Sasol purchases ethylene compressor trains for planned Louisiana ethane cracker

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sasol has placed a purchase order for ethylene compressor trains from MHI Compressor International, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Financial terms were not disclosed. The compressor trains are a critical long-lead item for Sasol's proposed world-scale ethane cracker at its Lake Charles site in southwest Louisiana.

"The placement of this order has secured vital manufacturing capacity of this specialty equipment before the expected heating of the market," said Johan du Preez, executive vice president of US mega projects for Sasol.

Sasol announced the commencement of the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase for the cracker last December. The cracker will also include downstream derivative units.

To that end, Sasol also recently selected the UNIPOL polyethylene process of Univation Technologies and the tubular process technology from ExxonMobil Chemical for the new linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plants, respectively.

"This forms part of Sasol's strategy of building globally competitive downstream facilities and adding value to the already low cost ethylene production opportunity in North America," said Andre de Ruyter, Sasol's senior vice president for global chemicals and North American operations.

Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company that began in Sasolburg, South Africa in 1950. It develops and commercialises technologies and builds and operates world-scale facilities to produce a range of product streams including liquid fuels, chemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In March, imports of PET to Russia decreased by 8% from February, according to MRC ScanPlast.

In absolute terms, supplies of imported PET to Russia fell by 1,300 tonnes last month to 14,700 tonnes. However, if compared to March 2012, they increased by 1,000 tonnes.

Import purchases of PET in Asia decreased due to an on-going decline in prices and, as a result, market participants' expectations of lower quotations. Russian converters bought the bulk volumes of the material to meet the current needs of the producers of PET preforms.

The already concluded contracts by converters for Russian granulate also resulted in the fall of import purchases, according to market sources.

In the supply structure, the share of recycled PET flex made about 900 tonnes, whereas imports of PET granulate amounted to 13,800 tonnes in March.

Overall, in January-March, imports of PET to the Russian domestic market made about 40,000 tonnes. If compared to the same period last year, imports of PET dropped by 4%. Total shipments of imported PET to Russia amounted to 41,600 tonnes over the same period last year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Compostable and sustainable bioplastics manufacturer Cereplast has announced that the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Cereplast Italia has added about seven sales agents to promote its products in Italy and neighboring countries, said Packaging-business-review.

The addition will enable the company to build up its sales network in the country. The agents will focus on Cereplast Compostables blown film grades.

The latest move comes on the heels of the recent legislation in Italy requiring merchants to discontinue the use of traditional single-use plastic bags in favor of bioplastic bags and other alternatives.

As MRC wrote earlier, the Italian parliament voted on Dec. 13, 2012 to confirm proposed sanctions on companies using traditional plastic bags. Once the Application Decree is officially published Italian companies will have 60 days to switch to bioplastic bags or other alternatives.

Cereplast chairman and CEO Frederic Scheer said in anticipation of the publication of the application decree requiring the use of bioplastic bags, demand for its blown film resins increased steadily.

"With a target date for the enforcement of the Decree in May we have retained a team of sales agents to maximize our sales opportunities," Scheer said.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrovietnam, state-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, has been told by the government to scrap plans to expand capacity at its Dung Quat refinery, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

However, the 130,000-bpd refinery will be upgraded.

"Upgrading the refinery so that it can process a diversified feedstock will cost less than expanding its capacity," Petrovietnam unit Binh Son Refinery chairman Nguyen Hoai Giang said in the statement.

Dung Quat refinery with the capacity of 6.5 million tpy started processing sweet crude oil from the Bach Ho field in 2009. Production from the field has peaked.

Petrovietnam will submit upgrade plans to the Prime Minister by September.

Petrovietnam had earlier said it planned to sell a 49% stake in the refinery to foreign investors and use the proceeds to expand capacity to 200,000 bpd.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, in October last year, the compamy announced that it was going to construct the second oil refinery in the country. The refinery could cost USD8-10 billion. The petrochemical complex in Vietnam’s Nghi Son Economic Zone will include a 200,000-b/d refinery, as well as the production of polypropylene (PP) and aromatics.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world's largest petrochemical maker, is going to build a new cracker in the US to capitalize on its shale gas boom, according to Plastemart.

Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC’s CEO, said the firm is in talks with partners to invest in at least one or two projects in the US shale gas business to seize the shale revolution.

"We are talking about a cracker, building a new cracker," Reuters quoted Al-Mady as saying on the sidelines of a forum in south China. "We are looking at least at one or two investments."

He ruled out venture capital as a source of financing.

As MRC reported earlier, Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of crude oil, has recently unveiled its intentions to remain a world energy powerhouse for the foreseeable future, partly by exploiting new technology which has unlocked vast quantities of oil and natural gas in North America. This year Saudi Arabia will push ahead with exploratory drilling of shale and other unconventional gas reserves which could be twice the size of its conventional gas reserves, which total 286 trillion cubic feet, Minister of Oil Ali al-Naimi said.

Sabic is ranked among the world's largest petrochemicals manufacturers. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia. The comany manufactures chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is currently the second largest global ethylene glycol producer. Among its products are propylene, paraxylene, styrene, vinyl chloride monomer.
MRC