Linde and Praxair win conditional merger approval in Brazil

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Industrial gases groups Linde and Praxair has won conditional antitrust approval in Brazil for their planned merger after committing to asset sales, Linde said on Thursday.

Linde will sell its entire business in Brazil, subject to merger completion, a spokesman said.

US competition regulators still pose the biggest challenge for the USD83 billion deal and the prospective partners are in talks to salvage the merger after antitrust watchdogs demanded they sell assets that generate more than USD4.3 billion in sales.

As MRC wrote before, Linde AG and Praxair Inc. have recently won conditional European Union approval for their USD45 billion merger, as they scramble to win over US antitrust authorities for a deal that combines two of the biggest suppliers of industrial gas.

Besides, we remind that German industrial gases company Linde and peer Praxis are hoping to seal their merger this year, after agreeing to sell Praxair’s European gases business to Japanese rival Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- LG Chem is likely to undertake a maintenance turnaround at its No.1 caustic soda plant at Yeosu, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the company has planned to start maintenance at the plant on November 5, 2018. The plant is expected to remain under turnaround for about 10 days.

Located at Yeosu, South Korea, the No. 1 plant has a production capacity of 258,000 dmt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, Seoul's LG Chem is planning to spend USD2.4-billion to expand its naphtha cracking center (NCC) and polyolefin (PO) plant in Yeosu, South Korea. The project, which will expand the NCC and PO facility by 800,000 t/y each, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2021.

LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to ICIS report, it is 15th biggest chemical company in the world in 2011. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, has announced price increases on its propylene-based (PP) long fiber thermoplastics (LFT), including Celstran, and its polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) compounded engineering plastics, including Celenex, Vandar, Impet, Pibiter, OmniTech and Compel due to continued increases in raw material costs globally as well as the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) implementation of a 25% tariff on PBT and PET products imported into the U.S. from China, as per the company's press release.

The price increases below were effective for orders shipped on or after August 23, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow:

- PBT and PET - by 25% - for Americas, by EUR130/tonne - for Europe and by USD150/tonne - for Asia outside China;
- Propylene-based (PP) LFT grades - by CNY100/tonne - for China;
- Polyamide 66-based long-fiber thermoplastic grades (PA66-LFT) - by CNY300/tonne - for China.

As MRC wrote before, on 9 August 2018, Celanese raised list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Ethylene (EVA) emulsions sold in China and Asia Outside China (AOC). Thus, Celanese raised list and off-list selling prices for VAM by RMB200/mt for China and USD50/mt for AOC.

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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US energy regulator has approved a request by Cheniere Energy to feed the first gas into its new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Corpus Christi, Texas, marking the beginning of a commissioning phase for the export terminal, reported Reuters.

The approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) means Cheniere will be able to produce the first commissioning cargo by the fourth quarter of this year, if not earlier.

Train 1 at the Corpus Christi facility will become the first LNG export terminal in Texas and the third functioning one in the United States as the country ramps up the sale of the super-chilled gas to unprecedented levels in the coming years.

Cheniere’s Chief Executive, Jack Fusco, told analysts earlier this month the facility would produce its first LNG in the fourth quarter, implying a commercial startup of the facility earlier than the slated first half of 2019.

The LNG market looks out for facility startups not only because they ultimately add supply but because the commissioning cargos tend to be traded on the spot market, whereas initial commercial deliveries go to prearranged long-term buyers.

Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal, with four operational so-called trains or plants, is the largest LNG facility in the country with a 18 million tonne a year (mtpa) capacity and it began operations in 2016.

Dominion Energy’s 5.3 mtpa Cove Point terminal in Maryland began operations in March of this year and so far is the second operating LNG export terminal.

Over a dozen trains are expected to become operational next year on the U.S. East Coast adding 36 mtpa to global LNG supply compared to the 290 mtpa traded in 2017.

Aside from Cheniere’s terminals, these include Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island facilities in Georgia, Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG in Louisiana and Freeport’s Texas facility.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the world's largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies, has officially broke ground on what will be the largest propylene oxide (PO) and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) plant ever built, as per the company's press release.

The Houston area project is estimated to cost USD2.4 billion, representing the single-largest capital investment in the company's history. Once in operation, the plant will produce 1 billion pounds (470,000 metric tons) of PO and 2.2 billion pounds (1 million metric tons) of TBA annually. Startup of the plant is planned for 2021.

"Today's groundbreaking is a historic moment for our company," said Bob Patel, CEO of LyondellBasell. "This plant will be the largest of its kind, built to meet the rising global demand for urethanes used by billions of consumers each day and clean-burning oxyfuels that will help improve air quality around the world. The construction of this project will provide jobs for our neighbors, support local businesses and strengthen our communities with increased tax revenues across the greater Houston region. As one of the cornerstones of our global growth strategy, the new plant will strengthen our ties in Houston and generate long-term value for our shareholders."

To optimize product balances and realize synergies between LyondellBasell sites, two facilities will be constructed on existing manufacturing sites. The 140-acre PO/TBA plant will be built at the LyondellBasell Channelview Complex located in Channelview, Texas while an associated 34-acre ethers unit, which will convert TBA to oxyfuels, will be built at the company's Bayport Complex in Pasadena, Texas.

The company chose to build the new plant at these existing locations along the Texas Gulf Coast because of their proximity to low-cost feedstocks and the transportation infrastructure needed to ship products to markets around the globe.

"The groundbreaking on this new project not only brings more job opportunities for Texans, it also adds to the growing diversity of our booming economy," said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. "It is because of investments from companies like LyondellBasell that the Texas economy continues to be the envy of the nation. I thank LyondellBasell for their investment and wish them continued success."

LyondellBasell plans to sell the PO and derivative products to both domestic and global customers, while the oxyfuels will be primarily sold into Latin America and Asia. A portion of the TBA will remain in the domestic market in the form of high purity isobutylene which is used in tires and lubricants. The majority of the products will be exported via the Houston Ship Channel.

PO is used to make bedding, furniture, carpeting, coatings, building materials and adhesives, while TBA will be converted to two ether-based oxyfuels, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE). Both MTBE and ETBE are high-octane gasoline components that help gasoline burn cleaner and reduce emissions from automobiles.

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.
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