SK Advanced to launch new PP plant in South Korea on 23 March

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SK Advanced is planning to start up the new polypropylene (PP) plant in Ulsan, South Korea on 23 March 2021, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The construction works were nearly completed in late January 2021. The initial start-up date was 20 March. Thus, the company will delay tha launch of the new plant by 3 days.

The PP unit is a joint venture between PolyMirae and SK Advanced, using the “Spheripol” process of LyondellBasell, and have an annual output of 400,000 tons/year.

The unit will be utilizing the propylene output from SK’s 600,000 tons/year propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit at the same complex. It is expected that SK Advanced would have a smaller propylene allocation for export once the new PP line comes online.

As MRC wrote previously, in October, 2020, Advanced Petrochemical signed an amendment to the partnership agreement between its subsidiary, Advanced Global Investment Co. (AGIC), and SK Gas Petrochemical Pte. Ltd. (SKGP), a unit of SK Gas Co. Ltd.. Under the amendment, an isopropanol (IPA) plant with a capacity of 70,000 tons per annum will be added, along with the Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) and Polypropylene (PP) plants that were already announced earlier. The company said in a bourse statement that by adding the IPA plant with an estimated cost of SAR 300 million (USD80 million), the total cost of the project for the three factories is currently estimated to be approximately SAR 7.05 billion (USD1.88 billion).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.

Advanced Petrochemical Company (before Advanced Polypropylene) is a Saudi Joint Stock Company, established in October 2005. The company was initially launched by National Polypropylene Limited, jointly owned by Mr. Khalifa Al Mulhim, the chief executive officer of Advanced, and Mr. Monther Laheeq, who negotiated all the main deals related to the project, either before or after the establishment of Advanced Petrochemical. Currently, National Polypropylene Limited controls 7.9% of Advanced Petrochemical. Advanced Petrochemical started the construction of its plants in May 2005. The company produces 455,000 tons per year of propylene and 450,000 tons per year of polypropylene from its production facility located in Jubail Industrial City, in the Eastern coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mondi, global leader in packaging and paper, has started up new production lines for melt-blown nonwoven fabric and medical face masks at its site in Gronau, Germany to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, as per the company's press release.

Mondi Gronau has over 50 years of experience in the production and processing of films, nonwovens and elastic components for hygiene products. Last year Mondi announced it would start up production lines to produce both the important base material, melt-blown nonwoven fabric, as well as the medical face mask themselves. With the new lines, Mondi is building up a local value chain in Germany to address the needs of the pandemic.

The fully integrated production with two highly automated high-speed machines allows the output of 700 high-quality medical face masks per minute. This is approximately seven times higher than the standard face mask production line and will produce at least one million medical grade masks a day.

As MRC reported before, in May 2020, Borealis started production of meltblown fabrics for face mask applications on its unique pilot line in Linz, Austria. Borealis managed quickly to convert the way of working from pure development to smaller scale pilot production to regularly produce rolls of fine fibre fabrics for face masks. Recently developed by Borealis, a new proprietary polypropylene (PP) meltblown resin has boosted filtration properties due to its capability for finer fibres. By exploiting a robust network of co-operation partners in the country, Borealis is helping bolster the supply of filtration media to increase face masks production.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- All US crude oil, gasoline and distillate stocks increased in the second week of March, as refiners raised their output with more facilities coming back online following February's devastating storms in Texas, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Crude inventories grew by 2.4 million barrels in the week to March 12, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, compared with analysts' expectations for a rise of 3 million barrels.

Overall stocks have been rising since February, as refiners shut down and have been slow to come back online in the wake of the storms, which knocked out power for millions and killed dozens of people.

Refinery crude runs rose by 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates rose by 7.1 percentage points, boosting overall use to 76.1% of capacity.

"Clearly the refiners are making strides towards recovery," said Tony Headrick, energy market analyst at CHS Hedging. "I'd anticipate that trend continues for the next couple of weeks."

