Shell opens new lube blending plant in Indonesia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As part of its continued growth strategy, Shell has opened its latest lubricant blending plant in Asia and the largest internationally-operated lubricants plant in Indonesia, according to the company's announcement.

The facility is located at the Marunda Centre, north of Jakarta, and sits on 75,000 square meters of land, equivalent to 10 football fields. The plant is capable of producing 120,000 tons (136 million liters) of finished lubricants each year, enough to change the oil of more than 460,000 motorcycles or almost 90,000 cars every day.

"This plant is testament to our confidence in the strength of the lubricants market in the country," said Mark Gainsborough, executive vice president of Shell Lubricants. "Indonesia is the largest lubricants market in Southeast Asia and is one of the growth engines for the industry in the region, alongside China and India.

"This plant brings our world-class lubricant production capability to Indonesia, strengthening our global supply chain," he continued. "It enables us to meet the lubricant needs of our Indonesian customers, with our high quality and premium lubricants, made at this new facility. Indonesia’s economy has grown rapidly in recent years, and lubricants are an essential enabler for this country’s growth ambitions in almost every sector."

The plant will produce Shell’s leading lubricants brands like Shell Helix (passenger car motor oil), Shell Advance (motorcycle oil), Shell Rimula (heavy duty engine oil), Shell Spirax (transmission oil), as well as other industrial lubricants. These products will support Indonesia’s growing demand for vehicle motor oils and other lubricants for applications in sectors like mining, power generation, transportation and the growing infrastructure building sector.

As MRC wrote before, in April 2015, Shell completed a revamp and upgrade of its Singapore ethane cracker. The project increased production for the 800,000-tpy ethylene plant on Bukom Island by 20%. The ethylene and olefins unit is also integrated with Shell’s 500,000-bpd refinery.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, has declared a quarterly dividend of USD0.30 per share on its Series A common stock, payable on November 12, 2015, as per the company's press release.

The dividend is payable for the period beginning August 1, 2015 and ending on and including October 31, 2015 to stockholders of record as of November 2, 2015.

As MRC reported before, in June 2015, Jacobs Engineering Group was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract from Celanese Corp. for the construction of a vinyl acetate ethylene (EVA) emulsions production plant at Jurong Island, Singapore. Construction is expected to begin by mid-2015, and the unit is expected to begin production by second half of 2016. Company officials did not disclose the contract value.

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. Based in Dallas, Texas, Celanese employs approximately 7,500 employees worldwide and had 2014 net sales of USD6.8 billion.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies, has announced that Thomas Aebischer has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) effective Jan. 1, 2016, as per the company's press release.

"Thomas is a highly experienced and accomplished leader who brings a global perspective, deep knowledge of financial markets and significant experience at the executive level of large, multinational companies. Given his past experience and success in a variety of financial positions all over the world, I am very confident that he will be a tremendous asset as we continue to execute our long-term growth strategy," said Bob Patel, LyondellBasell's Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Aebischer joins LyondellBasell after having served in a variety of positions, including CFO, over a nearly 20-year career with Holcim, one of the largest cement, concrete and aggregates companies in the world. Holcim merged with Lafarge in 2015.

In his role as Holcim's CFO, Mr. Aebischer's responsibilities included the company's information technology, accounting and administration, investor relations, risk management and procurement functions. Earlier in his career, Mr. Aebischer held positions with PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Bern cantonal tax authorities in Switzerland.

As LyondellBasell's CFO, Mr. Aebischer will be nominated to serve as a member of the Company's management board and will be responsible for leading the company's treasury, information technology, tax, finance and accounting functions. Mr. Aebischer will report directly to Mr. Patel.

As MRC informed previously, in November 2014, LyondellBasell Industries said "tight" markets for its products may stall the narrower margins that it expects will ultimately come from lower oil prices.

LyondellBasell Industries NV is a manufacturing company. The company produces chemicals, fuels, and polymers used for packaging, clean fuels, durable textiles, medical applications, construction materials, and automotive parts. LyondellBasell Industries operates globally and is headquartered in the Netherlands. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The October contract price for ethylene in Europe was rolled over for November delivery.
However, all European producers have announced a more significant increase of their export polymer prices for the CIS markets, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Negotiations on the November prices for European polyethylene (PE) for the CIS markets started last Monday. Many producers have limited export quotas, with the greatest lack of supply occurred for pipe high density polyethylene (HDPE).

All producers announced increase of export prices of polyethylene, the prices rose by EUR60/tonne. Deals for November HDPE shipment were discussed last week in the range of EUR1,260-1,340/tonne FCA, which was on average up EUR20-30/tonne from the October level.

There were problems with procurement of injection moulding ans film PE. Deals for pipe PE80 were discussed in the range of EUR1,230-1,300/tonne FCA.

There were no significant limitation of the supply of low density polyethylene (LDPE) , with most deals discussed in the range of EUR1,240-1,300/tonne FCA, which up EUR40-60/tonne the price level in October. In most cases, European producers announced price increases of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) for November delivery by EUR50/tonne.

Deals for European metallocene linear low density polyethylene (MLLDPE) were discussed in the range of EUR1,500-1,560/tonne FCA.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- German conglomerate Bayer AG said its third-quarter net income increased to EUR999 mln from EUR826 mln in the previous year, said the company in its press release.

Earnings per share were EUR1.21, compared to EUR1.00 last year. Core earnings per share were EUR1.69, while it totaled EUR1.32 last year.

Sales climbed 10.7 percent to EUR11.036 bn from EUR9.967 bn in the prior year.

For full year 2015, Bayer continues to target a high-teens percentage increase in core earnings per share and expects positive currency effects of now around 4 percent, compared to around 5 percent expectation previously.

Bayer continues to predict that group sales will rise by a low single-digit percentage.

The Bayer Group now expects positive currency effects to raise sales by 6 percent, compared to the previous expectation of 7 percent. The firm plans sales in the region of EUR46 bn, compared to the previous estimate of EUR47 bn.

As MRC informed earlier, Bayer AG in the earlt September moved a step closer to floating its EUR11 billion (USD12.3 billion) specialty chemicals business by "legally and economically" separating the unit, now named Covestro AG.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech polymer materials. As an innovation company, it sets trends in research-intensive areas. Bayer's products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2014, the Group employed 118,900 people and had sales of EUR 42.2 billion.
MRC