Maire Tecnimont wins USD185-MM DEF project in US

Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. announces that its main subsidiaries Tecnimont S.p.A. and Tecnimont USA has been awarded a new urea diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) project in the US, by the same leading global chemicals producer that recently awarded to Tecnimont a blue ammonia project, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The contract value is approximately $185 MM. The urea DEF plant, which will be based on Stamicarbon’s proprietary technology (part of Maire Tecnimont Group), entails a 1,500 tpd urea production unit plus the necessary utilities and facilities, including a CO2 purification plant. Project completion is expected as early as 2025. Once completed, the plant will receive the ammonia from the above-mentioned blue ammonia plant.

The plant will produce diesel exhaust fluid (a high-purity urea aqueous solution, known as AdBlue in Europe) which is added to diesel engines to limit the emission of nitrogen oxides during the combustion process, thus significantly reducing the environmental impact of such emissions.

The contract's scope of work includes supply of technology, full engineering activities and supply of all materials and equipment as well as construction supervision services. Construction activities will be the responsibility of an external party not belonging to Maire Tecnimont Group under a different contract, directly awarded by the client. Such contractual strategy is typically implemented in the U.S. to better optimize the construction activities and mitigate Maire Tecnimont Group’s risks. It also leverages Tecnimont USA’s expertise in managing complex projects, while valorizing local content in the Country.

As MRC wrote before, in May 2021, Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. announced that its subsidiaries Tecnimont S.p.A. and Mumbai-based Tecnimont Private Limited have been awarded an EPCC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning) Lump Sum contract by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), for the implementation of a new paraxylene (PX) plant and the relevant offsites facilities. The plant will be located in Paradip, in the State of Odisha, in Eastern India. The overall value of the contract is about USD450 million.

PX is a feedstock for the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA). PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which, in its turn, is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's calculated consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in January 2022 increased by 4% compared to the same time a year before. In total, according to the results of the first month of the year, 59,660 tonnes of PET chips were processed in the country (these data do not take into account the shipment of Russian material to the countries of the Customs Union).
MRC

Global packaging supplier TricorBraun is acquiring California-based PBFY, said to be one of the largest flexible packaging distributors in North America, from Pacific Western Sales Inc., said Canplastics.

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The acquisition expands TricorBraun’s flexible packaging division, TricorBraun Flex, and PBFY will now operate as PBFY, a TricorBraun company. After a transition period, PBFY will integrate with TricorBraun Flex.

In an April 6 news release, TricorBraun officials said that PBFY has provided flexible packaging services – including stand-up pouches and side-gusseted bags – for a variety of brands in the food, coffee, tea, and health and beauty markets for nearly 15 years. All PBFY team members will remain with TricorBraun, the release added.

“PBFY is an important addition to our industry-leading flexible packaging offerings, enabling us to provide customers with expanded services and supply chain options,” said TricorBraun president and CEO Court Carruthers. “We have great admiration for the successful business the PBFY team has built, and we look forward to investing in its continued growth.”"

The transaction is expected to close later this month.

We remind, TricorBraun has acquired Pacific Bag LLC, said to be one of the largest independent U.S. distributors of flexible packaging, for an undisclosed amount. The company will combine Pacific Bag with its existing flexibles business, Taipak, to create TricorBraun Flex, a new business unit focused on flexible packaging.


mrchub.com

Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd (GACL) had earlier informed about updates on GACL-NALCO Alkalies & Chemicals Private Limited (GNAL), a Joint Venture Company between GACL and National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) formed to set up 800 TPD Caustic Soda Plant along with 130 MW Captive Power Plant at Dahej, according to Kemicalinfo.

GNAL is a material subsidiary of the company.

Further, GNAL has successfully completed the start-up of the 200 TPD (ton per day) Caustic Evaporation Unit (CEU) along with Boiler and required utilities in the Cogeneration Captive Power plant and has produced 100 MT Caustic Soda Lye (Rayon Grade 47%).

The product has been filled in tankers and dispatched, said company.

With the above, the CEU Unit has been partially commissioned. However, since, the balance units of Captive Power Plant and the Caustic Soda Plant will be progressively commissioned in a phased manner, the company added in a regulatory filing.

