PTTGC, Daelim postpone investment decision on Ohio project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTTGC America and Daelim Chemical USA, equal partners in their long-planned PTTDLM petrochemical project in Mead Township, Belmont County, Ohio, have delayed making a final investment decision (FID) on their multi-billion-dollar petrochemical project, originally expected in the middle of 2020, reported CW.

Senior company sources in Bangkok told CW on Monday that the FID is expected to be made either the end of this year or, more likely, next year and it would take five to six years to complete construction of the facilities. This would take the project’s completion date to around 2027-28.

PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC), parent of PTTGC America, first announced plans for the project in 2015. In 2018, Dealim Industrial joined as partner. The companies were hoping to make a FID on the project by the middle of this year. The company tells CW that engineering studies are still being carried out on the project, which would be based on an ethane cracker designed to produce 1.5 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) of ethylene using ethane from the Marcellus and Utica shale deposits. The downstream configuration has not yet been fully decided on but could involve the entire ethylene output being used to make the equivalent amount of high-density and linear low-density polyethylene and/or some of the ethylene also used to make ethylene glycol. Most of the output would be sold on the US market.

The company tells CW that the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the latest forecasts in demand are the main reasons for the delay. PTTGC CEO Kongkrapan Intarajang said recently that the company will review its short and long-term investment plans worldwide based on projects’ costs as well as changes in product demand expected in the post COVID-19 global economy.

PTTGC has reportedly spent about USD100 million on site preparation and engineering studies. Bechtel was last year selected as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor on the project whose initial costs were estimated at USD5-6 billion. The complex would be located on a 500-acre site of a former coal-fired power plant. It would also include on-site railcar and truck loading facilities, supporting utilities, infrastructure, storage tanks and logistics facilities.

As MRC informed earlier, PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) fully restarted its No. 2 cracker in Map Ta Phut in early March,2020, after a planned turnaround. The company started resuming 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 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Israel’s Oil Refineries (ORL) said it named Moshe Kaplinsky as its new chief executive officer to replace Shlomi Basson, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Kaplinsky, 63, most recently served as CEO of Israeli cement producer Nesher between 2013 and 2020 after a 30-year career in Israel’s military, where he reached the rank of major general.

After retiring from the military in 2007, he became CEO of Better Place, a short-lived electric vehicle venture, until 2012.

Kaplinsky in a statement called ORL "a vital industry for the economy that has sharpened in recent times."

ORL, Israel’s largest refining and petrochemicals group and controlled by Israel Corp, last week said it swung to a loss in the first quarter as refining margins plummeted in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

As MRC informed earlier, Israel’s Oil Refineries (ORL) reported zero profit in the fourth quarter for the second straight year on Wednesday and said it had so far not seen a big impact to the company from the coronavirus outbreak. Its revenue in the quarter fell 13% to USD1.55 billion. ORL, Israel’s largest refining and petrochemicals group, said the only hit to its sales has been in jet fuel sales in Israel, which comprise just 8% of the total fuel sector output.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and PP.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- UAE's ADNOC is keeping a beat ahead of the OPEC+ members by ensuring customers of its crude oil in Asia of sufficient supplies as demand for Middle East sour crude returns, market sources told S&P Global Platts.

The announcement came unexpectedly early, said a crude trader based in Singapore, adding that "buyers have not even nominated volumes yet."

While OPEC+ members discuss whether to meet on June 4 or June 10, and whether to continue cutting at 9.7 million b/d or not, the Abu Dhabi oil producer has already informed its customers that it will cut its crude exports by only 5% for July loading barrels.

ADNOC's announcement was issued to certain customers late in the week ended May 30, several market sources based in Asia told Platts. The move was seen as a competitive edge for the emirate's marketing entity as refineries shuttered in recent months prepare to restart for summer production, said market participants in the East.

ADNOC declined to comment on the matter.

The cuts - 5% for volumes of Murban, Das Blend, Umm Lulu and Upper Zakum in July - are expected to have a lighter effect on the market than those for June.

"They are supplying higher volumes in July compared to June," said a source with an Asian refiner.

Last month, ADNOC announced cuts of 20% to June loading Murban and Upper Zakum cargoes, while Umm Lulu and Das Blend were cut by 5% each respectively.

This is in keeping with ADNOC's commitment to OPEC+, which will see members collectively retract 9.7 million b/d over May and June, but then whittle that figure down to 7.7 million b/d starting July.

Other producers are not far behind, however, with an earlier OPEC+ meeting now highly likely in order to gain more clarity on H2 2020 production cut quotas before the monthly crude trading cycle kicks off in Asia.

The alliance is now expected to meet June 4 instead of the previously scheduled June 9-10, so that July nominations can factor in any changes to oil production quotas, Platts reported May 31.

Depending on the outcome of the meeting, ADNOC's 5% could be called into question, said several market sources in Asia.

While confirming that they had received the notice of the cuts from ADNOC end-May, a Japanese refiner pointed out that buyers would be keeping an eye on the results from the meeting, as ADNOC's committed volumes could vary post-meeting.

