Polish customer relies on Cincinnati Extrusion's KryoSys for the production of PE multi layer pipes

March 25 (Cet-Austria.com) -- In terms of an international industrial developement Cincinnati Extrusion's KryoSys tipped the scales for the Polish company KNG AWANS Sp. z.o.o., Czarnkow, in favor of placing the order for an HDPE 3-layer pipe extrusion line with the Viennese machine manufacturer.

KNG AWANS Sp. z.o.o. is a producer of water, sewage and pressure pipes made from PE 100, PE 80 and PVC, as well as PVC pipe fittings for the domestic market.

Several plans had already been in existence for expanding the production capacity, but the limited length of KNG's production hall had presented serious problems. With the KryoSys line now ordered from Cincinnati Extrusion, however, KNG AWANS can produce HDPE 3-layer pipes with a thin outer PP-H layer in diameters from 90 to 630 mm and a layer distribution of 25% / 50% / 25% on an extrusion line almost halved in overall length.

The line consists of two monos+ 60 single-screw extruders for the two HDPE layers and a talos 45 as co-extruder for the thin outer PP-H layer. The pipe head, a KryoS 63-1200 3-Coex, ensures excellent distribution accuracy while keeping the length of the entire line short thanks to its integrated melt cooling system.

The line will be installed at KNG AWANS' premises in the second half of this year.

MRC


Saudi Aramco, Total to raise US$8 bln in debt financing for refinery and petrochemical project

March 25 (plastemart) -- Saudi Aramco and Total SA expect to raise US$8 bln in debt financing for a joint refinery and petrochemical project for Satorp in the ⌠coming months. The US$8 bln debt package includes the sale of Islamic bonds, or sukuk. The 400,000 bpd refinery in Jubail will cost more than US$12 bln. The cost, including financing expenses, will also be funded by Saudi Arabia, which will contribute over US$1 bln to the project and by the partners' equity. The project Satorp is expected to start operation in mid-2013.


Aramco is investing in refining capacity even though returns are currently poor. Globally, refiners have postponed expansion projects and idled plants as the global recession eroded demand and squeezed profit margins. The company is likely to develop integrated refining and petrochemical plants for all future projects to add value by using products from refining for chemical production. Aramco may sell part of its stake in the project in an initial public offering in 2011 or 2012, so that 25% of Satorp will be publicly traded. Aramco and Total would then hold equal 37.5% stakes.

MRC


Borealis announces new Chairman of the Supervisory Board

March 25 (Borealis) -- Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, announces the nomination of H.E. Khadem Al Qubaisi, Managing Director of the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and Chairman of the Board of Aabar Investments, as the new Chairman of the Borealis Supervisory Board, effective March 5, 2010.

He assumed the role from Gerhard Roiss, OMV Deputy Chairman, who will become Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board. In accordance with the rotation principle agreed to by the shareholders in the shareholders agreement, IPIC has the right to nominate the Chairman of the Supervisory Board until 31 December 2011.

Additional Board members are David Davies, OMV Chief Financial Officer; Mohamed Al Mehairi, Investment Department Director of IPIC and Mohamed Al Khaja, Deputy Director of Research & Business Development of IPIC.

MRC

MRC Reference

Borealis. The share in the Russian market in 2008:

polyethylene - 4.1% (including HDPE - 4.7%, LLDPE в─⌠ 8.7%);
polypropylene в─⌠ 3.2% (PP-impact - 7.5%).

Annual sales growth in Russia over the last 5 years:
polyethylene - 11%;
polypropylene в─⌠ 6%.

Leader in polymers processing technologies:
extrusion coating;
cable extrusion;
injection molding.

Asian PVC makers eye cost relief from new cracker start-ups

March 25 (ICIS news)--A deluge of new ethylene capacities, led by Shell's massive 800,000 tonnes/year mixed feed cracker in Singapore, could ease the cost pressure on ethylene-based polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producers in Asia and give them an edge over their carbide-based competitors, industry sources said on Thursday.

Crackers with capacities totalling more than 10m tonnes/year were expected to come on stream in the Middle East and Asia this year, adding to the 6m tonnes/year capacity in operation since 2009.

Although most of the new capacity would go into the polyethylene (PE) and monoethylene glycol (MEG) markets, industry sources said its impact on the PVC market would still be significant.

⌠The PE and MEG markets will probably need to buy less ethylene (as a result of the new capacities) at a time when some of the new crackers have spare material to sell. Ethylene prices will come under downward pressure, said a Chinese ethylene-based PVC supplier.

About three-quarters of global ethylene output goes to PE and MEG production, while 12% was being consumed for manufacturing PVC, market players said. PVC is a key product used on construction materials like pipes.

Prices of carbide-based PVC grade had softened in recent weeks, dampening buying interest for ethylene-based PVC, traders and producers said.

