ExxonMobil and SABIC venture breaks ground on USD7 bln ethylene cracker

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A little more than two years after announcing it had selected San Patricio County as the site for its new ethylene cracker plant, ExxonMobil and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. celebrated the groundbreaking for the new facility, reported Plastemart.

This marks the symbolic start of construction on the USD7 bln Gulf Coast Growth Ventures facility near Gregory.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality granted GCGV permits in June that allowed construction to move forward, following a contested case hearing held after concerns were raised by environmental groups and local residents.

As MRC reported earlier, in October 2017, ExxonMobil Chemical Company commenced production on the first of two new 650,000 tons-per-year high-performance polyethylene (PE) lines at its plastics plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas. The full project, part of the company's multi-billion dollar expansion project in the Baytown area and ExxonMobil's broader Growing the Gulf expansion initiative, will increase the plant's polyethylene capacity by approximately 1.3 million tons per year.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world"s oil and about 2% of the world's energy.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering (MHIENG), together with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA), both group companies of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), has completed construction of a large-scale polyethylene production train for ExxonMobil in Beaumont, Texas, said Hydrocarbonengineering.

MHIENG received the order for the plant in 2016. It is located adjacent to ExxonMobil's existing polyethylene plant, currently in operation, and will produce 650 000 tpy of polyethylene.

MHIENG handled the detailed engineering for the project, as well as the supply and procurement of equipment, and construction support.

ExxonMobil and MHIENG have partnered on similar polyethylene plants, including in Singapore in 2011 and Mont Belvieu, Texas in 2017. Beaumont marks the third consecutive polyethylene plant project for ExxonMobil with a fourth currently under construction in Corpus Christi, Texas, jointly owned with SABIC. In addition to polyethylene plants, MHI Group has a solid track record of providing ExxonMobil with large-scale compressors and turbines for ethylene and LNG plants.

Demand for chemical plants is strong in the US with increased production of shale gas. MHIENG, in cooperation with MHIA, which is headquartered in Houston, Texas (where major chemical plant customers are concentrated), aims to continue to build relationships with ExxonMobil and other clients, and actively pursue business in the US chemical plant market.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rising demand for the polyolefin materials such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) from end user industries such as automotive, construction and packaging are driving the global polyolefin market. Global polyolefin market is expected to reach USD367.36 bln by 2025, from USD214.83 bln in 2017 at a CAGR of 6.94%, as per Plastemart with reference to Fior Markets.

Even though factors such as rapid industrialization in the Asia Pacific region, growth in packaging industry coupled with growing demand for the flexible packaging materials are driving the global polyolefin market, volatility in the raw material prices and the implementation of the stringent environmental norms is predicted to hamper the growth of the global polyolefin market market. The growing demand for the flexible packaging materials and concerns related to the improper disposal of the polyolefin plastic materials are expected to restrain the growth of the market over the forecast period.

In order to enhance their market position in the global polyolefin market, key players are now focusing on adopting the strategies such as product innovations, mergers & acquisitions, recent developments, joint venture, collaborations, and partnership. For instance, in March 2019, Borealis and ADNOC signed Memorandum of Understanding to explore strategic opportunities in the polyolefin industry. Under the terms of the agreement, Borealis and ADNOC will jointly explore potential growth opportunities within the integrated polyolefin industry in key geographical markets.

Major players are focusing on tapping the unexplored markets in order to increase their market share. For instance, SOCAR polymers in 2019, announced the launch of 120,000tpa high-density polyethylene (HDPE) production facility in Azerbaijan. With this new manufacturing capacity, Azerbaijan will be self-sufficient in the polyolefin. To better serve the ever increasing demand for the polyolefins, major firms are increasingly launching new and improved products. For instance Borealis AG in 2016, announced the extension of its Queo polyolefin plastomers portfolio with the launch of three new polyolefin elastomers. The three new polyolefin elastomer grades to be launched are Queo 6800LA, Queo 7001LA and Queo 7007LA.

