SABIC targets biological feedstocks for polymers

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corp., or SABIC, plans to use cooking-oil and fat waste to produce plastics, expanding beyond its traditional naphtha and gas feedstock as European manufacturers seek packaging from renewable sources, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

SABIC has developed technology to convert used biological material into supplies for its polymer factories, and is targeting European customers in areas such as packaging for food and medicines, said Mark Vester, a business-unit director at SABIC Europe overseeing low-density and linear low-density polyethylene operations.

The products meet purity standards more reliably than materials made from recycled packaging that carry a risk of containing a plastic that isn’t certified as being safe for use with consumables, Steven de Boer, head of innovation and sustainability, said in a joint phone interview with Vester.

SABIC is adapting plastic operations acquired in the past 12 years from Royal DSM, Huntsman and General Electric to meet demand from consumer-goods producers looking to bolster their environmental credentials. A line making renewable polyolefins from waste fats will be situated alongside a naphtha-fed unit at SABIC’s plant in Geerlen, Netherlands.

"The market is growing at a substantial rate," said Vester, who worked at DSM’s petrochemical unit prior to its sale to SABIC, and who integrated the Huntsman sites and assets into the Riyadh-based company’s European business. "Europe’s one of the more advanced markets. There’s demand for this solution outside of Europe."

As MRC informed before, designed specifically to help customers in the beverage industry reduce transportation losses, SABIC has recently broadened its stretch film portfolio to include one of the first commercially available materials in Europe to combine polypropylene (PP) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE).

SABIC is a diversified manufacturing company, active in chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia. It is the largest company in the Middle East.
SABIC is currently the second largest global ethylene glycol producer and is expected to become number one after the introduction of these new projects. SABIC is the third largest polyethylene manufacturer, the fourth largest polyolefins manufacturer and the fourth largest polypropylene manufacturer. It is also the world's largest producer of mono-ethylene glycol, MTBE, granular urea, polyphenylene and polyether imide.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A consortium of investors, made up of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a group of foreign investors and Gazprombank has come to an agreement on terms of an investment into a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and light oil products transshipment terminal. This terminal is owned by the Russian petrochemical holding, SIBUR, in the sea port of Ust-Luga. The transaction amount of the investment is over USD700 mln, reported SIBUR on its site.

As part of the transaction, the consortium will gain complete control over the terminal, which is not only the largest in the CIS but also the only LPG transshipment terminal in the Russian North-West. It is also one of the most modern port infrastructure facilities on the Baltic Sea. The consortium’s investment will allow the terminal to optimize its capital structure and expand its capacity for both LPG and the wide range of light oil products it processes.

Construction of the terminal and the necessary rail and port infrastructure in Ust-Luga was completed by SIBUR in 2013. Currently the terminal operates at a nominal transshipment capacity of 1.5 million mt/year of LPG and 2.5 million mt/year of light oil products. Simultaneously, the terminal is undergoing optimization of operational processes and expansion plans for all products transshipped at the terminal are currently in development. The terminal is a project of national importance and was constructed as part of the federal program for development of port capacities in the Russian North-West.

According to the agreement, SIBUR will have exclusive rights to utilize 100% of the LPG transshipment capacity on the pre-agreed terms. A joint venture between the investment consortium and SIBUR will compromise the operational management of the complex, which will retain all current staff.

This agreement is planned to be signed during St Petersburg International Economic Forum and the transaction will be closed after regulatory approvals are received.

Dmitry Konov, CEO of SIBUR, said: "Construction of the terminal in the port of Ust-Luga has created an effective transportation route for Russian LPG and light oil products to Northern and North-Western European markets. Thus, we have not only managed to gain access to new, previously inaccessible markets, but has also decreased Russia’s dependence on foreign port infrastructure. As a result of the deal SIBUR returns its investment in the project while gaining long-term guarantees on capacity utilization in return. This will allow us to then expand our investments in other, more specialized core business projects in the sphere of byproducts of oil and gas monetization along with the manufacturing of a wide range of petrochemical products for Russian consumers."

As MRC reported earlier, last December, SIBUR and Gazprom Neft signed an agreement for construction of a new gas processing plant (GPP) with an annual associated petroleum gas (APG) processing capacity of 900 million cubic metres on the basis of existing Yuzhno-Priobskaya compressor station in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area.