Offers for April-arrival ethylene-based PVC in the key China market had been met with stiff resistance so far, even though seasonal demand for the product was supposed to have kicked in, they noted.

Carbide-based PVC in east China was at yuan (CNY) 7,250-7,300/tonne ($1,062-1,069/tonne) ex-warehouse (EXWH) on 19 March, lower than ethylene-based PVC prices of CNY7,400-7,600/tonne EXWH, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

⌠The question producers are asking is how much ethylene prices can come down by. Hopefully it will be enough for us to compete more effectively with carbide-based PVC producers, said a PVC producer.

Ethylene was at $1,170-1,230/tonne (┬865.8-910.2/tonne) CFR (cost and freight) northeast Asia last week, with the spread between naphtha and ethylene prices was at $459/tonne (┬344/tonne), ICIS pricing data showed.

Given that cracker operators could break even on a spread of $250-300/tonne, the new ethylene capacities should narrow the current spread considerably, producers said.

With naphtha prices at $740/tonne (cost and freight) CFR (cost and freight) Japan, a spread of $250-300/tonne would equate to an ethylene price of just over $1,000/tonne CFR NE (northeast) Asia.

The last time this happened, China had welcomed ethylene-based PVC imports as the country's carbide-based PVC producers lost their competitiveness, market players said.

⌠If oil reached $150/bbl and naphtha was over $1,000/tonne CFR Japan, it would still be difficult for ethylene-PVC producers to compete [with] their carbide-based counterparts, said a northeast Asian PVC producer.

But the newly started crackers may not run at high operating rates immediately, industry sources said.

⌠It will be a while before we actually see the impact on PVC prices, a trader said.

China's calcium carbide capacity also remained a factor. Despite the Chinese government's efforts to curb the industry's growth on environmental grounds, the country still has an annual production capacity of 22m tonnes/year with an operating rate of just below 70%, market players said.

Considering current plans to add another 7m tonnes/year of calcium carbide capacity, carbide-based PVC producers in China might still be able to compete effectively on costs, industry sources added.

MRC


Aramco, Dow mull new location for petchem plant-sources

March 24 (Reuters) -- State oil giant Saudi Aramco and U.S. firm Dow Chemical are considering relocating their planned giant petrochemical complex to Jubail, industry sources said on Wednesday.

When Aramco and Dow announced plans to build the $20-billion plus plant, they initially chose Ras Tanura, home to the world's biggest offshore oil facility, for the complex that would produce 8 million tonnes per year of petrochemicals.

But the cost of reclaiming the land at Ras Tanura and congestion at the site had led Dow and Aramco to reconsider plans, the sources said.

"They are studying their options...either in Jubail or Ras Azzour...the best option is Jubail," one source said.

Aramco and Dow have already requested land in Jubail, said another source. "Jubail, most likely yes," said a third source familiar with the plans.

Both Dow and Aramco spokespeople declined to comment on the possibility of changing location.

"All I can say about these reports from the Dow side is the project continues to progress through the initial development phases," said a Dow spokesperson. "The evaluation phase of the project is on schedule and will be completed later this year."

Aramco and Dow would need approximately two to three months to get approval for the move from Saudi authorities, said a fourth source.

The size of the project was expected to remain the same but with a slight additional cost as studies would have to be conducted again on the new area and pipelines would be laid out, one of the sources said. Still, the overall cost could fall due to the lower land expense, one source said.

"To reclaim the land in Ras Tanura is very costly while you have lots of land available nearby," one source said.

The alternative location at Jubail, where there is already a 305,000 bpd refinery and where Aramco and France's Total plan to build another 400,000 bpd refinery, is already a major hub for petrochemicals. It is between Ras Azzour and Ras Tanura on the Gulf coast.

The Saudi government has already completed an expansion phase of infrastructure at Jubail, where plots of land are ready for construction.

"Jubail is better for synergies and integration with other petrochemical plants, and it has everything including an export terminal," said Sadad al-Husseini, a former top executive at Saudi Aramco.

Dow's investment in Ras Tanura would have been the largest ever single foreign investment in the energy sector of the world's top oil exporter and the plant would be one of the largest petrochemical facilities in the world.

Aramco and Dow have agreed to spend $1.2 billion on engineering work alone for their Ras Tanura petrochemical plant.

U.S. firm KBR Inc along with Foster Wheeler and Jacobs Engineering Group Inc are all conducting the front-end engineering and design of the petrochemicals complex. The engineering work was due to be completed by the first or second quarter of this year.

The complex was to be integrated with the 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) expansion of the Ras Tanura refinery, already the largest plant in the Middle East with capacity of 550,000 bpd. The Ju'aymah gas processing plant would also have fed into the initial complex.

The refinery expansion has been on hold since last year, when Aramco sent letters to bidders for construction contracts at the plant telling them the project was deferred.

MRCMRC Reference