Technip, Ocikumho ink license deal for new epicerol plant in Malaysia

SarawakTechnip En-ergies and Ocikumho, a joint venture of OCIM and Kumho P&B Chemicals, has signed a license agreement for a new Epicerol unit in Malaysia, for the production of epichlorohydrin (ECH), said Apic-Online.

The plant, to be built in Sarawak, will produce 100,000 t/y of ECH from glycerin to meet growing demand. Value of the contract and an expected completion date were not disclosed.

Ocikumho's Epicerol unit will be integrated into a new processing complex using electricity from hydro power. The company will be the first to manufacture ECH in Malaysia, Technip Energies noted.

Epicerol offers a cost-effective process with a reduced carbon footprint compared to traditional propylene-based ECH, said Bhaskar Patel, senior vice president, sustainable fuels, chemicals and circularity at Technip Energies.

This breakthrough technology produces no waste water, fewer emissions, effluents and harmful by-products, making it one of the most environmentally friendly processes possible.

As per MRC, Technip Energies and Alterra Energy have now entered into a global joint development and collaboration agreement to integrate Technip Energies’ pyrolysis oil purification technology with Alterra’s commercially available liquefaction process technology. By integrating both their proprietary processes, the two companies aim to accelerate the adoption of recycled feedstock, thus improving circular economy solutions for the global petrochemical industry. The combination of advanced recycling and purification technologies will enable more efficient processing and reuse of hard-to-recycle plastic.

As per MRC, TechnipFMC announced the launch of the placement of 16 million Technip Energies shares, representing ca. 9% of Technip Energies’ issued and outstanding share capital, through a private placement by way of an accelerated bookbuild offering. Upon completion of the Placement, TechnipFMC would retain a direct stake of ca. 22% of Technip Energies’ issued and outstanding share capital.
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Toyo Engineering has won a contract from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to begin a feasibility study for green ammonia production in Indonesia, under a collaboration with Pupuk Indonesia Holding (PIHC) and Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM), a subsidiary of PIHC, said Apic-online.

Toyo will study the feasibility of green ammonia production at PIM's exiting fertilizer plants, and plans to develop a competitive green ammonia production plant by modifying the existing facility in the most optimum way, and selecting a renewable energy power source, Toyo noted.

As per MRC, Toyo Engineering and SCG Chemicals in Thailand entered into a MOU relating to the joint collaboration for improving the process of turning mixed post-consumer plastics into recycled feedstock for petrochemical businesses.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
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Mumbai Birla Carbon announced global growth plans that include expanding carbon black capacity across strategic markets in Europe, India and China in support of both rubber and specialty applications, said Apic Online.

The company will expand carbon black capacity in India by 80,000 t/y, in Hungary by 40,000 t/y and in China by 80,000 t/y aligned with customer growth plans. It will also be adding capacity for surface treatment of high-value specialty materials in India.

Further expansions will continue to be evaluated in various locations in line with the company's purpose to Share the Strength, driven by customer needs, industry trends and Birla Carbon's aim to be the clear sustainability leader in the industry, Birla Carbon noted.

This investment marks yet another milestone in the transformational journey of Birla Carbon in recent times, said Dr. Santrupt B. Misra, group director of Birla Carbon, and director of chemicals and director of human resources for Aditya Birla Group.

From sustainability to circularity and finally, to its net zero carbon emissions aspiration, Birla Carbon has led changes in the industry, creating new benchmarks in line with customer and industry expectations.

As per MRC, state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has discontinued all activities associated with the disinvestment of the company after the government dropped plans to privatise the firm for now. In a stock exchange filing, the company said the government has through a letter dated June 3, 2022, called off the present tender to sell its entire 53 per cent stake in the company.
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Chemical railcar traffic in North America continues to trend downward from its April peak. During the week ended 4 June, volume totaled 45,852 carloads, down 3.5% from the previous week and up 0.1% year over year (YOY), according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

On a four-week basis, volume declined 0.9% sequentially and 1.9% YOY. For the year to date, chemical railcar traffic in North America is up 2.9% from 2021 and up 6.4% from 2020.

