CPC shut its No. 4 cracker in Taiwan owing to technical issues

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan's CPC Corporation unexpectedly shut is No. 4 cracker due to technical glitches on 2 July, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

Based in Linyuan, Taiwan, the cracker is able to produce 380,000 tons/year of ethylene and 193,000 tons/year of propylene. The shutdown period is slated for around 7 days.

Market players reported that this plant is supplying upstream to Taiwan's Oriental Union Chemical Corporation (OUCC)'s 250,000 tons/year monoyethylene glycol (MEG) plant as well as Taiwan‘s China Man-made Fiber Corporation (CMFC)'s 400,000 tons/year MEG plant, which causing both MEG plants to reduce production rate to around 70-80%.

The company also operates another cracker at the same site - No. 3 cracker, which has an ethylene capacity of 720,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 370,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, CPC Corporation took one of its naphtha crackers off-stream on 8 November 2019 for major maintenance work. The No. 4 cracker was expected to remain offline for about 65 days. The shutdown resulted in a production loss of 67,671 tons of ethylene and 34,370 tons of propylene.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.

CPC Corporation, Taiwan, is engaged in the exploration, production, refining, procurement, transportation, storage, and marketing of oil and gas. The company provides fuel oil, including automotive unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel, low-sulfur fuel oil, marine distillate fuels, marine residual fuels, and aviation fuel; petrochemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, para-xylene, and ortho-xylene; liquefied petroleum gas products comprising liquefied petroleum gas, propane, butane, and a propane/butane mixture; lubricants, motor oil, industrial oil, grease, and marilube oil; SNC products, including petroleum ether, naphtha, toluene, xylene, crude octene, methyl alcohol, normal paraffin, viscosity-graded asphalt cement, and sulfur; and natural gas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem USA is planning to startup its new polypropylene (PP) plant in the third quarter this year, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

Based in La Porte, Texas, United States, the plant has a production capacity of 450,000 tons/year.

A source from the market players informed that the plant has been successfully conduct trial run and producers small quantity of off-grade homo-PP cargoes since beginning of June 2020, meanwhile it is slated to have offers to China within Q3 this year.

The new PP plant is known as the Delta project, which costs investment of USD675 million and the construction has begun since 2017.

As MRC informed earlier, in H2 June, 2020, Braskem announced it had completed construction of its newest PP production facility at La Porte, Texas. The new plant has the capability to produce the entire PP portfolio including homopolymer, impact copolymer and random copolymers. The plant added 50 permanent full-time jobs to support long-term commercial production.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- S-Oil Corp, South Korea's third-biggest refiner, will supply Won 3.14 trillion (USD2.66 billion) worth of refined oil products to Saudi Aramco's trading arm this year, reported S&P Global with reference to a company official.

As per the deal with Aramco Trading Singapore, S-Oil will provide a total of 36 to 44 million barrels of oil products over January 1 to December 31, 2020, the official said.

The products include 9 to 10 million barrels of gasoil, 10 to 11 million barrels of jet fuel, 6 to 8 million barrels of gasoline, 11 to 15 million barrels of naphtha and 40,000 barrels of MTBE, the official said.

S-Oil, which is 63.4% owned by Aramco Overseas Co., a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, imports 90% of its crude oil needs from Saudi Arabia -- mostly Arabian Light and Arabian Medium.

For 2019, the refiner provided Won 2.61 trillion worth of refined oil products, including 10 to 17 million barrels of gasoil, 9 to 12 million barrels of jet fuel, and 4 to 5 million barrels of gasoline, to Saudi Aramco.

In November 2018, S-Oil started commercial production at a residue upgrading complex and olefin downstream complex in the Onsan complex on South Korea's southeast coast.

The new facility is producing 21,000 b/d of gasoline, 405,000 mt/year of polypropylene (PP) and 300,000 mt/year of propylene oxide.

