BPCL plans maintenance at Mumbai refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) is in plans to shut its refinery at Mumbai, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that the company is likely to take its refinery off-line by this weekend for a maintenance turnaround. The refinery is expected to remain shut for around 6 weeks.

Located at Mumbai in the Western Indian state of Maharashtra, the refinery has a crude refining capacity of 240,000 bpd.

The company also operates crude refinery of 190,000 bpd at Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

As MRC informed before, in January 2016, BPCL selected Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions, the engineering and construction unit of French firm Air Liquide group, for supplying Lurgi/Nippon Kayaku ester grade acrylic acid technology for BPCL’s propylene derivatives petrochemical project (PDPP) located in Kochi, Kerala.

BPCL’s petrochemical project in Kochi is part of the Rs 1 lakh crore planned capex for the next five years, which includes about Rs 40,000 crore investment for the expansion of refining capacity. The propylene derivatives petrochemical project consists of three major process units - acrylic acid, oxo-alcohol and acrylates. Acrylic acid and acrylates are mainly used for paints, coatings, adhesives and platicisers. The market demand for acrylic acid is driven by growing populations with increasing prosperity.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian state-controlled oil and gas company headquartered in Mumbai, India. Bharat Petroleum owns refineries at Mumbai, Maharashtra and Kochi, Kerala (Kochi Refineries) with a capacity of 12 and 9.5 million metric tonnes per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A Mitsubishi spokesman confirmed it had bought naphtha from Iran recently, but declined to comment on details or which refinery the cargo was from due to company policy, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Japan's customs-cleared trade data, which started in 1988, showed Japan last imported a naphtha cargo from Iran in October.

January data is not available until Feb. 24. PGSR has a condensate splitter but traders say it is only making sporadic offers now as its secondary units are not ready.

Once its secondary units are commissioned this year, the refinery will cease naphtha exports as the fuel will be channeled to the gasoline pool.

As MRC informed earlier, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. (MCHC) has unveiled plans for an absorption-type split-off of the existing operations of its wholly-owned Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC) and Mitsubishi Plastics Inc. (MPI) subsidiarie.

Mitsubishi Chemical with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, is a diversified chemical company involved in petrochemicals, polymers, agrochemicals, speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The company's main focus is on three business pillars: petrochemicals, performance and functional products, and health care.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- January imports of polyethylene (PE) into the Russian market increased by 12% year on year to about 30,800 tonnes.
At the same time only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) imports grew, as per MRC DataScope.

January PE imports into the country increased to 30,800 against 27,400 in January 2015, with HDPE and EVA imports grown, while supply of other PE grades decreased. Overall 2016 PE imports in Russia fell to 530,100 tonnes from 572,000 tonnes a year earlier.

Structure of PE production over the reported period looked as follows.

Last month's HDPE imports grew to 11,500 tonnes from 8,700 tonnes a year earlier, local companies increased purchasing of HDPE in Uzbekistan and Europe on the back of low export prices of local producers and a major strengthening of the rouble against the dollar. Overall HDPE imports decreased to 153,600 tonnes over the stated period versus 192,600 tonnes a year earlier.
January linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) imports decreased to 9,000 tonnes from 9,100 tonnes a month earlier, with Middle Eastern PE accounting for the main decrease in shipments by stretch films producers. Last year's LLDPE imports totalled about 172,800 tonnes, compared to 217,300 tonnes a year earlier. Lower imports were partially caused by the increase in the domestic production.

January low density polyethylene (LDPE) production in Russia was about 5,500 tonnes against 6,200 tonnes year on year. Overall 2016 LDPE imports fell to 92,900 tonnes from 102,900 tonnes a year earlier.

January imports of EVA increased to 2,400 tonnes, compared with 1,000 tonnes in January 2016. Imports of this ethylene copolymer grade grew by 46% over the stated period to 27,000 tonnes.

Demand for this material increased from producers of footwear and cable and wire products. Imports of other polymers of ethylene in January totalled about 2,400 tonnes.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian oil producer Lukoil said in a statement it has completed the sale of its Karpatneftekhim petrochemical plant in western Ukraine, said Reuters.

The plant has been mothballed for the past two years. Lukoil did not disclose the amount of the deal or the name of the buyer.

Karpatneftekhim, based at Kalush, Ukraine, was idled in 2012 “due to extremely unfavorable market environment,” Lukoil says. It comprises a naphtha cracker with capacity for 250,000 metric tons/year of ethylene and downstream units designed to produce polyethylene, chloralkalis, and suspension polyvinyl chloride.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- More than 100 of the coatings industry’s leading scientists are being brought together by AkzoNobel in a new EUR12.6 million research and innovation hub which could revolutionize the company’s portfolio, said the producer on its site.

Located in Felling in the UK, the facility will be home to teams of scientists and technical experts who will work on developing protective coatings for the energy, mining, infrastructure and oil and gas industries. The main focus will be on delivering cutting edge innovations and efficiencies for protecting steel and concrete structures from damage caused by corrosion, abrasion and fire.

The new innovation hub will also offer a world class testing and simulation facility, enabling tests to be carried out in conditions experienced in the world’s most extreme environments.

The facility is expected to be operational at the end of 2018. "Our work at the state-of-the-art lab will have an important impact on our most critical industries,” said Conrad Keijzer, AkzoNobel’s Executive Committee member responsible for Performance Coatings. “More than 100 top scientists and technical experts will be working on future solutions that will offer essential protection to a wide variety of products for our customers."

Added Greg Clark, UK Secretary of State for Business: "Having grown up in the north east of England, I am very aware of the strengths of the chemical sector in the region. AkzoNobel’s significant investment in establishing a new technical innovation hub is further proof that Britain is open for business and underlines the growth we want to see and support in our local economies. As we develop our industrial strategy, we are determined to build on the diverse strengths of all of Britain’s cities and regions."

MRC