Dow and Saudi Aramco JV petrochemical project to move to Al-Jubail

(plastemart) -- Rising costs have prompted Dow Chemical and Saudi Aramco to relocate their planned joint venture (JV) petrochemical project from Ras Tanura to Al-Jubail. Existing infrastructure at Al Jubail adjacent to a refinery under construction by Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical (Satorp), will help control the escalating costs of construction.

The JV is being scaled down to include one cracker, rather than two.
Since the original Ras Tanura project was to be integrated with Aramco's existing Ras Tanura refinery, the relocation has also resulted in cancellation of the refinery expansion. The Satorp project, known as the Jubail Export Refinery, which will have a processing capacity of 400,000 bpd and will also produce paraxylene (PX), benzene and polymer grade propylene (PGP).

As per original estimates, the proposed Ras Tanura project was to cost about US$20 bln, but these costs have escalated as projects have become more expensive. The project is likely to start up in 2014 or 2015. With the move to Al-Jubail and change in scope, the timing is expected to slip by several months.

MRCMRC Reference

Share in the Russian market, 2008:

polyethylene - 2.5% (including LLDPE - 33.1%);

polypropylene - 0.8% (including PP-impact - 1.1%);

polystyrene - 2.6%.

Annual sales growth in Russia, recent 5 years:

polyethylene - 55%;

polypropylene - 28%;

polystyrene - 2%.

Imports by processing technologies:

pipe extrusion;

film extrusion;

sheet extrusion;

foaming.

SIBUR to invest about 10 million rubles into innovative education

MOSCOW (SIBUR) -- SIBUR concluded an agreement for cooperation with noncommercial Education Support Fund co-founded by Saint Petersburg State University. Within partnership associated with the 15th anniversary of SIBUR, distance education will be carried out for children from educational institutions in the regions of the Company's activities in Tolyatti, Nizhnevartovsk, Gubkinsky, Voronezh, Nizhni Novgorod, Perm, Tomsk, and Tobolsk using up-to-date capacities of video conferencing (VC).

The Fund's activity is aimed at increase in the educational information level, its quality and availability to all parties concerned. The Fund's key program "Gymnasia Union of Russia" supports video-communicated distance education of schoolchildren and teachers. Lecturers from Saint Petersburg State University, the Hermitage, the Russian Museum and educational and cultural institutions are involved in video sessions with thousands of participants.

MRC

MRC Reference

Sibur Holding is the largest Russian petrochemical group.

Shareholders:
Gazprombank (70% minus 1 share);
Gazfond (25% plus 1 share);
5% reserved for option program.

The share in the Russian market in 2008:

polyethylene - 11.1%;

polypropylene - 16% (including PP-random - 11.2%);
ABS - 5.2%;
PVC - 8.1%.


SK Energy upgrades polymer production

ULSAN (JoongAng Daily) -- SK Energy, the nation's biggest oil refiner, is building the world's first naphtha-cracking factory using advanced catalytic olefin, or ACO, technology, in the southeastern city of Ulsan, the company said yesterday. The factory is expected to start operating in October.

A naphtha-cracking factory produces basic petrochemical materials using naphtha refined from crude oil. The pyrolysing process in the past consumed a lot of energy as it needed high heat, up to 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit). SK Energy said it had developed the technology to use a catalyst that lowers the temperature to under 700 degrees Celsius, however.

Older technology usually produced ethylene and a small amount of propylene, for which demand is growing globally. Using the ACO technology, the plant is able to produce equal amounts of ethylene and propylene. Polyethylene, combined with ethylene, is used in making vinyl, while polyethylene mixed with propylene is used for plastic containers.

SK Energy is planning to export the technology overseas at a price of $20 million in royalty payments per plant. It already signed a strategic partnership with KBR, a United States-based petrochemical engineering company, in 2007.

The company plans to build a small factory with a 30 billion won ($25 million) budget and plans to expand its facilities. Analysts predict that several trillion won in investments will be made.

MRC

Sabic includes PVC innovations into wire production

(Plastics Today) -- A modified polyphenylene oxide (PPO) has been applied in wire harness insulation to create a product that's inherently flame retardant (FR) and free of environmentally harmful heavy metals. Nissei Eco Co. Ltd. codeveloped the insulation, called ECO-01, with Sabic Innovative Plastics (Pittsfield, MA), utilizing that company's Flexible Noryl material. Sabic IP has positioned Noryl as an alternative for OEMs looking to move away from wire-jacketing stalwart polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Selling points, according to Sabic IP, include the fact that Noryl is nonhalogenated, helping customers meet global environmental requirements that increasingly target that chemical. Sabic IP also reports that Noryl outperforms PVC in wear resistance. Using the JASO-D-608-92 abrasion test, Nissei Eco found that Noryl has higher abrasion resistance than vinyl. Sabic IP says Noryl's high-temperature performance, which satisfies UL105C, does not require additional secondary steps like cross linking through electron beam radiation, a process required for flame-retardant polyethylene (PE). Nissei Eco says that ECO-01 tubing for wire harnesses has already been specified by several Japanese home appliance manufacturers. The company is working to gain specifications for the product around the globe.

MRCMRC Reference

Sabic. The share in the Russian market in 2008:
PE - 0.2%;
PP - 0.4%;
PS - 0.2%.

Annual sales growth in Russia over the last 5 years:
PE - 33%;
PP - 62%.


Ineos unconfirmed of another force majeure

(plastemart) -- Ineos was unconfirmed to have declared an ethylene force majeure and put its ethylene buyers on 80% allocation due to delays in restarting its Chocolate Bayou, cracker. Caused of the delay is unclear. Ineos initially took the steam cracker offline for a planned maintenance in early March.

As reported before (see mrcplast.com on May 11), force majeure for polystyrene was declared in Wingles, France, due to barge strike.

MRCMRC Reference

Ineos is a petrochemical group.
In Russia Ineos's interests are represented by Ineos Polyolefins and IneosChlorVinyls.

The share in the Russian market in 2008:
PVC - 4.5%;

polyethylene - 1.9%
(HDPE - 2.8%, LDPE - 1.2%);
polypropylene - 1.4%
(PP-random - 22.1%, PP-impact - 2.0%);
polystyrene - 0.9%.

Imports by polymers processing technologies:
profile extrusion;
pipe extrusion;
film extrusion;
injection molding.