ExxonMobil to reduce air pollution at its refinery near Chicago

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil, US largest private petrochemical company, has reached an agreement with US and Illinois regulators to reduce air pollution at its refinery near Chicago in Joliet, Illinois, reported Reuters with reference to the US Department of Justice's statement.

The consent decree, which will require ExxonMobil to make operational changes to its sulfur recovery plant to reduce emissions, marks yet another sign that the Biden administration will be flexing its muscles in an effort to crack down on big polluters.

It comes less than a month after the Environmental Protection Agency revoked an expansion permit for the Limetree Bay oil refinery in the Virgin Islands, amid concerns about the facility’s impact on air pollution.

Under the settlement with ExxonMobil, the company has agreed to pay more than USD1.5 million in penalties, a little over USD1 million of which will go to the federal government. The remainder will be paid to Illinois. It will also undertake an estimated USD10 million of improvements to reduce air emissions, the Justice Department said.

As MRC wrote before, ExxonMobil is considering whether to close down its Slagen oil refinery in Norway, which has a capacity to process 120,000 barrels of crude per day, turning the site into an import terminal. The refinery at Slagentangen near Toensberg in south-east Norway was built in 1961 and process crude oil from the North Sea, exporting about 60% of the output, according to Exxon.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Axens announced the launch of SeLene, a newly created family brand dedicated to selective hydrogenation, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Selective hydrogenation is an essential purification step for the production of the most critical building blocks of the petrochemical industry. These blocks include ethylene, propylene, butadiene and aromatics. Selective hydrogenation is also applied in several refinery processing schemes, and plays an increasingly important role in the widely adopted, fully integrated, refinery and petrochemical operation.

Axens proposes a broad catalyst portfolio to deliver optimal performance, specifically tailored for the selective hydrogenation needs of the customers thanks to over 50 years of powerful innovation aimed at improving the active phase impregnation, combined with state-of-the-art alumina carriers.

Additionally, Axens highly integrated offer provides the convenience of a one-stop shop for its valued customers including Licensing, Basic Engineering, Internals & Dedicated Equipment, Adsorbents, Gradings, Unit Auditing, Consulting, Revamping and Digitalization revolving around the broad catalyst portfolio.

SeLene family combines over 20 industrially proven catalysts along with tailor-made services to provide dedicated solutions to meet customer needs. Moreover, SeLene also welcomes Axens latest catalysts with new performance features to help customers creating even more value along the whole olefins chain from the acetylene to the Pygas cut.

"The SeLene catalyst family is one of Axens’ first step to go hand in hand with customer in order to tackle the upcoming challenges related to the selective hydrogenation field. The SeLene catalyst family is focused on two main axes: innovative catalysts and dedicated services towards customer’s satisfaction." says Marie-Clotilde Gouvenot, Global Market Manager at Axens.

As MRC informed earlier, China's Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical (ZPC) has selected Axens to supply catalysts for its Zhoushan ethylene project.

Also, The Baltic Chemical Complex (BHK), a subsidiary of JSC Rusgazdobycha, and the international company Axens signed an agreement on the supply of technology for the production of alpha-olefins used for the production of polyethylene. The technology will be applied within the framework of a project for the construction of a gas chemical complex as part of an ethane-containing gas processing complex near Ust-Luga in the Leningrad Region.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CNOOC Oil & Petrochemicals Co., Ltd (CNOOC) and Shell Nanhai B.V. (Shell) have announced the start-up by their 50:50 joint venture, CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company (CSPC), of new units to supply the Chinese market with essential petrochemicals, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

One new unit is the largest of its type in China, producing up to 630,000 tonnes per year of styrene monomer (SM)and 300,000 tonnes per year of propylene oxide (PO).

These chemicals are used in a wide range of applications, from household appliances to packaging and computers. The unit is also highly efficient. By using the Shell Group’s own SMPO process technology and making design improvements, it uses significantly less energy. It is the second unit of its kind built at the petrochemicals complex in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China, which is operated by CSPC.

Three further new units process PO into up to 600,000 tonnes per year of polyols, deploying the Shell Group’s advanced polyols technologies for the first time in China. They supply customers with a range of polyols, including performance products for specialised uses such as coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers, and foams used in bedding, furniture and cars.

The start-up of the new units completes a successful ‘phase two’ expansion of the CSPC complex and follows the commissioning of a second ethylene cracker in 2018. The complex now supplies customers with up to six million tonnes per year of diverse, high-quality intermediate and performance chemicals, including polyols, ethylene glycol, polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

Plans are already being made for a third phase of expansion at the site. CNOOC, Shell and the Huizhou Government signed a strategic cooperation agreement in May 2020. The third phase would involve building a third ethylene cracker and deploying the Shell Group’s advanced technology for linear alpha olefins for the first time in Asia.

