PTT Global Chemical delays joint venture in Indonesia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical Plc (PTTGC) anticipates to postpone the conclusion from end-2014 of its USD4.5 bln petrochemical complex in Indonesia to early next year, after revising the investment plan, as per the company chairman, as reported by Plastemart.

PTTGC and Indonesian national energy firm Pertamina earlier planned to build a refinery at the complex in Indonesia, with a 2018 target for commercial operations. However, the plan has been changed, and now the alliance will revamp the existing Pertamina refinery and add a petrochemical plant there. Under the new plan, the refinery revamp will be done by Thai Oil Plc, also a PTT subsidiary, while the petrochemical project will be developed by PTTGC. After the revamp for higher efficiency and utilisation, the oil refinery is expected to have a capacity of 200,000 to 300,000 bpd.

As MRC reported earlier, last year, Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina signed an agreement to purchase petrochemical products from Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical. The agreement serves as a pre-marketing strategy for Pertamina and PTT’s joint Indonesian petrochemical business. Under the agreement, PTT will deliver at least 5,000 tonnes of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) products each month to Pertamina for sale in Indonesia.

Recently, Pertamina and PTTGC have announced that they would start joint shipments of PE to the Indonesian market from 1 July 2014. However, they postponed their shipments to Indonesia till August.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC

MOSCOW (МRC) -- On August 3, 2014 at the Integrated Vinyls plant of RusVinyl in accordance with the start up schedule the trial batch of PVC was obtained, said the producer in its press release.

Several days earlier RusVinyl obtained the trial batch of caustic soda. Currently commissioning works at the facility are ongoing with further start-up of the object for industrial operation in the second half of the year.

On August 4, 2014 the Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region Mr. Valery Shantsev visited RusVinyl in order to see the first ton of the Nizhny Novgorod PVC and to personally congratulate the CEO of RusVinyl LLC Mr.Guenther Nadolny with this very important event for the region.

The project is important both for the region and entire Russia, because it enables us to resolve the problem with import substitution. To my mind, after a while a cluster for processing excellent raw materials - polyvinyl chloride, that is used in 20 industrial sectors, will be formed around the new complex in Kstovo - remarked Mr.Shantsev.

Guenther Nadolny highlighted once again, that the complex testing of process equipment at production areas is being performed in accordance with the latest schedule. The plant is in pilot production stage. The quality of the first produced batch is quite high. Currently, precom activities are in progress, once they are over the enterprise will transfer to uninterruptible production mode - said Mr.Nadolny.

After the start-up RusVinyl will produce 330 kt of high-quality PVC in accordance with the most modern European technology, which ensures ecological and industrial safety of the technological process in the strict compliance with the requirements of the environment legislation of the RF, as well as with international standards in the sphere of ecology and industrial safety. The range of the PVC grades, which will be produced at the facility, are not yet available at the Russian market.

Polyvinyl chloride is inert, human safe and environmentally friendly polymer, it is used to manufacture a wide range of products, including for the construction and automotive industries, medicine, water supply and other sectors.

RusVinyl LLC is a joint venture established by OAO SIBUR Holding and SolVin (each having a 50% stake) to construct and operate a PVC production facility near Kstovo in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal DSM, the Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company, reported second quarter 2014 EBITDA from continuing operations of EUR293 million compared to EUR332 million in Q2 2013, and EUR272 million in Q1 2014, said the company in its press release.

Nutrition showed improvement compared to the last two quarters. Performance Materials continued its encouraging underlying trend and delivered higher results. Polymer Intermediates was negatively impacted by lower caprolactam margins.

Commenting on the results, Feike Sijbesma, CEO/Chairman of the DSM Managing Board, said: "DSM delivered improved results versus the first quarter, despite persistent currency headwinds. Performance Materials saw continued positive momentum in a number of end-markets, whereas Polymer Intermediates has seen weaker business conditions for caprolactam".

Market conditions in Nutrition have shown some improvement with good Animal Nutrition performance in Q2, while Human Nutrition still operates in a low growth macro environment for some end-markets due to ongoing pressure on consumer spending. In this environment, the resilience of our integrated value chain is demonstrated by robust margins, highlighting the quality of our Nutrition business. In addition we are undertaking initiatives in the US to reinforce the attractiveness of our dietary supplements end-user categories.

"We continue to focus on efficiencies to protect profitability and improve cash flow in the current environment. Despite the weakness in caprolactam, we continue to anticipate to deliver improving financial results in the coming quarters."

As MRC wrote before, Royal DSM (Heerlen / The Netherlands) has signed a partnership agreement with long fibre thermoplastic (LFT) specialist Plasticomp (Winona, Minnesota / USA) to develop bio-based LFT composite materials based on DSM’s "EcoPaXX" polyamide 4.10. The lightweight materials, which include compounds reinforced with glass fiber as well as carbon fiber, will be targeted at automotive and other performance-driven markets.

Royal DSM is a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials. DSM delivers innovative solutions that nourish, protect and improve performance in global markets such as food and dietary supplements, personal care, feed, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive, paints, electrical and electronics, life protection, alternative energy and bio-based materials.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron have gained approval from city regulators to finish a USD1 billion upgrade at its Northern California refinery that’s been planned for almost a decade, after agreeing to spend USD90 million on community programs, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The board said Chevron must meet several conditions imposed by the city’s planning commission while installing a new hydrogen plant at its Richmond complex, including limits on sulfur processing and emissions. The world’s third-largest energy company by market value agreed to spend UDS90 million on city initiatives, including Internet access for its neighbors and scholarships.

Chevron appealed to the council after the planning commission attached its own conditions to the project, which will allow the refinery to run a slate of higher-sulfur crudes. The city and the company later agreed to a modified set of requirements.

Last week marked the second time that the plant has approved by the council. The company gained permission for a larger project in 2008 and was halfway finished when a judge reversed the city’s decision, saying its environmental assessment was flawed.

As MRC wrote before, in early July, Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) received approval from its board of directors and obtained an environmental permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to expand normal alpha olefins (NAO) production capacity at its Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas.

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States, and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. Chevron is one of the world's six "supermajor" oil companies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Prime Polymer, dedicated Japanese maker of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), is in plans to mothball its linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the plant is planned to be shut in December 2014. The intended shut down is part of the company’s restructuring exercise.

Located at Anesaki, Chiba prefecture in Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 60,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, as part of a fundamental company's strategy Mitsui Chemicals, a leading Japanese producer of performance materials, petro and basic chemicals and functional polymeric materials, and Prime Polymer intensified an ongoing collaboration by increasing PP production in the United States to meet growing demands of the automotive materials sector.

Prime Polymer Co., Ltd. was established in April 2005 as part of a comprehensive tie-up with Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. The company's activity is focused in polyolefins business to produce different grades of polythylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
MRC