The output of caustic soda fell by 8% in February

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The February production volumes of caustic soda by Russian producers of caustic declined by 8% from January, according to MRC ScanPlast.

In February, the output of caustic soda in Russia dropped by 7,500 tonnes compared to January and amounted to about 87,000 tonnes last month.

In the structure of the total production volumes, Kaustik (Volgograd) accounted for 19% of the output. The share of Sayanskkhimplast was about 18%, while that of Kaustik (Sterlitamak) made about 17%. The remaining volumes were produced by the other eight producers of caustic soda in Russia.

Overall, in January-February, the output of caustic soda in Russia totaled 181,400 tonnes, which is equal year-on-year. In January-February 2012, the production volumes of caustic soda by Russian plants made 181,560 tonnes.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- At the request of its chairman and shareholder Gary Klesch, KEM ONE SAS has been put into receivership, said the company in its press release.

Following the ruling of the Commercial Court of Lyon, which formally opened the proceedings, the KEM ONE management team is determined to find sustainable solutions with its historical stakeholders Arkema and Total, that will allow the business to continue to operate.

As MRC wrote earlier, Klesch Group said it had discovered significant gaps in the information presented by Arkema's management before it completed the acquisition in July of Kem One SAS, whose products are used in items ranging from pipes and packaging to paper.

In view of the financial position of KEM ONE SAS, Gary Klesch, chairman and shareholder of KEM ONE, filed for a state of insolvency for the company with the Commercial Court of Lyon. On Wednesday 27 March, the Commercial Court of Lyon gave judgement, opening official receivership proceedings. It appointed an official receiver, who will be in charge of the administration of the entire company. The company will continue to operate as normal during this proceedings.

Given the industrial, economic and social stakes for this petrochemical and chemical sector in France, the KEM ONE management team is confident in the commitment of its former shareholder Arkema – who agreed to divest its vinyl branch to the Klesch group in July 2012 – and its main supplier Total to find sustainable solutions for its activities, with the full support of the French government.

KEM ONE SAS includes the company’s upstream sites inFrance: 1300 people based at the headquarters (Lyon) and 7 industrial sites : Balan (Ain), Saint-Fons (Rhone), Saint-Auban (Alpes de HauteProvence), Berre, Fos-sur-Mer, Lavera (Bouches du Rhone) and Vauvert (Gard).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the largest diversified chemical company in the world, has started to roll out its Master Builders Solutions brand in Asia Pacific as part of a phased launch process, reported the company in its press-release.

The global brand is a sign for BASF’s commitment to the construction industry and represents a wide range of construction chemical solutions previously sold under a variety of specialty brands.

The portfolio of products and services marketed under the Master Builders Solutions brand embraces chemical solutions for new construction, maintenance, repair and renovation of buildings and infrastructure: concrete admixtures, cement additives, chemical solutions for mining and tunneling, waterproofing, concrete protection and repair products, grouts and high-performance flooring products.

The revised range of products and services marketed under the Master Builders Solutions brand now features a globalized naming system, helping BASF to support customers and partners with a promise of constantly high quality and consistency in products and services.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, last summer BASF and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further strengthen their cooperation by jointly exploring the possibility of building a world-scale isononanol (INA) plant in Maoming Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, Maoming, China. Later last year, as part of BASF's major innovation investment in China, the company opened the first Innovation Campus Asia Pacific and its new Greater China headquarters at its site in Pudong, Shanghai. With this expansion the company"s site will be one of BASF"s largest outside of Germany.

BASF’s Construction Chemicals division offers advanced chemicals solutions for new construction, maintenance, repair and renovation of structures: Our comprehensive portfolio encompasses concrete admixtures, cement additives, chemical solutions for underground construction, waterproofing systems, sealants, concrete repair & protection systems, performance grouts, performance flooring systems, tile fixing systems, expansion control systems and wood protection solutions. The division operates production sites and sales centers in more than 60 countries and achieved sales of about EUR2.3 billion in 2012.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell hasreceived approval from the Chinese government for its first shale gas production-sharing contract in China, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

It is a significant milestone as China looks to tap potentially massive unconventional gas reserves and achieve ambitious shale gas production targets.

