Williams Olefins declares force majeure on ethylene after the blast

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Williams Olefins has declared force majeure on ethylene supplies out of its Geismar, Louisiana, olefins complex that was impacted by an explosion and fire, according to Plastemart.

As per the experts' estimates, only a 40% allocation of originally contracted ethylene volumes will be available for June under the force majeure.

Besides, spot ethylene prices rebounded on Friday after the blast and fire at Williams Olefins's ethane cracker. In the US ethylene prices at Friday noon jumped to 60 cent/lb, which is equivalent to USD1,323/tonne (EUR992/tonne). Ethylene traded at that level or higher for the first time since mid-May.

As MRC reported previously, Thursday’s explosion and fire at Williams Olefins' plant injured 77 and killed two persons. Williams president and CEO Alan Armstrong and Geismar plant manager Larry Bayer held a press conference Friday near the site of the explosion and said that they are still unsure what caused the deadly explosion and massive fire at the natural gas liquids processing facility.

The Geismar, La. plant is a natural gas liquids cracker that processes olefins used in the petrochemical industry. Williams Partners produces approximately 1.3 billion pounds of ethylene and 90 million pounds of polymer grade prophylene from the plant.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Ukrainian imports of polyethylene (PE) in May decreased by 13% compared to April and totalled 25,800 tonnes, according to MRC DataScope.

Seasonal factors and excess volumes of imports in April were the main reason for the decline of imports of polyethylene to Ukraine in May.
Imports were reduced for all grades of polyethylene, with the largest decrease in linear polyethylene.

Last month, imports of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) to Ukraine decreased by 3% compared to April and totalled 13,200 tonnes.
In May, on the back of weak demand and prolonged decline in prices Ukrainian companies reduced their purchases of pipe HDPE almost by one and a half times.
In other sectors of consumption (injection moulding, film extrusion, blow mouding) Imports, on the contrary, increased.

In January - May of this year, the imports of HDPE made 58,600 tonnes, up 28% compared with the same period a year ago.
This significant increase in imports resulted from the outage at Karpatneftekhim, which stopped operating in September 2012. As the main production of the plant accounted for film PE, the bulk of imports made film HDPE (72% compared to last year).

Imports of high-density polyethylene (LDPE) in May decreased by 17% compared to April and reached about 7,100 tonnes.

The May decline in the supply of LDPE resulted from the decline in demand for final film in the agricultural sector and the limited shipments from of the Russian producers.


In general, in January - May of this year, the imports of LDPE to Ukraine totalled about 41,000 tonnes, down 14% year on year.
Imports of linear polyethylene (LLDPE) in May decreased by 26% compared to April and made 4,600 tonnes. The decrease in supply resulted from the excessive imports in the previous month made by the producers of cast stretch films and large items produced by rotational moulding.

Over the first five months of this year, imports of linear polyethylene decreased by 18% and amounted to 24,700 tonnes.
Import of other polymers of ethylene, in May 2013 decreased by 17% and totalled about 845 tonnes.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Malaysian Petronas has invited a tender under Package 8 of the Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (Rapid) project for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of the cumene, phenol and bisphenol-A production units, said Apic-online.

The project, being established in Pengerang, Johor, involves a 300,000-b/d refinery to supply feedstock for the production of about 3-million t/y of ethylene, propylene, C4 and C5 olefins and several downstream units.

Petronas stipulated that the prospective bidder, consortium or joint venture must have relevant experience in the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of the specified production facilities.

PCN recently reported the selection of Lyondell-Basell's Spheripol technology for two 300,000-t/y polypropylene plants, and the selection of Ineos' Innovene G platform for a new 350,000-t/y linear low- and high-density polyethylene unit, both being built as part of the Rapid project.

Separately, the National News Agency of Malaysia reported that the first phase of Petronas' Rapid project will be completed by the first quarter of 2017, a year beyond the earlier target of 2016. The delay was attributed to “the water management problem."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sadara Chemical Co, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical , has signed a fundraising package for the USD19.3 billion petrochemical complex it is building in the east of the kingdom, said Reuters.

The financing package totals around USD12.5 billion and consists of loans from banks, export credit agencies and the state-owned Public Investment Fund, as well as proceeds from an Islamic bond issue. The remaining cost will be met by the two partners.

The facility, located at Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, will be the world's largest chemical complex ever built in a single phase. It will produce more than 3 million tonnes of petrochemicals each year when completed in 2016.

As MRC wrote before, the complex will comprise 26 manufacturing units and include a world-scale cracker and production units for polyurethanes (isocyanates, polyether polyols), propylene oxide (PO), propylene glycol, elastomers, linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), glycol ethers and amines. It will produce over 3m tonnes/year of high value-added chemical products and performance plastics, Dow Chemical and Saudi Aramco said.

Sadara was not immediately available for comment. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter has not been made public.

The split between the different portions of the facility were changed from an original outline released in May 2012 after the success of the sukuk, which was completed at the start of April, two of the bankers said.

Sadara raised 7.5 billion riyals (USD2 billion) from the local currency Islamic bond, having increased the deal size from 5.25 billion riyals on strong demand from investors.

Also included is a USD4.975 billion direct loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Signed in September, it was the largest ever loan from the institution.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LANXESS’ Rhein Chemie business unit has opened a new production facility at the Porto Feliz site in Brazil, reported the company on its site.

There, Rhein Chemie produces Rhenoshape high-performance curing bladders, which are used in tire manufacture. Around 170,000 bladders can be produced annually in the new facility. The new plant is equiped with state-of-the-art production technology. The latest findings in bladder technology have been implemented.

Rhein Chemie has been successfully producing Rhenogran polymer-bound rubber additives (Rhenogran) in Porto Feliz for more than 10 years now. An expansion adding advanced equipment for manufacturing polymer-bound rubber additives will follow in the coming year. The project represents an investment of roughly EUR10 million and will create up to 60 new jobs in Porto Feliz.

"Brazil is the sixth largest economy in the world, and it is the biggest and most important market in South America for Rhein Chemie. Thus, it is only natural that we are so focused on supplying sophisticated, high-tech products to the Brazilian automotive and tire industries", said Dr. Anno Borkowsky, CEO and President of Rhein Chemie Rheinau GmbH, Mannheim, Germany at the inauguration ceremony.

Rhein Chemie entered the bladder market less than two and a half years ago with the acquisition of the Argentinian company Darmex. The company has already successfully expanded its bladder production capacity in Argentina. The purchase of US company Tire Curing Bladders last year added special bladder sizes as those used for the tires of trucks and earthmovers as well as bladders for tire building machines (Rhenobuild) to the portfolio.

As MRC informed previously, the German specialty chemicals group LANXESS is focusing on the megatrend of mobility on the Russian market too. At its new site in Lipezk, which is to be open on 4 July, 2013, LANXESS subsidiary Rhein Chemie will produce rubber additives and release agents for the Russian and CIS markets, especially for the automotive and tire industries.

Rhein Chemie develops, produces and sells additives, specialty chemicals and service products for the rubber, lubricant and plastics industries. In fiscal 2012 Rhein Chemie achieved sales of EUR344 million and has approximately 1,100 employees worldwide. The company is headquartered in Mannheim, Germany and has production facilities in Europe, Asia and North and South America. Rhein Chemie is a wholly owned subsidiary of the specialty chemicals group LANXESS, Leverkusen, Germany.
MRC