Viva to upgrade refinery with Australian government aid

MRC) -- Viva Energy said its board has given the go-ahead for a AD300 MM (USD224 mln) upgrade of its Australian refinery, with more than a third of the cost to be provided by the Australian government, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The upgrade is needed so Viva can produce ultra-low sulfur gasoline at its refinery near Melbourne, as agreed with the government last year under a USD1.8 B aid package to keep the country's two remaining refineries open at least until 2028. The government confirmed it would provide AD125 MM each to Viva and Ampol Ltd to revamp their refineries to start producing the cleaner gasoline by 2024.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison highlighted that saving the refineries protected 1,250 jobs and supported the creation of 500 construction jobs for refinery upgrades. He also said keeping the refineries open was essential to protect the country from supply chain disruptions such as from COVID-19, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and China's curbing of urea exports.

Separately, Viva said it would buy chemicals maker LyondellBasell's Australian arm for up to AD40 MM paid over six years.

LyondellBasell Australia is the country's only producer of polypropylene, which is used to produce a range of plastic products from food packaging to bank notes.

As MRC wrote earlier, in July, 2021, Neste and LyondellBasell announced a long-term commercial agreement under which LyondellBasell will source Neste RE, a feedstock from Neste that has been produced from 100% renewable feedstock from bio-based sources, such as waste and residue oils and fats. This feedstock will be processed through the cracker at LyondellBasell’s Wesseling, Germany, plant into polymers and sold under the CirculenRenew brand name.

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.

As a leader in the global chemical industry, LyondellBasell strives every day to be the safest, best operated and most valued company in our industry. The company's products, materials and technologies are advancing sustainable solutions for food safety, access to clean water, healthcare and fuel efficiency in more than 100 international markets.
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MRC – Clariant, a focused, sustainable and innovative specialty chemicals company, today announced that it has completed the divestment of its 50 % stake in the joint venture which owns Scientific Design Company Inc., said the company.

The transaction was announced on 2 February, 2022. Clariant’s 50 % share in Scientific Design was valued at USD 130 million. Together with a profit-sharing agreement beginning on 1 January, 2021 until the closing of the transaction, Clariant’s net cash inflow, before tax and transaction cost amounts to USD 139.4 million.

Clariant intends to use the proceeds of the divestment to invest into growth projects within the core Business Areas, execute the strategy along sustainability and innovation, fund the performance improvement programs as well as strengthen Clariant’s balance sheet to reach and defend a solid investment grade rating.

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

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.

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.

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Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) is currently facing unspecified issues at the upstream fluidized catalytic cracking unit (FCCU), according to CommoPlast.

Given the feedstock supply disruption, the producer plans to take its polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) plants offline on 25 April, 2022. Meanwhile, it is unclear on their restart schedule.

The company operates a high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant with the capacity of 300,000 mt/year in Panipat, India, a swing HDPE/linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant with the capacity of 350,000 mt/year and a 600,000 mt/year PP plant.

As MRC informed before, IOC, the country's top refiner, will increase crude purchases from Iraq by 11.5% in 2022 to 390,000 bpd, partly to make up for a shortfall from Mexico and a possible supply cut from Kuwait. Iraq is the top supplier of oil to India and its market share there is set to rise as another refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. will also buy more crude from the Middle Eastern nation. India is the world's third biggest oil importer.

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, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe, have announced a price increase for all polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) in Europe, according to the company's press release as of April 4.

Effective April 1, 2022, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below rose to reflect current market conditions as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR430 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR430 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR430 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR430 per metric ton.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo last raised its prices for all PS, ABS and SAN grades on March 8, 2022, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS -- by EUR350 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech HIPS - by EUR350 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR350 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR350 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, Russian PS producers did not adjust their prices in mid-April. Prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's GPPS remained at Rb204,750-215,700/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, whereas HIPS prices remained at Rb217,250-228,200/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. Penoplex contracted all April GPPS quantities at Rb225,000-227,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately $4.8 billion in net sales in 2021 and has 26 manufacturing sites and one recycling facility around the world and approximately 3,400 employees.
MRC

The cost of a Mexican oil refinery under construction in the southern port of Dos Bocas has risen by USD900 MM to USD9.8 B because of additions to the project, reported Reuters with reference to Energy Minister Rocio Nahle's statement in an interview.

Nahle told Mexican newspaper El Universal that the increase was due to the addition of an electricity plant for the Olmeca refinery being built for state oil firm Pemex, as well as a gas pipeline and an aqueduct.

"These are part of the expansions, that's why we went further. Initially, the refinery was at USD8.9 B and with the expansion of the gas pipeline, aqueduct and combined cycle (plant), we're going to USD9.8 B," she said.

The Energy Ministry confirmed the report was correct.

Just a month ago, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the refinery would cost USD9 B, speaking from the site of the facility in the eastern state of Veracruz. The refinery was originally earmarked at USD8 B, though experts estimated the final costs could be USD4 B-USD6 B higher.

As MRC informed earlier, GE Power Conversion will supply 19 electrical motors to power water-cooling tower pumps manufactured by Ruhrpumpen. The motors will support the build of a large refinery located in Dos Bocas, Mexico.
The refinery is slated to become the biggest refinery in Mexico, anticipated to produce approximately 340,000 bpd. Construction of the refinery started in June 2019, and the facility is set to commence commercial operation in late 2022. It will play a key role in Mexico’s National Refining Plan in efforts to become more energy self-sufficient.

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