Qatar Vinyl is likely to undertake shutdown at EDC and VCM plants

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qatar Vinyl Company (QVC) is expected to shut its ethylene dichloride (EDC) and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plants for maintenance, according to Apic-online.

Located at Mesaieed Industrial city in Qatar, the EDC and VCM plants have production capacities of 500,000 mt/year and 300,000 mt/year, respectively.

According to a Polymerupdate source in Qatar, both the plants are likely to be taken off-stream for a maintenance turnaround in March 2014. The period of the shutdown could not be ascertained.

As MRC reported earlier, Qatar’s chemical and petrochemical industry’s planned investments will further increase the country’s export portfolio to 23 million tonnes per year by 2020, from 10 million tonnes in 2013, as per Muntajat CEO Abdulrahman Ali Al-Abdulla's statement. As demand for chemicals and petrochemicals continues to rise, the Gulf petrochemicals industry continues to be the largest producer and exporter in the world, accounting for 11% of the USD 600 billion global market, he said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema, a France-based chemical manufacturer and the world’s second leading producer of organic peroxides, has announced the construction of a new organic peroxide plant on its Changshu site in China, according to the company's press release.

This investment will help double the site’s production capacity.

By doubling its production capacity in China, Arkema will continue to support the strong growth in the organic peroxide market in Asia, a region in which the Group is also a producer in India, South Korea and Japan.

The new Changshu plant is due to come on stream in early 2016.

"These new capacities reinforce our leadership position in the organic peroxide Asian market for the initiation of polymerization reactions. Our customer service, together with an optimum industrial and logistics model as well these new capacities will enable us to support our customers’ strong growth in China, particularly in the growing plastics markets for the construction, packaging and automotive sectors," stated Manny Katz Global president of Organic peroxides.

Complementing investments made earlier in particular the announcement of the construction of a new plant in Saudi Arabia, the doubling of capacities at the Changshu organic peroxide site illustrates the development strategy pursued by Arkema’s High Performance Materials segment, while further boosting the Group’s presence in high growth countries where Arkema looks to achieve 30% of its sales by 2016.

Organic peroxides are widely used as polymerization initiators in commodity thermoplastics.

As MRC informed previously, in November 2013, Arkema officially started its new 60,000 MTY emulsion polymers facility on its Changshu platform. The plant, part of Arkema’s Coating Resins business unit, will serve customers in the Asia Pacific region with a full line of waterborne emulsion polymers for coatings and adhesives applications.

Arkema with annual revenue of EUR6.4 billion is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc. Arkema operates 11 organic peroxide plants on the three continents.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian state-run energy giant, Petroleo Brasileiro SA or Petrobras ( PBR ) has awarded two ultra-deepwater contracts to the project management, engineering and construction company, Technip ( TKPPY ). However, the value of the contracts has not been disclosed, said Nasdaq.

The French company would deliver flexible pipes of about 100 kilometers that would support oil production, gas lift and gas injection. These pipelines will be supplied to the Sapinhoa Norte field and I5 at Lula field, in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil which lay at water depths of around 2,500 meters.

The contract by Petrobras also includes supply of related equipment for the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units, Cidade de Angra dos Reis and Cidade de Ilhabela.

The gas injection top risers have been developed by Technip in its Flexi France plant in Le Trait and production of these, along with a major portion of the other equipment will be carried out at a new manufacturing facility in Brazil, Flexibras Acu. Production is expected to start in the first quarter of 2014.

The remaining equipment for the contract will be manufactured in Flexibras Vitoria. The engineering and project management activities will be performed at the company's Rio de Janeiro operating center.

As MRC wrote before, Petrobras was in talks to sell off its Argentine unit as part of a USD9.9 billion divestment plan.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fujian Refining & Petrochemical (FREP) has shut a polypropylene (PP) plant owing to technical issues, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant was shut on December 29, 2013. A restart date for the plant could not be confirmed.

Located in Fujian province, China, the plant has a production capacity of 330,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, in November 2013, Saudi Aramco begun talking to prospective buyers for products from its Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Company (FREP) complex at Quangzhou in China's Fujian province. The first offer is expected to be made in early January 2013, instead of the earlier announced November. Saudi Aramco will sell about 330,000 tpa of polymers from FREP, including about 100,000 tpa of low density polyethylene, 100,000 tpa of linear low density polyethylene, 100,000 tpa of high density polyethylene and 130,000 tpa of polypropylene.

FREP is a joint venture between Fujian Petrochemical Co. (50%), ExxonMobil China Petroleum and Petrochemical Co. (25%) and Saudi Aramco Sino Co. (25%). Fujian Petrochemical is a 50:50 JV between Sinopec and the Fujian provincial government.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A consortium of Taiwanese companies is proposing to build a petrochemicals complex in China's Fujian province with state-owned Sinopec, as per Apic-online with reference to Taiwan's Commercial Times newspaper's report.

The report said six Taiwanese companies, including USI Corp. and Ho Tung Chemical Corp., have formally applied to the Investment Commission at Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs for the project, which is expected to require a total investment of USD15 billion, although the initial outlay is estimated to be Yuan 9.6 billion (USD1.6 billion).

Sinopec is expected to own a 50% stake in the project while the Taiwanese companies will own the remainder, according to the report.

The facility, to be located in Gulei in southern Fujian province, will be able to produce 1.2 million mt/year of ethylene and 700,000 mt/year of propylene.

As MRC wrote before, in late 2013, Taiwan's government officially lifted its ban on investment by the country's petrochemical sector in naphtha cracking facilities in China. Certain restrictions still apply to such investment projects, however, including that one company is only allowed to take part in one project.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) is a large scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Sinopec is the worlds seventh biggest company by revenue.
Sinopec is China's largest manufacturer and supplier of major petrochemical products. It is the second largest producer of crude oil in China. Its refining capacity and ethylene capacity rank No.2 and No.4 globally. Sinopec has reported first-half 2013 net income of 30.281 billion yuan (USD4.85 billion), up 23.6% year over year.
MRC