China ends duties on TDI from the EU

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) has decided to terminate anti-dumping duties on toluene diisocyanate (TDI) imported from the European Union (EU), effective 13 March 2018, as per GV.

In 2013, the ministry decided to impose duties, ranging from 6.6 % to 37.7 %, on TDI from the EU for a period of five years. Mofcom decided to lift the duties because representatives of the domestic TDI industry did not apply for an expiry review.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, in mid-February 2018, the Chinese government imposed anti-dumping duties on imports of styrene monomer (SM) from South Korea, the United States and Taiwan in its preliminary ruling amid escalating tensions between China and the U.S. in the trade sector. The China’s Ministry of Commerce slapped a preliminary anti-dumping duty rate of 7.8 percent to 8.4 percent on styrene monomer imports from Korea, 9.2 percent to 10.7 percent on U.S. products and 5 percent on Taiwanese products, saying that the styrene imports selling below normal prices have hurt domestic industry.
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According to the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus, the local LDPE roducer - Polymir - increased slightly its capacity utilisation in March 2018. March polyethylene (PE) output was 5,600 tonnes, compared to 5,300 tonnes a month earlier. Thus, Polymir's total LDPE output was slightly over 16,600 tonnes in January-March 2018, compared to 15,800 tonnes a year earlier.

As the plant's customers said Polymir plans to shut down its LDPE production for a scheduled overhaul on 5 May. The outage will last for 15 days.
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 developments of scientific research institutes and design institutes of the CIS countries. The plant's annual production capacity is 130,000 tonnes.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corp. proposed building a Houston headquarters for its Western Hemisphere operations as the Middle East’s dominant chemical maker seeks to capitalize on the US shale boom, reported Bloomberg.

Sabic, as the company is known, said a final decision will be contingent on receiving local and environmental permits, according to a statement Saturday. The announcement coincided with the final stop by Saudi Crown Price Mohammed Bin Salman on his three-week US tour.

Sabic "has designated the United States as a focus of its future growth plans, capitalizing on the abundance of shale gas," according to the statement. Bin Salman, the heir to the Saudi throne who has sought to broaden the kingdom’s economy beyond oil, attended the announcement.

Saudi Arabia is increasing chemical production with demand for motor fuels expected to slow amid tightening fuel efficiency standards and the rise of electric vehicles. Fracking and horizontal drilling in shale formations have unleashed torrents of cheap U.S. natural gas that made the country among the most profitable places to produce chemicals, beating the Middle East in attracting projects.

DowDuPont Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., and Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. are putting the finishing touches on multibillion-dollar factories along the Texas Gulf Coast, part of USD188 billion in proposed and recently completed project, according to the American Chemistry Council.

Almost 20 factories are being built or expanded to convert gas liquids such as ethane and propane into ethylene, the most used petrochemical and the main ingredient in polyethylene plastic.

Most of the investment is coming from abroad. South Africa’s Sasol Ltd. is spending USD11 billion on a chemical complex outside Lake Charles, Louisiana. France’s Total SA, South Korea’s Lotte Chemical Corp. and Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Corp. also are investing in US factories.

Sabic has formed a joint venture with Exxon Mobil to build an ethylene plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, with a final investment decision expected this year. The heart of the project features what would be the world’s largest ethane cracker, capable of producing 1.8 million metric tons of ethylene.

Sabic ranks among the worldпїЅs top petrochemical companies, and is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene, advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers. SABIC manufactures on a global scale in Saudi Arabia, the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. The company operates in more than 50 countries across the world with 40,000 employees worldwide.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CB&I has announced it has been awarded a contract by Jinneng Science & Technology Co., Ltd. for the license and engineering design of a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The unit will use CB&I's CATOFIN technology to produce 900,000 metric tons of propylene per year. It will also utilize CATOFIN catalyst and heat generating material from CB&I's catalyst partner, Clariant. Once the unit is complete, it will be the world's largest single-train PDH unit.

"CB&I's CATOFIN technology offers unmatched reliability and optimization," said Daniel M. McCarthy, CB&I's Executive Vice President of Technology. "For our customers who license the technology, these benefits result in lower capital and operations costs for their projects and investments."

As MRC wrote previously, in December 2015, China-based Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery awarded a contract to CB&I to use its Catofin catalytic dehydrogenation technology for a grassroots propane and butane dehydrogenation unit to be constructed in Dalian of Liaoning Province. Under the deal, CB&I will license and provide engineering design for the proposed dehydrogenation unit. As well as CB&I's Catofin technology, the unit will use Clariant's Catofin catalyst to process 300,000t per annum of propane and 600,000t per year of isobutane feedstock for jointly produce propylene and isobutylene. The unit is claimed to be the largest single-train dehydrogenation plant in the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Austria's Engel Holding GmbH is expanding the reach of its Chinese subsidiary Wintec into North America and Brazil, using the upcoming NPE show to begin selling Wintec's standard grade injection molding machines in the United States, as per Plasticsnewseurope.

Wintec, which is based in Changzhou, China, has focused on Asia since launching as a separate unit within Engel in 2014. But Engel now says it sees opportunities for Wintec's offering of simpler machines in Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States, in areas like single-component molding, where special technologies may not be needed.

"In addition to sophisticated applications that require tailor-made injection molding solutions, we see a strong demand in America for injection molding machines that handle standard applications," said Engel Chief Strategy Officer Christoph Steger. "By expanding the sales area to the American markets, as the Engel Group we can provide tailored solutions at an attractive price/performance ratio."

The company said it will offer its hydraulic Wintec t-win series from 500 tons to 1,900 tons clamping force, and its electric e-win series from 55 to 310 tons clamping force.

The company said it plans to start selling the machines in the American markets in May and has already set up a network of local service technicians, along with a spare parts warehouse.

Longtime Engel executive Peter Auinger will head the new push as Wintec President Americas. Auinger started the Wintec operations in China, and prior to that had been head of Engel's subsidiary in Mexico.

Wintec machines are not customized, but instead are delivered preconfigured, shortening lead times.
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