Recently in trading Category

Mike Cromack has been appointed Global Business Director for Aromatic Feedstocks, and Rafael Cayuela has moved to become European Commercial Manager for Aromatics at Styron Europe, focusing on both styrene monomer and benzene.

The moves are the result of Chatchai's departure to take up a senior commercial leadership role in the SCG-Dow Group, a joint venture company between The Siam Cement Public Company Limited and The Dow Chemical Company in Thailand, the company announced in an email to the Blog on 16 July.

Rafael Cayuela's former responsibilities as European Butadiene Commercial Manager will be passed back to Anamaria Cioanca who will now have the newly configured role of European Butadiene Commercial Manager and Global Raw Materials Purchasing Manager for the Rubber business. 

Trader Integra announced today that Adrian Beale will be joining its Houston office from 1 September 2012.

"Adrian is currently a director with CMAI in Houston. He will be joining the Intermediates trading team and working together with the traders in the different regions," the company emailed the Blog. 

Ilse Tsang joined Amsterdam-based trader and distributor HML Europe on 9 July 2012 as part of the marketing team, the company emailed the Blog today.

Frank Jang, currently with KPIC Corporation, will join petrochemical traders Integra from September 2012, the company emailed the Blog on Monday.

Jang, currently manager for international trade-team 5 at KPIC, will be working alongside Integra's Asian traders as part of the Korean country team.

Oil broker Starfuels has acquired petrochemical brokerage Excalibur, the Blog hears at the EPL in Sofia on 13-15 June 2012.

Starfuels, based in Nyon, Switzerland, is a new venture from the original owner and founders of Starsupply, which will be "a global brand of physical-orientated niche oil brokers," the company annoucned.

The acquisition of Rotterdam-based Excalibur Oil Brokerage BV, now the Petrochemicals Division of Starfuels BV, was announced at EPL by the Blog's old friend Kent Hurst, who will be continuing to broke petrochemical trades for the business.

Todd Rogers, currently with Shell Chemicals aromatics team in Houston, will be joining Integra in Houston on 1 April 2012, the company announced today.

Rogers will be heading up Integra's aromatics business in the USA.

"The Integra Group's aromatics team is comprised of Peter Johansen in Brussels, Jereme Aziz, and  Waraporn Pumpaisanchai in Singapore, BW Namgung in Seoul, Lucy Lin Beijing, Edson Salvadoretti in Porto Alegre and Abdulrahman al Seriea in Riyadh," the company said.

Merijn Van Dijk, formerly with InterChem, is now an aromatics trader at Trafigura, he announced on LinkedIn today.

"Last week I started at Trafigura in Geneva ... I will be trading benzene and other aromatics in Europe," he emailed the Blog.

Van Dijk had previously been in logistics, and later traded toluene, mixed xylenes and methanol in his 11 years at traders InterChem.

Mark Quiner, formerly with Houston-based PetrochemWire (PCW), has joined brokerage Ion Energy Group, he told ICIS.

Quiner, who was olefins editor at ICIS Houston prior to PCW, will be brokering olefins, he said in an email today.

Ion Energy Group is an NGLs and energy brokerage, according to another market source.

LinkedIn has just sent out this pleasant photo collage of all the Blog's friends who moved jobs in 2011.

Apparently 80 of you moved jobs, some voluntarily, some not so voluntarily.

The Blog's next quiz will be to spot who jumped and who was pushed ...