MOSCOW (MRC) -- RR&P (Pte.) Ltd. and Shanghai Hop Zenith Chemical Trading Co. Ltd., have announced that both companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the intention to form a joint venture company in China to produce, distribute and market TPO compounds, both locally and abroad, to the automotive sector in Asia-Pacific region, as per GV.
R&P was the designated toll compounder for ExxonMobil Chemical’s Exxtral grades from September 2008 to October 2014, and participated in the development of new products during this period. With its background in manufacturing and R&D, R&P licensed the technology from ExxonMobil Chemical in 2014 when ExxonMobil Chemical exited from the TPO market, so as to continue serving the automotive OEMs directly with its Sterlene grades. Hop Zenith, a distributor for EMC’s Exxtral grades from October 2011 to October 2014, was appointed by R&P in December 2014 as its main distributor to market its Sterlene grades in China.
The JV is expected to start with an installed capacity of 15 kta, and targets to increase to 50 kta within five years of commencing of production.
"With 70 % of our current deliveries to global automotive OEMs in China, we look forward to having a production facility in China to strengthen the supply chain with our customers there. China remains an attractive and important automotive market on a global scale. We, therefore, look forward to bright prospects for this joint venture partnership with Hop Zenith." YK Tan, R&P Chairman, said.
As MRC wrote previously, Exxon Mobil Corp. shook off the chill of sanctions and continued to snap up drilling rights in Russia last year, giving it more exploration holdings in Vladimir Putin’s backyard than in the US. Taking the long view, Exxon boosted its Russian holdings to 63.7 million acres in 2014 from 11.4 million at the end of 2014, according to data from US regulatory filings. That dwarfs the 14.6 million acres of rights Exxon holds in the U.S., which until last year was its largest exploration prospect.
MRC