Japan, South Korea to set up joint ammonia, hydrogen supply network

Japan and South Korea will establish a joint supply network for carbon-neutral fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia, the Nikkei business daily reported, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will announce the framework on Nov. 17 in the United States, where they are expected to join the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, the paper said.

Japan and South Korea, both highly dependent on energy imports, plan to work together to negotiate prices and volumes, Nikkei said, and state-backed financial institutions would help companies to raise funds for hydrogen and ammonia projects outside Japan and South Korea.

No comment was immediately available from Japan's trade ministry. Japan's Kishida visited the Middle East in July to promote cooperation in green and renewable energy, including hydrogen and ammonia supplies, which Japan wants to play a greater role in its energy mix to cut fossil fuel use.

We remind, Hengyi Industries Sdn. Bhd. reached a significant milestone with the signing of the Pulau Muara Besar Phase 2 Development Project Implementation Agreement with the Petroleum Authority of Brunei Darussalam (PA) and the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB). Concurrently, A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between Zhejiang University (ZJU) and Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).

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South African petrochemical company Sasol said that Sipho Nkosi had stepped down as non-executive director and chairman of the board, effective Nov. 10, said Reuters.

The resignation comes as "he was concerned that some of his business interests may be perceived to place him in conflict with the interests of Sasol," the company said in a statement.

Stephen Westwell, a non-executive and lead independent director, was appointed pro tem chairman of the board from Nov 11, the statement said.

We remind, Sasol said that its chemical sales fell in fiscal 2023 due to lower prices, and that it expects continued pricing and demand volatility in fiscal 2024. The South African energy and chemicals group said chemicals sales revenue fell to USD8.99 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, from USD10.55 billion in fiscal 2022, on lower prices offsetting slightly higher sales volumes.

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Nigeria and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to a series of investment and cooperation deals, including a pledge by the Saudi government to invest in the revamp of Nigeria's oil refineries and provide financial support to sustain the government's foreign-exchange reforms, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The agreements were reached at a bilateral meeting between Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the Saudi-Africa summit in Riyadh. Under Tinubu, Nigeria has embarked on the boldest reforms in decades, scrapping a popular petrol subsidy and unifying the country's multiple exchange rates as part of measures "aimed at improving the ease of doing business."

But liquidity has yet to return to the official currency market with the naira quoted at a premium on the parallel market. Information Minister Mohammed Idris said the Saudi government pledged to make "a substantial deposit of foreign exchange to boost Nigeria's forex liquidity".

In addition, the Saudi government, through Saudi Aramco , will invest in the revamp of Nigeria's four decrepit state refineries which is expected to be completed within two- to-three years, Idris said. Nigeria is seeking more investments to revive an economy plagued by foreign-currency shortages, double-digit inflation, widespread insecurity and theft of crude oil, its key export.

Africa's top oil exporter has made producing its fuels a priority for years but efforts to revamp its refineries have failed, leaving it reliant on imports. Tinubu also assured potential Saudi Arabian investors of the safety of their investments in Africa's largest economy, as he sought to strengthen ties between the two countries, his spokesperson said earlier on Friday.

Tinubu, who was speaking at the Saudi-Africa summit in Riyadh, promised investors "some of the world's highest returns on investment," spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale said. He also called for collaboration to combat Islamist insurgents, including Boko Haram, and other security challenges across Africa's most populous nation.

We remind, Russian fuel producers have been told by the government to prepare for the scrapping of all remaining restrictions on the export of diesel and gasoline. Russia, the world's top seaborne exporter of diesel, introduced a ban on fuel exports on Sept. 21 to tackle high domestic prices and shortages.

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Sahara International Petrochemical Co., also known as Sipchem, has initiated the world’s largest calcium chloride operation at their factory, said Arabnews.

Based in Saudi Arabia, the Khair Inorganic Chemical Industries Co., also known as InoChem, will operate a greenfield of soda ash and calcium chloride industrial complex spanning over 800,000 sq. meters of land in Ras Al-Khair, according to the Saudi Exchange.

Sipchem, which owns 30 percent of InoChem’s capital, will continue the trial until the testing of the plant equipment is completed and its efficiency is confirmed.

The project’s total cost is estimated at SR2.9 billion ($783 million), with an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons of soda ash and 348,000 tons of calcium chloride in various grades, densities, shapes, and sizes. The production employs the latest advanced technologies and equipment.

The plant is also the first soda ash producer in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the largest in the Middle East and North Africa region. The financial impact will be calculated at the beginning of commercial operations. Any material development will be announced in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.

InoChem is a Saudi closed joint-stock company founded in 2016 by a partnership between the public and private sectors.

We remind, Saudi Arabia's Sahara International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) on Wednesday reported a Q3 2023 net profit of 233.1 million riyals ($62 million), 70% lower compared to the year-ago period, said Zawya. The net profit came well below analysts’ mean estimate of SAR 356.7 million, according to LSEG data.

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Saudi chemicals giant SABIC is continuing its push into sustainable resins with two recent product introductions. One project involved developing an in-mold labeling (IML) process that uses SABIC’s certified renewable polypropylene (PP) resins from its TruCircle portfolio in mono-PP, thin-wall container packaging, said Plasticsengineering.

The other had the firm introducing 10 new LNP Elcrin-brand, polycarbonate-based copolymers that contain up to 75 percent certified post-consumer recycled (PCR) content.

For the labeling project, the firm partnered with Dubai-based film supplier Taghleef Industries Group and a pair of Greek firms –– printing specialist Stephanos Karydakis IML S.A. and injection molder Kotronis Packaging –– to create a single-step IML technology with a seamless part decoration right in the injection mold. The result is that the label becomes an integral component of the packaging itself.

The end product uses certified renewable PP resins for both the molded parts and the label film, and the resulting packaging also can be recycled in existing rigid PP recycling streams.

Abdullah Al-Otaibi, general manager of ETP & Market Solutions at SABIC, said: “The demand for in-mold labeled packaging is constantly growing across various different consumer market segments, as it provides major opportunities for cost effective and highly sustainable solutions. … This flexible decoration technology has enormous potential in fully recyclable mono-material packaging with no compromise on shelf visibility and consumer appeal in the retail space.”

We remind, SABIC last month launched a new portfolio of 10 LNP Elcrin copolymer resins that it said can reduce carbon footprint while delivering desirable performance properties and aesthetics. The company claims that, unlike competitive impact-modified polycarbonate resins containing PCR content, these new resins deliver high performance across the board. Depending on the grade, they may provide low-temperature ductility, chemical and weathering resistance, good flow for easy processing, transparency, a broad color space, UV stability and thin-wall flame retardance (FR) meeting the UL94 V-0 rating at 0.6mm.

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