Vietnamese Hyosung started trial runs at newly constructed PP plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hyosung Vietnam started trial operation at its newly constructed polypropylene (PP) plant in Ba Ria Vung Tau province on 12 February 2020, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

This is the No. 1 PP unit that has an annual capacity of 300,000 tons/year.

The company might be able to commence commercial production on 18 February 2020 would the trial run produces on-spec cargoes, sources added.

As part of the Phase – I project, the company also builds an underground a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage.

In the meantime, the Phase – II project is still under construction, which houses a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant and No. 2 PP unit that could produce another 300,000 tons/year.

As a result, the No. 1 PP plant is currently operating using propylene (C3) cargoes from external sources.

As MRC informed earlier, Hyosung Corp. plans to invest USD1.2-billion in a two-phase project, which involves construction of PP plants and LPG warehouse at the Cai Mep Industrial Zone in Vietnam.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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).

Hyosung Corporation is a Korean industrial conglomerate, founded in 1957. It operates in various fields, including the chemical industry, industrial machinery, IT, trade, and construction.
MRC

Fire damage at Exxon second largest US refinery leaves restart uncertain

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Corp does not have a timeline for restarting fuel-producing units at its second-largest US refinery following a fire Wednesday that cut production, reported Reuters with reference to sources, as the shutdown boosted gasoline prices on Thursday.

Some units remain in operation at the refinery including a crude distillation unit (CDU), gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) and a coker, the sources said.

A blaze on Wednesday cut output at Exxon’s 502,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery. It was the third Exxon petrochemical plant along the US Gulf Coast to suffer damage in less than a year. 2

No injuries were reported because of the fire that broke out from a natural gas pipeline shortly before midnight on Tuesday and burned for about seven hours on Wednesday, the sources said.

The blaze affected pipes laid on racks 50 feet in the air, and forced the shutdown of multiple units at the oil refinery and adjoining chemical plant, the sources said.

The fire forced the shutdown of three CDUs and an FCCU, but was confined to the pipe bundle where it broke out.

Operations at the refinery and chemical plant continue, Exxon spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry said on Thursday. He declined to discuss the status of individual processing units.

Exxon was meeting contractual commitments and expected to meet all customer commitments, he said.

The company and other refiners are suffering from weak margins due to excess supplies and falling demand for some fuels. Exxon US refining profits fell 42% last year over 2018 due to weak margins and higher maintenance costs.

CDUs are the heart of the refining process, providing the primary breakdown of crude oil into hydrocarbon feedstocks that other production units convert into motor fuels and feedstocks for plastics.

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

Philly refiner bankruptcy plan, sale to real estate developer approved

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery site will be sold for USD252 million and redeveloped under a plan approved in bankruptcy court on Thursday, ending months of uncertainty over whether the idled plant would be restarted, reported Reuters.

Hilco Redevelopment Partners, which will become the new owner of the roughly 1,300-acre (526-hectare) PES refinery site as part of the plan, is expected to begin demolition work before building warehousing and other commercial projects on the land.

PES shut its 335,000-barrel-per-day refinery in South Philadelphia, the largest and oldest on the East Coast, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a fire destroyed a section of the plant over the summer.

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

PTTGC to restart No. 2 cracker in Map Ta Phut in late February

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC), has planned to bring on-stream its No. 2 cracker in Map Ta Phut, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that, the company is likely to resume operations at the cracker by end-February, 2020. The cracker was shut for maintenance on January 20, 2020.

Located at Map Ta Phut, Thailand, the No. 2 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

The company also operates No. 1 cracker at the same site with a capacity of 515,000 tonnes of ethylene and 310,000 tonnes of propylene per year, which was also shut on 23 January, 2020, for a 40-day turnaround.

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).

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC

Clariant in transition phase with more divestments

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant is in a “clear transition phase” redefining the business’ direction over the next couple of years, said Wallstreet-online.

Hariolf Kottmann added that Clariant is looking for a new CEO as the executive committee and board continues to play an active role in shaping the company’s future direction. The focus is on finding the right person “as soon as possible, not as fast as possible”, according to Kottmann, who returned to the helm of Clariant after Ernesto Occhiello’s short-lived tenure last year.

“We designed a profile of the personality, the skills, and [what that person] should look like. There is nothing extraordinary included here, we are just looking for a capable woman or a capable man who can guide a company like Clariant,” said Kottmann, speaking to reporters in Zurich.

“We cannot wait [for further corporate moves] until a new CEO is in place … There is competition and a market, and if you do not change the way you operate, then you are irrelevant – which can happen in one-two years."

The process to find someone to take the helm of Clariant has continued since Kottmann’s returned to the role after Occhiello, but the incumbent asserted his opinion on remaining in the position. “I am not interested to staying in the position for the next two-three years in this role, this is a clear transition phase,” he added.

Clariant is continuing its divestment strategy, started last year with the sale of its healthcare business to Arsenal Capital Partners and the recent divestment of its masterbatch business unit to PolyOne.

As MRC informed earlier, Clariant announced that it has been awarded a contract by Dongguan Grand Resource Science & Technology Co. Ltd. to develop a new propane dehydrogenation unit in cooperation with CB&I. The Dongguan plant will be one of the largest single-train dehydrogenation units in the world. Clariant's technology partner CB&I will base the plant's design on its Catofin® catalytic dehydrogenation technology, which uses Clariant's tailor-made Catofin catalyst and Heat Generating Material (HGM).

Propylene is the main feedstock for producing polyprolypele (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).

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints. Clariant India has local masterbatch production activities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari (Gujarat) and Vashere (Maharashtra) sites in India.
MRC