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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borouge is seeking to increase its customer base by threefold as it prepares to enact a massive capacity expansion at its petrochemicals plant in Abu Dhabi, reported GV.
The joint venture of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Borealis is in the process of expanding its polymers output to 4.5 million tonnes a year from 2.5 million tonnes currently. The move comes as listed regional petrochemical giants, such as Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, struggle with stagnant European demand and the revival of polymer producers in North America.
Borouge has opened offices in Asia and has been talking to more customers in industries such as automotive and infrastructure supply, according to Wim Roels, the chief executive of Borouge’s Singapore-based marketing firm, which operates as a separate entity from the production firm based in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, the Arabian Gulf’s hydrocarbons industry is facing slowing demand growth in China and the prospect of a shale gas boom there. Mr Roels said Borouge, which has customers in China and South East Asia, was sanguine about that.
"China’s GDP is still growing at 7.5 %, which is not the double digits of a couple of years ago, but I don't think the double digits will come back," he said.
Mr Roels noted that shale gas in China had the potential to affect Middle East producers by freeing up coal for petrochemical production.
The majority of shale reserves in China are believed to be methane, which can be used to produce electricity. But the fuel is less useful as a feedstock for petrochemical crackers, which use "wet" gas such as ethane, propane or the crude derivative naphtha.
However, China has invested heavily in petrochemical plants that use coal. Next year, its coal-driven chemicals factories are forecast to account for more than a quarter of the world’s expansion in ethylene production capacity, according to South Korea’s Woori Investment & Securities.
As MRC wrote previously, Austrian petrochemical company Borealis has begun preparations for the start of Borouge 3 in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. Borouge 3, includes an 1.5 million mt/year ethane cracker, three polyethylene (PE) units with a capacity of 1.43 million mt/year and two polypropylene (PP) with a capacity of 960,000 mt/year.
Borouge is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil company and Borealis.
MRC
Borouge eyes threefold clientele increase with capacity expansion
Gas carrier SIBUR Tobol arrives at Ust-Luga
MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR Tobol is the second gas carrier to operate under a long-term charter agreement with Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest ship owner and tanker operator, reported SIBUR on its site.
The carrier was built by Korea-based Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. Ltd. SIBUR Voronezh, the first gas carrier custom-built for SIBUR, arrived at Ust-Luga in September 2013.
The carrier has already completed six deliveries of LPG to European customers. SIBUR Tobol is moored for test loading at SIBUR's new terminal as part of its start-up and commissioning programme. Once loading in Ust-Luga seaport has been completed, the carrier will head for Sweden on an LPG delivery.
A naming ceremony for SIBUR Voronezh and SIBUR’s other new LPG carrier, SIBUR Tobol, took place on 4 July 2013. SIBUR Tobol is expected to arrive at Ust-Luga in November 2013.
Both gas carriers were designed to SIBUR's specific requirements using the latest shipbuilding technology and in partnership with experts from Sovcomflot Group.
SIBUR's Ust-Luga terminal is the largest in the CIS and the first in Northwest Russia to tranship LPG. The terminal is capable of handling up to 1.5 million tonnes of LPG and up to 2.5 million tonnes of light oils each year. The terminal’s distinguishing feature is its isothermal LPG storage tanks and its compatibility with almost all existing vessels, including refrigerated ships.
SIBUR is a uniquely positioned vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. SIBUR owns and operates Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes and is a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry.
MRC
APS adds thermoplastic polyurethanes produced by Huntsman to its distribution portfolio
MOSCOW (MRC) -- Alliance Polymers & Services, LLC (APS) is the newest North American distributor of Huntsman Polyurethanes’ Irogran and Avalon thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), as per GV.
The materials are available in many grades designed from simple applications to complex engineering products.
APS is a privately owned thermoplastic elastomer distributor with warehouses and independent sales agents throughout North America, under the direction of two of the plastic industry’s leading marketing and technical support executives, Roger Huarng and Stephane Morin, whom have earned a long-standing reputation for providing guidance on thermoplastic elastomer selections, the use of proper additives, and processing insights.
