Mexichem and OxyChem form ethylene JV

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexican PVC and specialty chemicals maker Mexichem SAB de CV and Occidental Chemical Corp. have formed a USD1.5 billion, 50-50 joint venture to build an ethylene cracker with an annual capacity of 1.2 billion pounds at an OxyChem complex in Ingleside, Texas, as well as pipelines and storage in Markham, Texas, said Plasticsnews.

The companies announced Oct. 31 that construction will start in mid 2014 and commercial operations in the first quarter of 2017. "Essentially all" the ethylene produced by the cracker will be used to make vinyl chloride monomer, using existing VCM capacity at the Ingleside site, they said. "VCM will be delivered to Mexichem to produce (PVC resin) and PVC piping systems."

The cracker will strengthen Mexichem by enabling it to take advantage of competitive energy and feedstock costs in the United States, a result of shale gas development, said Mexichem Chairmn Juan Pablo del Valle Perochena.

The "high degree of integration" between the two companies will create "highly competitive assets on a global basis," Chuck Anderson, OxyChem's president, added.

According to the news release, Los Angeles-based OxyChem, a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp., will build and operate the cracker. OxyChem claims to be the world's largest VCM producer.

The cracker joint venture is the second involving a Mexican company to be announced in the past three years. In March 2010 Brazilian petrochemicals giant Braskem SA and Mexico's Grupo Idesa SA de CV formalized an agreement with Pemex Gas y Petroquimica Basica to build a USD2.5 billion petrochemical complex, called Ethylene XXI, in Coatzacoalcos, which will include an ethylene cracker and three polymerization plants. Production at that site is scheduled to start in late 2015.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a bid to reduce imports of oil products and chemicals, Indonesia's state energy firm Pertamina has restarted a refining and petrochemical complex in East Java province owned by TPPI, as per Plastemart.

The restart could help reduce the current account deficit in Indonesia, where import costs have been rising due to a weak rupiah. During the six-month agreement, the plant will process 55,000 to 80,000 barrels of condensate per day (bpd) and will produce about 1.5 mln barrels of gasoil and fuel oil, 36,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and 2.8 mln barrels of light naphtha.

A total of 530,000 tons of petrochemicals will also be produced. The designed capacity of the condensate splitter is 100,000 bpd. Pertamina has signed an agreement with plant operator TPPI to use the facility for six months. The plant had been idled for nearly two years due to heavy debts at TPPI. "The restart of TPPI Tuban refinery is intended to provide an opportunity for TPPI to get an income again through the tolling fee derived from the joint-processing agreement," Pertamina said. The restart has also tightened condensate supply in the region.

As MRC wrote before, Pertamina has signed an agreement to purchase petrochemical products from Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical. The agreement serves as a pre-marketing strategy for Pertamina and PTT’s joint Indonesian petrochemical business. Under the agreement, PTT will deliver at least 5,000 tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene products each month to Pertamina for sale in Indonesia.

Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin (established 1961) and Permina (established 1957). Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total has inaugurated two lube oil blending plants, one on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia and one in Tianjin, northern China, reported the company on its site.

"The two new plants will allow Total to keep pace with the strong growth in its sales of automotive and industrial lubricants, a market that is forecast to grow by 20% to 2022," commented Philippe Charleux, Vice President, Total Lubricants. "They will also secure our supply in the fast-growing Africa/Middle East and Asia regions in particular."

Total sold 1.9 million tonnes of automotive and industrial lubricants in 2012 in 150 countries, ranking sixth in the sector. The aim is to step up development in this fast-expanding segment, lifting market share from under 4% at end-2012 to at least 5% by 2022.

Lubricants reduce friction, protect components and keep them clean, enhance seal and transfer heat. Consisting of around 80% base stock produced by refining and 20% additives, they have automotive, industrial and marine applications.

As MRC wrote previously, Saudi Aramco Total Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (Satorp) expects its new refinery at Jubail Industrial City to be fully operational in December 2013. Saudi Aramco and France's Total are building the SR52.5 billion Jubail facility as part of a push by the world's top oil exporter to almost double its refining capacity.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay announces today that it will build and operate a large-scale alkoxylation unit in Pasadena, Texas, at an integrated industrial facility of LyondellBasell’s Equistar Chemicals affiliate, in order to serve a growing North American market, said Solvay in its press release.

Equistar will supply the ethylene oxide raw material to the unit, in which Solvay will invest nearly EUR40 million and is expected to be operational in 2015.

Alkoxylates are used as emulsifiers, detergents and wetting agents and are the chemical foundation for a wide range of Solvay Novecare specialty surfactants. The on-pipe unit will ensure greater security of alkoxylate supply for North American customers. Following completion, it will bring to eight Novecare’s global alkoxylation plants.

This investment follows Solvay’s announcement in April that it will build an on-pipe alkoxylation facility in Singapore. Thanks to its presence on LyondellBasell's site, Solvay can benefit from an existing, competitive industrial footprint and assets as well as access to road, rail and navigable shipping transport to key customers and suppliers.

LyondellBasell is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies and a member of the S&P 500. LyondellBasell manufactures products at 58 sites in 18 countries. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels. Equistar Chemicals, LP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of LyondellBasell.

Solvay Novecare is a worldwide leader in specialty surfactants and a major player in polymers, amines, guar, and phosphorus derivatives. Solvay Novecare engineers and develops formulations that provide consumer products and state-of-the-art industrial applications with specific functional qualities designed to modify fluid behavior and deliver cleansing, dispersal, gelling, moisturizing, penetrating, softening or texturizing properties. These formulations are used in shampoos, detergents, paints and lubricants as well as in crop protection, mining and energy production and stimulation. Solvay announced that its Aroma Performance business unit has won the ICIS Best Product Innovation Award 2013 for its Govanil flavor whose revolutionary long-lasting and intensity of taste allows for a lower use of fat and sugar in pastry, bakery and chocolate food products, said the producer in its press release.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of polycarbonate (PC) chips to the Russian market in January-October, 2013, dropped by 14% year on year and totalled 39,300 tonnes, according to MRC DataScope.

Sabic and Bayer, the key importers of PC chips, have increased steadily their supplies to the Russian market since early 2013. However, they reduced significantly their October shipments from September, as follows: Sabic - by 48.2% and Bayer - by 23.2%.

The share of these companies in the Russian market in January-October, 2013, was 64% and 16%, respectively. At the same time, Mitsubishi Engineering Plastics Corp. (its import share is 3%) raised its October imports almost three-fold compared with the previous month.
The main sector of consumption of Sabic's products are producers of moulded parts for electrical engineering and electronics. Bayer supplies to Russia construction grades of PC (for the production of PC sheets) and optical grades of PC (for the production of information carriers). Mitsubishi Engineering Plastics Corp.'s PC is mainly used for blow moulding bottles and CD-ROM drives moulding.полик

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