Li Lusha, a spokeswoman for the Anglo-Dutch company, said the Chinese government had approved its plan to explore, develop and produce shale gas with partner China National Petroleum Corp. in the Fushun-Yongchuan block in the Sichuan basin.

The companies haven't disclosed details of the contract, but the approval suggests authorities in Beijing have developed the regulatory framework needed to spur wider international investment in developing its shale reserves.

China is looking to replicate a boom in North American natural gas production, which has begun reshaping global energy markets. Chinese companies need international players such as Shell to lend technology and operational expertise in extracting the gas trapped in shale rock formations.

China has set a target of producing some 6.5 billion cubic meters/year of shale gas by 2015 and as much as 100 billion cubic meters/year by 2020, up from virtually zero in 2012. That is a target some analysts have been skeptical the country can achieve.

The US Energy Information Administration has said China has an estimated 1,275 trillion cubic feet, or 36 trillion cubic meters, of technically recoverable shale-gas reserves, more than Canada and the US combined.

Such massive estimates are sending Shell's international rivals into the market as well. Chevron, for example, has drilled at least one exploratory well in China and has plans for more, but company executives have cited a shortage of geological data and lacking infrastructure as among the reasons it expected slower progress compared with North America.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, in early 2013, Ukraine took its first major step away from dependency on Russian gas imports on Thursday when it signed a USD10 billion shale gas deal with Shell.

As regards the USA, favorable oil-to-gas price ratios driven by the production of natural gas from shale will drive a renewed US competitiveness that will boost exports and fuel greater domestic investment and economic growth within the business of chemistry, according to the Year End 2012 Situation and Outlook, published by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) trade group. Besides, the ongoing shale revolution will guide the US ethylene industry surge in the near future, growing by more than a third by 2017, according to a new report from business intelligence group GlobalData.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Williams has selected Honeywell's UOP C3 Oleflex process technology for the production of propylene, a valuable petrochemical used in plastics production, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The selection is the sixth win for Honeywell’s UOP Oleflex process technology in North America, as petrochemical producers move to produce propylene from propane found in natural gas.

Compared with competing processes, Honeywell says its UOP C3 Oleflex technology provides the lowest cash cost of production, the highest return on investment and the smallest environmental footprint.

Williams’ propane dehydrogenation (PDH) facility, to be located in Alberta, Canada, will convert propane recovered from oil sands off gas into polymer-grade propylene. The PDH facility will be the first in Canada and will have a capacity of approximately 1 billion lb/year.

Since the beginning of 2011, UOP has announced 10 new C3 Oleflex process units and three new C4 Oleflex process units across China, Abu Dhabi and North America. It also announced China’s first combined C3/C4 Oleflex unit, which is expected to start up in 2014.

Thus, as MRC wrote earlier, in February, 2013, UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced that its UOP Oleflex process technology had been selected by China's Longgang Chemical Co. to produce key ingredients for fuels and synthetic rubber. Also, in early 2012, Shandong Chambroad Petrochemicals selected the UOP C3 and C4 Oleflex processes to produce propylene and isobutylene at a new China project. Later last year, Zhejiang Julong Petrochemical Co. chose UOP's core technology for a new unit to manufacture propylene at its facility in Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province, China. Recently, UOP LLC procured a contract from Fujian Meide Petrochemical Co. Ltd - a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Packing Group Company Ltd - to deploy UOP C3 Oleflex process technology for increased propylene production.

Williams is one of North America's largest natural gas gatherers and processors. Williams also has a growing midstream business in Canada focused on processing oil sands off-gas into NGLs and olefins. It also has a domestic olefins business that provides customers in the petrochemical industry with a full suite of products and services.

Honeywell is a global diversified technology and manufacturing company with a wide range of aerospace products and services, control, sensing and security technologies for buildings, homes and industry, turbochargers, automotive products, specialty chemicals, electronic and advanced materials, process technology for refining and petrochemicals and energy efficient products and solutions for homes, business and transportation.
MRC