Dutch AkzoNobel opens research facility in USA Ohio

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel has opened a new research, development and innovation (RD&I) center in Strongsville, Ohio, in the United States, said the producer on its site.

The EUR9.42 million facility will support several of the company's Performance Coatings businesses, including coil, extrusion and packaging coatings.

Featuring full testing, scale-up and analytical capabilities, it will house more than 120 staff, including 65 highly trained scientists and technicians. Commenting on the opening, AB Ghosh, Managing Director of AkzoNobel's Metal Coatings business, said: "By expanding our facility in Strongsville, we are providing a central, state-of-the-art technical resource for our businesses in North America, creating the critical mass for effective RD&I to more efficiently support our customers. The facility will also enable us to focus on further improving the performance and sustainability of our products."

As MRC informed earlier, in June, AkzoNobel announced a EUR3mln expansion at its coatings research centre in Houston.

Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, agreed to be the anchor customer at an oil terminal in the U.S. Virgin Islands to be refurbished by an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners LLC and Freepoint Commodities LLC, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Sinopec will lease 10 MMbbl of the terminal’s initial 13 MMbbl capacity, according to Dan Hecht, general counsel for Freepoint. The affiliate, Limetree Bay Holdings LLC, was named the winning bidder on Monday by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge for the former Hovensa oil refinery in St. Croix. The terminal is located at a shuttered refinery, formerly owned by Hess Corp. and Petroleos Venezuela SA that was once the largest in the world.

Space to store oil has become increasingly scarce as the U.S. shale boom and production from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has increased global supplies of oil and refined products such as gasoline and diesel to about 3 Bbbl -- a record, according to the International Energy Agency.

The former refinery covers 330 acres on an island in the Caribbean Sea about 500 miles north of Venezuela and 1,500 miles south of New York. Limetree, which is 80% owned by ArcLight and 20% by Freepoint, agreed to pay up to USD370 million for the facility. Of that, USD235 million will go to the Virgin Islands government and USD135 million to the bankruptcy estate.

The agreement still needs final approval from the Virgin Islands legislature. Once approved, Limetree will be able to bring about 2 MMbbl of storage online quickly, with another 11 MMbbl following in the ensuing months, Hecht said.

Sinopec agreed to a binding 10-year contract to take 75% of that, or about 10 MMbbl initially, Hecht said. Freepoint will lease another 2 MMbbl of capacity for fuel-oil storage, and the remaining 1 MMbbl will be marketed to other customers.

After the first phase is online, Limetree plans to expand storage capacity up to as much as 30 MMbbl at the facility, Hecht said. The company has agreed to invest at least USD125 million in facility enhancements, including the construction of a new dock to accommodate the largest crude tankers in the world.

As MRC informed earlier, BASF and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) today inaugurated their world-scale isononanol (INA) plant in Maoming Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, Maoming, China. The plant will be run by BASF MPCC Company Limited (BMC), which is a 50-50 joint venture between BASF and SINOPEC. It has an annual capacity of 180,000 metric tons. This is the first INA plant in China and will serve the growing demand for next-generation plasticizers.

Limetree would purchase the refining equipment as well, and will evaluate restarting some or all of it after getting the terminal running. The eastern part of the refinery, with about 360,000 bpd of crude processing capacity, has the highest potential for being restarted, according to the presentation.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest integrated energy and chemical companies in China. Its principal operations include the exploration and production, pipeline transportation and sale of petroleum and natural gas; the sale, storage and transportation of petroleum products, petrochemical products, coal chemical products, synthetic fibre, fertiliser and other chemical products; the import and export, including an import and export agency business, of petroleum, natural gas, petroleum products, petrochemical and chemical products, and other commodities and technologies; and research, development and application of technologies and information.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jacobs Engineering Group Inc - the US-headquartered company that provides industrial maintenance, fabrication, construction and maintenance management technology to mainly process industries – has received an engineering, procurement, construction management (EPCM) contract from Asian Paints Limited (APL) to provide engineering services for a greenfield paint plant in India, as per company's press-release.

Though Jacobs had not mentioned the location of the greenfield project, the contract could be for the proposed paint manufacturing facility in Mysuru (Karnataka), plans for which was announced by Asian Paints in September this year. The company will invest approximately Rs 2,300 crores, in a phased manner, in the new plant, which will meet the demand in the Southern and Eastern parts of the country.

As per the EPCM contract, Jacobs will provide detailed engineering and construction supervision services for the plant. The contract duration is 37 months. When complete, the new paint plant is expected to produce 300,000 kiloliters per annum of decorative paints. The plant is a key component of Asian Paints’ expansion programme in India.

Gary Mandel, petroleum and chemicals president, Jacobs, commented, "We are delighted to expand our relationship with APL as it continues to invest in this region. I am confident our global experience in the chemical industry combined with our strong local knowledge can contribute significant value to this strategically important facility."

As MRC informed earlier, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. was selected by ExxonMobil to perform engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for its Crude Flexibility Engineering and Construction Project at the ExxonMobil Refinery in Beaumont, Texas.

Asian Paints is India’s largest and Asia’s third largest paints company, with 26 manufacturing plants in operation in India and around the world.

Jacobs is one of the world’s largest and most diverse providers of technical professional and construction services.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe has announced price increases for all polystyrene (PS), ABS and SAN grades, as per the company's press release.

Effective immediately, or as existing contract terms allow, the December contract and spot prices for the products listed below will increase as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS), STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR60 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS and TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR30 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo last raised PS and copolymers prices in Europe in November 2015, as stated below:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS), STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR20 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR10 per metric ton.

Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo has completed the name change process for most legal entities around the world. Some Styron companies are still completing this process and will continue to do business as Styron until their respective name changes are complete.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo’s technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan’s two biggest oil refiners, JX Holdings Inc. and TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K., said they are in talks to merge after the Nikkei newspaper reported the two companies reached a broad agreement on a deal, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

JX and TonenGeneral are considering business integration though no decision has been made, they said in separate statements on Wednesday. The refiners plan to merge by 2017 after getting approval from the Fair Trade Commission, the Nikkei newspaper reported, without citing anyone.

"Due to the severe business environment surrounding the oil industry, we are considering the merger with TonenGeneral in order to strengthen the competitiveness of our petroleum business," JX Holdings said in its statement.

The Japanese government is encouraging refiners to consolidate and to cut processing capacity amid declining fuel demand. If a deal between JX and TonenGeneral is completed, the new company would control about half of the country’s gasoline market while a combination of domestic competitors Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K., which agreed to merge last month, would hold about a third.

The two companies plan a merger by issuing JX’s stock to TonenGeneral shareholders and aim to save about 100 billion yen (USD814 million) a year from the integration through shutting refineries and other measures, Nikkei reported. The companies could announce the deal as early as this week, the newspaper said.

TonenGeneral dropped 1.3% to 1,187 yen as of 10:10 a.m. in Tokyo while JX lost 0.3%. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.3%.

MRC