Ashland declares force majeure in Europe on 1.4-butanediol, tetrahydrofuran and formaldehyde

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ashland has declared a force majeure in Europe on 1.4-butanediol (BDO), tetrahydrofuran (THF) and formaldehyde as a result of a fire at its manufacturing facility in Marl, Germany, that led to the shutdown of production operations on 10 August 2017, reported GV.

According to the company, production has been suspended while an investigation into the cause and extent of the fire takes place. As a result, the Marl facility is currently unable to produce any 1.4-BDO, THF or formaldehyde, and the availability of product is significantly reduced, said the company.

Ashland said it is working with affected customers to minimise the impact to their respective businesses, and will continue to provide updates regarding supply capability.

As MRC informed before, as of 1 June 2017, or as existing contracts permit, BASF SE increased its European selling prices for a number of petrochemical products, as stated below:

- 1,4-Butanediol (BDO) - by EUR200/mt;
- tetrahydrofuran (THF) - by EUR150/mt;
- polytetramethylene ether glycol (PolyTHF) - by EUR300/mt;
- N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) - by EUR150/mt;
- gamma butyrolactone (GBL) - by EUR150/mt.

BDO and its derivatives are used for producing engineering plastics, polyurethanes, solvents and elastic spandex fibers. PolyTHFa is a registered trade mark of BASF Group in many countries.
MRC

Linde awarded supply contract for biofuel refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Technology company The Linde Group has been awarded with the engineering and supply of a modular hydrogen manufacturing unit for St1 Refinery in Gothenburg, Sweden, said the company on its website.

Linde’s Engineering Division will start the engineering and construction of the unit immediately, with the completion estimated for the end of 2018.

“This award adds to Linde’s winning streak of Syngas & Hydrogen Solutions (Hydroprime) for the renewable fuel industry," said John van der Velden, Member of the Board of Directors of Linde Engineering Division. "Linde’s ability to deliver unique single-sourcing supplies provides St1 with a cost-effective solution supporting their advanced biofuel production."

Linde is recognized as a global leader for the complete hydrogen generation process—manufacture, recovery, purification, storage, liquefaction and transportation, the company stated in a press release. From 300 Nm?/h to 150,000 Nm/h, from skid-built Hydroprime units to tailor-made hydrogen production plants, the proven long track expertise contains of more than 300 hydrogen production plants in safe, efficient and productive operation; executed from conceptual design through start-up and commissioning and product life-cycle services.

MRC

PE production in Belarus down by 51% in the first seven months of 2017

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Belarus's overall production of low density polyethylene (LDPE) totalled 33,700 tonnes in the first seven months of 2017, down by 51% year on year, according to MRC's DataScope report.

According to the National Statistics Committee of Belarus, Polymir, the local LDPE manufacturer, produced slightly over 5,200 tonnes of polyethylene (PE) in July 2017, compared to 2,700 tonnes a month earlier. The low June figure was a result of a scheduled shutdown for maintenance. Thus, Polymir's overall LDPE output was 33,700 tonnes in January-July 2017 versus 68,100 tonnes a year earlier.

The fire at one of the ethylene units in late June 2016, which led to a two-fold reduction in the olefin production, was the main reason for such a major fall in the output.


As reported earlier, an outbreak of gas-air mixture with the further flare combustion of outgoing products happened at workshop No. 104 on 18 June 2016. The fire damaged technological equipment at the ethylene unit, and some of the capacities have been idle since then. The plant's representatives said the ethylene unit would not be fully reconstructed this year.

Polymir (part of Naftan) is Belarus' largest petrochemical company, producing a wide range of chemical products, such as low density polyethylene (LDPE), acrylic fibers, products of organic synthesis, hydrocarbon fractions, etc. Polymir was founded in 1968. The producer uses technologies of the largest foreign companies from Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy (Courtaulds, Asahi Chemical Co. Ltd, Kanematsu Gosho, SNIA BPD, etc.), as well as the development of scientific research institutes and design institutes of the CIS countries. The plant's annual production capacity is 130,000 tonnes.

MRC

US to sell 14 MMbbl of crude oil from emergency reserve

MOSCOW (MRC) — The US Department of Energy said on Tuesday it will sell 14 MMbbl of crude oil from the nation's emergency reserve in late August, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The sale from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was expected as it was required under laws signed by former President Barack Obama in 2015 and 2016 to help fund medical research and the overall federal government.

The reserve, a series of caverns on the Louisiana and Texas coasts, currently holds nearly 680 MMbbl of oil, far more than required by international supply agreements.
MRC

Global petrochemicals demand estimated to cross market value of USD1075 bln by 2023

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Global Petrochemicals Market is expected to witness significant growth with a CAGR of approximately 6.7% over the forecast period of 2017-2023 and reach USD1075.19 bln by 2023, according to Plastemart with reference to Market Research Future.

Petrochemicals are organic compounds derived from hydrocarbons. Some other chemical compounds made from petroleum are also made from other fossil fuels, such as coal, or natural gas, or renewable sources such as corn or sugar cane. Olefins and aromatics are two most common lasses of petrochemicals and are produced in oil refineries by fluid catalytic cracking of petroleum fraction. Aromatics are produced by catalytic reforming of naphtha, whereas, olefins are produced by steam cracking of natural gas liquids.

Key players of the global petrochemicals market are BASF SE, ExxonMobil Corporation, The Dow Chemical Company, Shell Chemical Company, SABIC, Sinopec Limited, Lyondell Basell Industries, Total S.A., Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.

Asia Pacific is the dominating market for petrochemicals, and accounted for over 50% of market shares in terms of volume followed by North America and Europe in 2015. China and India collectively led the APAC petrochemical market and will contribute majorly in the dominance of this region throughout forecast period. Favorable government regulations in China as well other counties across APAC likely to encourage growth in this market. Owing to increasing urbanization coupled with rapid industrialization has made china leading contributor in the growth of APAC market by accounting 25% regional shares in terms of volume. In addition, increasing demand from countries such as, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam is anticipated to boost consumption in Rest of Asia Pacific market. India expected to register progressive growth over the forecast period. This is due to initiatives such as PCPIR (Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemicals Investment Region) by Indian government to promote petrochemical infrastructure in the country giving subsidies.

North America is the strong region in global petrochemicals market and holds second position including countries such as U.S. and Canada. Growth in this region is highly attributed to the shale gas exploration activities in U.S. and Canada. Both of the countries collectively accounted for 90% of the shale gas production and led the North American petrochemicals market. Also, development of shale gas provides an advantage to substitute conventional feedstock such as crude oil and natural gas for producing various petrochemicals in order to reduce degree of dependency.

Europe is the third largest petrochemicals market including countries such as Germany, France, UK, Italy, and rest of the Europe. The region anticipated to witness moderate growth over the forecast period of 2017 to 203. This is because of market drivers are constantly changing in European market owing to high importance given to green economy. Middle East and Africa is an emerging region for petrochemical market. This region will play a crucial role in the development of overall petrochemical market development as it is considered as leading producer of petrochemical. Easy availability of petroleum has made this region most emerging and have rapid gains over forecast period.

As MRC informed before, the global demand for petrochemical market was valued at USD550 bln in 2014 and is expected to reach USD890 bln in 2020, growing at a CAGR of around 6.5% between 2015 and 2020, as per MarketResearchStore.
MRC