Zhejiang Petrochemical completes phase 1 startup at refinery-petchem complex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co Ltd, one of two new major refineries built in China in 2019, has recently started up the remaining units in the first phase of its refinery and petrochemical complex, reported Reuters.

The complex, in east China’s Zhoushan city, is now producing oil products and chemicals to commercial specifications, Zhejiang Petrochemical said on its website.

The company, 51% owned by private chemical group Zhejiang Rongsheng Holdings, said it has started test production at ethylene, aromatics and other downstream facilities, without giving further details.

Zhejiang Petrochemical started a first 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) crude processing unit in late May, following on from the start of a 400,000-bpd refinery owned by another private chemical major Hengli Petrochemical.

The newly started units at Zhejiang Petrochemical should include a second 200,000-bpd crude unit, a 1.2 million tonnes per year (tpy) ethylene unit and a 2 million tpy paraxylene unit, according to several industry sources with knowledge of the plant’s operations.

As MRC wrote previously, in early December 2012, Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co Ltd launched a 3.8-million-ton-per-year reformer unit, a key processing facility at its new mega refinery and petrochemical complex in east China. The reformer unit, which processes naphtha into aromatics, is the world’s single-largest facility of its kind.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.
MRC

BASF invests in MSA capacity expansion in Germany

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As already announced at the end of 2018, BASF will proceed with expanding global capacities for methane sulfonic acid (MSA) to 50,000 metric tons per year. This involves a higher double-digit million euro investment in constructing a new methane sulfonic acid plant at the Ludwigshafen site, as per the company's press release.

The construction works started recently. The volumes from the additional capacity are expected to be available from the end of 2021 and are dedicated to mainly serve European customers as well as the rapidly growing Asian market.

"We want to meet our customers' growing demand for high-quality, sustainable and high-performance technologies in the best possible way now and in future. To achieve that, we continuously invest in expanding our capacities and production technologies. To this end, we acquired an innovative process approach for producing MSA from Grillo-Werke AG in mid 2019 to strengthen our own R&D activities and to accelerate the development of a new manufacturing process for methane sulfonic acid. In doing so, we support as reliable partner the growth of our customers across the world," said Ralph Schweens, President Care Chemicals, BASF.

Methane sulfonic acid is a strong organic acid used in numerous applications ranging from chemical and biofuel synthesis to industrial cleaning and metal surface treatment in the electronics industry. BASF's high-purity methane sulfonic acid - sold under the brand name Lutropur MSA - is a sustainable alternative to other acids such as sulfuric, phosphoric or acetic acid. As part of the natural sulfur cycle, Lutropur MSA is readily biodegradable. Further benefits of using methane sulfonic acid come from its non-oxidizing character, the high solubility of its salts and the absence of color and odor.

As MRC wrote previously, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, restarted its No. 1 steam cracker on September 30, 2019, following a maintenance turnaorund. The plant was shut for maintenance in mid-August, 2019. Located at Ludwigshafen in Germany, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 235,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 125,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of around EUR63 billion in 2018.
mrcplast.com

LLDPE production in Russia up by 32% in 2019

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's production of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) totalled 232,300 tonnes in 2019, up by 32% year on year. All producers increased their output, and the new production in Tobolsk also started producing LLDPE, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.


December total LLDPE production in Russia dropped to 21,000 tonnes, whereas this figure was 25,200 tonnes a month earlier. Kazanorgsintez and Nizhnekamskneftekhim reduced their output. Thus, overall LLDPE production reached 232,300 tonnes in 2019, compared to 175,500 tonnes a year earlier. Producers from Tatarstan raised their polyethylene (PE) production, with Kazanorgsintez showing the largest increase. A new production was also launched at ZapSibNeftekhim at the end of last year.

The structure of PE production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.


Kazanorgsintez's December LLDPE output fell to 6,100 tonnes from 8,900 tonnes a month earlier. The Kazan producer focused on metallocene linear low density polyethylene (MLLDPE) production in the last month of 2019. The Kazan plant's overall LLDPE output reached 34,900 tonnes last year versus 8,200 tonnes in 2018.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim produced 14,800 tonnes last month, compared to 16,300 tonnes in November. The plant's overall output reached 196,600 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17% year on year.

A new producer - ZapSibNeftekhim - began shipping LLDPE to the domestic market in the last month of 2019. The new production capacities can produce about 700,000 tonnes of LLDPE per year. As a result, we can expect an even greater increase in LLDPE production in 2020.

MRC

Celanese raises January VAM prices in Europe, Middle East and Africa

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, has increased January list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in Europe, Middle East and Africa, as per the company's press release.

The price increase below was effective for orders shipped on or after January 17, 2020, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, VAM prices rose by EUR100/mt for Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese last raised its VAM prices for the stated above regions on 1 October, 2019, by EUR50/mt.

According to MRC's DataScope report, November EVA imports to Russia dropped by 8,9% year on year to 3,440 tonnes from 3,780 tonnes in November 2018, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation decreased in January-November 2019 by 18,9% year on year to 35,95 tonnes (44,330 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2018).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2018 net sales of USD7.2 billion.
MRC

Fire-damaged oil refinery heads for auction

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The fate of the largest East Coast oil refinery is set to be decided in an auction that could determine whether the Philadelphia plant is restarted or used for a different purpose for the first time in over a century, reported Reuters.

The refinery’s owner, Philadelphia Energy Solutions, is scheduled to reveal the winning bidder on Wednesday during a hearing at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, which will need to approve the sale.

PES fell into bankruptcy on July 21, a month after a fire and explosions destroyed a portion of its 335,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery complex. It wound down the roughly 150-year-old plant and laid off hundreds of workers over the following weeks.

More than a dozen groups initially showed interest in buying all or parts of the PES refinery and its more than 1,300-acre(526-hectare) lot.

Some bidders have since dropped out, though it is not clear how many.

S.G. Preston Co, a biofuels company that bid for the site, was not in the final round, a source familiar with the bidding said. An official with the company was not immediately available for comment.

The PES site located less than three miles (5 km) from downtown Philadelphia has also attracted bids from several real estate developers.

One of the groups proposed to model itself after the Philadelphia’s Navy Yard, which was turned into a campus for company headquarters, including clothing retailer Urban Outfitters, while operating a section for commercial shipping, a source with knowledge of the plan said.

Most of the bids from real estate developers involved keeping the site as an industrial operation, the source said.

Only one group, led by PES’s former Chief Executive Officer Philip Rinaldi, has publicly said it planned to restart the complex as an oil refinery at full capacity.

PES’s unsecured creditors, which include companies that had long provided contract work to PES, as well as workers unions, have pushed for a buyer that would restart the refinery, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

As MRC wrote previously, in November 2019, US and local officials were opposing the sale procedure for the bankrupt Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery, arguing the plan discourages bidders and keeps the city locked out of the process.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.
MRC