Zhongjing Petrochemical to start up new PP plant in Fujian province this June

Zhongjing Petrochemical in an official ceremony on 18 April 2022 announced the startup of its new polypropylene (PP) plant in Fujian province this June as construction is near completion, according to CommoPlast.

The new plant has an annual output of 1.2 million tons per annum using LyondellBasell’s 5th Generation Spheripol technology. The unit is likely to produce commodity grades including homo-PP yarn and injection at the initial stage before focusing on copolymer and specialty grades.

The company initially planned to bring the new plant online between late 2022 to early 2023.

At the moment, Zhongjing operates two existing PP lines with a nameplate capacity of 1 million tons/year and a 750,000 tons/year propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit based in Fujian, China.

As MRC wrote previously, in January, 2022, LyondellBasell announced that PT Polytama Propindo will use the LyondellBasell Spheripol technology for expanding their existing facility. The process technology will be used for an additional 300 KTA PP plant to be built in Balongan, West Java, Indonesia, that is expected to be completed in 2024.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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) -- Mexico's cash-strapped state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is under pressure to resume financial debt repayments despite promises from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that his government would pay them until 2024, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Pemex is due to pay some 1 B euros to redeem a 2015 bond. "Pemex will make payment of its maturities this month with its own resources, since the finance ministry did not make capital contributions to the company in April (for that)," said one of the sources, who asked to remain anonymous.

Neither the finance ministry nor Pemex responded to requests for comment. Pemex, one of the world's most-indebted oil companies, has struggled with years of declining crude production and in 2020 lost its coveted investment-grade debt rating.

The source said between May and December Pemex faces outstanding principal and interest payments, mainly related to bonds, worth some USD3.8 B. "The finance ministry notified Pemex about three weeks ago the company had to pay the eurobond, arguing it has more funds due to the increase in ... oil prices," the source added.

Pemex has said it must shoulder peso-denominated financial debt maturities in 2022 worth some USD8.4 B, and another USD15.2 B of debt commitments in other currencies. The ministry has in recent weeks also pressed Pemex to resume amortizations linked mainly to debt issuances, which this year amount to some USD7.5 B, another USD7.4 B in 2023 and USD8.8 B in 2024, the source said.

In 2021, debt amortizations totaled about USD6.4 billion. The second source told Reuters "the additional income from Pemex will be significant, and that allows the company to receive less (government) support", without giving details on how much extra income was expected due to the increase in crude oil prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Pemex's financial debt closed 2021 at USD109.0 B. Net losses were USD10.9 B last year. Pemex has begun drawing up a refinancing plan for some USD3.5 B in financial debt, anticipating the funds will not come from the government for now, the first source said.

Mexico in January swapped short-term Pemex bonds for a new 10-year bond as part of a scheme to lower debt and reduce medium-term financial pressure on the firm. Mexico's government in 2021 made capital contributions to Pemex of 202.569 B pesos for debt repayments and granted the firm 73.280 B pesos in tax incentives. Pemex officials recently said the government will provide it with capital this year in accordance with its maturity profile.

Last month, Lopez Obrador said Mexico will reduce refining output at Pemex while it modernizes its refineries, as the government capitalizes on high oil prices. Mexico has said it will use extra revenue collected from oil prices to subsidize domestic gasoline and diesel prices, helping to contain inflation.

As MRC informed before, in March 2022, officials told Reuters that Mexico's oil exports would remain close to 1 MMbpd for much of the year, despite plans announced by Pemex to slash them to less than half that so it could refine more crude.

We remind that n late January, 2022, Pemex signed a long-term crude supply contract with Royal Dutch Shell Plc as part of its acquisition of the Deer Park refinery in Texas. Pemex and Shell in May, 2021, announced the transaction, which is worth almost USD600 MM and will make the Mexican firm the sole owner of the refinery near Houston. The facility has capacity to process 340,000 bpd. Shell will supply about 200,000 bpd of foreign and US crude to the plant for at least 15 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 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.
mrchub.com

Solvay, a leading global supplier of specialty polymers, has introduced a new medical grade of Ixef PARA for single-use surgical instruments and biopharma processing components with rotating parts, as per the company's press release.

Ixef GS-5022 brings increased lubrication to the well-known combination of mechanical properties and ultra-smooth finish associated with Ixef GS-1022, already widely used in healthcare applications.

