Lotte Titan resumes production at PE units

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PT Lotte Titan Nusantara, Indonesia, has restarted its Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) units, at Cilegon, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Indonesia, informed that, the company has resumed operations at the units, on August 12, 2019. The units were shut since August 4, 2019 owing to power failure.

Located in Cilegon, Indonesia, the No. 1, 2 and 3 units have a production capacity of 125,000 mt/year, 125,000 mt/year and 200,000 mt/year respectively.

As MRC informed before, on 17 March, 2017, PT. Lotte Titan Nusantara Indonesia restarted its linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant following an unplanned outage. The plant was taken off-stream in end-February 2017 owing to technical issues. Located in Merak, Indonesia, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

Lotte Chemical Titan produces Malaysia's most comprehensive portfolio of olefins and polyolefins which contribute to the enhancement of everyday life. Lotte Chemical Titan's production site in Malaysia consists of eleven process facilities, two co-generation plants and three tank farms. They are located on 2 sites in Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Langsat in the state of Johor. In 2006, Lotte Chemical Titan acquired PT Lotte Chemical Titan Nusantara, Indonesia’s first and largest polyethylene plant in the country. This acquisition boosted the polyolefins capacity by approximately 50%, thus making the company one of the largest producers in South East Asia. Lotte Chemical Titan was acquired by Lotte Chemical Corp., forming part of the Lotte conglomerate of Korea, in 2010. The company thus became one of Lotte Chemical Corp.’s largest overseas subsidiaries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ashland Global Holdings announced it has received the remaining regulatory approvals needed to close the previously announced sale of certain assets of Ashland's Composites business and butanediol facility in Marl, Germany to INEOS Enterprises Holdings Limited, said Globenewswire.

Ashland and INEOS are working together to close the transaction as soon as possible in accordance with the Stock and Asset Purchase Agreement and continue to expect a closing in the late summer of 2019.

The BDO plant is in Marl, Germany, and it has a capacity of 100,000 tonnes/year. The composites business makes unsaturated polyester resins (UPR), vinyl ester resins and gel coats.

The deal should close later in the summer, Ashland said. Under the initial agreement, Ashland planned to sell its composites business, the BDO plant and maleic anhydride (MA) business to INEOS for USD1.1bn.

As MRC informed earlier, in September, Ashland announced its plans to focus on specialty chemicals, and spin off Valvoline as an independent, publicly-traded lubricants company dedicated to engine and automotive maintenance.

Ashland Global Holdings Inc. is global specialty chemicals company serving customers in a wide range of consumer and industrial markets, including adhesives, architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care and pharmaceutical.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kinder Morgan, Inc.announced a series of projects, totaling over USD170 million of capital investment, that will increase efficiency, add product liquidity, and enhance blending capabilities at its Pasadena and Galena Park terminals, part of its best-in-class refined products storage hub on the Houston Ship Channel, said Financialpost.

In response to growing customer demand, KMI’s liquids terminal platform now boasts 10 ship docks, 38 barge spots, 20 inbound pipelines providing connectivity to 10 regional refineries and chemical plants, 15 outbound pipelines, 14 cross-channel lines, and approximately 43 million barrels of storage on the Houston Ship Channel, North America’s leading port for energy exports.

KMI will invest approximately USD125 million on enhancements to its Pasadena Terminal and Jefferson Street Truck Rack, including:

Increased flow rates on inbound pipeline connections and outbound dock lines, significantly reducing vessel load times and expanding effective dock capacity. Tank modifications that will provide for butane blending and vapor combustion capabilities on 10 storage tanks, with the option to extend those capabilities to an additional 25 tanks or more.

Expansion of the current methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) storage and blending platform, including a dedicated cross-channel MTBE line serving vessels being loaded at Pasadena’s North Docks.

A new, dedicated natural gasoline (C5) inbound connection, enhancing customers’ blendstock supply optionality and liquidity. The improvements, which are expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2020, are supported by a long-term agreement with a major refiner for approximately 2.0 million barrels of refined petroleum products storage capacity at the terminal.

In addition to the enhancements at the Pasadena Terminal, KMI will also invest more than $45 million to develop and construct a butane-on-demand blending system for 25 tanks at its Galena Park Terminal. The project will include construction of a 30,000-barrel butane sphere, a new inbound C4 pipeline connection, as well as tank and piping modifications to extend butane blending capabilities to 25 tanks, two ship docks, and six cross-channel pipelines. The project is supported by a long-term agreement with an investment grade midstream company and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020.

