Braskem and SCG Chemicals studying construction of JV bio-based plant for production of ethylene and PE in Thailand

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian petrochemicals and plastics producer Braskem (Sao Paulo) and Thailand’s SCG Chemicals (Bangkok) are studying construction of a JV bio-ethanol dehydration plant for the production of bio-based ethylene and polyethylene (PE), as per Braskem's press release.

The project would be located at SCG Chemicals’ petrochemical complex in Map Ta Phut, Rayong/Thailand and the output would be marketed as Braskem’s “I’m green” bio-based PE.

Braskem said it would contribute with its technology and knowhow in ethanol dehydration and its bio-based PE marketing expertise, while SCG Chemicals would bring its PE units and production expertise for the manufacture of the bio-based PE. The project would up to double existing capacity for the I’m green bio-based PE, Braskem said.

The partners have executed a memorandum of understanding to perform feasibility studies to jointly invest in the project.

Braskem said the project is aligned with its goals of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and of diversifying and expanding its industrial footprint. For SCG Chemicals, the project is part of its target to achieve green polymer sales volumes of 200,000 t by 2025.

As MRC wrote previously, in August 2021, the oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) hired JPMorgan Chase & Co as an advisor to sell its stake in the petrochemical company Braskem SA.

We remind that 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 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 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

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) -- Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC), the world's fourth-biggest petrochemicals firm, said its joint venture project with ExxonMobil in the US Gulf Coast has started commissioning activities and preparing for an initial startup, reported Reuters.

The project includes the establishment of an ethylene production unit with annual capacity of about 1.8 MMtpy, which will feed two polyethylene (PE) units and a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit, it said in a statement.

SABIC expects that this project will have a positive impact on its consolidated financial statements after the commercial operation begins.

It supports SABIC's strategy to diversify its feedstock sources and strength its petrochemical manufacturing presence in North America for a wide range of products, it said.

As MRC informed earlier, in late July 2021, ExxonMobil and SABIC announced that their JV, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures located near Corpus Christi, Texas, had reached mechanical completion of a MEG unit and two PE units.

We remind that a little more than two years after announcing it had selected San Patricio County as the site for its new ethylene cracker plant, ExxonMobil and SABIC celebrated the groundbreaking for the new facility (September 2019).

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A global drive towards electrification of road transport to reduce carbon emissions may cut demand for the world's oil refining capacity by half in 2050, reported Reuters with reference to consultancy Rystad Energy.

"Going forward we will be touching by 2050 somewhere very close to 90% of electrification," Mukesh Sahdev, senior vice president and head of downstream at Rystad Energy said, adding that this scenario would probably lead to a 50% decline in global refining capacity.

Electric vehicles will cut global consumption of gasoline and diesel, but demand for other refined oil products in aviation, maritime and petrochemical sectors could remain high because of urbanisation which will pose a challenge to the refining sector, Mukesh said.

"How are we going to meet those demands with a 50% scale down in refining capacity? I think that's a big signal that we might have a lot of shorts in the sectors which are coming with demand," he added.

"This is going to lead to a significant rationalisation of the downstream assets across the entire supply chain."

For example, cokers, upgrading units used to produce gasoline and diesel, would have to tweak their production to produce more petcoke for graphite in batteries, he said, adding that processing crude directly to petrochemicals is another trend.

Still, global oil demand could rise in the short term. The consultancy expects pent-up oil demand from the COVID-19 pandemic to drive up global crude processing to 80.1 million barrels per day in the second half of 2021 as refiners maximise gasoline output.

As MRC informed earlier, Marathon Petroleum, the largest US refiner, is "hopeful" that the US refining sector will recover as demand for gasoline and diesel picks up, but remains cautious about the impact of the spreading delta variant of the coronavirus.

