European PVC rose in value for CIS markets by EUR20-30/tonne

MOSCOW (ICIS-MRC) -- Despite negotiations on the contract price of ethylene for February at the level of January, European producers have raised export PVC prices for the CIS markets by EUR20-30/tonne, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The contract ethylene price in Europe for February was agreed at the level of January. Despite this fact, European producers have raised their export PVC prices for the CIS markets for February, citing poor marginality of the production. Some market participants do not exclude that the rise of the European PVC price was also due to the limited volumes and price increases in the U.S.

Deals for January shipments of European PVC were concluded in the range of EUR730-780/tonne, FCA. For February shipments, European makers managed to get a price increase to the level of EUR750-810/tonne, FCA, citing the high cost of feedstock.

Some market participants do not exclude that European PVC producers got such a significant increase in prices at the beginning of the year due to the absence of an alternative - North American PVC. February export prices for North American PVC rose to the level of USD1,000-1,020/tonne, FAS Houston, with export quotas slashed several times. Besides, there are no price offers for the resin from Formosa and Georgia Gulf.
MRC

Airgas to build liquid carbon dioxide plant in US

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US-based atmospheric gases producer Airgas is planning to establish a new carbon dioxide purification and liquefaction plant in Houston, US, said Chemicals-technology.

The 450 tonnes-per-day plant will replace the company's plant at the Shell refinery complex in Deer Park, Texas, US, which is expected to stop its operations in late 2013.

"The 450 tonnes-per-day plant will replace the company's plant at the Shell refinery complex in Deer Park, Texas, US."
The company said the new plant will integrate many of the existing assets, such as storage tanks, truck loading equipment, scales and analytical equipment from the current Deer Park facility.

In addition, the company's production and distribution personnel at the current Shell location will be relocated to the new facility. Construction work at the new plant is expected to begin shortly and is likely to be completed by the end of 2013.

As part of the signed long-term agreements with Airgas, the affiliates of Denbury Resources will transport and deliver the feedstock of raw carbon dioxide to the new facility.

Airgas carbonic and dry ice division president Phil Filer said with the long-term feedstock agreements, the company will be able to serve customers in the petrochemical industry, as well as the traditional food chilling and beverage carbonation industries.

"We will also be supplying liquid carbon dioxide to our dry ice facility in LaPorte, Texas," Filer added.
Operating 11 liquid carbon dioxide plants and 52 dry ice facilities, the company supplies specialty, industrial and medical gases to chemicals, food processing, food service, beverage, pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

As MRC wrote earlier, Ukraine chose Shell as a partner to develop the Yuzivska field in the east of the country and regional councils there approved the production-sharing deal last week. Ukrainian officials said earlier this month that Shell saw investment under the deal of at least USD10 billion "under the most likely scenario" and possibly as much as USD50 billion.

MRC

PTT Asahi Chemical starts production at Thailand 1st acrylonitrile plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Asahi Kasei Chemical Co. Ltd., a joint venture of PTT, Asahi Kasei Chemical and Marubeni, has started up the first acrylonitrile production facility in Thailand at the in Map Ta Phut, said Apic-online.

The 200,000-t/y acrylonitrile plant is part of a project that also includes a 70,000-t/y methyl methacrylate (MMA) unit and a 160,000-t/y ammonium sulphate unit.

The acrylonitrile plant is based on Asahi Kasei's propane process, while the MMA plant is based on an acetone cyanohydrin process, which will use hydrogen cyanide byproduct from the acrylonitrile production as feedstock. PTT will supply acetone feedstock for the acrylonitrile facility from its phenol plant.

As MRC wrote earlier, Thailand's national petroleum company, PTT Public Company Limited (PTT), proposed to build a giant USD28.7 billion oil refinery and petrochemical complex in central Binh Dinh province, Vietnam.

PTT Asahi Chemical Company Limited (PTTAC), a company of the PTT Group, is a joint venture of PTT Public Company Limited (PTT), Thailand’s National Energy Company Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corporation (AKCC) of Japan, the world’s leading petrochemicals producer , and Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni) of Japan, one of the world’s leading petrochemicals traders with the shareholding ratio of 48.5%, 48.5% and 3% respectively. PTTAC receives joint support from the shareholders with strengths in technology, feedstock, operations and marketing.

MRC

Foster Wheeler inks technology agreement with Shell for global downstream work

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Foster Wheeler, an international engineering and construction company and power equipment supplier, has inked a new global enterprise framework agreement with Shell Global Solutions, according to Foster Wheeler's press release.

Under this agreement, Shell may request Foster Wheeler to provide support in the preparation of basic engineering packages for the following Shell technologies: distillation, hydrocracking, hydrotreating, thermal conversion, ethylene oxide, pyrolysis gas, fluid catalytic cracking and CANSOLV sulfur dioxide scrubbing.

The agreement is for a five-year period, with an option for Shell and Foster Wheeler to agree to extend the agreement for another five years. Foster Wheeler will record bookings as work orders are received from Shell.

Foster Wheeler already has in place a five-year Asian agreement initiated last year with Shell, under which Foster Wheeler is providing engineering and project management services for Shell downstream and midstream projects in Asia and elsewhere.

"It is a key strategic objective of Foster Wheeler to develop and extend long-term relationships with our clients to leverage our technical expertise, global reach and local project delivery to support their global investment plans," said Umberto della Sala, chief operating officer of Foster Wheeler.

As MRC reported earlier, in September, 2012, Foster Wheeler was awarded a contract by Shell Global Solutions to develop the basic engineering package for a world-scale mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) facility at Ras Laffan, Qatar.

Foster Wheeler AG, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is a global engineering and construction company. The company’s Global Engineering and Construction Group designs and constructs leading-edge processing facilities for the upstream oil and gas, LNG and gas-to-liquids, refining, chemicals and petrochemicals, power, mining and metals, environmental, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare industries.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo–Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell Global Solutions has supported the Shell's worldwide business activities in upstream, downstream, gas and liquefied natural gas, and project management for over 50 years. This work is a key component in Shell's technology and responsible energy strategies.
MRC

DuPont may delay Mexico pigment plant by 12 months

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont Co., the world’s biggest maker of titanium dioxide pigment, will delay the start of a plant to make the whitening chemical by as much as a year because of weak demand, said Bloomberg.

The new line in Altamira, Mexico, will be completed in 2015, Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont said today in a regulatory filing. The company previously said the Mexican facility could be operating by late 2014.

"The timing for the startup will be adjusted by up to 12 months based on market conditions and customer needs," Gregg Schmidt, a DuPont spokesman, said today by phone. "We have not changed the investment decision."
Titanium dioxide, which is used to add opacity to paints and plastics and is known by its chemical formula TiO2.

DuPont is spending USD500 million to boost TiO2 capacity at the Altamira site by 200,000 metric tons a year. TiO2 pigment prices have declined about 20 percent from their mid-2002 peak, according to Bloomberg Industries. TiO2 margins will drop as much as 9 percentage points this year, DuPont said Jan. 22, compared with an earlier forecast of as much as 7 points.

Delaying the plant start "makes complete sense because pricing is down and demand is weak,"Hassan Ahmed, a New York- based analyst at Alembic Global Advisors, who rates the shares hold, said in an interview. "All we have seen is every quarter earnings have gone down."

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ellen Kullman is forecasting per-share profit growth of 2% to 7% this year as lower earnings from TiO2 offsets gains in other units. The TiO2 market should stabilize by midyear as excess inventories are used up and demand hits bottom, Kullman said Jan. 22.

As MRC wrote earlier, DuPont has announced the completion of the sale of DuPont Performance Coatings (DPC) for USD4.9 billion in cash (about USD4.0 billion after-tax) and the assumption of certain liabilities to global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group.

DuPont is an American chemical company that was founded in July, 1802. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009. DuPont manufactures a wide range of chemical products, leading extensive innovative research in this field. The company is the inventor of many unique plastics and other materials, including neoprene, nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, Mylar, Tyvek, etc. The company was the developer and main producer of Freon used in the production of refrigeration equipment.
MRC