S-Oil runs three CDUs - No. 1 with 90,000 b/d, No. 2 with 240,000 b/d and No. 3 with 250,000 b/d, as well as condensate fractionation unit with a capacity of 89,000 b/d. This makes its total refining capacity 669,000 b/d.

As MRC wrote before, S-Oil, South Korean petrochemical major, has taken off-stream its residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) unit for a turnaround last month. The company is likely to undertake a planned shutdown at the unit by early-July, 2020. The unit is slated to remain off-line for about two weeks. Located at Onsan, South Korea, the RFCC unit has a propylene capacity of 705,000 mt/year.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of PP.

According to MRC"s ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Renewable aromatics technology firm Anellotech (Pearl River, NY) has announced R Plus Japan Ltd., a new joint venture company, will invest an undisclosed sum in the development of Anellotech’s Plas-TCat technology for recycling used plastics, said Chemweek.

Unlike the existing, multi-step processes that first liquefy plastic waste back into low value “synthetic oil” intermediate products, Anellotech’s Plas-TCat chemical recycling technology uses a one-step thermal-catalytic process to convert single-use plastics directly into basic chemicals such as benzene, toluene, xylenes (BTX), ethylene, and propylene, which can then be used to make new plastics. The technology’s process efficiency has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and energy con-sumption.

R Plus Japan was established by 12 cross-industry partners within the Japanese plastics supply chain. Member partners include Suntory MONOZUKURI Expert Ltd. (SME, a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Ltd.), TOYOBO Co. Ltd., Rengo Co. Ltd., Toyo Seikan Group Holdings Ltd., J&T Recycling Corporation, Asahi Group Holdings Ltd., Iwatani Corporation, Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd., Toppan Printing Co. Ltd., Fuji Seal International Inc., Hokkaican Co. Ltd., and Yoshino Kogyosho Co. Ltd..

Suntory began collaborating with Anellotech in 2012, to develop the Bio-TCat process for making aromatics, including para-xylene, from non-food biomass (pine wood), required to make 100% plant-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. Anellotech is leveraging and adapting its process technology for Plas-TCat, which will convert mixed plastic waste feedstocks, including composite films and other difficult-to-recycle materials, at industrial scale into the same basic chemicals (aromatics and olefins) already used to make most virgin plastics, including PET.

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Report , spot prices of Russian plants in early June approached contract prices and fell to the range of Rb72,000-74,000/tonne, CPT Moscow, including VAT. The plants Polyef, Ecopat and Senezh in early June have free material on the spot. The production of TPA at the plant in Blagoveshchensk finally returned to normal after a long period of unstable operation, according to information from market participants.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrobras may need more than a year to divest its stake in Braskem, reported Chemweek with reference to Andrea Almeida, Petrobras CFO.

She said during the company’s recent webinar that Petrobras plans to give more time for potential investors to make offers for the company's assets, including for its refineries and stakes at its petrochemical and fuel distribution affiliates. The divestment of Petrobras's stake in Braskem in 2020 would be desirable but "might not be possible" as the COVID-19 pandemic has changed market conditions, she said. The company plans to close part of its refinery sales in 2021. In December, Roberto Castello Branco, CEO of Petrobras, said that he wants to sell the company’s stake in Braskem within a year. Petrobras owns 32.15% of Braskem.

Petrobras last week received binding offers for its Bahia refinery, the first refining unit it plans to sell. REPAR in southern Parana state will be the next to go to the market in the coming weeks, according to Castello Branco.

Separately, some 10,000 Petrobras employees, 22% of the company’s workforce, have accepted voluntary redundancy, the CEO said. In a webinar hosted by Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico, Castello Branco said the deadline for employees to sign up for the program was Tuesday. Some have already left, while most will leave the company later this year or in 2021.

As MRC informed earlier, the chief executive of Brazilian state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro said in December 2019 he wants to sell the company's stake in petrochemical company Braskem within 12 months.

Besides, Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
MRC