Celanese raises June prices of EVA emulsions in Asia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, and a global leader in vinyl acetate ethylene (EVA) emulsions, has increased its prices of vinyl acetate-based emulsions sold in Asia (outside of China), said the producer on its site.

Effective June 21, 2017, or as contracts otherwise allow, prices rose by USD80/tonne.

As MRC wrote before, earlier this month, Celanese Corporation announced that it would increase the price for emulsions sold in Europe. Effective July 1, 2017, or as contracts otherwise allow, the following price increases will apply:

- EVA - EUR75/tonne;
- VAM Homopolymers (PVAC) - EUR75/tonne;
- VAM Copolymers - EUR75/tonne;
- Pure Acrylics - EUR180/tonne.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,300 employees worldwide and had 2016 net sales of USD5.4 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — The Lithuanian unit of state-run Polish refiner PKN, Orlen Lietuva, and Lithuanian railways firm Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai will on Wednesday sign an agreement in Vilnius ending a long dispute over PKN's costs for fuel transportation in Lithuania, Puls Biznesu daily said quoting unnamed sources, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The paper said PKN had negotiated new transport tariffs that could bring significant savings related to fuel transportation from its refinery in Mazeikiai.

Transportation costs have weighed on Mazeikiai's results and in the past PKN has decided to write down the value of its Lithuanian refinery.

Puls Biznesu said the agreement was possible after the parliamentary election in Lithuania last October, which triggered management reshuffles in state-run firms, including the railways.

PKN's Chief Executive Wojciech Jasinski and Lithuania's new Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis will be present at the agreement signing ceremony on Wednesday.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US total crude oil and petroleum product exports more than doubled from 2.4 MMbpd in 2010 to 5.2 MMbpd in 2016. While exports of distillate, gasoline, propane and crude oil have all contributed to the increase, growth rates and market drivers for each product have varied during this period, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Restrictions on exporting domestically-produced crude oil were lifted in December 2015, and in 2016, the United States exported 520,000 bpd. US crude oil exports reached 1.1 MMbpd, the highest monthly level recorded to date, in February 2017. While Canada remains the largest destination for US crude oil exports, its share of total US crude oil exports has declined, dropping from 92% in 2015 (427,000 bpd) to 58% in 2016 (301,000 bpd). Other leading destinations for US crude oil exports in 2016 included the Netherlands, Curacao, China, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In addition to export restrictions, the level of US crude exports are sensitive to price differentials, shipping costs, and the level of domestic production. US production fell through the first nine months of 2016, but rose at the end of 2016 and the first five months of 2017. In 2016, US crude oil exports increased 55,000 bpd over 2015, but year-over-year growth in both 2014 (217,000 bpd) and 2015 (114,000 bpd) were considerably higher.

US exports of distillate also experienced slower year-over-year growth rates compared with recent years. In 2016, the United States exported 1.2 MMbpd of distillate, the country’s largest petroleum product export. Between 2010 and 2016, US exports of distillate grew by 81% (534,000 bpd), but most of this growth occurred between 2011 and 2013. The largest destination for US distillate exports is Mexico, averaging 182,000 bpd in 2016, followed by Brazil (125,000 bpd), and the Netherlands (108,000 bpd).

US exports of total motor gasoline have increased by 126% (425,000 bpd) since 2010. The growth in gasoline exports took place while domestic consumption, as measured by product supplied, was also increasing. Mexico is the top destination for US total motor gasoline exports and the volume of gasoline trade is significant to US refineries. Over the past five years, US exports to Mexico accounted for between 44% (2014) and 53% (2016) of total US gasoline exports.

Unlike the recently slowing increases in US exports of crude oil, distillate fuel, and motor gasoline, propane export growth has recently accelerated. Propane exports differ from other US petroleum exports with respect to where they are shipped. Whereas most other US petroleum exports stay in the Western Hemisphere, Japan and China are the top destinations for US propane exports. Propane has many non-transportation sector end uses, including space heating, cooking, and as a petrochemical feedstock.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide Engineering & Construction has been selected to supply two hydrogen production steam methane reformer (SMR) units to Dangote Group, the largest manufacturing conglomerate in West Africa, said the company on its website.

The SMR units will be core to a new hydrogen generation complex producing 200,000 Nm/h of hydrogen and high quality steam for Dangote’s new refinery located in the Lekki free trade zone in Nigeria. The new refinery is part of the largest industrial complex that is currently under development in Africa and will produce Euro V compliant low sulfur fuels among other products. Hydrogen is used today in many industrial sectors, especially in the oil refining process to produce sulfur-free fuels.

This equipment supply agreement follows a first agreement related to technology license and process design Air Liquide signed with Dangote in 2015, demonstrating trust in Air Liquide's technology and the quality of the key equipment.

"We are proud to deliver our technology and the steam reformer packages for the large hydrogen production unit as part of this ambitious refinery project,” said Domenico D’Elia, Vice President and Chairman of Air Liquide Engineering & Construction. “Dangote’s confidence in selecting Air Liquide’s hydrogen and steam reforming technology reaffirms our leading position in this market segment, with more than 130 references around the globe "

As MRC informed earlier, Air Liquide yesterday opened a 25-million-euro (USD27.6 million) research and technology center in Shanghai to address issues including carbon dioxide emission reduction and waste water treatment in China and Asia-Pacific.

L'Air Liquide S.A., or Air Liquide, is a French multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services to various industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CB&I has announced it has been awarded a technology contract by Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex LLC (SGCC) for a grassroots ethylene complex to be built in southern Uzbekistan, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The scope of work includes the license and basic engineering of an ethylene unit, which will use four proprietary SRT heaters, a Hexene-1 unit and a polypropylene unit.

The Hexene-1 unit will use CB&I's Comonomer Production Technology for the production of Hexene-1 from low-cost C4s, and the polypropylene unit will use CB&I's Novolen gas-phase polypropylene technology for the production of full range polypropylene products.

"CB&I looks forward to providing multiple technologies to SGCC's complex," said Daniel M. McCarthy, CB&I's Executive Vice President of Technology. "This is the second ethylene unit supplied to the complex, which reinforces our presence in central Asia and illustrates how our breadth of technologies can be packaged to deliver a complete solution to our customers through a single point of contact."

Uzbekistan made the strategic decision to use a synthetic naphtha product from its gas-to-liquids plant located in the Kashkadarya region for the production of olefins, which can then be used for the production of high-value polymer products.

As MRC informed before, in October 2015, Lotte Chemical Corp., the petrochemical unit of South Korea’s No. 5 conglomerate Lotte Group, announced the completion of the construction of a gas chemical complex in Uzbekistan, a major overseas project it had pursued as part of an effort to diversify profit sources. The joint development project, dubbed "the Surgil Project," was clinched in 2007 between a Korean consortium led by Lotte Chemical and the state-owned oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz in a 50-50 ownership to build a nearly 100-hectare production line for high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP) and gas development.
MRC