Tessenderlo Group to grant a permit for the construction of a second gas plant in Belgium

Tessenderlo Group to grant a permit for the construction of a second gas plant in Belgium

Tessenderlo Group was informed of the decision by the Flemish Minister of Justice and Enforcement, Environment, Energy and Tourism to grant a permit for the construction of a second 900 MW gas plant in Tessenderlo, Belgium, said the company.

Tessenderlo Group will now prepare for its participation in the next Capacity Remuneration Mechanism (CRM) auction in September 2022.

In March 2022, Tessenderlo Group submitted another permit application to the Flemish Region for the construction of a new 900 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in Tessenderlo (Belgium). In view of future auctions, Tessenderlo Group adjusted its previously submitted project (an investment of approximately 500 million EUR) to respond to the objections that led to the refusal of that application.

Tessenderlo Group is a diversified industrial group that focuses on agriculture, valorizing bio-residuals, energy, and providing industrial solutions with a focus on water. The group employs more than 4,800 people, is a leader in most of its markets and recorded a consolidated revenue of 2.1 billion EUR in 2021. Tessenderlo Group is listed on Euronext Brussels and is part of Next 150 and BEL Mid indices.

We remind, Performance Chemicals, which is a business unit of Tessenderlo Group, is changing its name to Kuhlmann Europe. Under the new banner of Kuhlmann Europe, the business unit decided not only to look to its future but also to return to its roots and its illustrious founder: Frederic Kuhlmann. For almost 200 years, the business unit has played an essential role in wastewater treatment and potabilization, disinfection, and health.

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RadiciGroup, acquisition of Ester Industries Ltd. completed

RadiciGroup, acquisition of Ester Industries Ltd. completed

The acquisition closing is now completed. RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers acquired the Engineering Plastics business of the Indian company Ester Industries Ltd., said the company.

Last May, RadiciGroup announced this important action aimed at strengthening its internationalization strategy, with an investment of around 35 million euros: the transaction allows RadiciGroup - in India since 2006 - to further reinforce its local presence through the acquisition of one of the main and historic players on the Indian market.

For RadiciGroup this is a significant industrial investment in which Ester Industries Ltd sells its newly built production plant in the city of Halol (Gujarat), West of India: compound lines, R&D laboratories, customers/suppliers contracts as well as its leading brand ESTOPLAST which includes different types of compounds used primarily in the Electrical/Electronic and Telecommunications markets.

Ester Industries Ltd - one of the leading Indian producers of polyester films, engineering plastics and special polymers - has seen in RadiciGroup the ideal partner to follow up on its consolidated experience in the engineering polymers business, in order to focus on the packaging film sector, a business the Indian firm intends to continue and strengthen.

The new production site, under construction, will become operational at the beginning of 2023, following the various transfers of tangible and intangible assets. As a result of the acquisition, the Group aims to achieve total annual sales in the Indian market of more than EUR 50 million.

We remind, RadiciGroup is to acquire the engineering plastics group of India-based polyester films player Ester Industries. The company will invest EUR35m in the business, which includes a production site near Gujarat that is due to be operational next year. The deal also includes the transfer of compound lines, research laboratories, customer and supplier contacts and Ester Industries compound brand ESTOPLAST.

RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers is a multinational organization with the capacity to manufacture and supply engineering polymers (based on polyamide, polyester and other materials) around the globe, with the backing of a production and sales network across all continents, as well as research and development increasingly focused on high-performance polymers.
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Nalco Water to deliver water treatment works for Shell Jurong Island

Nalco Water to deliver water treatment works for Shell Jurong Island

Nalco Water, Ecolab’s water and process management business, will design, build, operate, own and maintain a new water treatment plant at Shell Jurong Island, a chemicals manufacturing site, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The plant is scheduled to commence operations in July 2023 and is expected to contribute to Shell’s water conservation ambition. Ecolab will oversee the design and build process, as well as the commissioning and operation once complete.

The design includes a stage that will pass water through a pre-treatment, ultrafiltration process so that even when there are wider variances in water quality passing through the feed, better consistency can be assured in the quality of the final product. Following the pre-treatment stage, there is also a reverse osmosis process that can treat up to 24,000 m3 of water per month.

