Celanese raises March VAM prices in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Americas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, has increase March list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas, as per the company's press release.

The price increases below were effective for orders shipped on or after 1 March, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, VAM prices rose, as follows:

- by EUR100/mt - for Europe, Middle East & Africa;
- by USD0.05/lb - for the USA and Canada:
- by USD110/mt - for Mexico & South America.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese last raised its VAM prices for the stated above regions on 1 October, 2018, as follows:

- by EUR50/mt - for Europe, Middle East & Africa;
- by USD0.03/lb - for the USA and Canada:
- by USD65/mt - for Mexico & South America.

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) -- TechnipFMC has successfully completed the remaining conditions required to enable work to commence on the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract by Middle East Oil Refinery (MIDOR) for the modernization and expansion of their existing complex near Alexandria, Egypt, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

As previously stated, this major EPC contract covers the debottlenecking of existing units, the delivery of new units including a Crude and Vacuum Distillation Unit, a hydrogen production facility based on our steam reforming technology, as well as various process units, interconnecting, offsites and utilities. Starting in 2022, the modernized complex will produce Euro V products, with a 60% increase in the refinery’s original capacity to 160,000 barrels per day of crude oil.

The contract award will be included in the Company’s first quarter 2019 inbound orders in its Onshore/Offshore segment.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, in June 2016, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced that it had received a contract to provide detailed engineering and procurement assistance services to TCI Sanmar Chemical for its PVC-2 polyvinyl chloride plant expansion project in Port Said, Egypt. When complete, the PVC-2 facility’s production capacity is expected to be 200 kilo-tonnes per annum (KTPA). Combined with its other global facilities, this takes TCI Sanmar’s total PVC production capacity to 400 KTPA, strengthening the company’s position as one of the largest PVC producers in the Middle East and North Africa.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Versum Materials Inc. rejected a USD5.9 billion takeover offer from Merck KGaA, and said it’s committed to completing the previously announced merger with Entegris Inc., said Bloomberg.

"After careful review and consideration, conducted in consultation with its independent financial and legal advisors, the Versum board concluded that Merck KGaA’s proposal is not a superior proposal," the company said in a statement Friday.

Earlier this week German conglomerate Merck made a USD48-a-share offer in an attempt to break up the USD3.8 billion planned merger between the two U.S. makers of semiconductor components. Under the terms of the merger agreement with Entegris announced on Jan. 28, Versum shareholders would receive 1.120 shares of Entegris for each existing Versum share.

The combination with Entegris is expected to close in the second half, Versum said. German Merck isn’t related to U.S.-based health care company Merck & Co.

Merck believes that its USD48 a-share proposal is clearly superior and represents a 51.7 percent premium to the Versum share price before the Entegris deal was announced, the company said in a statement. "We believe our proposal represents a full and fair price for the company," the statement said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Maroon Group (Avon, Ohio) has named Terry Hill to succeed Mark E. Reichard as CEO, effective 1 May, said Chemweek.

Reichard will remain executive vice chairman, in which role he will manage key customer and principal relationships. Mike McKenna, COO of Maroon, will add the role of president.

Reichard has been with Maroon, a distributor of specialty chemicals and ingredients in the United States, for 37 years. Hill joined Maroon’s board of directors in 2017 after spending 30 years with Univar, where he held a range of executive positions including executive vice president and chief commercial officer. McKenna has been with Maroon for 15 years.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Products has completed the acquisition of ACP Europe SA (ACP), the largest independent carbon dioxide (CO2) business in Continental Europe, said Gasworld.

The Tier One company announced the definitive agreement to purchase ACP Europe SA back in February (2018). Concluding the deal enables Air Products to better serve existing customers and pursue new industrial gas growth opportunities.

Customers will now benefit from an expanded liquid CO2 supply position across additional European geographies and greater density throughout Continental Europe.

"This is a good, logical deal. The ACP CO2 business complements our own and provides a solid platform to deliver customer value and pursue further European industrial gas growth," said Ivo Bols, Air Products’ Industrial Gases President in Europe and Africa.

"I have no doubt that our customers will benefit from a stronger portfolio as well as the collective and complementary expertise of our combined team," Bols continued. "With over 120 years of CO2 experience, we have built a quality, well-managed business that deliver," commented Jan De Ridder, Director, ACP.

"Becoming part of Air Products means we can look to the future with great optimism," said Ridder. ACP serves customers across a variety of applications including beverage, chemical, food and horticulture. It has more than 120 employees, four liquid CO2 production plants (with an additional facility under construction) and two dry ice production locations across Europe.

All required customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals have been satisfied. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
MRC