As MRC informed before, India’s petrochemical major Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) plans to invest Indian rupees (Rs) 5.95tr (USD80bn) in green energy and other projects in western Gujarat state as it aims to achieve its net zero carbon emissions target by 2035. This investment would involve the setting up of a 100-gigawatt (GW) renewable energy power plant over the next 10-15 years at a cost of Rs5tr, RIL said in a statement on 13 January. The company will also set up plants to manufacture solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, energy-storage batteries and fuel cells at a cost of around Rs600bn. RIL will invest a further Rs250bn in existing projects and new ventures over the next five years,
MRC

Air Products has announced that it has acquired Air Liquide’s industrial gases business in the UAE, including liquid bulk, packaged gases and specialty gases; and Air Liquide’s majority share in MECD, which owns and operates a liquid CO2 production facility in Bahrain, as per the company's press release.

Financial terms are not being disclosed for the agreement.

“The acquisition builds on many years of good experience working in and serving customers in the Middle East and supports our growth strategy for the region,” commented Hamid Sabzikari, vice president and general manager, Air Products Industrial Gases Middle East, Egypt and Turkey.

“It is yet another example of how Air Products is building and strengthening its industrial gas business in the Middle East. In acquiring these businesses, we have further expanded our footprint and regional presence in the UAE and Bahrain, strengthened our product sourcing and reliability, and welcomed talented and dedicated people into our Middle East organization who are passionate about serving local customers.”

As MRC reported earlier, in March, 2022, Italian oil and gas company Eni and Air Liquide entered into a collaboration agreement aimed at assessing decarbonization solutions in the Mediterranean region of Europe, focusing on hard-to-abate industrial sectors. The two companies join forces to enable CO2 capture, aggregation, transport and permanent storage.

We remind that Eni is evaluating conversion of its Livorno refinery in northwest Italy into a biorefinery, as part of the Italian company's wider strategy to make its activities more environmentally sustainable. Eni has already converted two of its Italian refineries and is looking to almost double its biorefining capacity to around 2 million mt/year by 2024, and expand this to at least five times by 2050, as part of its pledge to achieve complete carbon neutrality by 2050.

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 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

Technip Energies and Clariant announced that they have signed a cooperation agreement for the implementation of Clariant’s sunliquid cellulosic ethanol technology, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

By choosing Technip Energies, sunliquid customers can benefit from combining Clariant’s proven technology with Technip Energies’ deep experience as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor to build advanced biofuel plants.

The sunliquid process converts agricultural residues, woody materials or municipal solid wastes into advanced biofuel. The bio-sourced feedstock is converted into cellulosic sugars, which is then fermented into cellulosic ethanol.

The process design is completely integrated and based upon proven process technology. The innovative technology involves enzymes that are produced as part of the process and tailored to respective raw materials to deliver the highest possible sugar yields.

End of 2021, Clariant completed the construction of its first full-scale commercial sunliquid cellulosic ethanol plant in Podari, Romania, which has started-up and will be fully operational in 2022. The plant will process approximately 250,000 tons of straw to produce 50,000 tpy of cellulosic ethanol.

The cellulosic ethanol produced by the sunliquid process can be used as a drop-in solution for fuel blending and offers further downstream application opportunities into sustainable aviation fuels and bio-based chemicals. In addition, it can be further processed into green ethylene and ethylene derivatives, and other sugar-derived chemicals using other proprietary technologies offered by Technip Energies.

As MRC wrote previously, Clariant has recently announced that its StyroMax UL3 catalyst is demonstrating successful results at Risun’s new styrene monomer (SM) plant located in Tangshan, China.

We remind that in October 2020, Clariant announced the construction of a new state-of-the-art catalyst production site in China. This project represents a significant investment which further strengthens Clariant’s position in China and enhances its ability to support its customers in the country’s thriving petrochemicals industry.

The new facility will be primarily responsible for producing the Catofin catalyst for propane dehydrogenation, which is used in the production of olefins such as propylene. Thanks to its excellent reliability and productivity, Catofin delivers superior annual production output compared to alternative technologies, resulting in increased overall profitability for propylene producers, says the company. Construction at the Dushan Port Economic Development Zone in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province was scheduled to commence in Q3 2020, and Clariant expects to be at full production capacity by 2022.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC