Clariant opens its new catalyst production site in Jiaxing, China

Clariant announces the grand opening of its new CATOFIN catalyst production site in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China, with an investment of SFR 80 M, said the company.

Investing in innovations such as CATOFIN is a core element of Clariant's new purpose-led strategy, as expressed in the statement 'Greater chemistry, between people and planet.' Beyond that, the site serves to increase the already expanding footprint in China, adding on to the existing nearby catalyst plants in Jinshan and catalyst R&D centre within the One Clariant Campus in Shanghai. It is a state-of-the-art plant with digitalized operations which are essential to be able continue making high quality catalyst while boosting productivity rates.

CATOFIN is a catalyst for propane dehydrogenation (PDH), which is used in the production of olefins such as propylene. Thanks to its excellent reliability and productivity, CATOFIN delivers superior annual production output, resulting in increased overall profitability for propylene producers.

Additionally, Clariant developed a speciality material called Heat Generating Material (HGM), which reduces the energy consumption of the CATOFIN technology by up to one-third, further highlighting the advantages of this exceptionally reliable, high-yield catalyst solution.

We remind, Clariant, a focused, sustainable, and innovative specialty chemical company, announced the completion of the divestment of its North American Land Oil business to Dorf Ketal, a specialty chemicals manufacturer and service provider headquartered in India, for USD 14.5 million on 31 March 2023. Clariant’s North American Land Oil business is a provider of chemical technologies and services to the North American oil and gas industry and generated sales of USD 115 million in 2022.

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Alpek swung to a first-quarter net loss of USD6m amid poorer demand due to high polyethylene terephthalate (PET) inventory levels in the market, said the Mexican polyester producer.

Overall sales volumes fell by 5% year on year to 1.16m tonnes in the first quarter, with total production down by 9% year on year to 1.38m tonnes in the first quarter.

"The polyester segment experienced softer demand throughout the quarter due to high PET inventory levels in the market, particularly at the beginning of the year, a decrease in exports, as well as continued seasonality," said Alpek CEO Jorge Young in the statement.

"However, despite lower demand in the polyester & chemicals segment in certain industries and rising polypropylene (PP) supply in the Americas, volume remained slightly above that of last quarter," he said.

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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HIF Global, the world’s leading eFuels company, today announced receipt of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Air Quality Permit authorizing the construction and operation of the HIF Matagorda eFuels facility in Matagorda County, Texas, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The permit completes the review of the facilities design and proposed operation which when operated under the permit parameters demonstrates compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources.

When operational, the HIF Matagorda eFuels Facility will produce carbon-neutral shipping fuel and gasoline that can be dropped-in to vehicles in use today without any modification to existing engines or the infrastructure on which they depend.

The carbon-neutral shipping fuel and gasoline will be produced by utilizing approximately 2 million tons of recycled carbon dioxide and combining it with approximately 300,000 tons of green hydrogen separated from water using renewable electricity. HIF Global expects to produce approximately 200 million gpy of carbon-neutral shipping fuel and eGasoline by 2027, with the potential to decarbonize over 400,000 vehicles. HIF Global estimates creating approximately 4,500 direct jobs during the construction phase, which is expected to begin in 2024, and more than 100 permanent operating jobs.

Renato Pereira, CEO of HIF USA, said, “eFuels are decarbonizing the transportation sector now and will reach commercial scale at the HIF Matagorda eFuels Facility. We thank the TCEQ for maintaining a thorough and efficient regulatory review process. Receipt of this initial authorization enables HIF to begin construction in Texas as soon as the engineering, commercial contracting, and financing are complete, which we expect in 2024."

We remind, Russia has increased its diesel exports to Brazil and other parts of Latin America following an embargo on shipments to Europe, traders said and Refinitiv Eikon data showed. Russia has long been the main diesel supplier for Europe, where refineries do not produce enough fuel to meet domestic demand for diesel cars. But a full EU embargo on Russian oil products since Feb. 5 has diverted Russian diesel exports to Asia, Africa, the Middle East and STS loadings.