SIBUR is a vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. SIBUR owns and operates Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes, and is a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jacobs Engineering Group was awarded a contract by P.T. OKI Pulp and Paper Mills for the design and supply of an integrated chlorine dioxide plant for its pulp mill project in South Sumatra, Indonesia, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Officials did not disclose the contract value, but noted that when completed, the plant is anticipated to produce 172 tpd of chlorine dioxide, making it the largest chlorine dioxide plant ever built.

The plant is scheduled to be commissioned in 2016.

Under the terms of the contract, Jacobs is designing and engineering the plant, supplying key equipment and materials including Jacobs’ proprietary Chemetics equipment, and providing technical services for plant erection, operator training, commissioning and testing.

"We are pleased to build upon our successes in supplying several chlorine dioxide plants to clients in Indonesia since the 1980s, and look forward to providing quality and value to P.T. OKI on this significant project," said Jacobs vice president Terry Hagen.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, Jacobs Engineering Group has recently received a contract from Borealis to provide engineering, procurement, project management and construction management services for a project to increase cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) capacity at its manufacturing site in Stenungsund, Sweden.

Besides, Jacobs has just received a five-year frame agreement for work at three Borealis facilities in Belgium. Company officials did not disclose the contract value, but noted that the three facilities covered under the contract are Borealis Polymers N.V., Borealis Kallo N.V. and Borealis Antwerpen Compounding N.V.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the world's petrochemical major, has announced the launch of commercial production of LFP (lithium iron phosphate) cathode materials in Weimar, Germany, as per the company's press release.

BASF is operating a 3,000 metric ton (MT) per year plant in Weimar, leveraging LFP precursors produced at the BASF headquarters site in Ludwigshafen, Germany. IBU-Tec, a specialist in rotary kiln technology and systems, is carrying out operations at the Weimar manufacturing plant under the supervision and full operational control of BASF.

BASF’s innovative LFP materials are used in the production of advanced lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) for various applications, providing advanced power and safety characteristics. LFP is a valuable extension of BASF’s LiB cathode materials portfolio which includes NCM (Nickel Cobalt Manganese), produced at a BASF manufacturing plant in Elyria, Ohio.

BASF’s HED LFP is produced using a proprietary process developed by BASF to ensure superior performance of the product as well as superior batch-to-batch consistency.

As MRC reported earlier, BASF is the first European manufacturer to have completely switched a production plant for XPS (extruded polystyrene rigid foam) to a new polymeric flame retardant (PolyFR). Styrodur insulating panels produced at BASF’s plant in Tudela, Spain, are now made exclusively with the polymeric flame retardant, which has a superior environmental profile while offering the same flame retardancy. BASF’s other Styrodur production plants in Ludwigshafen and Schwarzheide, Germany, and Bibbiano, Italy, will all be switched to the new flame retardant by the end of 2014.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kentz has won a lucrative contract to supply support services to several petrochemical plants under construction in Saudi Arabia. The Sadara Chemical Company is constructing a series of petrochemical plants near the industrial city of Jubail, as per Plastemart.

Kentz said it has been hired to supply manpower, management and skilled labour. The company will also support construction, commissioning and start-up activities.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, last June, Dow Chemical, an American multinational chemical corporation, announced the signing of the main financing for the Sadara project. Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara), Dow's joint venture with Saudi Aramco, entered into definitive agreements with certain export credit agencies, commercial banks and the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for approximately USD10.5 billion of additional project financing.

The financing supplements the USD2 billion raised through a Sukuk Islamic bond issuance in April, 2013, bringing the total Sadara project financing raised to approximately USD12.5 billion, which will be used to fund the construction and start-up of the joint venture.

Sadara is building a world-scale, fully integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City 2, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The complex will be comprised of 26 manufacturing units, will possess flexible cracking capabilities and is expected to produce more than 3 million metric tons of high-value performance plastics and specialty chemical products. The first production units are expected to come on-line in the second half of 2015, with full production starting in mid-2016. As MRC wrote previously, last March petrochemical company Sadara contracted Intertec to protect around 1,000 field-based process analysers at its new complex in Saudi Arabia.

MRC