Mexico Alpek Q2 earnings rise

Mexico Alpek Q2 earnings rise

Mexican polyester producer Alpek reported on Tuesday a rise in Q2 earnings because sales rose faster than costs, said the company.

The company attributed the increase to high demand and costs for marine freight, which restricted imports.Volumes rose because of the recent acquisition of OCTAL. Excluding that deal, volumes would have been down 2% quarter on quarter and flat year on year because of scheduled maintenance at a plant.

Earnings rose because of higher margins.

Volumes fell because of slightly lower demand for polypropylene (PP). This was partially offset by higher volumes for expandable polystyrene (EPS).

Earnings rose year on year because of higher margins for PP.

Looking ahead, Alpek raised its guidance because margins were higher than expected during the first half of the year for PET, PP and EPS. Overall, Alpek's outlook remains positive for the rest of 2022.

We remind, Alpek, Indorama and FENC announced earlier that Corpus Christi Polymers (CCP) will resume construction on the facility in August. The plant is expected to begin production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) in early 2025. Construction of the state-of-the-art plan is resuming following a period of pandemic-related disruptions. The new facility is expected to be the largest vertically integrated PTA-PET production plant in the Americas, with annual capacities of 1.1m tonnes of PET and 1.3m tonnes of PTA. It will employ three state-of-the-art technologies.
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LyondellBasell looks at boosting capacity of Channelview plant

LyondellBasell looks at boosting capacity of Channelview plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell's sprawling chemical plant in Channelview may get even bigger, said Houstonchronicle.

The international chemical giant, operated out of Houston, said Wednesday it is evaluating an expansion to potentially boost the Channelview plant's ethylene capacity by 550 million pounds per year. Preliminary engineering work has begun to determine the feasibility of the project. If LyondellBasell decides to proceed, the expansion could be finished by 2017.

Among the largest petro­chemical plants along the Gulf Coast, the Channelview facility covers 3,900 acres and employs 2,000 people. The north side of the complex makes feedstocks such as ethylene, propylene and benzene for operations at the south plant, which makes propylene oxide, styrene monomer and other chemical building blocks for the manufacturing of clothing, bedding, packaging and automotive parts.

The proposed expansion project would be the latest investment for the company, which has announced a series of expansions and construction projects in recent years. The U.S. shale boom touched off a petrochemical resurgence along the Gulf Coast, thanks to vast supplies of natural gas, which have created cheap and abundant fuel and feedstock for chemical plants. Nearly 200 projects worth USD124 billion have been announced in the past four years.

At Channelview, Lyondell has work underway to install two large cracking furnaces slated to boost production by 250 million pounds per year. Construction is set to finish early next year. The company recently completed a project in La Porte to add 800 million pounds of ethylene capacity and the same amount of capacity is being added to its Corpus Christi plant, with work slated to be done in late 2015.

The capacity boost provided by those projects is equal to building a new stand-alone cracking unit, the company said. Combined, these expansions will boost LyondellBasell's ethylene capacity to1.85 billion pounds per year. Adding to the Channelview plant could raise that number up to 2.4 billion pounds per year.

As per MRC, LyondellBasell, the world's largest polyolefins producer, has shut its Equistar Chemicals polypropylene (PP) plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana, following a lightning strike. The lightning strike occurred July 13.

Equistar Chemicals, LP, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a joint venture between Lyondell Chemical Company and Millennium Chemicals Inc. and combines their olefins, polymers and oxygenated chemicals businesses. Equistar is one of the world's largest producers of ethylene, propylene and polyethylene and a leading producer of ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, polypropylene, specialty polymers, wire and cable resins, and polyolefin powders. Equistar was formed in December 1997 and has 17 manufacturing sites located primarily along the U.S. Gulf Coast and in the Midwest.
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TotalEnergies signed a new production sharing contract with Sonatrach

TotalEnergies signed a new production sharing contract with Sonatrach

TotalEnergies signed today with Sonatrach, Occidental and Eni an extension of its Production Sharing Contract for a period of 25 years for onshore Blocks 404a and 208 in the Berkine basin, in Eastern Algeria, sai the company.

This contract, signed under the new Algerian Hydrocarbon Law published in 2019, will allow to develop additional liquids hydrocarbon resources, while reducing these fields carbon intensity through a dedicated carbon reduction program. The opportunity to develop and valorize associated gas resources will be studied by the partners, thus increasing export potential towards Europe.

“This new contract on Berkine asset, under the Algerian new Hydrocarbon Law, marks a new milestone in the strategic partnership with Sonatrach. This project is in line with the Company’s strategy to develop low-cost oil while contributing to carbon reduction programs to minimize our carbon footprint”, commented Laurent Vivier, Senior Vice President Middle East and North Africa, Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies.

