Tosoh delays naphtha cracker restart by a week

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan's Tosoh Corp restarted its naphtha cracker in Yokkaichi after scheduled maintenance, a week later than originally planned, as per Reuters.

The cracker, with capacity to produce 527,000 tpa of ethylene, was shut on March 14 and was initially scheduled to restart on April 19.

A company spokesman did not give the reason for the delay.

As MRC informed previously, Tosoh also shut down a caustic soda plant for maintenance turnaround in March 2014 for around one month. Located in Nanyo, Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 1.125 million mt/year.

Last year, Tosoh's proposed restructuring of operations in Nanyo could lead to a net loss of 320,000 tpa of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) capacity, thereby tightening feedstock supply to the polyvinylchloride (PVC) industry. Almost one year after a fire seriously damaged its complex in Nanyo, Tosoh Corporation (Tokyo, Japan) has touted plans to raise output at the site's number 3 vinyl chloride monomer plant. The building phase of the 200,000 t/y capacity expansion was to kick off in November last year, with completion scheduled for October 2014.

Tosoh is one of the largest chlor-alkali manufacturers in Asia. The company supplies the plastic resins and an array of the basic chemicals that support modern life. Tosoh's petrochemical operations supply ethylene, polymers, and polyethylene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US plastics additives supplier Milliken plans to double production capacity for the "Millad" NX 8000 clarifying agent for polypropylene (PP) at its Allen facility in Blacksburg, South Carolina by 2015, as per Plastemart.

The unquantified investment will include an additional redundant manufacturing line, which the company said will “ensure ample global supply.”

The capacity upgrade underscores the company’s intention to remain a leading global player, said Allen Jacoby, vice president, Plastics Additives. Jacoby said the fast adoption of the Millad NX 8000 technology over traditional clarifiers has been driven by the material’s cleaner, fresher look and inherent sustainability, along with its improved solubility that enables clarified PP to be processed at cooler temperatures. This, the company claims, enables energy savings of up to 13%, with cycle times accelerated up to 18% and carbon emissions reduced by as much as 13%.

Milliken said the clarifying agent allows manufacturers to replace high-density resins such as PC, PS and PET with lower-density PP to reduce costs and weight and help the environment.

As MRC reported earlier, last September, Kiefel, SML, Braskem and Milliken unveiled their plans to combine their machine and material innovations to bring the powerful material substitution possibilities of clear PP to life. Highly transparent, deep-draw cups produced live by Kiefel on its productivity-boosting systems will let visitors experience first-hand the exceptional high clarity and performance that can be achieved with Braskem’s Inspire 224 PP containing Milliken’s innovative clarifying agent, Millad NX 8000.

Milliken is an innovation company that has been exploring, discovering, and creating ways to enhance people’s lives since 1865. The company creates coatings, specialty chemicals, and advanced additive and colorant technologies that transform the way we experience products from automotive plastics to children's art supplies
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- UK supermajor BP posted a fall in profit during the first quarter of the year as divestments and higher non-cash costs hit the bottom line of its upstream segment, said Upstreamonline.

The company posted a profit of USD3.5 billion for the first three months of 2014, down from just under USD16.9 billion a year earlier, when the company benefitted from a USD12.5 billion gain from the sale of its interest in TNK-BP.

Underlying first-quarter replacement-cost profit totalled USD3.2 billion, which was still down on the USD4.2 billion replacement-cost profit booked during the first quarter of 2013.

The fall in profit came as revenue slipped from USD94.1 billion a year ago to USD91.7 billion during the recent quarter. Sales revenue from the upstream business segment fell 6.6% to USD17 billion, compared to USD18.2 billion a year earlier.

BP also warned on Tuesday that it expected output to be lower during the current quarter due to planned seasonal turnaround activity, mainly in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico regions.

BP also revealed it had so far agreed divestments for over USD3 billion as it aims to agree deals for USD10 billion worth of divestments by the end of 2015.

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) -- Westlake Chemical Corp., the US plastics maker controlled by the billionaire Chao family, has separated its ethylene assets into a tax-advantaged venture in which it plans to sell shares to the public, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The master-limited partnership (MLP) includes three US ethylene plants and a 200-mile (322-km) ethylene pipeline. Ethylene, the most common petrochemical, is used to make products from plastic bottles to autoparts and pipe.

Westlake is creating the chemical industry's first MLP after the Internal Revenue Service in October 2012 ruled that companies converting ethane and other natural gas liquids (NGL) into olefins like ethylene can classify themselves as such. The partnerships, common in the pipeline industry, generally do not pay income taxes at the corporate level.

Westlake will own 90% of the venture's operating company, leaving the remaining 10% as the MLP's sole revenue source, according to the filing. The unit will sell Westlake ethylene for making plastics at a 10 cent-per-gallon premium over production costs.

The move comes as earnings at US ethylene producers, from Westlake to Dow Chemical Co., are near record levels after a shale boom created plentiful and cheap supplies of NGL. That provides a cost advantage over producers in Asia and Europe, where oil-derived naphtha is the main feedstock.

As MRC informed before, Westlake Chemical held a dedication ceremony on Wednesday for its new chlor-alkali plant in Geismar, Louisiana. This new chlor-alkali plant has the capacity to produce 350,000 electrochemical units (ECU's) annually and utilizes state of the art membrane technology. The plant is adjacent to the existing vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) facilities at the Geismar complex and has added approximately 70 full-time positions at the site.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is a manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, caustic, VCM, PVC resin and PVC building products including pipe and specialty components, windows and fence.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The import duty on imports of terephthalic acid (PTA) and its salts (CU HS Code 2917 36 000 0) into the countries of the Customs Union will be increased to 5% from 1 May, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Russian producers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) had a preferential rate of 0% from 01.05.2013 to 30.04.2014 (inclusive). The duty growth from May 2014 will hit PET production costs. This change will primarily affect and weaken Solnechnogorskiy Senezh. In its turn, SIBUR group (Tver-PETF and Polief) has its own PTA production. Alko-Naphtha, Russia's largest consumer of imported PTA, will be also exempt from import duties because of the plant's location in the free economic zone.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, last week's PTA prices in China dropped by USD5-6/tonne to USD880- 883/tonne CFR. Buyers (PET producers) and lower spot prices of the main feedstock (paraxylene) put pressure on prices.
MRC