Ecolab will assign a team of water experts from its Asia Pacific Regional Headquarters in Singapore and other offices in Southeast Asia, with the required operational expertise, to be based at the Shell Jurong Island facility. Combining this on-site expertise with the company’s advanced laboratory testing and technical knowledge will ensure that the water treatment plant runs smoothly and reliably.

Greg Lukasik, Senior Vice President and Market Head for Southeast Asia, Ecolab, said: “Our Ecolab Impact Goals focus on helping our customers save 300 billion gallons of water by 2030. Our purpose is to help our customers move towards more responsible water consumption, so we’re delighted to help Shell advance its ambitions with this new water treatment plant at Shell Jurong Island."

Ronald Doesburg, General Manager, Shell Jurong Island, said: “At Shell, our ambition is to conserve fresh water by reducing consumption and increasing reuse and recycling. To achieve this, we work with global technology organizations like Ecolab to advance our ambition to improve water management and promote circularity and water efficiency in our operations."

We remind, Mitsui Chemicals has asked Shell Catalysts & Technologies for its Shell S-896 catalyst, which is expected to provide important economic benefits from raw material (ethylene) savings and also help the organization meet the decarbonization goals for their ethylene oxide (EO) refinery in Osaka, Japan.
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China August refinery output near 2-year lows on outages

China August refinery output near 2-year lows on outages

China’s refinery crude throughput remained near two-year lows in August due to outages at several state refiners and independent plants which curbed production amid thinning margins and tepid demand, said Reuters.

Refiners processed 53.66 million tonnes of crude oil last month, 6.5% less than a year earlier, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday. That is equivalent to 12.64 million barrels per day (bpd), which was a touch higher than 12.53 million bpd in July but still among the lowest processing levels since early 2020.

Throughput in the first eight months was 434.89 million tonnes, down 6.3% on a year before and equal to about 13.06 million bpd. China’s fuel demand has been hit hard this year as Beijing’s tough COVID-19 control measures stifled mobility and economic activity, with analysts predicting the first annual contraction in oil demand in two decades.

Affecting August output, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Corp’s 320,000-bpd crude facility only resumed partial operation in mid way through the month after more than seven weeks’ of unplanned shutdown.

And PetroChina Wepec’s 200,000-bpd plant only resumed operation in late August after nearly a three months’ outage. Meanwhile, operations at independent refiners in the eastern refining hub of Shandong averaged at just under 65% of capacity in August, down from 70% in July, according to Chinese commodities consultancy JLC.

Independent plants faced policy headwinds with Beijing launching a new tax probe that is set to squeeze their profit margins. Friday’s NBS data showed China’s crude oil production last month slipped 0.2% from a year earlier to 16.94 million tonnes, with daily output at 3.99 million bpd.

Crude oil production in the first eight months rose 3.2% from a year earlier to 136.94 million tonnes (4.11 million bpd). Natural gas production was up 6.3% in August on the year at 17 billion cubic meters. Year-to-date production was up 5.5% at 143.7 bcm.

We remind, crude oil refining capacity has shrunk by a record 3.8 MM barrels per day from March 2020 to mid-2022 as demand expanded, setting the stage for fuel markets to remain very tight until at least mid-decade. The fall in capacity comes as oil demand rose by 5.6 MMbpd over the same period, the report released on Tuesday said. At the same time, about 2 MMbpd of net capacity is expected to come online by the end of 2023, with delays to these timeline likely to arise, the report said. "This puts pressure on all available refining capacity to run at high utilization levels to keep up with demand." Oil product markets experienced sharp upheaval since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020.
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MEGlobal nominates ACP for September at USD800 per tonne

MEGlobal nominates ACP for September at USD800 per tonne

MRC) -- MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) will be USD800/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival September 2022, said the company.

The September 2022 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.

We remind, MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) will be USD820/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival August 2022. The August 2022 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.

MEGlobal is a fully integrated supplier of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), collectively known as ethylene glycol (EG).

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