Clariant completes divestment of 50 % stake in Scientific Design JV

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

MRC) -- Fuhaichuang Petrochemical has selected Axens’ ebullatedbed residue hydrocracking technology (H-Oil) for a capacity of 1.5 MTA as the key unit of its residue upgrading plan in its petrochemical complex located in the port of Gulei, Fujian Province, China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project aims at producing very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) meeting RMG 380 specification from vacuum residue feedstock along with middle distillates (naphtha and diesel) that will be further upgraded within the existing assets of the refinery.

Axens scope of work includes the supply of process design package, and full services from plant personnel training to unit start-up. "The H-Oil solution proposed by Axens and tailored for Fuhaichuang Petrochemical is unique in a sense that it will allow to cope with challenging targets of VLSFO production, with one single train unit without importing low sulfur cutterstock. The use of specific operating conditions, latest yet industrially proven design, and a new generation of supported catalyst from Shell Catalysts & Technologies are the main contributors for this achievement,” said Mr Wang Xiaojun, Technical Manager of Refining.

Mrs.Yu Chunyu, Director of Feed Adaptability and Debottlenecking project also said, “This project demonstrates the competitiveness of Axens to support existing refineries in improving their economic resilience by offering efficient, flexible and sustainable technology solutions."

As MRC informed earlier, in January, 2022, SOCAR HQ held a ceremony to sign licensing and design agreements for the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit between the Heydar Aliyev oil refinery (HAOR) and the French company Axens as part of the HAOR modernization and reconstruction project. It is worth noting that SOCAR and Axens have a long-term co-operation. At present, the diesel hydrotreatment, gasoline hydrotreatment and C4 (butane-butylene) hydrogenation units as part of the Heydar Aliyev refinery reconstruction project, as well as the C3 (propane-propylene) hydrogenation unit as part of the reconstruction works carried out at Azerkimya PU, the naphtha hydrotreatment, diesel hydrotreatment and kerosene hydrotreatment units at the STAR refinery built in Turkey are licensed by Axens.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, in 2021, 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.
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