Evonik increases prices for VESTANAT and VESTAGON products

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik has raised the prices for its aliphatic diisocyanates and derivatives, offered under the brand names VESTANAT and VESTAGON up to 10% on a global basis with immediate effect, as per the company's press release.

All existing contracts will be honored.

After many years of stable prices the price increase has become unavoidable to compensate higher costs for personnel, maintenance, regulatory affairs and logistics.

This adjustment will enable the business line Crosslinkers to continue to provide to its customers a superior quality, excellent service with special focus on supply reliability and the

As MRC informed earlier, Evonik is expanding its production facilities in Birmingham (Alabama, USA) and Darmstadt (Germany). This will create additional capacity for the production of biodegradable polymers marketed globally under the brand names RESOMER and RESOMER SELECT. These poly-lactic-glycolic-acid (PLGA) copolymers are primarily used to manufacture bioresorbable medical devices and controlled-release formulations for parenteral drug delivery.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell has completed the sale of its 50% share in SADAF, the petrochemicals JV, located in Al Jubail, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to SABIC for USD820 MM, said the company on its website.

This sale was announced on Jan. 22. Completion follows anti-trust filings in the relevant countries and regulatory approval from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This acquisition will enable SABIC to optimize operations at SADAF and further invest in the facilities, integrating them with SABIC’s other affiliates. This step will allow Shell to focus its downstream activities and make selective investments to support the growth of its global chemicals business.

Completion of this deal shows the clear momentum behind Shell’s global, value-driven USD30 B divestment program.

This deal does not impact Shell’s other interests in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world’s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.

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) — A fire broke out on Thursday at a chemical plant owned by state oil major PetroChina in Dalian, in northeast China's Liaoning Province, state news agency Xinhua reported, as per Reuters.

The fire broke out around 6:40 p.m. (1040 GMT), it said. Huge flames and billowing smoke were seen at the spot.

No casualties have been reported so far, Xinhua said.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian oil Corp Ltd (IOCL) has completed a maintenance turnaround at its polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plants at Panipat in northern India, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that the plants were brought on-stream following a maintenance turnaround early this week. The plants were under planned shutdown since mid-July 2017.

Located at Panipat in the northern Indian state of Haryana, the PE plant comprising of HDPE line with a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year and HDPE/LLDPE swing line with a production capacity of 175,000 mt/year.

The PP plant comprises of two units with a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year each.

As MRC wrote before, Indian Oil Corporation's Rs 34,555-crore 15 million tonnes per annum Paradip Refinery was commissioned in phases from March 2015 onwards. Indian Oil Corporation was conducting feasibility studies to set up a petrochemical complex at Paradip in Odisha for Rs 20,000 crore. The petrochemical complex will be built in the vicinity of the company’s to-be-commissioned 15-mln tpa greenfield refinery at Paradip. The petrochemical complex will be in addition to the already announced Rs 3,150-crore polypropylene project at the same location, the foundation stone for which was laid by MOS for petroleum and natural gas.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports in June fell slightly to 6.889 MMbpd, 35,000 bpd lower than the May level, official data showed, as per Reuters.

OPEC's biggest producer also pumped 10.070 MMbpd in June, up 190,000 bpd from May, according to a posting on the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) website.

The kingdom increased direct-burn crude used for power generation in June as demand for electricity increases during the hot summer months. It used 680,000 bpd of crude oil to generate power in June, up 76,000 bpd from May.

The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, when the use of electricity surges, ran from May 27 to June 25 this year. Saudi demand for oil products rose to 2.634 MMbpd in June, up from 2.535 MMbpd in May.

The kingdom also continued to draw crude oil from its inventories, which fell by 2.253 MMbbl to 256.55 MMbbl in June. Saudi oil stocks peaked in October 2015 at a record 329.430 MMbbl.

Riyadh is leading an effort by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers to curb output and drain a global supply glut. OPEC's share of the cuts, which will run to March 2018, amount to about 1.2 MMbpd. Non-OPEC producers agreed to cut half as much as that.

Saudi Arabia's production in June is only 12,000 bpd above its output target—10.058 MMbpd—under the OPEC deal. Saudi's local refineries processed 2.577 MMbpd in June, up from 2.517 MMbpd in May. Its refined products exports rose to 1.362 MMbpd in June from 1.279 MMbpd in May. Monthly figures are provided by Riyadh and other OPEC members to the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI), which published them on its website.
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