Idemitsu to exit acrylic acid business

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Idemitsu, Japan's No. 2 oil refiner, is planning a complete withdrawal from acrylic acid and butyl acrylate (BA) production by March 2023, because of increasing international competition, according to Polymerupdate.

The company's petrochemical complex in central prefecture Aichi has a production capacity of 50,000 t/yr of acrylic acid, which is made from propylene. Idemitsu outsources its BA production. It has decided to exit the business on the back of increasing supplies within Asia.

As MRC wrote before, in early February, Idemitsu Kosan had no plan to give fresh financial aid to Vietnam's Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP), which ha cut production to 80% of capacity due to a funding problem. Vietnam's largest refinery avoided a lengthy shutdown that month after a major shareholder secured short-term funding following a disagreement between shareholders about financing for crude, having earlier cut its run rate.

We remind that in October 2018, Idemitsu Kosan finalized a deal to buy out Showa Shell Sekiyu through a share swap in a deal worth about USD5.6 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell announced that Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co. (ZPC) will again license LyondellBasell's high-pressure low-density polyethylene (LDPE) technology at its complex in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, China, according to Apic-online.

The Lupotech A and Lupotech T process technologies will be used for a 100,000-t/y autoclave and a 300,000-t/y tubular line, respectively. Both trains will mainly be producing ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers.

Furthermore, an additional 400,000-t/y tubular line producing LDPE homopolymers will be built at the same site. Value of the contract and a schedule for the project were not given.

In 2018, ZPC licensed LyondellBasell's polypropylene (PP), LDPE and high-density PE (HDPE) technologies for five new plants at the complex.

The project included two 450,000-t/y PP units, based on Spherizone process technology; a 300,000-t/y and 400,000-t/y LDPE plant, based on Lupotech T process technology, and a 350,000-t/y HDPE unit, based on Hostalen ACP process technology.

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, whereas 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. LyondellBasell places high priority on diversity, equity and inclusion and is Advancing Good with an emphasis on our planet, the communities where we operate and our future workforce. The company takes great pride in its world-class technology and customer focus. LyondellBasell has stepped up its circularity and climate ambitions and actions to address the global challenges of plastic waste and decarbonization. In 2022, LyondellBasell was named as one of FORTUNE Magazine's "World's Most Admired Companies" for the fifth consecutive year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven technology solutions, announced that its board of directors has appointed Mr. Atanas H. Atanasov to serve as the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), said the company.

In this role, Mr. Atanasov will have responsibility for Lummus’ financial management, accounting, reporting, audit, tax and treasury functions. Mr. Atanasov will assume the Chief Financial Officer role from Mr. John Albanese who is stepping down as CFO but will remain with Lummus for another 18 months to support several of the company’s strategic projects.

"We are very excited to welcome Atanas to Lummus,” said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. “Atanas brings to Lummus over 25 years of disciplined financial leadership experience with proven expertise in accounting, tax, financial planning and analysis, banking and capital markets. That, along with his chemical and energy-related experience, will prove valuable in driving growth and delivering value to Lummus’ customers, employees, partners and shareholders."

Mr. de Bruyn also noted the contributions of Mr. Albanese. “John has dedicated his entire career to Lummus, leaving a positive and long-lasting impact. He established the strong financial foundation we have in place today, which positions Lummus for success in the future."

Mr. Atanasov joins Lummus after previously serving as Executive Vice President, CFO and Treasurer of Kraton Corporation, a leading global sustainable producer of specialty polymers and high-value biobased products. Prior to Kraton, he was CFO of Empire Petroleum Partners, LLC and CFO of NGL Energy Partners. He also spent nine years with GE Capital in various finance roles of increasing importance and responsibility.

Mr. Atanasov holds a Master of Business Administration from the Collins College of Business at the University of Tulsa and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, graduating Summa Cum Laude, from Oral Roberts University. He is also a certified public accountant.

