Mitsui adding Chinese production unit for long glass fiber reinforced PP

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsui Chemicals has decided to establish a long glass fiber reinforced polypropylene (LGFPP) production plant at its Mitsui Advanced Composites (Zhongshan) manufacturing subsidiary in China, as per Apic-online.

The new facility, which will be located in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, will have a capacity of 3,500 t/y, increasing Mitsui Chemical's LGFPP production capacity to 10,500 t/y.

Completion is tentatively scheduled for February 2020 with operations expected to begin in September 2020.

As MRC informed before, in 2018, Mitsui Chemicals took its naphtha-fed steam cracker off-stream for a maintenance turnaround from mid-June to end-July 2018. Located in Sakai, Japan, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 500,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 280,000 mt/year.

Mitsui Chemicals is a leading manufacturer and supplier of value added specialty chemicals, plastics and materials for the automotive, healthcare, packaging, agricultural, building, and semiconductor and electronics markets. Mitsui Chemicals is a Japanese Chemicals company, a part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company has a turnover of around 15 billion USD and has business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. The company mainly deals in performance materials, petro and basic chemicals and functional polymeric materials.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Ukraine decreased by 42% in the first two months of this year, compared to the same period in 2018 and reached about 7,900 tonnes. The main reason was a sufficient supply from the domestic producer, according to MRC DataScope.

Last month's SPVC imports to the Ukrainian market grew to 4,100 tonnes from 3,800 tonnes in January. Because of a decrease in capacity utilisation at Karpatneftekhim, some companies slightly increased purchases in foreign countries. Overall SPVC imports reached 7,900 tonnes in January-February 2019, compared to 13,700 tonnes a year earlier.

Sufficient supply and low prices helped the local producer to reduce the share of imports in the domestic market, while SPVC exports declined.
Structure of PVC imports into Ukraine over the reported period was as follows. Last month's imports of US SPVC shrank to 1,000 tonnes from 1,900 tonnes in January. Thus, imports of US PVC totalled 2,900 tonnes in the first two months of 2018, compared to 8,700 tonnes a year earlier.

February imports of European PVC into Ukraine increased to 2,900 tonnes, compared with 1,900 tonnes in January. Total imports of European PVC into Ukraine were about 4,800 tonnes in the first two months of the year, compared with 3,800 tonnes year on year.

It is also worth noting that due to the reduction in capacity utilisation, which was caused by the shutdown of its own ethylene production after a fire, Karpatneftekhim reduced export sales of PVC to 6,200 tonnes in February against 14,800 tonnes a month earlier. Exports of PVC in the first two months of the year exceeded 21,000 tonnes, down 21% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s eastern province will launch inspections on chemical producers and warehouses after a deadly blast in the city of Yancheng, according to an emergency notice published by official media, reported Reuters.

An explosion at a pesticide plant in the province has killed 44 people and injured more than 600, the latest in a series of industrial accidents that has angered the Chinese public.

The notice, published on the news website of Jiangsu province’s Communist party, said the government will shut down any chemical firms found not complying with regulations on dangerous chemicals.

As MRC wrote earlier, a fire and explosion engulfed the Tian Jia Yi Chemicals plant last Thursday afternoon. The plant was operated by the Nee Group near Lianyungang, a port in Jiangsu province north of Shanghai. China’s industrial safety has improved in recent years, but dramatic accidents are often a trigger for public anger. Many have revealed the dangers of locating industrial plants close to residential areas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Energy group OMV and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have agreed to cooperate in the petrochemical sector and to explore opportunities to make use of OMV’s recycling expertise, the Austrian company said.

OMV is shifting the focus of its refinery division to aviation fuel and petrochemicals, banking on an ever-increasing appetite for air travel and plastic products.

It agreed to pay USD2.5 billion for a 15 percent stake in ADNOC’s refining business and a new trading joint venture with ADNOC and Italy’s Eni in January.

OMV and ADNOC signed two memorandums of understanding to evaluate future projects and set up a joint working group, it said.

"The agreement underscores our commitment to the strategic partnership with ADNOC and our willingness to bring value-enhancing expertise to this cooperation," said Chief Executive Rainer Seele in a statement.

OMV produces and markets oil and gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions – in a responsible way. With Group sales of EUR 23 bn and a workforce of more than 20,000 employees in 2018, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Romania and Austria as part of the Central and Eastern Europe core region as well as a balanced international portfolio, with Russia, North Sea, Middle East and Africa as well as Asia-Pacific as further core regions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's Hengli Petrochemical Co Ltd says in a filing to Shanghai Stock Exchange its unit's new oil refinery in Dalian has successfully produced gasoline, diesel, aviation kerosene and PX, said Reuters.

The company says the production at the new oil refinery is stable.

Hengli Petrochemical’s unit started test-running of the Dalian refinery, which has an annual capacity of 20 million tonnes, on Dec. 15.

Jiangsu Hengli Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd., through its subsidiary, manufactures woven fabrics. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Suzhou, China. Jiangsu Hengli Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Hengli Petrochemical Co., Ltd.
MRC