Dow not to proceed with the proposed JV with Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui & Co.

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Mitsui & Co. have decided to not move forward with their proposed joint venture to construct a linear alpha olefins unit on the US Gulf Coast, reported Dow in its press release.

Accordingly, The Dow Chemical Company has terminated the initial arrangement among the three companies.

Dow’s strategic growth investments on the US Gulf Coast remain on track. The company is evaluating several high-return, alternative uses for the ethylene that was included in this arrangement. Further, Dow will continue to access its existing supply network of linear alpha olefins.

Collectively, the company’s US Gulf Coast projects are expected to contribute more than USD2.5 billion in EBITDA once fully operational.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, in March 2013, Dow Chemical signed a long-term ethylene off-take agreement with a new Japanese joint venture that was supposed to allow the chemical producer to enhance its performance plastics franchise. The joint venture was formed between Japanese companies Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui & Co. to construct and operate a linear alpha olefins unit on the US Gulf Coast.

As reported earlier, alpha olefin demand will grow with a CAGR of 4.2% from 2013 to 2018 and reach 4.6 million metric tons. The alpha olefin Market is mainly driven by polyethylene application, which accounts for the largest consumption share of alpha olefins.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and synthetic rubber. In 2013, Dow had annual sales of more than USD57 billion and employed approximately 53,000 people worldwide. The company's more than 6,000 products are manufactured at 201 sites in 36 countries across the globe.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company and a global leader in vinyl acetate ethylene (EVA) emulsions, has announced via a groundbreaking ceremony that it will expand its manufacturing capabilities at its Florence, Kentucky, facility to add compounding process lines to support the continued customer demand for its advanced engineered materials products, reported the company in its press release.

The new compounding unit is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2015.

"Our manufacturing facility in northern Kentucky is a center for innovation that drives research and development and the advancement of high performance engineered materials," said Phil McDivitt, vice president and general manager of the Celanese engineered materials business. "In addition to critical design and engineering support, we provide our customers with technical expertise throughout the product development cycle. This expansion and investment in new prototyping and full-scale production lines will help us better serve our customers around the world, align our manufacturing capability and improve operational efficiency."

Adding compounding lines to the existing Celanese manufacturing site is part of the company's strategy to serve customers globally where there is a healthy growth potential, especially in automotive and transportation, electrical and electronics, consumer goods, and medical and pharma applications.

The Celanese Florence facility employs approximately 350 employees and is home to the company's research and development center, a state-of-the-art facility which includes technology and innovation laboratories and scientists for the engineered materials, emulsion polymers, cellulose derivatives and EVA polymers businesses. This joint technology facility helps drive innovation and technical solutions for Celanese customers worldwide.

As MRC informed previously, Celanese Corporation has recently developed new emulsion products for architectural paints. The company has also expanded its product portfolio for the coatings and adhesives industries, including Celansese's solvents, vinyl acetate monomer, EVA polymers and emulsions.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Texas, Celanese employs approximately 7,400 employees worldwide and had 2013 net sales of USD6.5 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Jingmen is likely to shut operations at its PP plant, as per Apic-online.

Located at Jingmen, Hubei province in China, the PP plant has a production capacity of 120,000 mt/year.

The plant will be taken off-stream for a scheduled maintenance turnaround on May 21, 2014 and will remain shut for around three weeks, according to a Polymerupdate source in China.

As MRC informed earlier, Sinopec Sabic Tianjin shut its PP plant for maintenance turnaround on May 7, 2014. It is planned to remain off-stream for around one month. Located in Tianjin city, China, the plant has a production capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

Besides, in November 2013, top Asian refiner 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, industry officials and Chinese media estimate.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Four petrochemical projects, all in southwest of Iran, will be funded by Chinese investors, according to a TREND News Agency report.

Chinese companies would be investing EUR470 million in the construction of Lordegan Petrochemical Complex, the report said quoting Iran’s Mehr news agency.

Chinese investors have also pledged to finance Bushehr, Hengam and Gachsaran petrochemical complexes, the report said.

The process of extending credit to Iranian petrochemical projects by the Chinese firms went ahead after the November 24, 2013, interim agreement signed between Iran and the 5+1 group consisting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

In March this year, Abbas Sheri-Moqaddam, managing director of National Petrochemical Company (NPC), said that around US$ 8 billion worth of foreign investment is required for the development of the country’s petrochemical sector and the NPC is trying to attract investment from foreign investors.

Meanwhile, the NPC is setting up a Petrochemical Development Fund, wherein private investors, banks and other potential investors would be involved. The fund would help finance petrochemical development projects.

The exports of petrochemicals from Iran increased by about 1% year-on-year to USD10.723 billion during the last Iranian calendar year that ended on March 20, 2014. In the new Iranian calendar year that began on March 21, 2014, the country’s petrochemical exports are likely to touch USD12 billion, as per NPC estimates.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, in April 2014, European countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece resumed imports of petrochemical products from Iran. Iran’s oil and petrochemical exports have increased following some sanctions relief, including the EU and US bans on the country’s petrochemical exports. The ban ease is part of an agreement inked in Geneva last November between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, France, Britain, Russia, and China - plus Germany, under which the six countries agreed to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during a six-month period. The Geneva deal took effect on January 20.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently issued a final notice of decision for the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) for greenhouse gas (GHG) construction permit for the ExxonMobil Olefins Plant in Baytown, Texas, as per 4-traders.

The company proposes to construct a new ethylene production unit consisting of eight ethylene cracking furnaces and recovery equipment to produce polymer-grade ethylene.

"We are working to control greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean energy in the new projects coming to communities across Texas," said EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry. "These projects show that economic development and environmental protection can go hand-in-hand."

On Nov. 25, 2013, EPA issued a final permit to the facility. The permit was appealed to EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, which denied review of the petition on May 14, 2014. On May 14, EPA finalized the permit allowing ExxonMobil to begin construction of the project. The project is part of a multibillion-dollar expansion project in Baytown. It's estimated to create 10,000 construction jobs and 350 permanent jobs.

"ExxonMobil's petrochemical expansion, enabled by growing supplies of shale energy, will create thousands of new jobs and boost the Houston area economy and tax revenues by nearly a billion dollars a year. This export-oriented project is a powerful example of how shale energy can revitalize the U.S. economy in an environmentally responsible manner," said Stephen D. Pryor, president, ExxonMobil Chemical Company.

In June 2010, EPA finalized national GHG regulations, which specify that beginning on January 2, 2011, projects that increase GHG emissions substantially will require an air permit.

As MRC informed previously, in March 2014, ExxonMobil Chemical announced that it will build facilities to manufacture premium halobutyl rubber and Escorez hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin at its recently-expanded petrochemical complex in Singapore. Engineering and procurement activities had already begun, with construction expected to begin in the second half of 2014 and completion anticipated in 2017.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC