Grace welcomes new UNIPOL Polypropylene Technology licensee in Egypt

Grace, the leading independent supplier of polyolefin catalyst and polypropylene (PP) technology, has licensed its UNIPOL PP technology to Red Sea National Petrochemicals Co. (Red Sea Co.), said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

As a leading force driving further development of the petrochemicals industry in Egypt, Red Sea Co. is establishing a state-of-the-art, integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex to produce polyolefins, as well as PET polyester. The UNIPOL® PP technology plant will have the industry’s largest single PP reactor line with the greatest KPA capacity to produce homopolymers and random copolymers.

Laura Schwinn, President of Grace’s Specialty Catalysts business said, “This integrated complex will be the first of its kind in Africa and will significantly strengthen Red Sea Co.’s position in the region. We are excited to participate and deliver world scale polypropylene technology to Red Sea Co. and to partner with them to help satisfy their local and export market needs through leading process, catalyst, and product expertise.”

Eng. Mohamed Abady, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer added, “Our decision to choose Grace was based on the advanced technology they use to drive operational efficiencies and the PPartner Program™ services they offer to support us for the life of the plant.”

We remind, W. R. Grace & Co. (Grace) the leading independent supplier of polyolefin catalyst technology and polypropylene (PP) technology, has received a commitment from PT Kilang Pertamina International (PT KPI) to use Grace’s UNIPOL PP technology, which is part of its larger initiative, the Trans-Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) Olefin Complex Development Project in Indonesia.
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AkzoNobel expects its third-quarter earnings to fall year on year, the Dutch paints and coatings major said.

Its adjusted operating income in the July-September 2022 is projected to be in the range of EUR195m-215m, down from EUR241m in the same period last year, the company said in a statement. AkzoNobel will announce its Q3 financial results on 20 October.

It said that “customers and channel partners in the paints and coatings industry are proactively destocking” in Europe and China. “Current demand trends are expected to continue in Q4, whilst benefits will come from the company’s own initiatives to reduce costs, improve working capital and ongoing pricing initiatives,” the company said.

“While Q3 will see the highest raw material cost impact since the inflation cycle started early 2021, pricing will continue to offset raw material and freight inflation,” AkzoNobel said. “Overall raw material supply is normalizing and raw material prices are starting to soften broadly,” the Dutch producer added.

In the second quarter, AkzoNobel's net income fell by 59.4% year on year to EUR106m, weighed down by higher raw material and freight costs.

We remind, AkzoNobel bolsters its performance coatings portfolio after reaching an agreement to acquire the wheel liquid coatings business of Lankwitzer Lackfabrik GmbH. Completion of which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected before end-2022. Lankwitzer's Rims and Wheel business operates out of a manufacturing site in Leipzig, Germany. Its products are approved for use by car manufacturers such as Daimler, Audi, VW, Opel, Fiat and Renault.
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MOOSCOW (MRC) -- Selenis has acquired specialty PET resin production in North Carolina, said the company.

The batch production lines purchased by Selenis in Fayetteville, NC have an annual production capacity of 55 million pounds. They are used to manufacture Glycol Modified PET (PETG).

In a press release, Selenis officials said that given the continued development and growth of the North American market, the company “continues to pursue its expansion plans towards local production.”

“Our goal is always to take care of our employees, our customers and our shareholders,” said CEO Duarte Matos Gil. “This new agreement will help us expand the geographic and industry reach of our products.”

Officials added that Selenis is “very focused” on sustainability, centering its innovation on developing products with up to 50 percent recycled content and fully recyclable PET solutions. The company’s advances in molecular recycling “transform waste into the building blocks of their specialty resins, helping to fight climate change.”

Earlier this year, Selenis renewed its Recyclass certifications for the traceability of recycled content. The certifications attest to the use of 30 percent and 50 percent post-consumer recycled content in the company’s Eco Resins that it commercialized in 2019.

Also read: Selenis buys DAK's PET resin manufacturing facility in North Carolina.

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.

Based in Portalegre, Portugal, Selenis manufactures specialty polyester, PET and copolyester resins. The company is owned by the investment firm IMG Group from Porto, Portugal. IMG also owns global polyester film manufacturer Evertis and is a 50:50 partner with Mexico’s Alpek Group in a PET bottle resin plant in Montreal.
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France's refined products sector is under strain as a result of strike action over pay and unplanned maintenance which have led to more than 40% of its refining capacity being taken offline, said Reuters.

The outages come at a time where Europe is looking to ease its dependence on Russian fuel. Here are the oil companies and sites affected by strike action and outages.

French unions CGT and Force Ouvriere called for a strike on Sept. 20 following wage negotiations with ExxonMobil related to rising inflation in Europe. Strike action continued on Sept. 27 with wage discussions still underway, an ExxonMobil spokesperson told Reuters.

"This unfortunate situation may impact our customers, contractors, suppliers, and employees, and affects the international reputation of Exxon Mobil activities in France," the spokesperson said. Exxon began gradually closing the 240,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Jerome-Gravenchon oil refinery on Sept. 20, which was completed on the weekend of Sept. 24.

Exxon began closing the NGD petrochemical site on Sept. 20 as a result of strike action and completed the shutdown on the weekend of Sept. 24.

Strike action spread to Exxon’s 235,000 bpd Fos-Sur-Mer refinery on Sept. 21, leading to a gradual shutdown of the plant, which was completed on the weekend of Sept. 24.

Workers at Exxon’s Toulouse depot joined the strike on Sept. 22 but Exxon said on Sept. 27 that operations at its terminals have not been impacted.

French union CGT began a three-day strike over wages on Sept. 27 across TotalEnergies’ platforms, which has disrupted refined product distribution across the oil firm's five French refineries.

"In anticipation of the strike, TotalEnergies has taken the necessary logistical measures to be able to supply its service station network and its customers normally," a TotalEnergies spokesperson said.

No product is leaving TotalEnergies’ 240,000 bpd Gonfreville oil refinery, the 119,000 bpd Feyzin oil refinery, the 230,000 bpd Donges refinery and La Mede biorefinery, CGT union delegate Thierry Defresne said.

Very little product is currently leaving the 102,000 bpd Grandpuits refinery, and distribution will be halted on Sept. 28, a union official at Grandpuits told Reuters on Sept. 27.

Product transport from the Cote d’Opale fuel storage depots near Dunkirk has also stopped, CGT union delegate Thierry Defresne said.

TotalEnergies' 119,000 bpd Feyzin oil refinery in southern France was taken offline on Sept. 16 after a leak at the fluid catalytic cracking unit. The refinery is likely to remain closed for 4-6 weeks from that date, CGT union delegate Thierry Defresne said.
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Indian Oil Corporation Limited is expanding the petrochemical capacity of its Gujarat refinery (LuPech Project), said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Nuberg EPC, the leading Indian Global EPC and turnkey project management company today announced that it has been selected by Indian Oil for the construction of Rs 650+ crore Sulfur Recovery Plant consisting of Sulfur Recovery Unit (1 x 400 TPD) including control room and substation for sulfur block under international competitive bidding. Indian Oil, a Government of India Enterprise, is the country's top refiner and fuel retailer. The Sulphur Recovery Plant is being built with in Indian Oil's existing facility of Vadodra, Gujaratfor Petrochemical and Lube Integration Project.

Nuberg EPC shall be executing this project using the latest French technology to future proof Indian Oil's Environmental Sustainability and augmenting Sulphur production capability. The 1 x 400 TPD Sulphur Recovery Unit will enable Indian Oil to recover sulfur from Sour Gas a by-product of the refinery. The Plant is expected to be ready for production in just 28 months. The company is taking up the project on LSTK basis including the technology.

On being awarded the project, Mr. A. K. Tyagi, CMD, Nuberg Engineering commented, "We are thankful to Indian Oil Corporation Limited for entrusting another turnkey project to our engineering capabilities and EPC services and solutions. This partnership with Indian Oil is in addition to Nuberg EPC building and commissioning India's first commercial scale Hydrogen Purification (fuel cell grade), Compression, Storage Dispensing Facility for Indian Oil at Vadodara. The 1.5 TPD project involves generation of ultra-pure hydrogen and its storage at extremely high pressure."

This Sulfur Recovery Plant project from Indian Oilcomes as another milestone for Nuberg EPC. Nuberg EPC has in recent past bagged prestigious projects including Castic Soda Plant project for Lineer Kostik Soda Sanayi Anomin Sirketi in Turkey, Sulfuric Acid Project for Sprea Misr in Egypt, Sulfuric Acid Plant Project for Awash Melkassa Chemical Factory in Ethiopia, Sulfuric Acid Plant Project for International Company for Chemical Industry in Egypt,and Hydrogen Peroxide Plant for Uzbekistan Hydrogen JU LLC in Uzbekistan.

Nuberg EPC's proven global execution experience and in-house strengths of driving technology-oriented projects has already made her a global leader for executing turnkey projects worldwide. The company has also set-up and commissioned multiple plants in Chemicals Fertilizers, Hydrocarbon, Steel, and Nuclear Defense industries globally. Being a responsible global corporate citizen, Nuberg EPC is committed to innovating world class technologies and processes. The company is actively delivering projects globally leveraging its Indian strengths and is expanding its footprints in Hydrogen - Green, Grey, and Blue; 2G 3G Ethanol, Water Electrolysis, Water Soluble Fertilizers and Next Generation Nutrients, in addition to traditional strengths.

We remind, Indian Oil Refining and Marketing Company Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) plans to invest 1.4 trillion rupees (USD17.65 billion) in petrochemicals, city gas and clean energy businesses in the next five years, a new agency Press Trust of India (PTI). The investment is part of the firm’s efforts to develop its non-fuel business.
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