Container transport fees at Jeddah Islamic Port rocket

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Customs officials at the Jeddah Islamic Port have told the importers of shipping containers that shipping fees will increase to SR 1200 from SR 600-700, the rate charged previously, said Arabnews.

They said the price hike in shipping is owing to the "gates crisis" in the port, which have been reserved for ships entering and exiting the port. This is despite the fact that there are nine gates not in use.

Transporters said the problem has to do with the booking of operations that begins at 12 p.m. and leads to the congestion of carriers. "There is no doubt that the government’s public sector is aware of what is happening at the port," a private sector investor who preferred anonymity said.

"The crisis has occurred because there is only one port for entry and one for exit. A meeting was held with the Public Ports Authority last week and another was held with the navigation administration to reach a solution," he added.
"The two gates are insufficient to handle the volume of import operations in the port, which handles 60 to 70% of imports to Saudi Arabia."

Specialists in the transport sector warned of a perpetuation of the crisis at the Islamic port, emphasizing that the situation has become more complicated and that prices will increase at the expense of consumers.

They said the meeting with the president of the Ports Authority was positive and that he promised to solve the problem, but they warned that the crisis does not bode well for the coming season.

Importers say that the shipping crisis, which began more than one month ago, will inevitably lead to price hikes in commodities and that it is the consumers who will be affected at the end of the day.

As per MRC, the Jeddah Islamic Port ranks among the top 100 global ports annually. In fact, the establishment of an integrated project will ensure the presence of a security system that fills any gaps or security breaches at a financial cost of SR 15.98 million.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nigeria LNG said Monday it had declared force majeure on its exports of liquefied natural gas as a blockade by Nigeria's maritime regulator over a tax dispute entered its second week, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The blockade, which has prevented liquefied natural gas tankers from accessing Nigeria LNG's loading terminal on Bonny Island since mid-June, is the result of a long-standing dispute over the payment of duties on freight and exports between the company and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency.

The company, which is a joint venture between Nigeria's state oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, France's Total and Italy's Eni, said in a statement emailed to the Wall Street Journal that it had declared force majeure effective from Friday, June 28.

A force majeure is declared when a company is unable to fulfill its contractual obligations to deliver exports due to circumstances beyond its control.

As MRC wrote before, in mid June Shell lifted a force majeure measure on liquefied natural gas exports from Bonny Island which was in place for almost a month.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Technip was awarded by the Hyundai-Wison consortium a significant contract to supply its proprietary technology as well as engineering and procurement services for two hydrogen reformers in Venezuela, said Yourpetrochemicalnews.

These 135-million standard cubic feet per day (151-thousand normal cubic meters per hour) reformers are part of the Deep Conversion project being executed by the consortium for Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), to upgrade the Puerto La Cruz refinery.

The contract covers the complete engineering, fabrication, modularization, procurement as well as pre-commissioning and start-up assistance. This project will utilize Technip's high-efficiency top-fired steam reformers, to produce high-purity hydrogen and export steam, and the latest nitrogen oxide reduction technology to ensure minimum emissions.

Technip’s operating center in Claremont, California will execute the contract, which is scheduled for completion in the second semester of 2014.

Stan Knez, Technip’s Senior Vice President Process Technology, commented: "We are delighted to have been awarded this project, which will utilize our state-of-the-art proprietary technology, after successfully completing the basic design package for these hydrogen plants. Hydrogen is the most widely used industrial gas in the refining, chemical and petrochemical industries and this contract further solidifies our position of market leader in this sector."

As MRC wrote before, state-run China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) will begin construction work late this month to build a new USD9.08bn refinery in Jieyang, China. The 400,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery will process Venezuelan heavy oil, thereby tripling oil sales from the South American nation to the world's second-largest oil user.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Veolia Water will design, build and operate the largest ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis desalination plant in Saudi Arabia, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With this contract, Veolia Water will generate USD310 million (EUR232 million) in revenue for the plant's design and construction, and USD92 million (EUR69 million) in revenue for its operation for 10 years, with an option to extend the contract for a further 20 years.

With a capacity of 178,000 m3 per day, this new plant will supply the Sadara petrochemical complex built by Dow Chemical and Saudi Aramco in Jubail Industrial City II. That complex is due to come on stream in June 2015.

Dow Chemical and Aramco will produce solvents and glues for the automotive and packaging industries at the Sadara site. The water supplied will be used in this immense facility's two cooling towers and as boiler feed water.

To meet the very strict water quality standards required by local officials and minimize this new plant's impact on the environment, Veolia Water, through its subsidiary Sidem, has designed a plant combining two seawater treatment solutions: ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis.

After an initial treatment phase involving dissolved air flotation to capture the suspended particles in the water and ultrafiltration, the water will then be desalinated by reverse osmosis membranes before being remineralized.

The combination of these various processes will ensure a secure water supply, limit the risk of plant failure and extend its lifespan, while at the same time reducing the site's energy requirements and costs.

Sadara is building a world-scale, fully integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City 2, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The complex will be comprised of 26 manufacturing units, will possess flexible cracking capabilities and is expected to produce more than 3 million metric tons of high-value performance plastics and specialty chemical products. The first production units are expected to come on-line in the second half of 2015, with full production starting in mid-2016. As MRC wrote previously, petrochemical company Sadara has recently contracted Intertec to protect around 1,000 field-based process analysers at its new complex in Saudi Arabia.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber. In 2012, Dow had annual sales of approximately USD57 billion. The company"s more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 36 countries across the globe.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - In May, imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to Kazakhstan increased more than twofold compared to April, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

In May on the back of growing seasonal activity Kazakh companies increased their purchases of granulate in foreign markets.

In January-May 2013 the capacity of Kazakh PET market is almost the same with last year's indicators. According to customs statistics, in January-May 2013 the Kazakhstan market received 24,300 tonnes of PET granulate.

Imports of Chinese granulate totalled about 16,000 tonnes. Korean companies shipped about 8,000 tonnes.

In 2012, the total consumption of PET granulate in Kazakhstan made 52,700 tonnes. The lion's share of PET imports in 2012 provided material from China.

As per MRC analysts' data, the average annual consumption of PET per capita in Kazakhstan is 3.1 kg.
MRC