Hengyi Industries selects Axens technology for new crude-to-aromatics expansion project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Following the successful start-up of the 1.1 MTA FLEXICOKING unit at the end of 2019, Hengyi Industries has selected FLEXICOKING for a second time to upgrade the heavy feeds of its 16-MTA capacity for the New Crude to Aromatics Phase II expansion project, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Since the Alliance Agreement signed between ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing (EMCL) and Axens to provide FLEXICOKING technology in January 2020, it has been a great success as can be seen in the new license granted to Hengyi Industries' integrated complex in Pulau Muara Besar, Brunei.

The FLEXICOKING unit will upgrade the 2.1 MTA blend of Vacuum Residue, FCC Slurry Oil and Steam Cracker PyOil into valuable distillates and Flexigas. Start-up of the unit is foreseen in June 2024.

Since the Alliance took effect, the Process Design Package developed for the first time by Axens was delivered as per schedule in early May 2021, proof of Axens’ robust process engineering capability and flexibility to handover new technologies.

As MRC informed before, in February, 2021, Hengyi Industries selected Univation's Unipol polyethylene (PE) process for a new world-scale PE plant that will be built at Hengyi's site in Palau Maura Besar, Brunei. The 600,000-t/y PE unit will be integrated into a larger refinery and petrochemicals project, which includes a 280,000-b/d refinery and downstream production of ethylene, benzene, paraxylene, ethylene glycol, purified terephthalic acid, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

Eastman increases filament production in Spain

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eastman is increasing capacity for its Naia-brand cellulosic filament yarn at its plant in Barcelona, Spain, said the company.

Eastman is increasing its capacity to produce Naia cellulosic filament yarns at its plant Barcelona, by 30% by mid-2021, and by more than 50% by the end of 2022.

Naia is responsibly sourced from sustainably managed pine and eucalyptus forests and plantations. Eastman holds FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification, and all suppliers also hold internationally recognised forestry certifications. The yarns are produced in a safe, closed-loop process in which solvents are recycled back into the system for reuse. It is OEKO-TEX Standard 100 Product Class I certified and made with no hazardous chemicals listed on the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List.

Key benefits of fabrics based made with Naia are dimensional stability, odour management, easy stain removal and pill resistance, along with natural breathability and quick drying properties.

“The growing importance of sustainability and circularity are accelerating the adoption of sustainable fibres,” said Burt A. Capel, Eastman vice president and general manager of fibres. “As a result, Naia cellulosic filament yarn is gaining a lot of traction among our customers,". "Our vision is to make sustainable fashion accessible to all, and we have a very committed team at our Barcelona site actively working to bring this expansion onstream as soon as possible to serve our customers across the globe."

The expansion will support new brand adoptions of Naia in womenswear fashion. Details about the expansion's costs and about capacities in terms of tonnes or pounds per year were not disclosed.

As per MRC, on 1 May, cracking unit No. 3 in Longview (Longview, Texas, USA) of the American company Eastman experienced a technological failure, which led to the release of substandard products. In particular, the failure occurred due to the blockage of the feed line to the heat exchanger of this enterprise (HCC-3A) with a capacity of 280 thousand tons of ethylene per year, which caused emissions of chemicals into the atmosphere for 12 hours. The company did not say when it will be able to resume production of conditioned ethylene.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

Eastman is a multinational chemical company serving customers in approximately 100 countries. Sales in 2015 amounted to around USD9.6 Billion. The company is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA. The company employs approximately 15 thousand people around the world.
MRC

US oil and natural gas companies gearing up for 2021 hurricane season

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US oil and natural gas companies are preparing for this year’s forecast of an above-average Atlantic hurricane season, reported Reuters with reference to a security and emergency expert with the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Last year’s record 30 named storms forced shutdowns of offshore oil production that reached, at one point, 90% of 1.9 million barrels per day in production and idled refineries for weeks. Two refineries in hard-hit Lake Charles, Louisiana, were shut for months.

