Westlake completes acquisition of Hexion epoxy business

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical Corporation has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Hexion Inc.’s global epoxy business for approximately USD1.2 billion in an all-cash transaction, as per the company's press release.

Based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, the epoxy business, which will be branded as Westlake Epoxy, is an industry leader in the manufacture and development of specialty resins, coatings and composites for a variety of industries, including high-growth and sustainability-oriented end-uses such as wind turbine blades and light-weight automotive structural components.

"With this transaction, Westlake will significantly expand its integrated business by adding a leading downstream portfolio of coatings and composite products," said Westlake President and Chief Executive Officer Albert Chao. "Light-weighting is a critical feature for the manufacture of structural components for automobiles and for renewable energy, particularly the composite blades used by wind turbines, and epoxies are key ingredients for these sustainable products. The industries served by Westlake Epoxy are very attractive and the business is expected to be a synergistic addition to Westlake’s existing businesses. We welcome the epoxy employees to the Westlake family and look forward to realizing the tremendous opportunities to grow the combined businesses."

Westlake Epoxy is a global leading producer of epoxy resins, modifiers and curing agents for high-performance materials, coatings and composites. The fully-integrated business includes upstream base epoxy resins and intermediates delivered as liquid or solid epoxy resins, as well downstream specialty epoxy resins used in coatings and composites. Westlake Epoxy serves numerous industries, including adhesives; aerospace; automotive; civil engineering and construction; composite and wind energy; electronics; electrical laminates; as well as marine and protective coatings.

As MRC reported before, in 2021, Hexion Inc., a major American manufacturer of phenol and bisphenol A (BPA), has recently announced that in order to help address climate change, it has committed to reduce absolute carbon emissions by 20% by 2030.

Hexion Inc., formerly Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc., is a chemical company based in Columbus, Ohio. It manufactures thermosetting resins and related technologies and specialty products. Hexion has two divisions: the epoxy, phenolic and coating resins division and the forest products division.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is an international manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, chlor-alkali and derivative products, PVC suspension and specialty resins, PVC Compounds, and PVC building products including siding, pipe, fittings and specialty components, windows, fence, deck and film.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Styrolution (Frankfurt, Germany) announced the start of ABS ((acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) production in Wingles, France, having completed the conversion of an existing polystyrene line to the production of ABS, said the company.

This move makes Wingles the company’s third ABS production site in Europe together with Antwerp, Belgium and Cologne, Germany. The ABS production capacity in Wingles will be 50,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr), to help meet the increased demand for ABS in Europe in industries such as Construction, Compounding, Household and Automotive.

Dr. Alexander Gluck, President EMEA, comments: "The new ABS plant in Wingles not only increases our overall ABS capacity in Europe, but it also allows us to provide new ABS solutions to respond to developing customer demand across a broader portfolio."

The sites in Antwerp, Belgium and Wingles, France address the production of INEOS Styrolution’s standard ABS solutions (Terluran and Lustran brands), while Cologne, Germany, is focused on the production of specialty ABS solutions (Novodur brand).

The new ABS production line adds to the portfolio produced in Wingles with the site continuing to produce polystyrene for industries including Construction and Packaging.

As MRC reported earlier, in August 2021, INEOS Styrolution joined the US Plastics Pact in their support for collaborative, solution-driven initiatives intended to drive significant system change in the design, use, and reuse of plastics. The US Plastic Pact unites cross-sector approaches, setting a national strategy, and creating scalable solutions to create a path forward toward a circular economy for plastics in the United States by 2025.

We remind that in April 2021, INEOS Styrolution, Recycling Technologies and Trinseo announced that they had reached a significant milestone in their plans to build commercial polystyrene (PS) recycling plants in Europe. Recycling Technologies has been selected as the technology partner.

INEOS Styrolution is the leading global styrenics supplier, with a focus on styrene monomer, polystyrene, ABS Standard and styrenic specialties. With world-class production facilities and more than 90 years of experience, INEOS Styrolution helps its customers succeed by offering solutions, designed to give them a competitive edge in their markets. At the same time, these innovative and sustainable best-in-class solutions help make the circular economy for styrenics a reality. The company provides styrenic applications for many everyday products across a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, household, construction, healthcare, packaging and toys/sports/leisure. In 2020, sales were at 4 billion euros. INEOS Styrolution employs approximately 3,600 people and operates 20 production sites in ten countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexico's state-run Petroleos Mexicanos would likely reduce oil sales to Europe and Asia before the United States, its main market for oil exports, after its Dos Bocas refinery begins operations, a Valero Energy Corp VLO.N executive said on Thursday.

Pemex in December said its crude exports will fall to 435,000 bpd this year from 1.019 million bpd in 2021 and it plans to cease all crude exports after its 300,000-barrel-per-day Dos Bocas refinery in the southeastern state of Tabasco begins processing crude next year.

Pemex was not immediately available to respond to the Valero executive's comments.