“These projects speak to Kinder Morgan’s continued commitment to excellence and to improving our already best-in-class facilities along the Houston Ship Channel,” said John Schlosser, president of Terminals for KMI. “The announced improvements only serve to enhance our position as the market-leading refined petroleum products storage hub on the U.S. Gulf Coast. This offers our customers unmatched supply optionality and liquidity and modal efficiencies as they aim to maximize storage and blending economics and access domestic and global energy markets in the most cost effective manner possible."

Kinder Morgan, Inc.is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America. Our mission is to provide energy transportation and storage services in a safe, efficient and environmentally responsible manner for the benefit of people, communities and businesses. Our vision is delivering energy to improve lives and create a better world. We own an interest in or operate approximately 84,000 miles of pipelines and 157 terminals. Our pipelines transport natural gas, refined petroleum products, crude oil, condensate, CO2 and other products, and our terminals transload and store liquid commodities including petroleum products, ethanol and chemicals, and bulk products, including petroleum coke, metals and ores.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow (Midland, Mich) announced that it has reached an agreement for the divestiture of its Acetone Derivatives business to Altivia Ketones & Additives, LLC, an affiliate of Altivia, a privately held producer of chemicals headquartered in Houston, Texas, said Chemengonline.

“This divestiture illustrates Dow’s disciplined approach to portfolio management with a best owner mindset,” said Jim Fitterling, chief executive officer of Dow. “It is beneficial to both parties and, in the case of Dow, is directly aligned with our more focused portfolio and goal of driving a higher return on invested capital."

The divestiture includes production assets located in Institute, West Virginia, in addition to the site infrastructure, land and utilities. Dow will remain a tenant on the Institute site, retaining ownership of certain manufacturing assets.

The transaction enables the acetone derivatives business to continue reliably and safely serving its customers. Additionally, it allows the Institute site to continue providing site infrastructure services to partners at the site. Both companies are working together on a seamless transition plan for all stakeholders. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2019, subject to customary closing conditions.

Acetone derivatives are widely used as solvents and as chemical intermediates. They are used in the coatings industry as solvents for nitrocellulose and other cellulose ethers and for vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate and other resins. They are also used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, plastics, fibers and films.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- President Donald Trump told workers at a $6 billion petrochemicals plant being built in western Pennsylvania that more big U.S. energy projects were coming as his administration rolls back environmental regulations, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"This is just the beginning," Trump told workers wearing hard hats at Shell's ethylene cracker plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. "My administration is clearing the way for other massive, multibillion-dollar investments."

He praised the Shell plant as part of "the revolution in American energy that's helping make our economy the envy of the world" and said the project would have never happened without him, although its final permits were issued before he was elected in 2016.

Trump won Pennsylvania in that election by less than 1 percentage point, and he has visited the state often ahead of the 2020 vote.

The Trump administration is pursuing a policy of "energy dominance" that seeks to maximize oil, gas and coal production in part by slashing regulations.

Last week, its Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, unveiled a proposal that would limit the power of states to block pipelines and other energy projects, months after Trump ordered the agency to change a section of the U.S. Clean Water Act that states including New York and Washington have used to delay the building of pipelines and terminals.

At the Shell plant, Trump apparently tried to take credit for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, called Cameron LNG, he visited in May. Full approvals for that plant were made before Trump was elected. "We just did one in Louisiana, it's a USD10 billion plant," Trump said.

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who accompanied Trump to the Shell plant, has embraced an up-to USD10 billion Appalachian Storage and Trading Hub project to hold liquids from natural gas production. The project could help support the building of more petrochemical plants in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, where a natural gas boom is at risk from falling prices.

Regional officials hope to secure a USD1.9 billion federal loan guarantee being considered by the Energy Department for the hub. But critics say that U.S. taxpayers would be on the hook if the project fails.

And environmentalists worried about plastic garbage ending up in the world's oceans slammed the hub.

The project would "expose Appalachian residents to increased harm from fracking and industrial toxic emissions, while creating more plastic trash that is filling our oceans," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director at Food & Water Watch.

Petrochemical manufacturers say that demand for plastics, used in food storage, surgical devices, and in car parts, will increase as the global middle class expands. Shell says it supports plastics recycling and reuse.
MRC