“We’re trying to be as prepared as possible in 2021,” said Suzanne Lemieux, API’s operations security and emergency manager, said on a conference call with energy industry experts to discuss hurricane season preparations.

Oil and gas companies have increased the number of drills and exercises, she said.

US Gulf Coast refiners have revised plans after widespread storm-related outages, said Jeff Gunnulfsen, director of security and risk management for trade group American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers.

Refiners have increased communication with government agencies and other industries as well as hardening refinery units and repositioning equipment to avoid floodwaters, Gunnulfsen said.

As MRC wrote previously, Dow said in late August, 2020, its sites along the US Gulf Coast reported no major damage from Hurricane Laura. Dow’s sites in Sabine, Beaumont, Deer Park, La Porte, Bayport and Texas City, Texas shut down operations prior to Laura making landfall. Dow's Freeport, Texas site continued operating as did facilities across Louisiana. Dow said it has not identified any significant structural damage or flooding at any of the facilities.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

Nova, Dow, LyondellBasell establishing recycling PE and PP investment fund

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Three leading resin makers – Canada’s Nova Chemicals Corp. among them – are establishing a USD100-million investment fund to help finance recovery and recycling of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in Canada and the U.S., said Canplastics.

Nova, Dow Inc. and LyondellBasell Industries are contributing a total of USD25 million to start the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund, which they said they hope to grow to US$100 million with money from other corporate and financial investors. The fund is being managed by New York-based investment firm Closed Loop Partners.

"The goal of the catalytic fund is to grow to deploy USD100 million, through a combination of the fund’s founding investors, additional corporate investors and financial institutions, in order to attract additional capital beyond the fund’s own commitments,” the companies said in a May 26 news release. “At scale, the fund’s investments aim to recycle over 500 million pounds of plastic over the fund’s lifespan."

The fund will focus on three areas: increasing access to collection; optimizing recycling systems to capture “high-quality” plastic like food-grade and medical-grade materials; and investing in manufacturing that uses recycled-content plastic.

One of the problems the fund hopes to solve, the companies said, is that the current supply of recycled plastics meets only six per cent of demand for the most commonly used plastics in the U.S. and Canada. “Systemic bottlenecks, misaligned incentives and policies, technological inefficiencies and outdated equipment across the plastics recovery system contribute to millions of tons of plastic going to waste in landfills and oceans,” the companies said. “Increasing the recovery and recirculation of plastics could help meet an addressable market for plastics with potential revenue opportunities of USD120 billion in the U.S. and Canada alone."

The companies claim that “significant opportunity exists” to bolster the recovery of PE and PP, based on these materials’ market desirability and expected production amounts, as well as their wide variety of applications across industries, including healthcare and food and beverage.

According to the news release, the fund will deploy a flexible mix of debt and equity financing, and will also aim to stimulate mainstream co-investments, including those from financial institutions, into circular solutions for plastics to further accelerate impact at scale. “With established facilities, extensive supply chain networks and markets, Dow, LyondellBasell and Nova are collectively well-positioned to help advance the transition to a new, more circular system,” it said. “Together, they create a precedent for a sustainable future for the plastics industry, building a runway for further investments and synergies with other stakeholders in the plastics recovery and reuse value chain."

As per MRC, RT-Invest (Moscow, part of Rostec) will invest 6 billion rubles. in the construction of a new plant in the Moscow region for the production of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET) from packaging waste, which will be in demand from Mars, PepsiCo and Danone operating in Russia.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 27.05.2021

1.Asia Distillates-Jet fuel cash differentials flip back to discounts on the back of fresh waves of coronavirus infections

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asia's cash differentials for jet fuel flipped back into discounts on Wednesday, 19 May, after staying in positive territory for two weeks, as fresh waves of coronavirus infections in several regional markets weighed on aviation demand, reported Reuters. Cash differentials for jet fuel JET-SIN-DIF plunged to a discount of 3 cents per barrel to Singapore quotes, compared with a premium of 5 cents a barrel on Tuesday. A resurgence in coronavirus cases and a slow rate of vaccinations are forcing people to avoid travel and governments to keep border restrictions intact.



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