Analysts expect that the exports decline - which has not yet been included in the budget Mexico's congress approved for 2022 - would primarily affect customers that buy Mexican crude on the spot market, including many in Asia.

"It looks like their (Pemex) goals are pretty aggressive," said Gary Simmons, Valero's chief commercial officer, during the firm's fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday.

The Texas-based refining company, which is among the US top importers of heavy crude, expects to continue its business relationship with Pemex, he added.

Pemex also plans to reshuffle fuel imports after buying Shell's 50%-stake in the Deer Park refinery in Texas, which will give it access to up to 230,000 bpd of US fuels.

As MRC wrote before, Mexico carried out the transaction as agreed: USD596 MM for the refinery's assets - equivalent to Shell's 50% stake in the JV's debt - as well as the liquidation of the USD596 MM that made up Pemex's stake in the refinery.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MR''s ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is a Mexican state-owned oil and gas and petrochemical company. Since the nationalization of the Mexican oil industry in 1938, Pemex has remained a state-owned company and, by law, has exclusive rights to explore and produce oil in the country. Almost 60% of the company's revenues go to the state budget. Petrochemical products include, but are not limited to, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexican petrochemical company Alpek has signed an agreement to acquire international PET laminate producer Octal Holding for USD620 mln, said Reuters.

The financing for the acquisition will be covered through cash available on Alpek’s balance sheet, funds from its existing businesses and bank loans, and was made possible in part by the strength of its 2021 results, Alpek said.

"This transaction is ideal for Alpek. Through a single acquisition we get access to the growing and profitable segment of PET laminate," Alpek Chief Executive Officer Jose de Jesus Valdez said in a statement.

Octal serves customers in the Americas, the Middle East and Europe from its logistics center in Oman. It owns direct-to-sheet (DPET) technology, which eliminates several energy-intensive conversion steps, resulting in lower production costs.

The acquisition will add more than 1 million tonnes to Alpek’s capacity, the company said.

As per MRC, the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) manufacturing facility, formerly known as Lotte Chemical UK in the UK, is now owned by a subsidiary of Alpek and operates under the name Alpek Polyester UK Ltd. The deal, announced in October, includes a 350,000 tpa PET plant in Wilton. This is Alpek's first acquisition outside of America. The agreement entered into force on 1 January, 2020.

We remind, Alpek (Monterrey, Mexico) finished commissioning and begin production at a Reading, Pennsylvania, recycled polyethylene therephthalate (PET) facility in the third quarter of 2021. DAK Americas, Alpek's US subsidiary, bought the facility in late-May for USD98.1 million at an auction in the bankruptcy case of California recycled PET producer CarbonLite.

Alpek operates two main business segments, focused on polyester, and plastics and chemicals, and is a leading producer of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). It is also the largest EPS manufacturer in the Americas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US offshore engineering and constructions services player McDermott has named a new president and chief executive officer (CEO) to strengthen the portfolio and forge a new path for the industry, according to Offshore Energy.

McDermott revealed on Tuesday that Michael McKelvy has been appointed to these roles, effective immediately. He will also serve as a member of McDermott’s board. Lee McIntire, who has been serving as interim CEO since June 2021 when David Dickson resigned, will continue as a member of McDermott’s board.

Nils Larsen, Chairman of McDermott’s Board of Directors, commented: “Michael joins McDermott at a pivotal time for the company as significant contract wins reflect increasing demand for McDermott’s diversified and integrated solutions.”

Namely, McDermott has secured two major contracts so far this year. At the very beginning of January, the company won a contract with QatarEnergy for the offshore scope of its North Field Expansion Project in Qatar. Later that month, McDermott revealed that this was one of the largest single contracts it had been awarded in its company history.

Also in January, McDermott was awarded an EPCIC contract by Woodside for the Scarborough floating production unit (FPU), which will be located offshore Western Australia.

According to McDermott, McKelvy has spent more than three decades working in the engineering and construction industry across the U.S. and international markets, including Europe and the Middle East. He previously led Gilbane Building Company as President and CEO since 2014.

As MRC reported earlier, McDermott plans to deliver engineering and procurement for the ethylene cracker of the Gas Chemical Complex (GCC) project. The largest polyethylene (PE) integration project in the world with China National Chemical Engineering and Construction Corporation Seven, Ltd (CC7). This agreement follows McDermott"s safe and successful delivery of the front end engineering design (FEED) and early works phases of the project. The ethane cracker project is owned by Baltic Chemical Complex LLC, (BCC) a subsidiary of RusGazDobycha, located onshore Russia in the Gulf of Finland.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MR''s ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

McDermott is a fully-integrated provider of engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry. Our customers trust our technology-driven approach engineered to responsibly harness and transform global energy resources into the products the world needs. From concept to commissioning, McDermott's innovative expertise and capabilities advance the next generation of global energy infrastructure Ѕempowering a brighter, more sustainable future for us all. Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott's locally-focused and globally-integrated resources include more than 30,000 employees, a diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels and fabrication facilities around the world.
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