, and Adyapadi.

MRC

Competition Tribunal imposes R534 mln penalty on Sasol for overcharging dom

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Competition Tribunal found Sasol Chemical Industries Limited, a subsidiary of Sasol Ltd., guilty of charging domestic customers excessive prices for purified propylene and polypropylene between January 2004 and December 2007, as per politicsweb.co.za

The Tribunal stated that the price SCI charged Safripol, SCI’s only external customer for purified propylene and a competitor of SCI downstream, was to Safripol’s detriment and inhibited its ability to effectively compete with SCI. In addition, SCI’s locally charged polypropylene prices have had a significant adverse effect on the local plastic converters and caused them harm during the complaint period.

The Tribunal imposed a penalty of R205.2 million in the case of purified propylene and R328.8 million in respect of polypropylene. It also imposed remedies for determining SCI’s future pricing of both purified propylene and polypropylene that would see SCI’s prices charged to local customers drop.

Purified propylene, produced from feedstock propylene, is an input in the production of polypropylene.

The Tribunal’s finding comes after a lengthy hearing into allegations of excessive pricing brought by the Competition Commission against SCI. The hearing ran over several months, starting on 13 May 2013, with final submissions in the case being made on 09 May 2014. In its complaint the Commission alleged that SCI was a dominant market player and that, between 2004 and 2007, it had charged excessive prices for purified propylene and polypropylene to the detriment of consumers and in contravention of the Competition Act. SCI denied the allegations. During the proceedings the Tribunal heard the evidence and testimony of 13 witnesses including 8 experts comprising industry, financial and economic experts on both sides.

Because of Sasol Synfuels’ low feedstock propylene costs, SCI is a low cost producer of purified propylene and one of the lowest cost polypropylene producers in the world. SCI argued in the hearing that the Tribunal should ignore this cost advantage in arriving at its decision while the Commission argued that the cost advantage should be taken into account.

As MRC informed earlier, Sasol, the world’s biggest producer of liquid fuels from coal, said full-year profit fell as much as 19%, less than analysts estimated, after oil prices declined. The stock rose the most in more than three months. Earnings per share excluding one-time items probably declined by as much as 11.43 rand (90 US cents) in the year to June 30.

Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It develops and commercialises technologies, including synthetic fuels technologies, and produces different liquid fuels, chemicals and electricity.

MRC

Jon M. Huntsman resigns from Huntsman board


MOSCOW (MRC) -- On August 6, 2015, Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. delivered a letter of resignation to the Board of Directors (the "Board") of Huntsman Corporation (the "Company"), resigning from the Board effective that same day, as per company' press release.

In his resignation, Huntsman said: "After almost four years of enjoyable and productive service on the board of Huntsman Corporation, the time has come to reconfigure my involvement with a company that has been part of my life since its humble inception. I do this not based on any disagreement with management, but rather to enhance my value to the company.

"Following careful consultation with our Vice Chairman and Lead Director, Nolan Archibald, together with our Executive Chairman, our CEO and some of you, I feel we have constructed, for your consideration, an ongoing relationship that would maximize my personal involvement and most importantly benefit the shareholders and associates of Huntsman Corporation. A requirement of achieving this would be resigning as a member of the board of directors, which I hereby tender."

As MRC informed earlier, Huntsman reported of explosion at its site in Germany on 5, August. A nitrogen tank exploded at HuntsmanпїЅs white pigment factory in Uerdingen, Germany, at approximately 2 p.m. CET Wednesday. Huntsman safely and deliberately shut down the affected operations. The incident is currently under investigation.

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals with 2014 revenues of about USD13 billion, including the acquisition of RockwoodпїЅs performance additives and titanium dioxide businesses. Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. The company"s operating companies manufacture products for a variety of global industries, including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.

MRC

Pemex Petroquimica restarted LDPE line in Mexico

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Pemex Petroquimica has restarted a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) line following an unscheduled shutdown, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Mexico informed that the line restarted mid-last week. It was shut on July 30 owing to technical issues.

Located in Cangrejera, Mexico, the line has a capacity of 315,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported previously, Mexico's state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is joining oil producers worldwide in the race to lower costs as prices plunge, with one difference - no staff cuts. Pemex, which is preparing to end its Mexican oil monopoly, is looking to save USD2 billion to USD3 billion this year on purchases and through reducing rates with contractors.

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

Freudenberg and Toray to buy Japan Vilene

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Freudenberg SE and Toray Industries, Inc. have decided to buy up all public shares in Japan Vilene, establishing a jointly-owned company that will own all shares in the big Japanese nonwovens producer, said Nonwovens.

Freudenberg will own 75% of the venture and Toray will own 25%.

At present, the German nonwovens giant owns 33.4% of Japan Vilene and Toray owns 17.49%.

As MRC informed earlier, Toray Industries, Inc. has announced that it has formulated a plan to expand the polyester staple fiber business at Toray Chemical Korea Inc., the acquisition of which Toray completed in February 2014, to pursuit synergy effects within Toray Group.

Toray Industries is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan that specializes in industrial products centered around technologies in organic synthetic chemistry, polymer chemistry, and biochemistry. Its founding business areas were fibers and textiles, as well as plastics and chemicals. Toray Group Malaysia companies are involved in four main businesses -- polyester fibres, textiles, plastic resins and polyester films.

MRC