Zhuhai Zhongguan to start butadiene plant in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhuhai Zhongguan Petrochemical is in plans to start a butadiene plant, as per Apic-Online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is likely to be started in early 2014.

To be located in Guangdong, China, the plant will have production capacity of 70,000 mt/year.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, Zeon Corp. said the start-up of its new solution styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR) plant on Singapore's Jurong Island will be delayed until September 2013 due to "unexpected site conditions". The plant, having a capacity of between 30,000 t/y and 40,000 t/y of SSBR, is the first phase of a two-phase project that was scheduled to begin production in July of this year. The second phase, for which a schedule has not been given, will double SSBR capacity. The SBR produced at the plant will be used for tires, with SBR's key feedstocks being butadiene (60%) and styrene monomer (35%).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PET granulate market players reported lack of free spot volumes of Russian material this summer, which was caused by converters' high buying activity, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Some Russian producers of bottle PET were forced to abandon the part of their buyers that had placed their orders
because of abscence of available stocks at their warehouses. Converters say that now plants are covering the present contracts and meeting the needs of large customers.

This situation is expected to continue until late July and might also continue in August, a source at a plant said. The reduction in consumer activity might take place in September as well. Also, there was a drop in PET exports this season due to good sales in the country.

With increasing sales of Russian plants and devaluation of the national currency, sellers managed to maintain prices, despite an overall price fall in foreign markets. The difference between Russian PET spot prices this month and over the same period a year earlier is Rb3,500-4,500/tonne.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Corp, an American multinational energy corporation, said that its oil and gas business activity is set for a year over year drop in the second quarter as lower crude prices and equipment maintenance takes a toll, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In an interim earnings statement, Chevron, the second largest United States oil company in market value after Exxon Mobil Corp, reported steep drops in the average prices it gets for its oil production. United States natural gas prices were up, but Chevron's production is tilted towards crude.

Chevron's interim report, generally considered an earnings bellwether for the United States oil and gas industry, shows that Exxon and other producers might have been stung by the steep drop in oil prices in April amid concerns about the slow global economy.

Overall, Chevron produced 2.57 MMbpd of oil and natural gas in April and May, down 2.1% from its average production rate in the full second quarter of 2012. The report compares the first two months of the current quarter to the entire second quarter of 2012 and all of the first quarter of 2013.

Production was flat in the United States, but output in its international operations during April and May was 1.91 MMbpd, down 2.8% from the year before because of maintenance work in Kazakhstan, Australia and Nigeria. Demand for oil and gas also fell in Thailand, Chevron said.

As MRC imported previously, Chevron Corp. has completed repairing and rebuilding equipment in its Richmond refinery (California) that was damaged in a fire last year.

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States, and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. Chevron is one of the world's six "supermajor" oil companies.
MRC

МOSCOW (MRC) -- Amcor announces today an agreement to acquire the flexible packaging operations of Jiangsu Shenda Group for RMB350 million, said Amcor in its press release.

The acquired business has sales of approximately RMB440 million and two plants in the Jiangsu province in Eastern China. Two thirds of it sales are to the pharmaceutical, snacks and culinary end markets. Following the acquisition Amcor will be the market leader in Eastern China with a strong position in both film manufacturing and conversion.

The acquired business is a strong fit with Amcor’s exiting plant in Jiangsu province and enables sharing of overheads, optimisation of production across the sites and operating improvements through sharing of best practice. These opportunities are expected to deliver cost synergy benefits of more than 5% of sales.

Amcor’s Managing Director and CEO, Mr Ken MacKenzie said: "Continued strong growth in consumer spending makes China one of the most attractive markets globally. Amcor has a strong and successful position in the Chinese flexible packaging market with nine plants, covering all the key regions and sales of over Australian dollars 400 million".

"This acquisition establishes Amcor as the market leader in Eastern China, a region that represents approximately 40% of China’s GDP. The busness is a strong fit with our existing operations and offers considerable synergy opportunities."

The agreement is subject to regulatory and other usual conditions and is expected to close in the coming months.

As MRC wrote earlier, the rising Australian dollar and cost pressures have pushed global packaging manufacturer Amcor Ltd. to shut two manufacturing sites and to downsize another site.

Amcor Limited is an Australian-based multinational packaging company. It operates manufacturing plants in 42 countries. It is the world's largest manufacturer of plastic bottles.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP along with its joint venture (JV) partners AB Sugar and DuPont, has officially opened the GBR350m Vivergo bio-ethanol plant in Hull City, UK, said EBR.

The Vivergo plant is a brownfield re-development project, which has been developed on a 25 acre site within the Saltend Chemicals Park near Hull.

BP claimed the new plant is the UK's biggest bioethanol producer and largest single-source supplier of animal feed providing valuable commodities that the UK would usually import.

The bio-refinery will use animal feed grade wheat to produce bio-ethanol and also 500,000t a year of protein-rich animal feed for the UK market.

BP and its partners have designed the facility to produce 420 million liters of bio-ethanol annually at full capacity, which is equivalent to a third of the UK's current demand. Bio-ethanol is a renewable transport fuel which is added to petrol.

The bio-fuel produced at the facility will provide greenhouse gas savings of more than 50% over standard petrol. BP Alternative Energy vice president Phillip New said the bio-refinery is set to benefit the country environmentally, socially, and economically.

As MRC wrote before, UK supermajor BP said it will start pulling some staff from Egypt as unrest in the North African nation escalated following the military's ousting of president Mohammed Mursi.
MRC