As per MRC, TotalEnergies Marine Fuels and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) have successfully completed the first biofuel bunker operation for a vehicle carrier in Singapore. The local operation was made possible with support from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. The MOL-operated car and truck carrier, Heroic Ace, was refueled by TotalEnergies-supplied biofuel on 11th June 2022 via ship-to-ship transfer, while the carrier performed cargo operations simultaneously. The biofuel has been consumed during the carrier’s voyage to Jebel Ali, in the United Arab Emirates.
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BASF gives final approval for the construction of the Zhanjiang Verbund site

BASF gives final approval for the construction of the Zhanjiang Verbund site

BASF gave final approval for the construction of its Zhanjiang chemical complex, the company said, with the focus now on building a steam cracker and several plants for producing petrochemicals and intermediates.

The site, which will be the company's third-largest globally once complete, is due to be fully operational by 2030.

The company will focus on building the core of the site, which will include a steam cracker and several other petrochemicals and intermediates, BASF said.

The company plans to invest up to EUR10bn by 2030 to build the new site, it said. By then, the site should be fully operational. It will be BASF’s third largest Verbund site, after Ludwishafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.

BASF had started construction of the first plants at the site in 2020. It is starting up the first engineered plastics unit. A plant that will make thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) should start up in 2023.

As per MRC, BASF and Sinopec are further expanding their joint Verbund site in Nanjing, China. It is manufactured by BASF-YPC Co., Ltd. (BASF-YPC), a 50:50 joint venture between the two companies. The capacities of several downstream chemical plants will be expanded for the growing Chinese market. This also includes the construction of a new tertiary butyl acrylate plant.

As per MRC, BASF completed a double-digit million euro investment to increase production capacity for Tinopal CBS optical brighteners at its Monthey site. Following phase one of the stepwise capacity increase in 2021, the recent completion of the investment program has now brought significantly increased capacity on stream to meet growing global customer demand.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
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Nouryon achieves carbon neutrality at five manufacturing sites

Nouryon achieves carbon neutrality at five manufacturing sites

Nouryon, a global specialty chemicals leader, announced that five manufacturing sites are carbon neutral1, said the company.

This achievement supports the company’s sustainability agenda, ‘Commitment to a Sustainable Future’, which includes targets to reduce operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 2 by 40% by 2030, versus a 2019 base year, as well as Nouryon’s aspiration to be a net-zero organization by 20503.

The five carbon neutral sites in Brazil operated by Nouryon (Imperatriz, Eunapolis, Tres Lagoas (2) and Jacarei), are part of the company’s Integrated Manufacturing Model, offering on-location sodium chlorate and/or chlorine dioxide production. Modern pulp mills normally generate excess utilities (e.g., such as steam and water from the pulping process) that can be used as fuel in other manufacturing processes. Nouryon uses renewable energy from our customers sourced primarily from biomass. These reused resources effectively lower the carbon footprint of the site while producing chemicals more efficiently. Simultaneously, on-site production reduces transportation requirements.

These five sites have low Scope 1 GHG emissions and reported zero Scope 2 GHG emissions, which has been independently assured 4 by ERM CVS. These low, remaining emissions are offset by the purchase of certified 5 carbon offsets, created from renewable energy projects.

"Nouryon is proud to deliver products produced by carbon neutral manufacturing sites in close partnership with our customers,” said Ann Lindgarde, Vice President Renewable Fibers. “We are committed to continuously improving our sustainability performance and offering, while delivering essential solutions to the pulp, tissue and packaging industry."

“Nouryon recognizes that this is an important step in our sustainability journey. We will continue to look for GHG emissions reduction opportunities throughout our operations, and in collaboration with customers, suppliers and partners as part of our longer-term commitments,” said Eduardo Nardinelli, Senior Vice President, South America & Global Carbon Business Leader. “Our plans include improving efficiency in our operations, optimizing our fuel mix, as well as increasing our use of renewable energy through power purchase agreements, on-site renewable projects, utility programs and renewable electricity certificates."

As per MRC, Nouryon, a global specialty chemicals leader, has received multiple awards from the Texas Chemical Council (TCC) and Association of Chemical Industry of Texas (ACIT) recognizing the company’s manufacturing facilities for continuous improvement in safety, emergency response, security, and environmental stewardship in 2021.

As per MRC, Nouryon (formely AkzoNobel Specialy Chemicals), a global specialty chemicals leader, has started production at a new manufacturing facility located at its site in Ningbo, China, to meet increasing demand in the Asia region for polymers used in the Packaging, Paints and Coatings and Construction end-markets. The facility, which began development in 2020, has an annual capacity of 35,000 tons and will produce two key intermediates - tert-Butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) and tert-Butyl alcohol (TBA) - which are essential ingredients in the production of polymers and composites.
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