We remind that in May, 2021, US refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp said its board had approved the conversion of the Martinez refinery in California to a renewable diesel plant. Besides, the company made a final investment decision regarding this project. Martinez, once complete, will be one of the largest renewables facilities in the country.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) is a leading, integrated, downstream energy company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. The company operates the nation's largest refining system. MPC's marketing system includes branded locations across the United States, including Marathon brand retail outlets.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC) successfully started full operation of an environmentally friendly project to expand refining capacity and produce fuel that generates lower emissions and less pollution, as per Reuters.

KUNA reported the project included expanding capacity of the Mina Abdullah refinery to 454,000 barrels per day (bpd) and the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery to 346,000 bpd. It added they would produce products that meet global environmental standards Euro-4 and Euro-5 for reducing emissions and pollutants.

The project was part of Kuwait's goal to achieve refining capacity of 1.6 million bpd in 2025, KUNA added.

The capital cost of the project has reached 4.680 billion dinar (USD15.56 billion), KUNA reported, calling it one of the biggest and most important development projects in the history of Kuwait's oil sector.

As per MRC, Kuwait National Petroleum Company restarted the steam production system in Kuwait’s Mina Abdulla refinery. The steam production system was shut down temporarily as it was replaced hot circulation system.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) was established in 1980, as the State owned asset and all other oil companies in Kuwait, including KNPC, became KPC subsidiaries. Currently, KNPC has two state-of-the-art Refineries, namely Mina Abdullah Refinery (MAB) and Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery (MAA). Shuaiba Refinery was shut down in March 2017 after the kick-off of the Clean Fuels Project (CFP). The total production capacity of both Refineries is 736,000 bpd of crude oil, and a gas processing capacity of 2.5 billion scfpd.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lummus Technology announced it has been awarded a technology contract by Zhangzhou CHIMEI Chemical Co., a subsidiary of CHIMEI Corp. of Taiwan, for a grassroots diphenyl carbonate (DPC) plant in Fujian Province, China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Zhangzhou CHIMEI will build a new polycarbonate (PC) production plant that leverages the Versalis DPC technology licensed by Lummus. The plant will have a capacity of 156,000 MTA of DPC and is expected to reach mass production in Q4 2024.

"CHIMEI, a world-class performance material company, has a strong commitment to implementing eco-friendly and energy efficient technologies," said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. "This world-class DPC technology can help CHIMEI achieve their commitment, which is something we are very proud of. We look forward to collaborating with them on their vision for cleaner and more sustainable operations."

Zhangzhou CHIMEI's new PC plant will implement eco-friendly features, introduce advanced technologies to optimize energy efficiency and produce intermediate products that can be recycled and reused in the circular economy. PC materials are some of the highest performing materials in the market because of their high-temperature resistance, high-impact strength and transparency, making PC materials the best choice for next generation applications such as electric vehicles, energy storage and 5G network equipment.

Lummus' scope for this award includes the technology license, process design package services, operator training and technical services.

Diphenyl carbonate is an intermediate to produce polycarbonate. The Versalis DPC technology licensed by Lummus enables the production of polycarbonate without phosgene or chlorine, which enables a more environmentally safe and non-corrosive process. It also has very low utility costs and is proven to be highly-efficient in recovering byproduct streams.

As per MRC, EPC Engineering & Technologies GmbH has been selected as technology licensor by ChiMei Corporation and its subsidiary Zhangzhou CHIMEI Chemical Co., Ltd. for a new 180 KTPA Polycarbonate Project to be located in Zhangzhou, China. EPC will provide a license for its patented EPC variPLANT Technology and proprietary equipment to CHIMEI and will also deliver engineering and onsite support for this project.

As per MRC's ScanPlast, the price of extrusion PC produced by Kazanorgsintez did not change in September and was at the level of Rb300,000/tonne FCA plant, including VAT. Injection moulding grades were offered at Rb40,000/tonne more.

Zhangzhou ChiMei Chemical is a subsidiary of Taiwanese Chi Mei Corp.
MRC