"We are honoured Huntsman recognised our technical and commercial expertise in TPUs and chose us to represent them in the USA and Canada", said Huarng.
APS offers thermoplastic elastomer raw materials (TPE) such as styrenic-based thermoplastic elastomers (TPE-S), thermoplastic vulcanisates (TPV), thermoplastic polyester elastomers (COPE), and fluoropolymers (PVDF).
"Our ability to source materials globally insures we provide quality elastomers at the most competitive pricing", said Morin. APS also manufactures and markets speciality compounds designed to enhance certain properties of the TPEs it sells.
As MRC informed previously, this summer, Huntsman Corp. signed a definitive agreement to acquire Oxid LP, a privately-held manufacturer and marketer of specialty urethane polyols based in Houston, Texas. The polyols are combined with methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) to create polyurethane foam insulation for walls, roofs, refrigerators and other applications.
Huntsman Polyurethanes serves customers in more than 90 countries and operates TPU manufacturing facilities in the USA, Germany, and China.
Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. Its operating companies manufacture products for a variety of global industries, including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.
MRC
PP exports from Russia dropped by 44% in October
MOSCOW (MRC) -- A shortage in the domestic market has forced Russian producers to reduce exports of polypropylene (PP) in October. Sales to foreign markets fell by 44% from September, according MRC DataScope.
Scheduled and unscheduled outages at Russian PP plants in September-early October led to the shortage in the domestic market. As a result, local producers cut export sales in October in favor of the domestic market to 5,500 tonnes tonnes from 9,900 tonnes in September.
The main importers of Russian polypropylene are Russia, China and Ukraine. October shipments of Russian polymer to Belarus fell to 1,400 tonnes from 2,400 tonnes in September. October exports to China also dropped by almost half to 3,200 tonnes from 1,900 tonnes in September. Shipments to the Ukrainian market declined less sharply last month and totalled 1,200 tonnes (in the previous month - 1,400 tonnes).
The overall exports of Russian PP rose to 81,400 tonnes in January-October, 2013, from 33,600 tonnes in the same period of 2012. Homopolymer of propylene accounts for more than 95% of the total exports.
MRC
Sanors inks LOI to acquire process technology from Maxiglas Corp to produce PMMA
The agreement followed licensing negotiations between the companies and a visit by a Sanors delegation to an operating PMMA plant in Shanghai, China. This is run by Shanghai JingQi Polymer Science, a Maxiglas joint venture with Chinese and US investors.
Sanors plans to construct a two line 50,000 tpa PMMA unit to turn out a range of polymer and copolymer products at a larger petrochemicals complex in Russia’s Samara region. This facility, being located at Sanors’s site in Novokuybyshevsk, will also produce the PMMA intermediate methyl methacrylate (MMA).
Sanors is reported to be investing almost EUR300 mln in the joint project to construct the PMMA plant and a 70,000 tpa MMA unit at the complex which are due to be operating by 2018.
Rosneft will hold majority stake in the venture of at least 50%, while Sanors will have a lesser share in the enterprise which is due to construct a new world class petrochemicals complex in Samara. This will produce a range of polymers and other chemicals aimed at meeting demand and substituting imports in Russia. The partners are due to confirm their outline agreement by signing a binding contract by the end of 2013 following detailed talks on the formation of the joint venture.
As MRC wrote previously, Sanors has recently shown interest in Thai PTT's mega refining and petrochemical project in Vietnam's Binh Dinh province. The mega refining and petrochemical project in Vietnam's Binh Dinh province was proposed by Thailand's top energy company PTT in November last year. It expects to complete the feasibility study for the proposed complex in the Vietnamese central province of Binh Dinh in April 2014, which will then be submitted for Vietnamese government's approval.
Russian Sanors produces a wide variety of petrochemical products like phenol, acetone, alpha-methyl-styrene, ethylene, synthetic ethanol. Sanors Group was formed in April 2011 through the merger of three regional petrochemical companies: Novokuibyshevskaya Neftekhmicheskaya Kompaniya (NNK), SamaraOrgSintez and NefteKhimiya. The companies were formerly part of the group Kujbyshevskij.
MRC