Shell begins operations at polymers plant in Pennsylvania

Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC announced it has commenced operations of its Pennsylvania Chemical project, Shell Polymers Monaca (SPM), said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Pennsylvania facility is the first major polyethylene manufacturing complex in the Northeastern United States and has a designed output of 1.6 MMt annually.

“Building this world-class facility is a fantastic achievement and one the team can be proud of; it’s a showcase of Shell’s project delivery expertise,” said Huibert Vigeveno, Shell Downstream Director. “With great market access, innovative offers and connected infrastructure, Shell Polymers Monaca is well positioned and ready to serve customers with high-quality, competitive products.”

Strategically located within a 700-mile radius of 70 percent of the U.S. polyethylene market, SPM sits on 384 acres adjacent to the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. SPM contracted most of its natural gas feedstock at Final Investment Decision from the nearby Utica and Marcellus basins. The advantages of proximity are not limited to production; SPM also offers customers shorter supply chains, which translates to increased flexibility and access to polyethylene pellets that can be used in a wide variety of products such as common household goods, consumer and food packaging, as well as industrial and utility products.

The start-up of Shell Polymers Monaca represents an important step in growing Shell’s chemicals business as part of its Powering Progress strategy. The company is increasingly participating in value chains closer to end-use customers and using advantaged feedstocks to deliver more high value products while reducing exposure to commodity chemicals over time.

“I’m proud that in delivering this facility we’ve had a strong and innovative safety focus; invested in the community through employment and education; and helped repair and improve the local environment by remediating a brownfield site. These commitments are core to Shell’s Powering Progress strategy today and will remain so in the years to come,” said Vigeveno.

We remind, Shell said its third-quarter profit would be pressured by a near halving of oil refining margins, crumbling chemical margins and weaker natural gas trading. The British energy giant reported two consecutive quarters of record profit in the first half of the year amid soaring oil and gas prices, and stellar earnings from its trading operations, the world's biggest.

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NC KazMunayGas JSC (hereinafter – KMG) announces the upcoming meetings with retail investors on November 14-15 as part of the roadshow organized by the company for the detailed and extensive coverage of the local IPO of KMG on the Astana International Financial Center Exchange (hereinafter - Astana International Exchange or AIX) and the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), said the company.

Speakers at the meetings will include representatives of Samruk-Kazyna JSC, KMG, and financial advisors of the company.

During the roadshow, the public of the Republic of Kazakhstan will be provided with detailed information on KMG's activities, investment highlights and the company's dividend policy, as well as the terms of the IPO of shares and the procedure for submitting investor applications.

Meetings with retail investors will be held from November 14 to November 25 in the 17 administrative centers of oblasts and the cities of national significance, namely: Almaty, Astana, Shymkent, Atyrau, Turkestan, Karaganda, Aktobe, Zhezkazgan, Kokshetau, Konaev, Petropavlovsk, Taldykorgan, Taraz, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Uralsk, Semey, Aktau, Kyzylorda, Kostanay, and Pavlodar.

Earlier it was reported that on November 8, KazMunayGas launched a new plant for the production of polypropylene with a capacity of 500 thousand tons per year in Atyrau, Western Kazakhstan. The new plant is valued at USD2.6 billion and will be able to produce up to 65 types of polypropylene to meet domestic demand, as well as export polypropylene to foreign markets. It uses Catofin and Novolen technologies provided by Lummus Technology.

The project is managed by Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries, owned by the National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna. The plant was built by China National Chemical Engineering.

KazMunayGas is Kazakhstan's national operator for the exploration, production, processing and transportation of hydrocarbons, representing the interests of the state in the oil and gas industry. 90.42% of the company's shares belong to the state fund "Samruk-Kazyna", 9.58% - to the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
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Covestro has appointed Thorsten Dreier as its new chief technology officer (CTO), effective 1 July 2023, said the company.

Dreier will take over from Klaus Schafer. Currently, Dreier is the head of Covestro’s Coatings & Adhesives division.

In his CTO role, Dreier will have responsibility for the corporate functions Process Technology, Engineering, Group Health, Safety & Environment and Group Procurement.

We remind, Covestro AG (Leverkusen, Germany) broke ground in Antwerp, Belgium for a new world-scale production facility for the manufacture of aniline. With the Covestro breaks ground in Antwerp for new aniline plant.

Covestro is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and their components. With its innovative products, processes and methods, the company helps enhance sustainability and the quality of life in many areas. Covestro supplies customers around the world in key industries such as mobility, building and living, as well as the electrical and electronics sector. In addition, polymers from Covestro are also used in sectors such as sports and leisure, cosmetics and health, as well as in the chemical industry itself.

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Evonik has started manufacturing commercial quantities of ceramides - a special class of lipids - at its site in Dossenheim near Heidelberg in Germany, said the company.

Maximizing capacity utilization at the Dossenheim site provides Evonik with further flexibility and supply security, including increased independence from alternative routes of supply, to cater to the growing demand for ceramides in the personal care market.