Lummus Technology is the global leader in developing process technologies that make modern life possible and focus on a more sustainable, low carbon future. Lummus is a master licensor of clean energy, petrochemical, refining, gas processing and renewable technologies, and a supplier of catalysts, proprietary equipment, digitalization and related lifecycle services to customers worldwide.

Lummus Technology's Green Circle and Chevron Lummus Global (CLG) have announced the integration of multiple technologies from their portfolios for application in the circular economy.

As per MRC, Lummus Technology will supply 14 cracking furnaces for a Gas Chemical Complex that is part of the Ethane-rich Gas Processing Complex (GCC EGPC) located near Ust-Luga, Leningrad Oblast, Russia, on the Gulf of Finland.

Lummus Technology has been awarded a contract by Enter Engineering Pte. Ltd. for the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex in Uzbekistan. Lummus’ scope includes the design and supply of four proprietary Short Residence Time (SRT) VI and VII type cracking furnaces, which will more than double the production of ethylene at Shurtan’s facility.

mrchub.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Singapore is planning to take its No. 1 cracker in Jurong Island offline on 25 April 2022 for unspecified reasons, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The cracker, which is part of the old petrochemical complex with an annual output of 900,000 tons/year of ethylene and 490,000 tons/year of propylene, might be shut for around one to two months.

Market sources said that the decision to take the No. 1 cracker offline could be due to the production halt at the downstream plants.

In the previous week, the producer formally announced the suspension of several downstream units due to unforeseen external market factors that significantly impact the company’s businesses. ExxonMobil did not specify which units were affected by the shutdown.

Meanwhile, the company reassured buyers of a stable supply of performance polyethylene (metallocene grade). As such, it is assumed that the 650,000 tons/year metallocene PE (mPE) plant would continue to operate throughout April. The other downstream units at the Jurong complex include two PP lines with a combined capacity to 980,000 tons/year, and two LLDPE lines with total outputs of 1.25 million tons/year, which are most likely affected by the outage.

At the same time, there has not been any information on the operating status at Exxon’s second cracker at the same location at the time of this report.

As MRC reported earlier, last month, ExxonMobil announced that construction of the new linear alpha olefins (LAO) manufacturing unit at its Baytown, Texas, integrated petrochemical complex is progressing and targeting commercial start up in mid-2023. When fully operational, the new facility will have the capacity to produce approximately 350,000 metric tons of LAO annually.

We remind that in February, 2022, ExxonMobil and SABIC successful started up Gulf Coast Growth Ventures world-scale manufacturing facility in San Patricio County, Texas. The new facility will produce materials used in packaging, agricultural film, construction materials, clothing, and automotive coolants. The operation includes a 1.8 MM metric tpy ethane steam cracker, two polyethylene (PE) units capable of producing up to 1.3 MM metric tpy, and a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit with a capacity of 1.1 MM metric tpy.

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.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hualu Hengsheng is planning to invest yuan (CNY) 5bn (USD784m) to construct a new materials project that will produce butanediol (BDO), N-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) and acetic anhydride at Jingzhou in Hubei province, the company said.

The capacities will be 200,000 tonnes/year for BDO, 100,000 tonnes/year for NMP, 30,000 tonnes/year for PBAT and 100,000 tonnes/year for acetic anhydride.

The facility will be located at Jiangling in Jingzhou. Hualu Hengsheng signed an investment agreement with Jiangling local government on the project last week. Timeline is not yet finalised.

We remind, Shandong Hualu Hengsheng Chemical is expected to release figures for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 on April 30, 2022 at the all-three-monthly financial conference. On average, 2 analysts expect earnings per share of 1.08 CNY. That would represent an increase of 44.77 percent compared to the previous year, when 0.746 CNY was generated.

Hualu Hengsheng is a China-based company principally engaged in the production and sales of chemical products. The Company's main businesses include the production and sales of chemicals and chemical fertilizers, as well as the electricity generation and heating supply businesses. The Company's primary products include fertilizers, organic amines, adipic acid and related intermediate products, acetic acid and derivatives, polyols, among others.
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