Lanxess expanding capacity in Germany

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lanxess A.G. is expanding production of high-performance plastics at its Krefeld-Uerdingen site in Germany by building a new compounding facility at the North Rhine-Westphalia site, as per RubberNews.

The Cologne-based specialty chemicals company said Sept. 19 that it was investing a "mid-double-digit million euro" amount in the new facility, which is scheduled to start operation in the second half of 2019.

Lanxess declined to comment on the capacity of the new facility, citing "competitive reasons."

The site will produce Durethan and Pocan engineering plastics, which are used primarily in the automotive, electrical and electronics industries. In addition, the investment will see the construction of a new warehouse and a silo facility at the site.

"The high-performance plastics business is a central pillar of our growth strategy. By expanding capacity, we are further strengthening our position as a provider of innovative product solutions for modern mobility," said Hubert Fink, member of the Lanxess board of management.

The German materials supplier already operates a polymerization and compounding plant for high-performance plastics in Krefeld-Uerdingen and added a new production line at the existing plant in March.

"Krefeld-Uerdingen is our central production platform for high-performance plastics, especially for the European markets. The expansion will enable us to better serve the continuing high demand from this market region in the future," said Michael Zobel, head of Lanxess' high performance materials business unit.

Metal replacement in vehicles is a major application for these materials, helping to reduce vehicle weight, fuel consumption and emissions. Depending on the part, lightweight construction can yield a weight-saving of up to 50 percent, Lanxess claims.

Lanxess has stepped up investments in expanding its compounding capacities in recent years in a bid to expand its value chain.

In November, the company unveiled plans to invest a USD21.7 million investment in Changzhou, China, to produce 25,000 metric tons of Durethan- and Pocan-branded plastics each year. The plant in Changzhou is scheduled to come on stream in the second quarter of 2019.

Lanxess already operates a plant for high-performance plastics in Wuxi, China.

The company also operates compounding sites in Jhagadia, India; Gastonia, S.C.; Porto Feliz, Brazil; and Hamm-Uentrop, Germany.

As MRC reported earlier, in December 2017, Lanxess announced the expansion of its Additives segment and plans to acquire the phosphorus chemicals business with a US production site from Belgian chemical group Solvay. Both companies signed an agreement to this effect.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with about 19,200 employees in 25 countries. The company is currently represented at 74 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. Through Arlanxeo, the joint venture with Saudi Aramco, Lanxess is also a leading supplier of synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Mexico’s Salina Cruz oil refinery is operating normally after three people were injured in an electrical accident, a spokesman for state oil company Pemex said, as per Reuters.

The 330,000 barrel-per-day capacity facility, Pemex’s largest, had a short-circuit on Tuesday evening that sparked flames, the spokesman said.

As MRC informed earlier, Pemex is planning to begin restart of propylene production at two of its refineries next week as it brings key processing units back online. Pemex will restart a fluid catalytic cracker next week at its Salina Cruz refinery in Oaxaca, which has been shut following a June 14 fire. Pemex's Minatitlan refinery in Veracruz will see the first of two FCC units come back online August 5, and the second unit would be restarted on August 12. The Minatitlan units had been offline for maintenance, the source previously said.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State oil giant Saudi Aramco will take a stake in a new refinery being built by Zhejiang Petrochemical, reported Reuters with reference to an Aramco executive.

The oil giant expects to supply 170,000 barrels per day of Saudi crude to the refinery in Zhoushan in eastern China when it starts operation, Aramco’s Senior Vice President of Downstream, Abdulaziz al-Judaimi, told Reuters.

Zhejiang Petrochemical, 51 percent owned by textile giant Rongsheng Holding Group, plans to start its 400,000-barrels-per-day refinery-petrochemical project in eastern China in late 2018.

As MRC informed before, Saudi Aramco’s potential acquisition of a stake in petrochemicals maker SABIC would affect the timeframe of its own planned initial public offering, the firm’s chief executive, Amin Nasser, said in a TV interview in late July 2018.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Test operations at a new gas chemical complex (GCC) for processing natural gas and producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in the village of Kiyanly started back in August. An official launch of production took place on 17 October, reported MRC analysts.

Production capacities of the new complex in Turkmenistan had been built by the summer, but due to a number of reasons, the start of production took place a few months later. The complex began operating in a test mode in August, and the official launch took place almost two months later - on 17 October.

Sales of test quantities of PE and PP began at the Turkmen State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange in early September. The trades participants said about 4,000 tonnes of polymers have already been sold since the start of sales. In the first half of October, deals were done at USD1,100/tonne FCA Kiyanly, with shipment within a two-month period.

As reported earlier, the new complex's production capacity will allow to process 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, which, in its turn, will allow to produce 381,000 tonnes of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and 81,000 tonnes of PP and other products.

The construction of the GCC worth USD3.4 billion in Kiyanly was carried out since 2014 in accordance with a trilateral contract among the Turkmengaz State Concern and South Korean companies LG International Corp. and Hyundai Engineering Corp. Ltd, as well as Japanese TOYO Engineering Corp.

The Turkmengas State Concern is a Turkmen gas producing and gas distribution company, the largest company in Turkmenistan. It deals with all aspects of the gas business: exploration, mining, transportation, processing. Headquarters is situated in Ashgabat. 100% of the company's shares are managed by the government of Turkmenistan.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ukraine's polypropylene (PP) imports totalled about 97,700 tonnes in the first nine months of the year, up 9% year on year. Demand for all PP grades increased, as per MRC DataScope.

September PP imports into the country fell to 11,000 tonnes from 12,800 tonnes a month earlier, the main decrease in imports were seen in the shipments of homopolymer PP. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 97,700 tonnes in January-September 2018, compared to 89,400 tonnes a year earlier. Demand for all PP grades increased, but PP block copolymers accounted for the greatest growth.

The structure of PP imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

September imports of homopolymers of propylene to the Ukrainian market decreased to 8,500 tonnes against 10,500 tonnes a month earlier, local companies decreased the volume of purchases of homopolymer PP raffia. Overall shipments of homopolymer PP reached 73,900 tonnes in the first nine months of 2018 versus 68,000 tonnes a year earlier.

Last month's imports of block propylene copolymers (PP block copolymers) were 1,100 tonnes, compared to 1,000 tonnes in August. Demand for injection moulding propylene copolymers improved from local companies. Imports of PP block copolymers into the country were about 9,800 tonnes in January-September, compared with about 9,700 tonnes year on year.

September imports of PP random copolymers did not exceed 1,200 tonnes versus 1,100 tonnes a month earlier, demand for PP increased from injection moulding products producers. Overall imports of PP random copolymer reached 12,400 tonnes in January-September 2018, whereas this figure was 10,100 tonnes a year earlier. Overall imports of other propylene copolymers totalled about 1,700 tonnes over the stated period.


MRC