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MOSCOW (MRC) -- LG Chem shut a styrene monomer (SM) plant for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.
The plant was shut on March 23, 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around two weeks, according to a Polymerupdate source in South Korea.
Located at Daesan, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 180,000 mt/year.
As MRC informed previously, South Korean petrochemical company LG Chem is planning to build an ethylene production plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. The project is going to be constructed in collaboration with two other Kazakh firms. The production is expected to begin in late 2016.
LG Chem also plans to start operations at a new 150,000 mt/year ABS plant in Huizhou, southern China's Guangdong province, in Q1 2014. The plant will be a joint venture with state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp.
LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to ICIS report, it is 15th biggest chemical company in the world in 2011. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
MRC
LG Chem shut SM plant in South Korea
BASF, Total start up 10th furnace at Texas cracker
MOSCOW (MRC) -- The BASF TOTAL Petrochemicals joint venture (60% BASF, 40% Total) announced the startup of a 10th furnace at its steam cracker facility in Port Arthur, Texas, said Hydrocartbonprocessing.
The additional furnace improves feedstock flexibility, enhances plant reliability, and increases annual production capacity of ethylene to more than 1 million metric tons, according to project officials.
"The safe and successful startup of the 10th furnace, along with other optimization measures taken at the steam cracker facility, enhances the joint venture’s competitive position within the petrochemicals industry," said Heidi Alderman, senior vice president for petrochemicals at BASF.
"This investment is another example of BASF TOTAL Petrochemicals’ strong commitment to its Port Arthur operations."
Other optimization measures include a revamp of the steam cracker to process ethane, which was achieved last year. The new furnace will improve the steam cracker's availiability and efficiency, raising its cracking capacity by nearly 15%. Total noted that it is earmarking its share of ethylene produced in Port Arthur for its Bayport polyethylene plant and its share of propylene for its La Porte polypropylene plant, the world’s biggest. Both facilities are also located in Texas.
"These recent investments in the steam cracker allow the plant to produce more than 85% of its ethylene based on cost advantaged feedstocks," said Philippe Doligez, senior vice president for Total's Americas refining and petrochemicals business. "Along with increased capacity, the new furnace reinforces the availability of the plant."
About 250 construction jobs were created during the 10th furnace project and more than 250 during the ethane feed project.
BASF TOTAL Petrochemicals LLC is a joint venture between BASF Corporation and Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. The Port Arthur facility operates one of the largest steam crackers in the world, turning naphtha and light hydrocarbons into ethylene, propylene and other chemical raw materials.
Total S.A. is one of the largest integrated international oil and gas companies with operations in more than 130 countries worldwide. TPRI is a major producer of base chemicals, styrene, polystyrene, polypropylene and polyethylene in the United States.
MRC
Russian PVC producers announced a further increase in contract prices for April
Moscow (MRC) - Negotiations on April polyvinyl chloride (PVC) prices began in Russia this week. Russian producers expectedly announced price increase on the back of stronger demand and tight supply, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.
Discussions for contract suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) traditionally begin in the last week of the month. This week the Russian producers announced increase in April SPVC prices of Rb1,500-3,000/tonne, compared with the March level on the back significant reduced imports, stronger demand and limited stocks inventories.
Deals for Russian K64 and K67 PVC for April delivery were discussed in the range of Rb50,000-52,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. Price offers for K70 SPVC were on average up by Rb1,000/tonne.
Many local converters said they would try to achieve lower prices for Russian PVC, citing a poor demand for finished products and limited working capital. At the same time, the companies agreed there is no real alternative to Russian resin in the market. Some companies said they would partially switch to the cheaper Chinese acetylene PVC.
MRC
Sinopec Fuling shale gas project to hit 10 billion cubic meters per year by late 2017
It is China's largest shale gas project to date and the only one which has achieved production on a commercial scale.
The 2017 target will be achieved by developing 341.3 Bcm of shale gas resources in two phases over the next few years.
"This marks an important strategic breakthrough in China's shale gas development and signifies the country's earlier-than-expected entry into large-scale commercial development phase," the company said in a statement. Fuling has total reserves of 2.1 trillion cubic meters. By the end of this year, production capacity will reach 1.8 Bcm/year. Sinopec had earlier said it expects output from Fuling to hit 5 billion cu m/year by the end of 2015.
The progress from this one project alone means China will likely hit the government's official target of 6.5 Bcm/year of shale gas production by the end of its 12th Five Year Plan in 2015. China's total shale gas production last year was 200 million cu m, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources in January. He said development of Fuling is one of the two largest priorities for the company this year, the other being the partial divestment of its oil marketing and distribution segment to private and social investment.
Sinopec has spent some Yuan 2 billion (USD322 mln) on the Fuling project and last year made a breakthrough when it found sizeable reserves that could be developed. The quality of the gas is typical for shale and matches much of the production found in major shale basins in the US. The company is now focusing its development efforts on an area of over 200 square kilometers (77 sq miles) and has drilled over 20 wells.
The average daily output from each well is at least 170,000 cu m, averaging over 300,000 cu m/day of production in the last one and a half years, Fu said. Sinopec said it has developed a series of primary shale gas exploration and production technologies, including high quality fast drilling technologies, and actively explored and implemented a factory drilling operational model.
As MRC wrote previously, last October, Sinopec Corp. won initial approval from China's top economic planner for a plan to build a USD10-billion refinery and petrochemical complex in Shanghai. China, the world's largest net importer of oil, is likely to add 3 million barrels per day, or a quarter of new refining capacity, between 2013 and 2015 to fuel economic growth.
Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical companies with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its refining and ethylene capacity ranks No.2 and No.4 globally. The Company has 30,000 sales and distribution networks of oil products and chemical products, its service stations are now ranked third largest in the world.
MRC
PET production in Russia dropped by 1% in January and February 2014
MOSCOW (MRC) -- Production of Russian polyethylene terephthalate (PET) dropped in January and February 2014 by 1% year on year and totalled 70,000 tonnes, according to MRC ScanPlast.
A slight decrease in the output of PET chips over the stated period was caused by shotdowns at the major PET plants in February on the back of the overall sluggish demand in the first half of the year.
Thus, the Kaliningrad plant Alco-Naphtha did not produce PET chips in February. The outage at the plant also lasted in March (the producer sold PET from its warehouse). PET production in Russia fell last month by 18% from December.
In its turn, Polief reached its scheduled capacity utilisation in February. The plant's total capacity increased up to 210,000 tonnes per year from 120,000 tonnes per year. Its February production rose to 17,500 tonnes from 13,300 tonnes in January 2014.
At the same time, SIBUR-PETF and Senezh operated steadily, their production was 6,100 tonnes and 7,900 tonnes, respectively.
MRC