The in-house production of ceramides bolsters Evonik’s position as leading provider of ceramide System Solutions. These combine ceramides with Evonik’s delivery systems and formulations to offer customers high-value solutions that are tailored to their unique needs. This reinforces the company’s position in active ingredients.

“Expanding our in-house production capacity for ceramides enables us to meet the demand of our strategic customers who have minimum volume commitments and very long-term agreements with us. We are also in a strong position to supply other customers with the flexibility and security they need,” said Johann-Caspar Gammelin, head of the Nutrition & Care division at Evonik. “This strategic move is our latest contribution to achieving our Vision at Nutrition & Care: life at heart, systems in mind, partners at hand."

Ceramides are an integral part of many System Solutions for customers in the cosmetics industry. System Solutions are multi-component offerings across products, technologies and services that are tailored to a unique customer need and often have proven sustainability benefits. As an entry point to a world of consultancy, application expertise and customer service, System Solutions ensure that Evonik is the preferred partner for customers. By establishing the in-house production of ceramides, Evonik is accelerating the transition of its life sciences division, Nutrition & Care, which aims to increase its share of System Solutions from 20 percent today to 50 percent by 2030.

Ceramides are a special class of lipids. As cosmetic ingredients, their effect has been scientifically proven and is intensively promoted by the cosmetics industry. The market for ceramides offers considerable opportunities with a growing number of applications in skin care, hair care, sun care, color cosmetics, advanced food additives and animal care. Crucial to the effect of ceramides is the active ingredient delivery system, which transports the active ingredients to the correct layers of the skin.

The Care Solutions portfolio for cosmetics and personal care is based on a deep understanding of complex systems, enabling the creation of scientifically substantiated solutions. The portfolio includes sensorial ingredients that enable the design of exciting textures, active ingredients and delivery systems that support efficacy claims, as well as preservatives to prevent the degradation of products. As part of Evonik’s growth division, Nutrition & Care, Care Solutions is guided by a Vision that puts sustainability, innovation and collaboration at its core.

We remind, business line Coating Additives of Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany) is expanding production capacity of ACEMATT precipitated matting agents at its Taiwan manufacturing facility. The significant capacity increase will help meet growing demand for matting agents in Asia, with the capacity expansion expected to be completed by the second half of 2023.

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of EUR15 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of EUR2.38 billion in 2021. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable and sustainable solutions for customers.

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After two years of speculation, gossip and due diligence, on Thursday it was finally confirmed that the Turkish conglomerate Yildirim will buy a majority stake in Petrokemija, said Total-croatia-news.

The only major Croatian petrochemical company produces mineral fertilizers, at such a rate that their production consumes a fifth of the total amount of gas consumed in Croatia. The Turkish company took over the Terra mineral fertilizers company from its previous owners, INA and PPD. That company owns 54 per cent of Petrokemija's shares. How much Ina and PPD earned from the sale to the Turks was not made public.

It was not easy sailing for the Petrokemija companies even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started the global energy crisis. Just three months ago, the CEO of Petrokemija Davor Zmegac told Bloomberg TV that the problems started since the earthquake, the supply chain crisis and the increase in gas prices, and that it is not economically profitable for them to do business at all because their monthly gas bills reach one hundred million euros.

How the new Turkish owners will deal with all of these problems remains to be seen. Local farmers will wait to see if they're still able to count on the fertilizers produced domestically, without which there is no sowing or harvest. The good news is that Yildirim has a rich experience in everything the Kutina company might need at this point.

Although Petrokemija operates with an annual income of around 300 million euros and has 1,250 employees, it will be only a small part of Yildirim Holding, whose annual income is reported to be around two billion euros and employs more than 16,000 people. Yildirim has companies operating in various industries, where the most profitable ones are mining, ports, petrochemicals, logistics and energy. The company was founded in 1963 as a construction business by Garip Yildirim, but has been the fastest-growing Turkish industrial group since 2005. Its current owners are the sons of Garip Yildirim, Ali Riza and Robert, who entered international trade outside the borders of Turkey in 1993 by importing coal from Russia. 15 years ago, they made their first foreign acquisition by taking over the metals company Vargon Alloys in Sweden, and today they have companies in 53 countries on five continents.

Their annual production capacity of all types of fertilizers exceeds two million tons, and Petrokemija produced one million tons of fertilizer in 2020. Given that Petrokemija's production capacity is respectable compared to that of the Turkish owner, serious investments in Kutina and the continuation of operations can be expected. We will soon see what the first steps of the Turkish owners will be and how the integration into the Yildirim group will proceed, but Petrokemija could be on the verge of a renaissance, especially if its plants are able to get some cheap gas, which is probably something new owners have already looked at, and which might be an ace up their sleeve.

We remind, f concrete offer has arrived via Great Britain's fund Devon for the takeover of the debts of Croatia's Dina Petrokemija petrochemical company, the increase of its capital and broadening of production, said Daje, citing Dina management board president Fabio Giacometti. Giacometti told Hina in a telephone interview this was a serious offer. He, however, declined to reveal the name of the investor, saying only that the technical crew hired by the investor to check out Dina plants was from Kazakhstan.

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