Linde starts up new air separation unit in Florida

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Linde announced it has started up a new Air Separation Unit (ASU) effectively doubling the production capacity of its existing plant at Mims, Florida, reported Kemicalinfo.

"The expansion is in response to rapidly growing contracted demand for space launch activity," the company said in its statement.

The new plant will increase production to more than 500 tons per day. The plant will also meet growing demand from healthcare, manufacturing, food processing and water treatment customers in the area.

"We are seeing a notable increase in demand for our products, not just from aerospace, but across the board. The increased production capacity of our merchant atmospheric gases will enable us to better support our growth in the region," said Todd Lawson, Vice President East Linde Gases US

Linde worked closely during project planning and execution with Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), the largest energy company in the United States as measured by retail electricity produced and sold, and a leading clean energy company.

As MRC informed before, in H1 February 2020, Linde PLC commissioned a new air separation unit (ASU) in Freeport, Texas, as part of a long-term agreement to supply MEGlobal Americas Inc.’s new monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant at Oyster Creek petrochemical complex in Freeport. The new ASU will supply oxygen and nitrogen to MEGlobal Oyster Creek for use in its MEG manufacturing process. The ASU also will supply Linde’s industrial gas pipeline system, adding new argon capacity, Linde said.

We remind that MEGlobal Americas officially began production at its 750,000 ton per year MEG plant in October last year to meet the growing demand for ethylene glycol products in the US and Asia-Pacific markets, as well as its strategy to expand globally.

MEG is one of the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

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) -- Exxon Mobil Corp restarted the largest crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 502,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery for the first time since a Feb. 12 fire, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

Exxon began restarting the second-largest CDU at the Baton Rouge refinery on Monday, the sources said. The Feb. 12 fire knocked out the natural gas supply that fuels the boilers on the refinery’s four CDUs.

As MRC informed before, in September 2019, ExxonMobil announced plans to spend GBP140 million over the next two years in an additional investment program at its Fife ethylene plant, which has a capacity of more than 800,000 t/y.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

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) -- Exxon Mobil Corp plans to begin restarting its 502,500 barrel-per-day Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery as early as Friday with the largest crude distillation unit (CDU), said sources familiar with plant operations, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The 210,000 bpd PSLA-10 CDU has been shut along with most units at the refinery since a Feb. 12 natural gas pipeline fire, the sources said. The pipeline supplied natural gas to the refinery’s four CDUs.

The CDUs do the primary breakdown of crude oil into the hydrocarbon feedstocks, from which motor fuels like gasoline and diesel and plastics are made in other production units at the refinery. Restarting PSLA 10 has been a top goal with for Exxon since the fire, the sources said. Restart efforts depend on restoring the natural gas feed to the unit.

As MRC informed before, in September 2019, ExxonMobil announced plans to spend GBP140 million over the next two years in an additional investment program at its Fife ethylene plant, which has a capacity of more than 800,000 t/y.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

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) -- Last year's imports of expandable polystyrene (EPS) into Kazakhstan grew by 10% year on year, totalling 7,310 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

December 2019 EPS imports into the country rose by 37% year on year to 525 tonnes from 383 tonnes a year earlier. Imports of material to Kazakhstan were 537 tonnes in November 2019.

Russia and China were the main importing countries of EPS to Kazakhstan.

Thus, imports of Russian material to the Kazakh market fell in 2019 by 17% year on year: from 5,990 tonnes in January-December 2018 to 4,960 tonnes. Last year's share of EPS imports from Russia in the total shipments to the country slumped to 68% from 90% a year earlier.

December 2019 shipments of Russian EPS to Kazakhstan were 285 tonnes versus 467 tonnes in November, whereas imports of material were 313 tonnes in December 2018.

And shipments of Chinese material almost quadrupled last year: from 610 tonnes to 2,290 tonnes. The share of Chinese companies in the overall EPS imports to the country grew sharply in 2019 to 31% from 9% a year earlier.

December 2019 EPS shipments from China to Kazakhstan grew significantly to 240 tonnes from 69 tonnes a month earlier, whereas imports of Chinese material were 70 tonnes in December 2018.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Motiva Enterprises, the US refining arm of Saudi Aramco, shut the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 607,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

The 80,000-bpd VPS-2 CDU began coming down on Tuesday morning, the sources said. VPS-2 is the smallest of three CDUs that do the primary breakdown of crude oil into feedstocks for all other production units at the refinery.

Motiva declined on Tuesday to discuss the status of individual units at the refinery.

As MRC informed earlier, Motiva is evaluating opportunities to build a new polyethylene (PE) line within its proposed steam cracker and aromatics project in Jefferson County, Texas. The new PE capacity will be located at the company’s Port Arthur Refinery Complex in Jefferson County, Texas. The planned capacity of the unit was not specified, while the value of the project is reportedly estimated at around USD3.1 billion.

Besides, in late 2019, Motiva Enterprises acquired 100% of Flint Hills Resources chemical plant, adjacent to its Port Arthur, Texas, oil refinery. The Flint Hills plant operates a 1.57 billion-pound-per-year ethylene cracker, a unit producing nylon component cyclohexane, and a network of pipelines and storage caverns. Saudi Aramco, in its IPO prospectus, said the cash payment will be determined as per the project value at SAR 7.13 billion (USD1.9 billion).

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing 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.

Motiva Enterprises, LLC, is a fully owned affiliate of Saudi Refining Inc. and headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States with revenue of USD24 billion. Previously, it was a 50–50 joint venture between Shell Oil Company (the wholly owned American subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell) and Saudi Refining Inc. (controlled by Saudi Aramco).
MRC