Gasoline stocks rose by 472,000 barrels, compared with expectations for a 3 million-barrel drop. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 255,000 barrels, versus forecasts for a 3.4 million-barrel drop.

Net US crude imports fell last week by 219,000 barrels per day. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 624,000 barrels, EIA said.

As MRC informed before, the largest US refinery, Motiva Enterprises’ 607,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, plant, returned to normal operations. The refinery was shut on Feb. 15 when freezing temperatures, rarely seen on the US Gulf Coast, knocked out steam supply. Motiva began restarting the refinery on Feb. 24.

Motiva Chemicals has also resumed operations at its mixed-feed cracker in Port Arthur, USA. The process of restart of this cracker with the capacity of 635,000 mt/year of ethylene and 340,000 mt/year of propylene began on 27 February, 2021, and finished late last week. The cracker wa shut along with the refinery at the same site on 14 February, 2021, because of the deep freeze.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Repsol will build Spain's first plant for chemical recycling of polyurethane (PU) foam at its Puertollano industrial complex, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing,

PU foam is the main component of mattresses, sofas, and vehicle seats, among other uses.

At the end of its useful life, PU foam is one of the most difficult plastics to process. The new recycling facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 and will entail an investment of approximately EUR12 million.

Once operational, the plant will be capable of processing around 2,000 metric tons of PU foam per year, the equivalent of 380 linear kilometers of mattresses placed side by side.

Besides, Repsol plans on using this circular economy project to produce circular polyols from recycled PU foam. Polyols are one of the raw materials used to manufacture polyurethane foam, thus perfectly closing these essential products’ recycling circle and sustainability. Integrating this new recycling plant into the Puertollano petrochemical complex will ensure the quality of this circular product by allowing the maximization of synergies with the facility’s standard processes.

As MRC reported earlier, Repsol's refinery at Puertollano in central Spain has carried out an upgrade of its olefins unit. The modernization was a part of planned maintenance of the cracker and chemical derivative plants at the end of 2020.

We remind that Spain’s Repsol shut down its cracker in Tarragona (Spain) for maintenance in the fourth quarter of 2019. The turnaround at this steam cracker, which produces 702,000 mt/year of ethylene and 372,000 mt/year of propylene, was pushed back from Q3 2019. The exact dates of maintenance works were not disclosed.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French group Saint-Gobain has invested in Continuous Composites, a US 3D printing company based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, said the company.

At the same time, the companies signed a joint development agreement for the commercialisation of Continuous Composites' patented Continuous Fiber 3D Printing (CF3D) process. CF3D combines continuous fibre with rapid curing thermoset resins to enable on-demand manufacturing of complex composite structures.

Under the process, dry fibre comes off of spools and enters a printer head, where it is impregnated on site with ultraviolet-curable resins. The process eliminates the need for pre-impregnation (pre-preg), removing a large chunk of the expense in making composite materials.

CF3D combines high performance continuous fiber with rapid curing thermoset resins to enable affordable manufacturing of complex composite structures. Continuous Composites says CF3D is an industry agnostic automated solution comprised of configurable hardware, proprietary software and tailorable materials solutions for strong, lightweight applications.

Last year, French chemicals company Arkema invested in Continuous Composites in a bid to advance the development of 3D composite manufacturing.

As MRC informed earlier, Saint-Gobain, the world's largest manufacturer of building materials, has opened the third plant in Russia for the production of dry building mixtures in the city of Yegoryevsk, Moscow Region. The total investment in the construction of the plant amounted to more than 500 mln rubles.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-November 2020 output. November production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.

Saint-Gobain is an international industrial group of companies headquartered in Paris. At present, the group includes 1.5 thousand companies from 64 countries, and employs about 190 thousand employees. According to the Forbes rating, Saint-Gobain is among the top 100 largest industrial companies in the world. The company operates in four sectors: innovative materials, construction products, glass containers and packaging, distribution of construction materials.
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