Mitsui Chemicals mulls investment in US market

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Mitsui Chemicals is considering investing in the US petrochemical business using cheap natural gas there as a feedstock, the company's president said Thursday.

"We're in talks with several companies," Toshikazu Tanaka told reporters. "The US is a very big market. We're interested."

Low natural gas prices resulting from the US shale-gas boom are stimulating new investments iin petrochemical plants there.

In March, Royal Dutch Shell said it would build a USD2 billion petrochemical plant in Pennsylvania near the Marcellus Shale formation and would use natural gas as a primary feedstock.

Also in March, Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris said his company, which processes around 850,000 bpd of oil equivalent into plastics and other products, is focusing on increasing its US presence due to the lower natural gas prices.

In July, Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, president of rival Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, said the company had been looking for a good opportunity to build a factory in North America to take advantage of the cheap natural gas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) – PP imports to Russia after the September decline grew again. In October the total imports of PP to Russia rose to 28,400 tonnes. The ten months’ external supplies of polypropylene to Russia amounted to about 238,100 tonnes, according to MRC DataScope report.

PP imports to Russia after the September decline in October rose again. The increase made 38% and in the end of last month the total volume of imports amounted to 28,400 tonnes.

The main increase in the external supplies of polypropylene fell on Turkmenistan and South Korean material. PP imports from these countries amounted to 8,600 tonnes and 5,100 tonnes, respectively, which up by 189% and 65% from September.

In October, the imports of homopolymer of propylene reached 11,700 tonnes, while in September it made 7,000 tonnes. This significant increase was provided by external supply Turkmen raffia. The supply of Turkmenistan PP is expected to decline in November on the back of high export prices and the gradual decrease of prices in the Russian market.

Import copolymers of propylene grew not so significantly. External supplies of block copolymers of propylene in October reached 6,700 tonnes, up 17% due to the increase in demand in the sector of injection moulding and pipe production. Import stat- copolymers of propylene increased by 29% and reached 5,700 tonnes. Increase resulted from growth of the supply of pipe copolymer from South Korea.

In general, the ten months’ the total imports of polypropylene to Russia amounted to 238,100 tonnes, up 36% compared to the same period a year ago. External supply of homopolymer of propylene increased by 58%, while the increase in imports of block and stat- copolymer of propylene made 31% and 77%, respectively.


MRC

(noodles) -- Indorama Ventures is going to expand the PET polymers production capacity in the USA by setting up a new plant with a capacity of 540,000 tonnes per year, according to the decision made by the Board of Directors of Indorama Ventures PCL at their meeting dated November 14, 2012.

This expansion, which is expected to be completed in Q4 2015 will take IVL's total capacity in North America of PET polymers up to 2,100,000 tonnes per annum.

With respect to the announced PET expansion at its Polish site, the Board has decided to carry out a significant debottlenecking instead of setting up a new line as it would be more value accretive.

Besides, as MRC informed earlier, the company defers the start of work on the expansion of production capacity at its plant in Rotterdam (the Netherlands), with capacity of 200,000 tonnes of PET a year, from late October to mid-November due to a small explosion that occurred on October 14.

Indorama Ventures is a leading producer in the polyester value chain in Thailand with strong global network and manufacturing across Asia, Europe and North America. Its products serve major players in diversified end use markets, including food, beverages, personal and home care, health care, automotives, textile, and industrial. The company’s main products are PTA, PET and polyester fibre, which are distributed across the world.
MRC

(4-traders) -- Saudi Aramco selected Tecnicas Reunidas for two major refining projects in Saudi Arabia Tecnicas Reunidas, (TR), has participated in the official ceremony for the announcement of the preselected contractors by Saudi Aramco for its mega refining investment in the Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Aramco selected TR for the execution of two lump sum turnkey contracts for its upcoming Jazan refinery and marine terminal project. Saudi Aramco will build a 400.000 bpd grassroots refinery and hydrocarbon terminal facilities as part of the overall Jazan Economic City (JEC) development, located in Jazan Province, a South- Western region of Saudi Arabia.

This hydrocracker will be one of the largest in the world and the second largest in Saudi Arabia. The overall value of both contracts will be around 900 million dollars. The facilities are scheduled to be operational by the beginning of 2017.

TR has already designed hydrocrackers with the main licensors such as UOP, Axens, Chevron and Shell.

Saudi Aramco is a state owned company of Saudi Arabia. It is the largest oil company in the world due to having the largest proven oil reserves, about 260 billion barrels, and the highest production, 10 million barrels per day.
MRC

(wlsj) -- Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday that it will upgrade its petrochemical plant in Singapore to meet rising demand for ethylene in Asia.

The upgrade will increase the plant's capacity to produce olefins and aromatics—industrial chemicals used to make plastic, paint and other products—by more than 20%, the company said in a statement. It didn't say how much the expansion would cost.

"The investment will generate additional volumes to help us meet growing demand from our customers in the region," Ben van Beurden, executive vice president of Shell Chemicals, said in the statement.

The upgrade will take place during the next maintenance turn-around of the ethylene cracker, Shell said. The plant currently can produce 800,000 metric tons of ethylene a year. It mainly uses naphtha as a feedstock.

Operations at the plant began in March 2010. It is located on Bukom Island and is a part of the Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex, the company's largest-ever petrochemical investment. It is also integrated with Shell's largest oil refinery, which has a capacity of 500,000 barrels a day.

Recently, Shell and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) announced that they are progressing plans for the expansion of various projects at the Saudi Petrochemical Company (Sadaf).
MRC