Linde to build two large air separation plants in China

(The Linde Group) -- The technology company The Linde Group has been commissioned to build and operate two large air separation plants to supply gases on site to the Chinese company Yantai Wanhua in Shandong (East China). The contract for the project, which will involve investment of around EUR 130 m, was signed on 26 July 2011.


The two plants, which are to be built by Linde's Engineering Division, each have a capacity of 55,000 normal cubic metres of oxygen per hour. They are expected to come on stream between end 2013 and at the start of 2014, when they will supply oxygen and nitrogen to Yantai Wanhua's production plants. In addition, Linde will produce liquefied products for the open market in the Shandong region. The project includes the construction of a 20-kilometre pipeline in the Yantai Economic and Technology Park.


Yantai Wanhua is the only Chinese company which has the technical know-how to produce MDI. MDI is an intermediate product in the manufacture of polyurethane, which is used in large quantities for example in the construction and automobile industries. China is in the process of becoming one of the principal markets for MDI. The Shandong province in the east of China is the third largest province in China in terms of gross domestic product.


MRC

Formosa to shut cracker as planned amid refinery outage

(ICIS) -- Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC) is going ahead with a major turnaround at its largest cracker in Mailiao on 15 August, although a fire over the weekend led to a complete shutdown of its 540,000 bbl/day refinery and related facilities at the site, company officials and traders said on Tuesday. With the refinery down, FPCC has declared a force majeure on all petroleum products from the Mailiao complex, they said.


FPCC will shut the 1.2 m tonne/year No 3 cracker as planned for a turnaround that will last 45 days, said a company spokesperson, confirming an earlier ICIS report.


However, ⌠there is no schedule for the restart of the No 1 cracker, he added. The 700 KTa No 1 cracker has been shut since 12 May.


The fire that broke out in late July at a propylene pipeline in Mailiao prompted the shutdown of the refinery, along with FPCC's 520 KTa Group II base oil plant and 190 KTa methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) plant.


MRC

Key US Congress vote looms for debt ceiling crisis

(ICIS) -- Final votes in the US Congress were expected late on Monday and early on Tuesday on a plan to raise the government's borrowing authority, cut federal spending and provide an 11th hour rescue from a possible US default.


The US House of Representatives was scheduled to hold a final vote on Monday night on the debt ceiling package that was worked out between Republican leaders in Congress and the White House.
The broad outlines of that deal were announced by President Barack Obama on Sunday night, although he warned that the agreement to end the US fiscal crisis would not be certain until approved by both the House and Senate.


Under the proposed agreement, the federal government would put a hold on current spending and cut expenditures by as much as USD 2.5 trillion (EUR 1.7 trillion) over 10 years, with spending reductions for both domestic and military programmes.


If approved by Congress, the deal would provide for an immediate USD 1 trillion increase in the nation's borrowing authority or debt ceiling, which is currently at USD 14.3 trillion. That USD 1 trillion in the debt limit increase would be matched by about $1 trillion in first stage spending cuts over 10 years.


An additional USD1.5 trillion in borrowing authority would kick in later this year, providing that a special congressional debt-reduction committee comes up with up to USD 1.5 trillion in further spending cuts by late November.


MRC

Petrobras to invest USD 11 bln in oil exploration, production and refining projects

(Plastemart) -- Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) plans to invest USВ 11 bln in oil exploration, production and refining projects in Mexico uptil 2015. Most of the investment will go into petrochemical plants and refineries in Mexico's Gulf states.


Petrobras plans to invest in Mexico's Etileno XXI project in Coatzacoalcos comprising ethanol processing plant for with capacity to produce 1 mln tons of ethylene and its derivatives. Output from the project will meet a large chunk of demand that is currently satisfied by imports from the US.


MRC

Revised cost of Assam gas cracker awaits sanction

(Plastemart) -- A delay in implementation of the Assam Gas Cracker has lead to a hike in project costs to Rs 8,879 crore from Rs 5,461 crore. These delays can be attributed to several causes including technology/design changes, time escalation, increases in cost because of change in infrastructure, site conditions, and construction cost. This cost hike has been approved by the Public Investment Board. The revised cost of the Assam gas cracker project being implemented by Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd (BCPL) awaits sanction of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, as per telegraphindia.com.


Though completion of the project is expected in H2-2013, any further increase in costs is unlikely as a large part of the work has been accomplished.


MRC