Zhejiang Petrochemical launches No. PX line in east China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co Ltd has started test-run at a 2-million-ton-per-year No. 2 paraxylene (PX) unit in east China before the Lunar New Year break, reported S&P Global.

The No. 1 and No. 2 PX lines each have a nameplate capacity of 2 million mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2019, the company 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, the company claimed.

Zhejiang Petrochemical,based in Zhoushan of Zhejiang province, started test runs at a 200,000-barrels-per-day crude oil refinery in May, the company said.

The complex also includes a second 200,000-bpd crude unit and a 1.4 million-tpy ethylene plant.

We also remind that, in H1 November 2019, Zhejiang Petrochemical Co Ltd (ZPC) started up its No. 1 cracker in Zhoushan, China, though it is reported that the company is still working to stabilize the operation rate. The cracker has an annual capacity of 1.4 million tons/year of ethylene and 900,000 tons/year of propylene and is a part of the Phase I project.

The Phase I facility also houses a 300,000 tons/year HDPE unit, 450,000 tons/year LLDPE line and a 900,000 tons/year PP plant.

PX is a feedstock for the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA). PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which, in its turn, is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Russia decreased by 16% year on year in December 2019. Russia's overall estimated PET consumption totalled 696,810 tonnes in 2019, up by 1% year on year (690,130 tonnes in 2018).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Specialty colour and additive concentrate supplier Chroma Color Corp. has acquired competitor Plastics Color Corp. (PCC) for an undisclosed amount, said Canplastics.

The transaction includes PCC plants at its headquarters in Calumet City, Ill., and in Asheboro, N.C.

PCC was founded more than 50 years ago, and supplies colour concentrates, functional additives, and custom polymer masterbatches for the plastics industry.

"PCC has a strong base of customers and is known for solution-based products and strong service, both being pillars of Chroma’s offerings,” Chroma CEO Tom Bolger said in a Jan. 31 press release. “Their presence in medical and pharmaceutical products, food packaging, CPG, and construction applications will bring more technologies and know-how to Chroma to allow us to better serve our customers and continue our growth."

Chroma is headquartered in McHenry, Ill.

As MRC informed earlier, Roehm is considering the construction of a plant for the production of methyl methacrylate (MMA) on the Gulf of Mexico in the United States with a capacity of 250,000 tonnes/year. The plant is expected to use Roehm's proprietary Lima ethylene technology. The plant will be launched in 2023 or 2024. The new plant could potentially replace the existing Fortier plant, located west of New Orleans. These investments will allow the manufacturer to capitalize on the significant advantages of lower ethylene prices.

MMA is used to produce homopolymers and copolymers, the most widely used are casting, molding or extrusion of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or modified polymers.

Acrylonitrile is one of the main raw materials for the production of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Report, in November, ABS imports to Russia amounted to 3,300 tonnes against 3,500 tonnes a month earlier and 4,100 tonnes in November last year. Following the results of eleven months, ABS import into the country slightly decreased compared to the same period last year and amounted to 31,300 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Roehm is considering the construction of a plant for the production of methyl methacrylate (MMA) on the Gulf of Mexico in the United States with a capacity of 250,000 tonnes/year, the company said.

The plant is expected to use Roehm's proprietary Lima ethylene technology. The plant will be launched in 2023 or 2024.

The new plant could potentially replace the existing Fortier plant, located west of New Orleans. These investments will allow the manufacturer to capitalize on the significant advantages of lower ethylene prices.

This is the second investment in the US MMA market in recent years. So, Lucite International, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical (MCC), plans to build in the United States a production capacity of 350 thousand tons of MMA per year with an expected launch date in 2023.

If these two plants are built, the total output may change the global trade flows of MMA, as they will make the United States a net exporter, and Asia will become the target destination.

Following the sale of Advent's Evonik methacrylate business earlier this year and the creation of Roehm as an independent company, the MMA market was awaiting investment announcements.

MMA is used to produce homopolymers and copolymers, the most widely used are casting, molding or extrusion of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or modified polymers.

Acrylonitrile is one of the main raw materials for the production of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Report, in November, ABS imports to Russia amounted to 3,300 tonnes against 3,500 tonnes a month earlier and 4,100 tonnes in November last year. Following the results of eleven months, ABS import into the country slightly decreased compared to the same period last year and amounted to 31,300 tonnes. .
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mizushima PX is likely to halt operations at the paraxylene (PX) plant for a turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the company has scheduled turnaround at the plant in February 2020 for a period of around 6-7 weeks. The exact date of shutdown could not be ascertained

Located at Mizushima, Japan, the PX plant has a production capacity of 350,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, the company conducted scheduled two-month maintenance works at this plant from mid-February, 2019.

PX is a feedstock for the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA). PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which, in its turn, is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption decreased by 16% year on year in December 2019. The country's overall estimated PE consumption totalled 696,810 tonnes in 2019, up by 1% year on year (690,130 tonnes in 2018).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global oil refiners have upgraded processing units and adjusted operations to raise output of low-sulfur residual fuels and marine gasoil (MGO) to prepare for stricter shipping fuel standards that kicked in on Jan. 1, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules prohibit ships from using fuels containing more than 0.5% sulfur, compared with 3.5% through the end of December, unless they are equipped with exhaust-cleaning "scrubbers".

The shipping industry consumes about 4 million barrels per day (bpd) of marine bunker fuels, and the rule changes will impact more than 50,000 merchant ships globally, opening a significant new market for fuel producers.

Chinese marine fuel suppliers have signed up short-term deals to buy very low-sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) from companies like oil major Shell, Germany’s Uniper and U.S. commodities trader Freepoint.

While China’s state refiners have pledged to produce a combined 14 million tonnes of the fuel for 2020 that complies with the tighter rules set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Beijing has not yet rolled out much-anticipated tax breaks that will encourage refiners such as Sinopec and PetroChina to ramp up domestic output of VLSFO.

SK Chemicals has started tests on blending its biodiesel with petroleum-based fuels to create low-sulfur marine oil.

At SK Energy’s largest refinery in South Korea, engineers are rushing to complete a new processing unit ahead of schedule.

The unit of SK Innovation started supplying MGO from October and is building a vacuum residue desulphurization (VRDS) unit that can produce 40,000 bpd of LSFO due online in March or April. Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co is increasing production of LSFO and is also blending to produce IMO2020 compliant bunker fuel.

Hyundai Oilbank has said it will sell VLSFO from November.

As MRC informed earlier, SK Global Chemical, one of the largest petrochemical manufacturers in South Korea, increased capacity utilization at cracking plant No. 1 with a capacity of 190,000 tonnes of ethylene and 135,000 tonnes of propylene per year in Ulsan (Ulsan, South Korea) to 100% on 1 January. SKGC also operates the No. 2 cracker in Ulsan with a capacity of 690,000 tonnes of ethylene per 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.
MRC