“Ixef GS-5022 has been developed to meet customer needs for single-use instruments with moving parts that require smooth, minimum force movement and reduced noise,” said Guruprasad Sivakumar, Head of Healthcare Marketing at Solvay. “The increased level of lubrication makes Ixef GS-5022 the ideal solution wherever you expect to have high friction in surgical instruments such as stent crimpers or components of single-use instruments functioning at high rotational speeds.”

Ixef= GS-5022 is an ideal solution to replace metal due to its unique combination of tensile and flexural strength with an aesthetic, ultra-smooth finish. It is also compatible with hospital disinfectants and resistant to high energy gamma radiation without significant changes to its original appearance or physical properties. Therefore, parts made from Ixef GS-5022 can be gamma sterilized in bulk leading to reduced costs, enabling the production of affordable disposable surgical instruments or components for biopharma processing.

As MRC reported before, earlier this month, Solvay partnered with Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials to recycle end-of-life medical components. New collaboration will help customers reach sustainability goals for high-performance Udel PSU polymers in demanding applications.

We remind that Belgian chemicals group Solvay has suspended operations and new investments in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. The suspension is temporary and will be reviewed in due course, a spokesperson said in early March, 2022, adding that the company had put a task force in place to manage the impact of the measures.

We also remind that in August, 2020, through the acquisition of the Solvay polyamide (PA) business, BASF enhanced its R&D capabilities in Asia Pacific with new technologies, technical expertise, and upgraded material and part testing services. BASF is planning to integrate the R&D centers from Solvay into its R&D existing facilities in Shanghai, China, and Seoul, Korea. The enhanced capabilities will boost BASF’s position as a solution provider to develop advanced material solutions for key industries.

Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 24,100 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities.
MRC

Vietnam's Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical will this year roll out a USD1.2 B plan to upgrade and expand its Dung Quat refinery, raising its processing capacity to 7.6 MMt of crude oil a year from 6.5 MMt, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement.

The upgrade and expansion work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025, the company said in a statement, adding that 60% of the funds needed for the plan will come from loans.

The refinery in Vietnam's central province of Quang Ngai plans to raise the proportion of imported crude oil it processes to 35%-46% this year from 21.4% last year, it said. It targets output 6.5 MMt this year, unchanged from last year.

As MRC informd earlier, in January 2022, Binh Son refinery said it was operating above capacity to address supply concerns, as top petroleum firms announced plans to boost imports amid fears of a shutdown of the country's biggest refinery. Binh Son, one of two refineries in the Southeast Asian nation, said it was operating at 103% of capacity and would also import two shipments of crude oil of between 85,000 and 90,000 tons each, during the first days of February.

The announcement comes after Vietnam's other refinery, Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP), which provides 35% of its petroleum needs, cut its production to 80% of capacity, over what media reports and a source familiar with the issue said was a disagreement between shareholders about financing for crude oil. In late January, state oil firm PetroVietnam blamed NSRP for the recent production cut.

We remind that NSRP resumed operations at its new polypropylene (PP) plant in Vietnam on 17 October, 2021, after an unscheduled maintenance. The 400,000 mt year of PP plant was unexpectedly shut on 7 October, 2021, due to a technical glitch.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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

ExxonMobil estimates there will be a USD4 T market by 2050 for capturing CO2 and storing it underground, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement in a presentation.

That is about 60% of the USD6.5 T market the US largest crude producer estimates for oil and gas by then.

Carbon capture is an important emissions reduction technology, according to the International Energy Agency. It involves the capture of CO2 from fuel combustion or industrial processes, transporting it via ship or pipeline, to be stored underground in geological formations or used as a resource to create products.

Large oil companies have been investing to make carbon capture and storage (CCS) a relevant business as international bodies such as Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) point the technology as key to mitigate the effects of global warming.

Exxon is under public pressure to reduce its total emissions as its energy transition strategy does not include renewable sources of energy like solar and wind. It has recently hired Dan Ammann, who led the Cruise self-driving unit of General Motors Co until December, to lead its low carbon business starting on May 1.

As MRC wrote previously, earlier this month, SEE, ExxonMobil, and Ahold Delhaize USA announced their collaboration on an advanced recycling initiative, the first of its kind in the US. The project recycles flexible plastics from the food supply chain and remakes them into new, certified circular food-grade packaging. The initiative is expected to begin this summer and scale over time.

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