Chemical railcar traffic in the United States contributed 31,938 carloads to the total, down 2.0% YOY and down 4.2% from the previous week. For the year to date, US chemical railcar traffic is up 5.7%. Canadian chemical rail traffic totaled 13,050 carloads, up 3.9% YOY and down 1.3% from the previous week. For the year to date, Canadian chemical railcar traffic is down 4.6%.

North American rail volume for the week ending June 4, 2022, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 319,932 carloads, down 1.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 331,817 intermodal units, down 5.2 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 651,749 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.4 percent. North American rail volume for the first 22 weeks of 2022 was 14,815,546 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.7 percent compared with 2021.

Canadian railroads reported 75,646 carloads for the week, down 3.5 percent, and 67,573 intermodal units, down 9.2 percent compared with the same week in 2021. For the first 22 weeks of 2022, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 3,134,201 carloads, containers and trailers, down 6.1 percent.

Mexican railroads reported 19,012 carloads for the week, up 2.8 percent compared with the same week last year, and 14,005 intermodal units, up 1.2 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 22 weeks of 2022 was 813,863 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 3 percent from the same point last year.

We remind, North American chemical railcar traffic fell by 0.9% year on year. It was the fourth consecutive decline, led by a 2.0% drop in US loadings, which more than offset increases in Canada and Mexico. For the first 21 weeks of 2022 ended 28 May, North American chemical railcar traffic was up 3.1% year on year to 990,052 railcar loadings. With the exception of chemicals, coal and nonmetallic minerals, shipments in all other railcar categories fell for the first 21 weeks.
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State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has discontinued all activities associated with the disinvestment of the company after the government dropped plans to privatise the firm for now, said Newindianexpress.

In a stock exchange filing, the company said the government has through a letter dated June 3, 2022, called off the present tender to sell its entire 53 per cent stake in the company. "Accordingly, all the activities in connection with the disinvestment including the data room are being discontinued," the firm said.

The move by the central government to call off the expression of interest (EoI) followed two out of the three bidders walking out. BPCL had in April last year opened a virtual data room, mostly containing financial information on the company, for the qualified bidders signing Confidentiality Undertaking (CU).

A 'Clean Data Room' containing commercially sensitive information on the firm subject to their signing an additional confidentiality agreement was also opened for bidders.

Bidders which included mining-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta and private equity firms Apollo Global and I Squared Capital's arm Think Gas were also allowed physical inspection of assets such as refineries and depots as part of the due diligence process.

The government was to seek financial bids once bidders completed due diligence and the terms and conditions of the share purchase agreement (SPA) were negotiated. But that stage was never reached. BPCL had in an earnings call with investors on February 2, 2022, stated that no bidder had visited the firm's premises in the previous quarter (October-December 2021).

The data room access for due diligence was available for a period of around 8 weeks. Calling off the bid process, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had stated that multiple pandemic waves and geopolitical situations impacted sectors around the world, especially the oil and gas industry.

"Owing to prevailing conditions in the global energy markets, the majority of QIPs (qualified interested parties) have expressed their inability to continue in the current process of disinvestment of BPCL," it had said last month.

A group of ministers on disinvestment agreed to half the current EoI process and initial bids received from QIPs be cancelled, it had said on May 26. The sale of government's 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL was part of the Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target for 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022). But the COVID-19 outbreak slowed down the sale process and the sale got pushed into 2022-23 before it was put off.

A special purpose vehicle floated by the BSE-listed Vedanta and its London-based parent Vedanta Resources Plc submitted an expression of interest (EoI) for buying the government stake in BPCL before the close of the deadline on November 16, 2020. It continued to be in the fray but the two private equity firms withdrew. BPCL would have given the buyer ownership of around 15.33 per cent of India's oil refining capacity and 22 per cent of the fuel marketing share.

The buyer would have got a 12 million tonne a year refinery at Mumbai, 15.5 million tonne Kochi refinery and 7.8 million tonne Bina unit. BPCL also owns 20,088 petrol pumps, 6,220 LPG distributor agencies and 60 out of 270 aviation fuel stations in the country.

We remind that in April, 2020, BPCL shipped the first consignment of acrylic acid from its Propylene Derivative Petrochemical (PDP) complex at Kochi Refinery. Acrylic Acid is one of the six niche petrochemical products produced in the new PDP Complex at Kochi Refinery.

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 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
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