Major Asian crude importers such as China, Japan and Korea are showing preliminary signs of returning demand as countries relax coronavirus-linked restrictions on work and travel, Platts data showed.

Crude demand from China, which has kept a few notches ahead of the rest of Asia even in the depths of the pandemic, is expected to continue at an upbeat pace during June and July, said traders based in the country.

In Japan, gasoline demand is expected to recover over the summer months after contracting heavily over May, gasoline traders told Platts.

Meanwhile in South Korea, refiners have said they are planning to import full term contractual volumes of crude from Saudi Aramco for June and beyond.

A company source at the country's SK Innovation said it plans to receive full term supply for July from other major Middle Eastern suppliers including ADNOC and SOMO.

Other South Korean refiners including GS Caltex and Hyundai Oilbank declined to comment on their term Saudi and Abu Dhabhi crude supplies for June and July, but the companies indicated that they plan to ramp up refinery run rates from Q3 and Middle Eastern term supply nomination cuts, if any, would be minimal for the South Korean customers.

As MRC informed earlier, in late July 2019, ADNOC said its Ruwais refinery west cracker was offline for maintenance.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 267,630 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 20% year on year. Homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, today announced that its subsidiary, Celanese (Nanjing) Chemical Co. Ltd., has recently signed a tri-party agreement with SOUTHWEST INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (SWCHEM), based in Chengdu, China, and YANKUANG LUNAN CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (LUNAN), based in Teng Zhou, China, to build a Pilot Scale-up Unit (PSU) in Teng Zhou, China, to test industrial scale production of acrylic acid using acetic acid as the principal raw material, said Chemweek.

"The successful commercialization of this technology will promote organic growth of the acetic acid industry and LUNAN is proud to be part of this effort."

Celanese and SWCHEM are jointly developing an innovative technology of producing acrylic acid with the process of acetic acid formaldehyde condensation based on Celanese’s original proprietary research in this field. Under the terms of the agreement, LUNAN will build an industrial scale pilot plant to finish commercial production trials.

"I am delighted that the collaboration between Celanese and SWCHEM has enabled us to reach such a critical milestone in the development of this new technology to produce acrylic acid from acetic acid. This could create additional demand for acetic acid while also improving the supply options for acrylic acid consumers," said John Fotheringham, Senior Vice President of Celanese’s Acetyls business.

"SWCHEM has a longstanding relationship with Celanese dating back to 2008,” said Mr. Chen Jiang, President of SWCHEM. “This agreement marks the expansion of our cooperation into deeper value chain of the acetyls industry."

"We are excited to be part of a winning team,” said Mr. Liu Qiang, President of LUNAN. “The successful commercialization of this technology will promote organic growth of the acetic acid industry and LUNAN is proud to be part of this effort."

Financial details of the agreement are not being disclosed at this time.

As MRC informed earlier, Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, has increased May list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in China. The price increase was effective for orders shipped on or after 22 May, 2020, or as contracts otherwise allow, and is incremental to any previously announced increases. Thus, May VAM prices rose for the Chinese region by RMB350/mt.

According to MRC's DataScope report, February EVA imports to Russia rose by 9,83% year on year to 3,107 tonnes from 2,829 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation increased in January-February 2020 by 8,36% year on year to 6,194 tonnes (5,716 tonnes a year earlier).

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 2019 net sales of USD6.3 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Altivia Oxide Chemicals (Houston, Texas), an affiliate of Altivia Petrochemicals, has announced that it has acquired KMCO and its associated chemical ethoxylation manufacturing assets at Crosby, Texas, reported Chemweek.

The facilities, located on 160 acres near Houston, include 31 reaction and distillation trains with capacity for ethylene and propylene oxide reactions as well as a broad range of organic reactions including polymerization, neutralization, and condensation. Products include surfactants, lubricant additives, fuel additives, and a variety of ethoxylation and propoxylation based intermediates. Its products service the coatings, automotive, fuels and lubricants, and surfactant industries.

Altivia plans a USD25-million process safety and control systems upgrade to the facilities and will start production in two new oxide reactors by the end of this year. "The reaction chemistries in Crosby are complementary to Altivia’s current product offerings and will provide our customers important sourcing options," said Altivia CEO J. Michael Jusbasche. "The market for oxylation tolling and custom manufacturing services will now have available a state-of-the-art facility on the US Gulf Coast."

As MRC reported before, Altivia Ketones & Additives, LLC an affiliate of Altivia Petrochemicals, has acquired Dow’s Acetone Derivatives Business and associated chemical manufacturing assets at Institute, W.Va., as well as the Institute Industrial Park. Altivia successfully assumed operations and product distribution without delay on November 1, 2-19.

We also remind that Dow Chemical began major maintenance on the LHC 1 cracker at Terneuzen, Netherlands from 9 September, 2019. More than 1,500 extra employees from various external companies carried out maintenance works in the subsequent period.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 267,630 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 20% year on year. Homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC