Fluor starts mechanical construction for ethylene derivative facility

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fluor Corp. has started mechanical construction for The Dow Chemical Company’s new ethylene derivative facility in Freeport, Texas, US, as per Plastemart.

The mechanical construction scope includes setting precast and steel structures, piping, equipment, painting and insulation for the unit, with mechanical completion planned for 2018.

The unit is designed for the production of High Melt Index polymers such as AFFINITY GA polyolefin elastomers for hot melt adhesives, along with broad capability to produce conventional ENGAGE polyolefin elastomers and AFFINITY polyolefin plastomers for applications in packaging, transportation, infrastructure and consumer markets. Dow's Freeport, Texas complex is the largest integrated chemical manufacturing complex in the Western hemisphere.

Jack Penley, Senior Vice President of Construction and Fabrication for Fluor, said: "Having recently finished construction of Dow’s ethylene production facility in Freeport safely and on schedule, this project is a natural transition for Fluor and our craft workforce. We are proud of our craft workforce’s attention to safety, productivity and experience on the Freeport site over the past five years. We will leverage these best practices and expertise to deliver this project with capital efficiency and schedule certainty for Dow".

As MRC informed before, in April 2017, Fluor Corporation announced that it was selected by a division of Marathon Petroleum Corporation to execute the engineering and procurement scope for a major reconfiguration at Marathon’s Galveston Bay and Texas City, Texas refineries.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel has opened a Performance Coatings production facility in Santo Andre, Brazil, which will enable the company to be more agile in responding to local customer needs and regional market demands, said the company on its website.

The facility – an expansion of an existing site in Santo Andre, Sao Paulo – will manufacture and supply products from the company’s International portfolio of high performance industrial, marine and yacht coatings, which has been present in Brazil for 90 years.

As well as reinforcing AkzoNobel’s commitment to investing in innovation and technology, the new plant will also help to strengthen International’s market position in South America.

Commenting on the opening, Jelena Arsic Van Os, Director of AkzoNobel Performance Coatings in South America, said: "Our innovation expertise plays a key role in driving organic growth and this new facility highlights our continued focus on adapting to market needs in order to better serve our customers with essential color and protection.

"The investment will add further momentum to the instrumental role International is playing in helping AkzoNobel to strategically diversify its markets and expand its presence throughout South America."

The Santo Andre expansion has increased production capacity for smaller batches by 35% and for larger batches by 50%. A new distribution center also means shipping capacity has been expanded by 50%. Meanwhile, an increase in the level of automation has improved the control of the production process and, in turn, the quality of the products.

"AkzoNobel stands out for having excellent products and services and an extraordinary customer base in this region of key importance for the company,” explained Pablo Ribeiro, Business Manager for Marine and Protective Coatings in South America. “It certainly makes the difference in such a competitive market."

International products provide protection for ships, yachts, infrastructure projects and buildings around the world, including the world famous Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shortly after doubling its polycarbonate (PC) production capacity at its Shanghai site to 400,000 tons per year, Covestro will again significantly expand its capacity to 600,000 metric tons per year, said the producer on its site.

With this step, which is achieved through debottlenecking of its production lines, the company reacts to the strong customer demand for polycarbonates in the Asia-Pacific region. The expanded capacity shall be available starting 2019.

"The expansion is essential to satisfy the growing demand", said Chief Technology Officer Dr. Klaus Schafer. "The successful completion of this project will strengthen our global production network and demonstrates our continuous commitment to the Chinese market."

Michelle Jou, Global Head of Covestro's PC segment, said, "There is a rapidly growing demand for polycarbonate resins and blends, in particular in China. Segments like electronics, healthcare and automotive are our key customer industries in that region. Further expanding our capacity for this high-tech plastic enables us to even better react to the changing needs of our customers and to guarantee sustainable supply."

Especially lightweight, highly transparent, break-proof and easy to shape, polycarbonate is used in many areas of modern life - from electronic and IT appliances to automotive parts to medical devices and LED lighting. With the capacity expansion of the largest polycarbonate production site in the world, Covestro strengthens its global number one position in polycarbonate resins and intends to supply the volumes it needs to continuously outgrow industry. "We have grown our capacity share continuously in recent years and are committed to continue this path. This investment is one of the steps we do to secure the necessary supply", adds Michelle Jou.

As MRC informed previously, in July 2016, Covestro moved forward with a repurposing of its production operations in Brunsbuttel, Germany. The Board of Management then officially approved an expansion of production capacity for the foam component MDI (feedstock for polyurethane) at the site. An existing, idled plant for the precursor TDI will be converted for production of MDI. The plans call for roughly doubling production capacity at the site to a total of approximately 400,000 metric tpa of MDI. Commissioning of the new plant complex is scheduled for late 2018. Preliminary plans call for a total investment volume (in euros) in the low hundreds of millions, which is already included in Covestro’s medium-term capital expenditure budget.

Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience), wiith 2016 sales of EUR 11.9 billion, is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG. Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating, insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Elliott Group announced today that it has been awarded a contract to supply compression equipment for Hengli Petrochemical Refinery’s integrated refining and petrochemical complex now under construction in Dalian, China.

The new refinery, the largest such project approved to date in China, is part of the Chinese government’s 13th five-year plan of social and economic development initiatives.

The order encompasses 22 compression trains and 28 casings for 14 different services including pressure swing adsorption, continuous catalyst regeneration (CCR), naptha hydrotreating, aromatics, propane/isobutane dehydrogenation, coal to H2, and sulfuric acid alkylation. The units will be built at Elliott’s manufacturing facilities in Sodegaura, Chiba, Japan and Jeannette, Pennsylvania, USA.

"Elliott’s ability to demonstrate technical expertise across various applications, including refrigeration, was key to meeting the customer’s needs for this important project," said John Rann, Vice President of Engineered Products. “This order reinforces Elliott’s strong credentials in refining and petrochemical compression."

When it comes on line in 2019, the complex will provide high-purity paraxylene as feedstock for Hengli’s existing purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plants. In addition to paraxylene, the new complex will also produce gasoline and diesel fuels that meet China 5 clean fuel specifications, as well as jet fuel, base lubrication oils, aromatics, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Russia's Rosneft has postponed plans to upgrade a plant on the Black Sea by around a year, delaying the supply of an additional 5.5 MMt of Russian diesel per year, industry sources told Reuters.

Rosneft is building a new hydro-cracking unit at its refinery at the Black Sea port of Tuapse, to produce Euro 5 diesel fuel intended for export, primarily to the Mediterranean.

The new plant, together with other upgrades underway at the refinery, will allow it to produce up to 5.5 MMt of Euro 5 fuel per year. At the moment, the Tuapse refinery does not produce any diesel of that grade.

The latest plan envisaged that the unit would start up in the first quarter of 2018, but that timetable has slipped, four industry sources said, because of construction delays.

Three of the sources, who all spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the unit will now only start operating in mid-2019. A fourth industry source said that in the best case scenario, start up could be at the end of 2018.

Rosneft declined to comment. Euro 5 is a grade of diesel with a low sulphur content and is widely used in diesel vehicles in Europe.

The influx of Euro 5 diesel from the Tuapse plant onto the Mediterranean market would create additional competition for other refiners supplying the market. These include European refiners, and Saudi Arabia.

Annual demand for Euro 5 diesel in southern Europe is around 80 MMt, according to traders' estimates, so the Tuapse plant, once running at full capacity, would account for just under 7% of that demand.

The launch of the Tuapse unit would also make it harder for Mediterranean refiners to obtain feedstock. At the moment, many of them buy in fuel oil and vacuum gas oil—the raw material for producing diesel—from Rosneft.

Once the Rosneft hydro-cracker is up and running, at least some of those volumes are likely to be diverted to Tuapse instead.
MRC