Protesters march against China chemical plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Protests against a planned chemical plant in the southern Chinese city of Maoming ended with demonstrators throwing stones and water bottles, said Hudrocarbonprocessing.

Demonstrators gathered over the weekend in front of the city’s Communist Party committee building and walked slowly through the streets, the city’s propaganda office said in a statement on its official Weibo account. After 10:30 p.m. a few "troublemakers" threw stones and water bottle that damaged public facilities, it said. No one was hurt.

The protests were the latest sign of growing public anger in China over pollution. Photos on social networking site Weibo purportedly of the demonstration showed an overturned car on the street and a crowd of people raising clenched fists.

Last May, hundreds of people took to the streets of Kunming in Yunnan province to protest plans to produce paraxylene at a new refinery. The PX plant with a capacity 1.6 million mt/year was scheduled to come on stream in 2014.

The protesters in Maoming, in southern Guangdong province, didn’t apply for a permit as required by China’s rules on demonstrations, the local government said in an earlier statement.

The plant is due to produce aromatic hydrocarbon, or arene, it said.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP intends to halt refining operations at its 102,000 bpd Bulwer Island refinery in Brisbane, Queensland, by mid-2015, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Andy Holmes, President of BP Australasia, said that the growth of very large refineries in the Asia-Pacific region was driving structural change within the fuels supply chain in Australia and putting huge commercial pressure on smaller scale plants.

"It’s against this background that we have concluded that the best option for strengthening BP’s long-term supply position in the East coast retail and commercial fuels markets is to purchase product from other refineries," he said.

"While this decision will significantly improve our competitive position,it will result in job losses, and I would like to acknowledge the enormous commitment and contribution made over many years by our staff at Bulwer Island. We will be doing everything we can to support them through this transition."

To ensure no disruption to customers, alternate supply arrangements have been made. This includes imports of jet fuel and a long-term agreement with Caltex for the provision of motor spirit and diesel from the nearby Lytton refinery.

It is expected that it will take some 12 months to implement the changes required to maintain supply and safely shut down the process units.

Once processing has been halted,the import jetty, aviation fuel tanks and associated pipelines will remain operational while other storage tanks and pipelines will be placed on a care and maintenance basis pending a decision to convert the site to a multi-product import terminal.

The processing units will be isolated and made safe while plans for their eventual removal and any environmental remediation are developed.

BP currently employs some 380 staff at the refinery. Between now and mid-2015 this is expected to fall to around 25. The Bulwer Island refinery was built on reclaimed land by Amoco between 1964 and 1965 and was bought by BP in 1984. Over the years it has been subject to a number of modifications and improvements. In 2000, it was significantly upgraded to produce low-sulfur fuels.

We remind that BP has completed the purchase of all interests previously held by Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (MCI) and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (MBK) in PT Amoco Mitsui PTA Indonesia (AMI). For over fifteen years, AMI was a 50/50 joint venture between BP and its partners, producing and marketing purified terephthalic acid (PTA) in the Republic of Indonesia. With effect from 1 March, AMI is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BP group.

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) is expanding its Tessenderlo facility in Belgium, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The expansion includes an on-purpose hydrogen sulfide (H2S) unit and additional sulfur-based products capacity to better serve customers and meet their growing demands, according to CPChem officials.

Construction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2014. In preparation for the upgrade, the Tessenderlo plant added a new control room in September 2013.

The expansion will allow Chevron Phillips Chemical to better serve its worldwide customer portfolio, according to company officials, as the demand for synthetic rubbers and plastics increases. Production capacity at the site will increase by more than 40% as a result of this expansion.

"Demand for organosulfur products is expected to continue to grow, particularly for those materials used as chain transfer agents like tertiary dodecyl mercaptan or TDM," said Peter Bastemeijer, product line manager for specialty chemicals in Europe. "Chevron Phillips Chemical is increasing capacity in order to respond to customer needs throughout the world, especially in Europe and Asia."

The Tessenderlo facility produces chemical intermediates, including mercaptans, sulfides, polysulfides and Scentinel gas odorants that are used in agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals, modifiers in rubber and plastics and the odorization of propane and natural gas.

Chevron Phillips Chemical also produces a similar line of products at its facility in Borger, Texas.

As MRC wrote before, Chevron Phillips Chemical and refiner Phillips 66, has finalized the sale of its Chinese polystyrene business to Grand Astor Ltd.In the deal, Chevron Phillips is selling its affiliate company Chevron Phillips Chemical (China) Co. Ltd., which owns a polystyrene plant located in Zhangjiagang, China.

Chevron Phillips Chemica, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), US,l is one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping, and proprietary plastics. Chevron and Phillips 66 each own 50% of Chevron Phillips Chemical.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay has completed the acquisition of the specialty chemical assets of ERCA Quimica, Ltda. in Brazil, enabling the Group to more than double its surfactant production capacity in the country and to expand its access to one of the world’s largest personal care and agrochemicals markets, said the producer in its press release.

The acquisition’s conclusion comes one month after the Brazilian competition authority CADE cleared the transaction between Solvay's global business unit Novecare and ERCA, based in Itatiba city in the state of Sao Paulo.

The transaction includes ERCA’s local specialty chemical assets, its portfolio of agrochemicals as well as home & personal care products, which strengthens Novecare’s commercial network, closeness to customers and innovation pipeline.

We remind that following further discussion, the European Commission has decided to market test an alternative remedy package submitted by Ineos and Solvay for evaluation of the proposed 50/50 joint venture between the parties in a Phase II investigation.

Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company founded in 1863, with its head office in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels, Belgium. The company has diversified into two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics. Solvay supplies over 1500 products across 35 brands of high-performance polymers – fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra polymers, high-barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mogilevkhimvolokno announced an increase in its export prices of bottle grade polyethylene terephthalate (PET) this week. The plant's prices for export shipments rose from 1 April by EUR12/tonne from March, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's new April export prices were heard at EUR1,092/tonne FCA Mogilev, excluding VAT. Traders said price increases were not expected, however, they were accepted normally by end-users of PET chips.

Open Joint Stock Company "Mogilevkhimvolokno" is the only Belarusian major producer of dimethyl terephthalate, PET polyester chips, food grade PET, polyester fibers and yarns and the main feedstock supplier for consumer industry of Belarus.
MRC