Polyethylene (PE) segment had a market value of USВ84.79 bln in 2017. Due to their light weight, high durability, non-toxicity and chemical and corrosion resistance properties, the ЗУ materials are extensively used in the manufacturing of the packaging films and household containers, as well as automobile accessories.
Application segment is divided into packaging, automotive, electronics, construction materials and others. Automotive application segment held a robust share of the global polyolefin market in 2017, due to growth in the replacement of the metal with polyolefin materials and growing demand for the lightweight, fuel efficient cars. Growing consumer preference for the ecofriendly packaging materials, increasing demand for the recyclable containers as well as focus on reducing the carbon emission are factors that are expected to propel packaging materials segment to grow at an accelerated CAGR of 8.83% over the forecast period.

Asia Pacific region emerged as the largest market for the olefin with a 43.56% share of market revenue in 2017. Factors such as rapid industrialization, the growth of end user industries as well as increasing demand for the fuel-efficient automobiles in the region are projected to propel Asia Pacific region to grow at an accelerated CAGR of 9.02% over the forecast period. North America region is also anticipated to grow at a robust pace in global polyolefin market due to wide utilization of the polyolefins in the end-use industries such as automotive and transportation, construction, and electronics.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The country's biggest oil firm Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will invest Rs 2 lakh crore in next 5-7 years to expand refining and petrochemical capacities in order to maintain leadership position, through greenfield and brownfield expansions, reported Plastemart with reference to Chairman Sanjiv Singh.

The plan is to almost double its oil refining capacity to 150 mln tpa, expand fuels and LPG retailing network, jack up petrochemical production capacity and produce more crude oil and gas. The company currently is India's largest oil refiner with a group refining capacity of 80.7 mln tpa. IOC also wants to raise petrochemical production capacity to 13 mln tons from the current 3.15 mln tons. It is expanding Panipat naphtha cracking capacity and plans to set up new chemical projects in Gujarat, Paradip and Panipat.Also, the company is looking at rapid expansion in natural gas retailing by investing Rs 10,000 crore over the next eight years. IOC wants to triple current market share in gas business and expand its presence in city gas to 60 geographical areas from current 40.

IOC also plans to expand its presence in upstream oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) by investing in oil-rich countries in the Middle East and Central Asia and acquiring producing assets. Its stakes in oil and gas fields in 10 countries such as Russia, UAE, the USA and Venezuela, currently give 4.39 mln tons and the plan is to raise this to 7 mln tons by 2023-24 and further to 11 mln tons by 2030, the annual report said. While continuing expansion of its petrol pump and LPG distribution agencies, the firm will focus on retailing in rural markets to expand its marketing. It will automate and modernise fuel stations as well as set up electric vehicles (EV) charing stations.

IOC said it also plans to increase its overseas footprint to 8% of turnover with additional regional hubs in South Africa and Nigeria and agents/distributors in 20 countries to scout for new business.

As MRC informed earlier, Indian Oil Corp took off-stream its naphtha cracker for a planned turnaround in early-September, 2019. The cracker is slated to remain off-line, for a period of around one month. Located in Panipat, in the northern Indian state of Haryana, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 857,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 425,000 mt/year.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SOCAR Turkey Energy, which is a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), plans to lay the foundation of the Mercury petrochemical complex in Turkey in H1-2020, as per Plastemart.

The plant will be located in Aliaga district, next to the Petkim petrochemical complex and the STAR refinery. With the commissioning of this plant, Turkey will settle the matter with the import of purified terephthalic acid (PTA).

As MRC reported before, in October 2018, SOCAR, the largest direct foreign investor in Turkey, launched its USD6.3-billion SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery - STAR Refinery, which provides a large portion of oil products demand in the local market with 10 million tons of annual oil processing capacity.

We also remind that in the first half of March 2018, Petkim shut its cracher in Turkey owing to a technical glitch. Located at Aliaga in Turkey, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 585,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 240,000 mt/year.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

SOCAR, which is keen on expanding operations in the retail oil products market abroad, is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in the domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

Petkim is the leading petrochemical company of Turkey. Specializing in petrochemical manufacturing, the company produces ethylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene and other chemical building blocks for use in the manufacture of plastics, textiles, and other consumer and industrial products.
MRC