Mexichem to expand Mexican chemical plant

(chemicals-technology) -- Mexichem, the Latin American leader in the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), is planning to invest nearly MXN 1.43bn (USD109m) to expand its chemical plant in Altamira, Mexico.

"During the construction phase, the project is expected to generate more than 1,000 jobs."

Altamira chemical plant general manager Fernando Ramirez was quoted by EFE news services as saying that the expansion and modernisation project for the Altamira I Complex is another step towards consolidating Mexichem's position in the chemical and petrochemical industries.

During the construction phase, the project is expected to generate more than 1,000 jobs. Mexichem will also develop local supply chains by contracting regional suppliers and workers.

The PVC and other products manufactured in Altamira are used in plastic linings, containers, bottles, insulation for wiring, pipes, toys and other items.

Mexichem is a Mexican company and one of the largest leader in the Latin American chemical and petrochemical industry. The company operates in North, Central and South America, Europe and Asia and exports its products to more than 50 countries.
MRC

(upstreamonline) -- Net profit slipped at French supermajor Total in the third quarter despite a rise in sales on strong upstream activity and improved refinery margins.

On an adjusted basis, however, the company said its bottom line was boosted significantly. Consolidated net profit for the three months to the end of September was EUR 3.14 billion (USD4.08 billion) as against EUR 3.35 billion a year earlier.

However, when Total took into account adjustments - which it defined as "income using replacement cost, adjusted for special items, excluding the impact of changes for fair value" - adjusted net profit crept from EUR 2.08 billion to EUR 3.35 billion.

Total production slipped 2% year-on-year to 2.27 million barrels of oil equivalent per day due to decline at some fields and scheduled maintenance as well as incidents in the North Sea and Nigeria.

Commenting on the results, chairman and chief executive Christophe de Margerie said: "In upstream, the group reaffirms its outlook for profitable growth thanks to the ramp-up of recent start-ups and the progress of major projects in development."

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to refining, petroleum product marketing, and international crude oil and product trading. Total is also a large-scale chemicals manufacturer.
Total

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Cyprus-registered commodity trader Gunvor Group said Wednesday it has signed a one-year contract with Russia's state-controlled oil company Rosneft to export around 6 million tons of oil products from Russia.

Gunvor won the contract to export products from Rosneft's three refineries in Russia's Samara region following a tender. Gunvor will export the products via its Ust-Luga terminal on the Baltic Sea and its 50%-owned Novorossiysk terminal on the Black Sea.

The commodity trader is one of the world's top players in selling and transporting Russian oil. However, Gunvor's role in the Russian market came under scrutiny in the last month after it failed to secure any oil in Rosneft's semi-annual crude tender in September.

The latest contract with Rosneft to export oil products "shows Gunvor's investment program has given the company a competitive edge and we intend to remain a leading exporter of many Russian products," a spokesman for the company said.

As MRC wrote earlier, Gunvor Group, owned by Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko, has bought the Petroplus oil refinery in Antwerp. Gunvor plans to resume operations soon at the refinery, which halted last month due to financial difficulties at Petroplus. The facility has capacity to refine over 100,000 barrels of oil a day.
MRC

(iranwpd) -- The Iranian government has lately announced that exports of 50 various industrial and petrochemical goods as well as foodstuff has been forbidden to support national production and consumption, the official news agency IRNA reported Tuesday.

Releasing a statement, the CPPO said that a number of petrochemical and all poly­meric products (styrene monomer, PE, propilen, PVC, PS, PET) well as certain industrial goods were among forbidden export products.

The news came as the US and Europe stepped up sanctions against Iran in an attempt to curb its controversial nuclear program.

The export restriction also came on the heels of the severe volatility in the Iranian rial against the US dollar. The rial's dramatic fall since the start of the year following the sanctions has made imports more difficult and expensive.

As MRC wrote earlier, Iran is due to inaugurate a new petrochemical company named Arvand with the capacity of producing 340,000 tons of PVC annually. It is estimated that the Islamic Republic will hold 25 to 30 percent of the global market following the export of the product.MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Italian company Tecnimont SpA was awarded an engineering contract by YPFB Corporation for a plant to produce ethylene and polyethylene (PE) in southern Bolivia, according to the YPFB press release. The contract is worth USD3.8 million.

The estimated production capacity of a new petrochemical complex is about 600,000 tonnes of PE of different grades for various applications. The raw material to be used is ethane with the annual consumption of approximately 756,000 tonnes. The unit is scheduled to be on steam in 2017.

The conceptual engineering study should be completed in the first half of 2013, the company said.

"Basically the conceptual engineering study develops the technical and economic aspects of the project and allow YPFB Corporation make strategic decisions to advance to the next stages of the project," said the project leader Montano Igmar.

Tecnimont group has extensive experience in the petrochemical industry in general, particularly in the engineering and construction of petrochemical and polymers facilities such as YPFB Corporation project. It has already built 140 polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plants worldwide. Among its recent experiences are the petrochemical complexes in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Germany, India and Russia, to name a few.
MRC