Shell and CNOOC also announced a Memorandum of Understanding in 2020, to explore a commercial-scale polycarbonate (PC) production unit at the site, using the Shell Group’s diphenyl carbonate process technology.

As MRC reported earlier, in May 2018, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Shell Nanhai B.V. (Shell) announced the official start-up of the second ethylene cracker at their Nanhai petrochemicals complex in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China. The new ethylene cracker increases ethylene capacity at the complex by around 1.2 million tonnes per year, more than doubling the capacity of the complex, and benefits from a deep integration with adjacent CNOOC refineries.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Montreal-based flexible packaging supplier Polykar Inc. has launched a new free app for iPhone and iPad (iOS) devices that centralizes all industry calculators that are used daily in one location, said Canplastics.

Called PolyApp, the app is developed for production planners, extrusion operators or sales reps working for a converter or distributor, and allows users to prepare orders and do dimensional calculations for the specific product (rolls or boxed) being designed, manufactured, quoted or purchased. Calculations are all done quickly, Polykar officials said – within a matter of seconds after entering specifications.

"As an innovative company, we saw the opportunity to provide a unique platform for those in the flexible packaging industry,” said Amir Karim, president and CEO of Polykar. “PolyApp offers the convenience of having all calculation tools packaged in one place. We hope this app will be appreciated and used by many in our industry."

The app, which Polykar says has been tested by industry experts, features seven easy-to-use tools including: liner dimension, weight/1000, film thickness, order planning, yield, roll OD & footage, and blow up ratio. The tools replace the constant use of spreadsheets and website calculators guaranteeing its users greater productivity and accuracy.

PolyApp can be downloaded free of charge from the App Store by searching for “PolyApp” or by clicking here. The app is available in English and will be available in French at a later date.

As it was written earlier, Polykar, a Montreal-based manufacturer of flexible packaging, is planning to build a new manufacturing facility in Edmonton, Alta. The company – which makes polyethylene film, certified compostable bags, garbage bags as well as food and industrial grade liners.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PPG has announced that it is extending the tender offer period for all issued and outstanding shares of Tikkurila Oyj to May 11, 2021, as per the company's press release.

The tender offer period, which commenced on Jan. 15, 2021, was most recently scheduled to expire on April 14, 2021.

As previously announced, the European Commission and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland have approved the tender offer.

The European Commission’s merger control approval applies without conditions across the European Union, including Poland.

The Agency for Protection and Development of Competition of the Republic of Kazakhstan has also now approved PPG’s acquisition of Tikkurila.

The completion of the tender offer remains subject to the receipt of regulatory approval from the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, which PPG anticipates receiving within this extended period, and to additional customary conditions to completion, including the valid tender of shares representing, together with shares otherwise held by PPG and its subsidiaries, more than 66.7% of the outstanding shares of Tikkurila.

PPG will provide additional updates on or shortly after the extended tender offer period expires on May 11, 2021, and expects to close the acquisition shortly thereafter.

As MRC informed earlier, in February 2020, PPG completed its acquisition of Industria Chimica Reggiana (ICR, Reggio Emilia, Italy), a maker of automotive refinish products. Financial terms of the deal, including purchase price, were not disclosed. The deal was announced on 8 January. ICR was founded in 1961 and employs about 180 people. ICR manufactures automotive refinish products, including putties, primers, basecoats and clear coats. It also makes a range of coatings, enamels and primers for light commercial vehicles and other light industrial coatings applications. ICR employs about 180 people and sells its products in more than 70 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the US and Latin America.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in February 2021 by 5.3% year on year. Thus, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 7.5% in the first two months of 2021, according to Rosstat's data. Last month's production of polymers in primary form in Russia was 861,000 tonnes versus 196,000 tonnes in January. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 1,770,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 8.4% year on year.

Tikkurila was established in 1862, and is headquartered in Vantaa, Finland. Tikkurila operates in eleven countries and its 2,700 dedicated professionals share the joy of building a vivid future through surfaces that make a difference. The company is a leading producer and distributor of decorative paint and coatings with more than 80% of its revenue coming from Finland, Sweden, Russia, Poland, and the Baltic states. Its premium brands include Tikkurila, ALCRO, and Beckers. In addition, Tikkurila’s industrial paint business participates in the wood and protective coatings end-use segments, among others. The company employs approximately 2,700 people globally and reported sales of approximately EUR 582 million in 2020.
MRC