Celanese initiates comprehensive cost assessment of logistics policies and services for all products

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, has announced that due to continued and projected escalating cost increases for logistics services, the company has begun a comprehensive assessment of all logistics policies for all products to ensure that processes and services are conducted in the most efficient and economical manner, as per the company's press release.

Upon conclusion of this assessment, Celanese expects to issue a new framework with guidelines regarding shipments and services in order to best address the increasing costs for freight as well as limited availability of truck carrier capacity.

While this assessment is ongoing, Celanese today announces that, effective immediately, it will implement a price increase of USD0.03/lb on all truck shipments of the following acetyl intermediate products being sent from or delivered to the US or Canada, subject to any applicable contractual commitments:

- all grades of Formaldehyde and Paraformaldehyde;
- all grades of MIBC and MIBK;
- all grades of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA);
- all grades of Emulsion Polymers.

Implementing the above price increases is necessary at this time given the increasing costs and fees that Celanese has already begun to incur for freight and in order to secure truck carrier capacity to deliver shipments of the above products to customers in the US and Canada. Celanese may also impose additional charges for rush orders or customer requests for changes to orders which are made 72 hours or less prior to the estimated shipment date.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese Corporation increased its June list and off-list selling prices for EVA emulsions and copolymers of Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) and EVA for the USA, Canada and the countries of South America, as follows:

- EVA - by 5%;
- VAM Homopolymers (PVAC) - by 5%;
- VAM Copolymers - by 5%;
- Pure Acrylics - by 5%;
- Styrene Acrylics - by 5%.

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, Celanese employs approximately 7,600 employees worldwide and had 2017 net sales of USD6.1 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Axens announces that it has signed a contract with MOL Group for its Danube Refinery to develop a cloud-based real-time monitoring unit as part of Connect‘In, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), developed by Axens and supported by OSIsoft technologies, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project was encouraged by MOL’s ability to implement OSIsoft innovations successfully in the past.

The main goal of the agreement is to support the MOL refinery with an intensified technical assistance service for review of catalyst performances and unit profitability.

Connect’In™, supported by OSIsoft PI Cloud Connect, automatically collects data from the refinery, with the highest standards of cybersecurity, and converts them into normalized KPI using Axens high-fidelity models in real-time. Results are displayed through a collaborative web interface equipped with dashboards and projection tools enabling to accelerate the decision-making process.

Connect‘In™ is a natural evolution of Axens technical services which increases the collaboration between Axens experts and refinery process specialists for improved unit profitability.
MOL Group (Hungarian Oil and Gas Company, HQ in Budapest) is one of the largest oil and gas companies in Central Europe with several subsidiaries under different brands.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - U.S. oil and gas drilling and related operations give off much more of the powerful greenhouse gas methane than the federal government estimates, wasting about USD20 billion of fuel a year, scientists said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Methane, the main component of natural gas, is colorless and odorless. It is a major force in short-term global warming because it has more than 80 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it escapes into the atmosphere. In high concentrations it can also lead to formations of smog, which is linked to heart and lung damage.

The amount of methane leaked from U.S. oil and gas wells and related infrastructure in 2015 equaled about 2.3 percent of the country's overall natural gas output, a study led by the Environmental Defense Fund advocacy group said. That was much more than the 1.4 percent the Environmental Protection Agency estimated for 2015 in a report last year.

Due to the tens of billions of dollars' worth of fuel that vanishes in the air, some energy companies are expected to cut down on emissions using better monitoring equipment in drones and vehicles.

"This is a solvable problem because you are losing product that you could sell," said Steven Hamburg, the EDF's chief scientist and a co-author of the study. "But the entire industry has to take action to stop the problem," he added.

Once leaks are detected, stopping them becomes a matter of routine maintenance that cuts down on well breakdowns, which are more expensive to fix, he said.

The study, integrating five years of research by scientists from 15 universities and institutions, including Stanford, Harvard and Purdue, said it was the most comprehensive look ever at fugitive methane emissions from U.S. energy development. The research was published in the journal Science.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CTCI CORPORATION, in Joint Venture with Saipem, has been awarded a new contract of Nong Fab LNG Receiving Terminal located within Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong Province of Thailand by PTT LNG Company Limited, a subsidiary of PTT Public Company Limited, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With CTCI’s solid track record and focus in Thailand’s EPC market over the decades, the JV beats other international EPC bidders to acquire the contract with the value nearly USD 925 million, hitting a new record for CTCI in Thailand’s EPC project contracting market. This contract award has laid a foundation for an advantageous Southeast Asia market outlook, while also fueled the momentum for Taiwan Government’s New Southbound Policy.

The scope of Nong Fab LNG Receiving Terminal includes engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of two 250,000m3 storage tanks, a 7.5MMTPA re-gasification facility, a long trestle marine jetty, and an eco-friendly Administration Building.

San Donato Milanese (MI), - Saipem, in Joint Venture with CTCI Corporation, has been awarded a new contract in the Onshore E&C sector in Thailand for an overall value of approximately 925 million USD. Saipem will operate as leader of the Joint Venture which has been assigned the contract with a stake of 55%. Hence Saipem’s share is around 500 million USD. The contract has been awarded by PTT LNG Company Limited, a subsidiary of PTT Public Company Limited, Thailand’s national oil&gas company. The project will be realized in the Mueang Rayong district, in the south-east of the country.

Works include the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of the Nong Fab terminal, with a maximum receiving capacity of 9 MMTPA, for the receipt, storage and regasification of liquefied natural gas.

Stefano Cao, Saipem CEO, commented: "As well as consolidating Saipem’s presence in an area with great prospects for development such as South-East Asia, the signing of this contract strengthens our position in the LNG sector which is of interest to us in terms of both the liquefaction and regasification segments. Furthermore, this contract represents a step forward towards achieving greater balance in our portfolio, between downstream and gas projects and those linked to upstream."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Linde plc has announced that the proposed business combination between Praxair (PX) and Linde AG received unconditional antitrust clearance in Mexico, satisfying a closing condition, reported TheFly.

Linde plc is a public limited company formed on April 18, 2017, that will become the parent company of Praxair, Inc. and Linde AG upon the completion of the business combination.

Completion of the business combination remains subject to timely approval by requisite governmental regulators and authorities under applicable competition laws.

The business combination is expected to be completed in the second half of 2018.

As MRC informed previously, in March 2018, the Engineering Division of The Linde Group (Linde) and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) concluded a definitive agreement for the transfer of MCC’s Hydrodealkylation (HDA) technology to Linde.
MRC