Formosa Petrochemical to shut its EDC plant for maintenance in Taiwan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPC) is in plans to shut an ethylene dichloride (EDC) plant for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the plant is planned to be taken off-stream on August 16, 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located in Mailiao, Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 1.1 million mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently issued three final GHG Prevention of Significant Deterioration construction permits for the Formosa Plastics facility in Point Comfort, Texas. Formosa is expanding its chemical complex, located near Victoria, and taking three actions with its turbines unit, olefins unit and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit. According to the olefins GHG permit, a new ethane cracker and propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit will have a combined capacity of 1.75 million tpy of "high-purity ethylene product". Meanwhile, the LDPE unit will have a a capacity of 625,500 tpy and be able to produce resin at different grades.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Corporation reported earnings of USD5.7 billion for second quarter 2014, compared with USD5.4 billion in the 2013 second quarter, said Oilandgaspress.

Foreign currency effects decreased earnings in the 2014 quarter by USD232 million, compared with an increase of USD302 million a year earlier. Sales and other operating revenues in second quarter 2014 were USD56 billion, compared to USD55 billion in the year-ago period.

"Current quarter earnings reflected stronger market conditions for crude oil, although some of these benefits were offset by lower production volumes as a result of planned maintenance activity at Tengizchevroil in Kazakhstan. Gains on asset sales also contributed to our results, as we completed important sales under our three-year divestment program." Watson added.

"We also completed work on several important downstream growth investments," said Watson. The company started commercial production at its new premium lubricants base oil facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and completed the expansion of its Singapore additives plant.

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, the company’s 50 percent-owned affiliate, achieved start-up of the world’s largest on-purpose 1-hexene plant, with a capacity of 250,000 metric tons per year, at its Cedar Bayou complex in Baytown, Texas.

The company purchased USD1.25 billion of its common stock in the second quarter 2014 under its share repurchase program.

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) -- China’s polyester maker Tongkun has shut its No.1 purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant shut on August 5, 2014 on account of feedstock shortage and technical issues. It is likely to remain off-stream for around 10 days.

Located at Zhapu in China, the plant has a production capacity of 1.5 million mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, Tongkun is in plans to start a new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in 2017. To be located at Zhapu in Zhejiang province, China, the plant will have a production capacity of 1.5 million mt/year.

We remind that Tongkun Group said its net profit for 2013 slumped by 72.1% year on year to yuan (CNY) 72m (USD11.6m), amid the sluggish domestic chemical fibre market. In 2013, the chemical fibre industry developed weakly, as well as oversupply in some regions which made the industry into the predicament, the company said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently issued three final GHG Prevention of Significant Deterioration construction permits for the Formosa Plastics facility in Point Comfort, Texas, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Formosa is expanding its chemical complex, located near Victoria, and taking three actions with its turbines unit, olefins unit and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit.

According to the olefins GHG permit, a new ethane cracker and propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit will have a combined capacity of 1.75 million tpy of "high-purity ethylene product".

Meanwhile, the LDPE unit will have a a capacity of 625,500 tpy and be able to produce resin at different grades.

The expansion alone will bring over USD2 billion in capital investments, create 1800 construction jobs and 225 long-term operations jobs in the local area, according to the EPA.

Formosa will add two new gas-fired combined-cycle gas turbines to the existing chemical utility unit. Each turbine will have a capacity to generate 80 megawatts of electrical power.

The existing utility plant will consist of the six existing General Electric 7EA gas-fired turbines plus the two new GE 7EA gas-fired turbines with duct burners.

As MRC reported earlier, Taipei- Formosa Plastics is considering construction of a plant in Louisiana to produce 1.2-million t/y of ethylene from shale gas.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical will transfer ownership of a planned 32 billion riyal (USD8.5 bln) petrochemical facility to their joint venture PetroRabigh, as per Plastemart.

The new facility, known as Rabigh II, is to be built as an expansion of PetroRabigh's existing petrochemical plant, increasing output and introducing higher-margin products.

Rabigh II will produce ethylene propylene rubber, thermoplastic polyolefin, methyl methacrylate monomer and polymethyl methacrylate among other products.

The project, located on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, received a formal go-ahead from the parent firms in 2012; PetroRabigh has said previously it is due to come online in 2016, despite a string of maintenance problems at the existing facility.

Ownership of the planned new facility will be transferred from Aramco and Sumitomo to PetroRabigh in the fourth quarter of this year, the company said. However, it added that both Aramco and Sumitomo would continue to guarantee finance needed to build the project. The two firms will each put in around 100 billion yen (USD975 million), with the rest coming from project financing, Sumitomo President Masakazu Tokura said last November.

As MRC reported previously, Petro Rabigh had signed an agreement with Tasnee and Saudi Advanced Industries (SAIC) for the supply of propylene oxide to the joint venture for the production of polyether polyol. The plant is located in Rabiga, in the west of Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea. The production launch was scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2013.

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, has an annual output capacity of 18 million tonsne of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals.
MRC