Global PU market worth USD 56.76 billion by 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The global polyurethane (PU) market is projected to reach USD 56.76 billion by 2021 at a CAGR of 5.6 %, reported GV with reference to a study from Markets and Markets.

The growing middle class with increasing disposable incomes as well as the rising urbanisation supplemented by investments in infrastructure are said to be the main drivers of the global PU market. PU flexible foam is estimated to remain the largest product segment till 2021. Beddings, automotive interiors and footwear are said to be the main applications for flexible foams. A major driver in the flexible foam market is the use of memory foam in bedding.

Driven by the growing automotive industry, the Asia-Pacific region is forecast to remain the largest PU market in terms of value and volume.

The study is titled: "Polyurethane Market by Raw Material (MDI, TDI, Polyols), Product (Coatings, Adhesives & Sealants, Flexible & Rigid Foams, Elastomers), End User (Building & Construction, Automotive & Transportation, Bedding & Furniture) – Global Forecast to 2021".
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State oil company Saudi Aramco has signed a preliminary deal to invest in India's planned 1.2 MMbpd West Coast refinery, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Falih said Aramco was also looking at buying stakes in existing major refiners and expansion projects in India. He did not specify the size of stake Aramco will take in the west coast refinery, but added: "the more the better."

Saudi Aramco has signed a preliminary deal to invest in India's planned 1.2 MMbpd West Coast refinery.
"Agreements have been already signed that allows discussions to start on the configuration of the (west coast) refinery, on design basis and pre-feasibility studies," he said. "One is the greenfield west coast refinery, which is already public, but there are discussions with expansions as well as buying stake into major existing refinery assets. All of these are illustrated commitments by the Kingdom and the company to be not only a supplier but an investor in India at an unmatched scale," he added.

According to Al-Falih, "India is open for partnership, open for business, we welcome that, we welcome Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's pro-business environment, we believe in it, we believe its here to stay and have told Aramco team to assign zero political and regulatory risk to India and treat it as part of Saudi Arabia."

India aims to expand its refining capacity by 77 percent to about 8.8 MMbpd by 2030. Falih said Saudi Arabia would also sign oil supply deals as part of the agreement to buy stakes in Indian refineries, a strategy the kingdom has adopted to expand its market share in Asia and fend off rivals.

Last year, Saudi Arabia pledged billions of dollars of investments in projects in Indonesia and Malaysia to secure long-term oil supply deals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies, has announced that its Supervisory Board has authorized the company's Management Board to declare a dividend of USD1.00 per share, an 11 percent increase over the company's fourth quarter 2017 dividend of USD0.90 per share, as per the company's press release.

The dividend will be paid March 12, 2018 to shareholders of record March 5, 2018, with an ex-dividend date of March 2, 2018.

"A strong and progressive dividend is at the core of LyondellBasell's capital deployment hierarchy," said Bob Patel, CEO of LyondellBasell. "This double-digit increase reflects confidence in our ability to continue to provide leading returns to shareholders through business cycles."

The amount and timing of future dividends will depend on, and be subject to, market conditions, general economic conditions, applicable legal requirements and other corporate considerations. The dividend policy may be suspended or discontinued at any time.

As MRC wrote previously, in August 2016, LyondellBasell made the final investment decision to build a high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant on the US Gulf Coast. The plant will have an annual capacity of 1.1 billion pounds (500,000 metric tons) and will be the first commercial plant to employ LyondellBasell's new proprietary Hyperzone PE technology. The start-up of the new plant is scheduled for 2019.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Exxon Mobil Corp is nearing final approval of a major expansion to its Beaumont, Texas, refinery that could make it the largest crude processing plant in the United States, according to three sources familiar with the company’s deliberations, as per Reuters.

A go-ahead would signal Exxon’s confidence in U.S. shale production and in global demand for gasoline and other fuels. Exxon continues to evaluate increasing its North American light crude refining, but has not made any decisions, spokeswoman Sarah Nordin said on Wednesday. “The Beaumont refinery is being considered as part of that evaluation,” she said.

CDUs do the primary refining of crude oil and provide the feedstock for units that produce gasoline, diesel and other products. Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery can process as much as 635 Mbpd of crude oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

One of the sources, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the deliberations, said the company was still calculating the size of the new CDU. “They’re still crunching the numbers,” the source said.

Exxon has considered the total capacity for an expanded Beaumont refinery at between 700 and 850 Mbpd. In 2016, Exxon added 20 Mbpd in light crude refining capacity at Beaumont.

A new expansion will take advantage of the growth in U.S. shale production, which is expected to about double the nation’s oil output to more than 11 Mbpd later this year, from 5.6 Mbpd in 2011, according to the EIA. Nordin said any expansion would take place between 2019 and 2022 within the 2,000-acre Beaumont site where the refinery and an adjoining chemical plant are located to “minimize environmental impact."

The project, if approved, would create up to 1,850 construction jobs and between 40 and 60 permanent jobs upon completion, Nordin said. "The expanded unit would enhance the Beaumont refinery’s competitive position and establish it as a leader in the North American refining industry," she said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy has selected seven projects to receive approximatelyUSD$44 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development through the funding opportunity announcement, Design and Testing of Advanced Carbon Capture Technologies, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The DOE selected seven projects to receive approximately USD44 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development The DOE selected seven projects to receive approximately USD44 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development.

These projects will advance competitive operation of our nation's fossil-based power-generation infrastructure by reducing energy consumption and capital costs associated with next-generation carbon capture systems. Specifically, the projects will target one of two areas: 1) engineering-scale testing of transformational solvent- or membrane-based carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technologies, or 2) designing a commercial-scale, post-combustion CO? capture system at an existing coal-fueled generating unit. The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage the selected projects.
MRC