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Global diesel margins have slumped by about half since February, dragging on refiners' profits, as Russian exports continue despite sanctions, helping output from China and India reach all-time highs in March, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Western sanctions and price caps on Russian crude and oil products introduced in December and February had been expected to tighten oil supplies globally.

However, Russia continues to ship out low-cost oil, enabling its biggest clients - India and China - to boost their refining output and exports. Russian oil products, meanwhile, are being sent in high volumes to oil hubs to be stored and re-exported worldwide.

In addition, several new refining complexes are coming online this year in the Middle East and China, churning out more oil products for export and further depressing refining margins.

India's Reliance Industries, operator of the world's largest refining complex, said in its earnings call on Friday gasoil margins dropped as Russian diesel supplies have remained firm, while an unusually mild winter in Europe led to a build-up in inventories.

Demand for gasoil to replace natural gas in power generation has also fallen after spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices eased from all-time highs, the company said.

Benchmark European diesel barge refining margins drifted to their lowest since February 2022 last week to about USD13.70 a barrel, according to Reuters assessments, pressured by high import volumes and the restart of French refineries after labor-related strikes.

Similarly, Asian gasoil margins have fallen by 31% in April to the lowest since January 2022 at about USD14 a barrel last week because of high inventories and as the arbitrage window to Europe has been shut for months.

Profit on processing a barrel of Brent crude at a typical European refinery has plunged by about 71% to the lowest since January last year to USD3.56 a barrel in April, while refining profit margins in Asia are down by around 57% to USD2.54 a barrel in the month.

We remind, Russia has increased its diesel exports to Brazil and other parts of Latin America following an embargo on shipments to Europe, traders said and Refinitiv Eikon data showed. Russia has long been the main diesel supplier for Europe, where refineries do not produce enough fuel to meet domestic demand for diesel cars. But a full EU embargo on Russian oil products since Feb. 5 has diverted Russian diesel exports to Asia, Africa, the Middle East and STS loadings.

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Dow announced it has selected Linde as its industrial gas partner for the supply of clean hydrogen and nitrogen for its proposed net-zero carbon emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives site in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Final investment decisions for both the Dow and Linde projects are subject to approval by both companies' respective Board of Directors and various regulatory agencies. Final investment decisions are expected in fourth quarter this year for a potential startup of phase 1 in 2027.

Under the parties' framework agreement, Linde will complete the design and engineering for a Linde-owned and operated world-scale air separation and autothermal reformer complex. This complex would be integrated with Linde's existing operations in Fort Saskatchewan.

"Linde's partnership is critical in enabling Dow to advance its plans to decarbonize our Fort Saskatchewan site while growing our business," said Edward Stones, Dow's business vice president, Energy and Climate. "Our customers are looking to Dow to help lower the carbon footprint of their products, and this is an important step in that direction."

Dow's net-zero carbon emissions ethylene cracker and derivatives complex would decarbonize approximately 20 percent of its global ethylene capacity while growing its global polyethylene supply by about 15 percent and supporting approximately USD1 B of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) growth across the value chain by 2030.

The proposed production process at Fort Saskatchewan will convert cracker off-gas into hydrogen as a clean fuel to be used in the ethylene production process and carbon dioxide will be captured onsite to be transported and stored by adjacent third-party carbon storage infrastructure partners.

"The Dow net-zero Fort Saskatchewan project will be a milestone project in global industrial decarbonization," said Dan Yankowski, senior vice president Americas, Linde. "Linde's engineering, large project execution and operations expertise, combined with our long-standing relationship, uniquely positions us to support Dow as it takes an important step towards achieving its decarbonization goals."

We remind, Dow intends to construct the sector's first net-zero carbon emissions ethylene and derivatives complex with respect to scope 1 and 2 carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, at its Fort Saskatchewan (Alberta, Canada) site. The project involves a new 'net-zero carbon emissions' ethylene cracker at the site, set for launching by 2027. It would expand Dow's ethylene and polyethylene capacity by over 200% from its Fort Saskatchewan site, while retrofitting the site's existing assets to net-zero carbon emissions.

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