ExxonMobil restarts refinery and petrochemical complex in Singapore

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil has restarted impacted units at its refinery and petrochemical complex in Singapore, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Singapore informed that the units restarted early this week. They had shut on September 10, 2014 owing to a power failure.

Located at Jurong Island in Singapore, the refinery has a crude processing capacity of 605,000 bpd.

As MRC wrote before, in early 2014, ExxonMobil officially opened its multi-billion dollar Singapore chemical plant expansion on Jurong Island, to serve growth markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

The expansion included a second 1-million-t/y steam cracker, two 650,000-t/y polyethylene plants, a 450,000-t/y polypropylene plant, a 300,000-t/y specialty elastomers unit, an aromatics extraction facility to produce 340,000 t/y of benzene, and a 125,000-t/y oxo-alcohol expansion.

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

МОSCOW (MRC) -- Thailand's largest petrochemical maker, PTT Global Chemical Pcl (PTTGC), has shut down its aromatic plant 2 to repair a reactor in the platforming unit for 15 days from Sept. 15, as per Plastemart.

The aromatic complex 2 produces paraxylene, benzene and toluene with a total capacity of 1.07 mln tpa. To minimise the impact, the company has raised the run rate of its aromatic plant 1.

As MRC wrote previously, PTT Global Chemical has recently awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to SK Engineering and Construction and PTT Maintenance and Engineering for a debottlenecking project that will increase aromatics capacity by 16% to about 1.2-million t/y at its Aromatics II complex in Rayong, Thailand.

The approximately USD128.8-million project will increase paraxylene capacity to 770,000 t/y from 655,000 t/y, benzene capacity to 390,000 t/y from 355,000 t/y and will add 20,000 t/y of orthoxylene capacity. Completion of the expansion is scheduled for the end of 2015.

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. PTTGC is 49% owned by state-controlled parent PTT Pcl, and uses ethane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the gas plant as feedstock for its I4-2 olefins plant.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Ufaorgsintez owned by "United Petrochemical Company" (UPC), resumed operation at the first stage of low density polyethylene (LDPE) production following scheduled maintenance works, according to MRC.

The producer shut its first stage of LDPE (108th PE) production for the maintenance work on 27, August. The second stage of LDPE (158 and 153) production was shut from 14, August to 7, September.

Ufaorgsintez's PP production capacity is 90,000 tonnes/year.

Ufaorgsintez OAO was founded in 1956 and is based in Ufa, Russia. Ufaorgsintez OAO manufactures organic synthesis products in Russia and Europe. Its products include ethylene, propylene, ethanol, cumol, ethyl benzol, phenol, acetone, copolymer rubber, polyolefines, poly vinyl chloride and polyethylene items, thinners, and dilutants. The company was incorporated in 1984. Ufaorgsintez produced about 56,700 tonnes of PE in the first eight months of 2014. United Petrochemical Company owns 87.76% of Ufaorgsintez's capital. Bashneft sold Ufaorgsintez to United Petrochemical Company in May 2013. In 1984 the company was incorporated.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayer MaterialScience has announced plans to increase its TPU production capacities in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu India, reported GV.

With the addition of a second line, the annual capacity of the site will increase to 6,000 ttonnes from its current capacity of 2,500 tonnes. The installation is expected to be completed by the 2nd quarter 2015.

Marius Wirtz, Head of TPU Business at Bayer MaterialScience said: "As the only local TPU producer, BMS has been commited to the development of the Indian TPU market for over 18 years. The planned increase of our local capacity is an important milestone to continuously support our customer’s growth with custom-made TPUs in high quality and with short lead times."

The Cuddalore site supplies TPU under the tradename Desmopan to the Indian market as well as to customers in Europe. The company has recently received Environmental Clearance from the Ministry of Environment which is supplemented by a permit from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB).

As MRC reported earlier, Bayer intends in the future to focus entirely on the Life Science businesses - HealthCare and CropScience - and float MaterialScience on the stock market as a separate company. In this way Bayer is positioning itself as a world-leading company in the field of human, animal and plant health. Thus, it is planned to float the MaterialScience business on the stock market as a separate company within the next 12 to 18 months. A major reason for this move is to give MaterialScience direct access to capital for its future development.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech polymer materials. As an innovation company, it sets trends in research-intensive areas. Bayer’s products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhejiang Yisheng Petrochemical Co is in plans to restart a purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is likely to be restarted on September 30, 2014. It is under a 15-day maintenance turnaround.

Located at Hainan in southern China, the plant has a production capacity of 2.2 million mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, China’s polyester maker Tongkun is in plans to start a new 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.

Besides, BP Zhuhai Chemical has deferred the startup of its new PTA plant until 2015. It was earlier scheduled to start in Q4, 2014. The reason for the delayed startup has been attributed to weak margins for PTA.
MRC