INEOS signs agreement with Sasol for HDPE Joint Venture

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA and Sasol has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the intent to form a joint venture to manufacture high-density polyethylene (HDPE), reported INEOS on its site.

"This joint venture demonstrates INEOS’s continued commitment to the HDPE market and to growing end-use applications that benefit from bimodal technology. It enables two global companies to integrate with each partner’s upstream businesses the leading bimodal slurry technology on a world-scale asset," said Dennis Seith, CEO of INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA.

The envisioned facility would produce 470,000 tonnes per annum of bimodal HDPE using Innovene S process technology licensed from INEOS Technologies. The intention is to produce a limited number of grades allowing high grade efficiencies.

"This partnership will leverage the expertise of two global players in the chemical market. Together we will develop a world-scale HDPE plant which will allow us to monetize ethylene and supply a high quality product. The joint venture expands on our greater North American strategy and will complement the products produced from the ethane cracker and derivatives project in southwest Louisiana," said Andre de Ruyter, Sasol Senior Group Executive for Global Chemicals and North American Operations.

Final investment decision is expected to be made in the first half of 2014 with start-up of the plant expected at the end of 2015.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, two of Europe’s biggest chemical companies have agreed a joint venture that will create one of the world’s largest producers of PVC plastics by revenues. Solvay, the Franco-Belgian chemicals company, will pool its European business that creates chlorvinyls – the base materials for PVC plastics – with that of privately owned rival Ineos Group , in a move that will eventually result in the Anglo-Swiss company taking full control of the joint venture.

Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It develops and commercialises technologies, including synthetic fuels technologies, and produces different liquid fuels, chemicals and electricity.

INEOS is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, speciality chemicals and oil products. It comprises 15 businesses each with a major chemical company heritage. Its production network spans 51 manufacturing facilities in 11 countries throughout the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The works are now actively underway at the combined hydrocracking installation of the "TANECO" Refining and Petrochemical Plants Complex in Nizhnekamsk on the individual testing of the piping and equipment of the hydrocracker and hydrogen production sections, water block No.2 and interplant piping racks, said Yourpetrochemicalnews.

The implementation results of this and other projects administered by the Construction Projects Implementation Department of JSC TATNEFT (URPS) were discussed at the labor collective meeting held to review the operations results of the first half of 2013.

The employees of the Department have carried out a significant amount of construction, installation and commissioning works. A master plan for the development of the "TANECO" configuration has been approved, including the advanced refining complex, which embraces seven projects in the active phase of implementation. In the first instance it refers to the combined hydrocracking installation. At present the works are actively carried out here together with the specialists of JSC "TANECO" on the individual testing of the piping and equipment of the hydrocracker and hydrogen production sections, water block No.2 and interplant piping racks.

The URPS perform works at yet another significant facility of the Company: Nizhnekamsk CHP. After reconstruction the plant's installed capacity will increase from 380 MW to 730 MW, power generation will increase from 1.688 billion kWh to 5.055 billion kWh. As part of the reconstruction two new 110 megawatt turbines will be additionally put into operation. Two other turbines of 100 MW each will be reactivated. Today the URPS professionals are involved in erecting and closing the frame of the extension to the main building of the station, which will allow feeding heat into the premise and providing for execution of works in the cold season of the year. The plans envisage the start of the first turbine and the generator installation in the coming months.

Simultaneously, ground preparation works are underway for the construction of the designed units of naphtha, kerosene and diesel fuel hydrotreatment as well as the delayed coking unit. Geotechnical survey operations are in the process at the site of the delayed coking unit, kerosene and diesel fuel hydrotreaters. The work is carried out together with OOO "Nizhnekamsk CHP" to determine the flue gas treatment technology as well as the planned construction of the unit for burning of the CHP petroleum coke. Detailed engineering design of the aromatics complex has been started.

All these facilities are of great importance as they allow TATNEFT to change over to the advanced refining of raw materials and to expand the range of commodity products of the Oil Refining and Petrochemical Plants Complex in Nizhnekamsk.

As MRC wrote before, TATNEFT was named as the top downstream firm in Eastern Europe for 2012 by World Finance Magazine.

TATNEFT is a Russian vertically-integrated oil and gas company with headquarters in the city of Almetyevsk, in the Republic of Tatarstan. It is the sixth largest oil company in Russia.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The St. Petersburg-headquartered Russian oil and gas company Gazprom Neft has signed an agreement with France-based Total to form a joint venture to produce and sell modified bitumen and bitumen emulsions on the Russian market, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to Gazprom Neft's statement.

Each partner will have a 50% stake in the joint venture, which will build a special production facility at Gazprom Neft's Moscow oil refinery.

The facility will have a capacity of 60,000 tonnes of polymer modified bitumens and 7,000 tonnes of bitumen emulsions per year.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, in late 2012, Gazprom Neft and a Russian petrochemicals producer SIBUR with a head office in Moscow will collaborate in the polymer road materials production and marketing. SIBUR will deliver styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) polymers to the facilities of Gazprom Neft. The materials are applied in the polymer-bitumen binders (PBB) manufacturing to improve the quality characteristics of the road surface and extend its service life.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producers are going to raise contract PVC prices in August, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Negotiations on Russian contract PVC prices for August began this week. SayanskKhimPlast has already announced an increase in its August contract prices by USD1,000/tonne from July. Other Russian producers - Bashkir Soda Company (formerly Kaustik, Sterlitamak) and Kaustik (Volgograd) - intend to increase contract prices as well.

Russian producers (particularly, SayanskKhimPlast) explain the necessity of the growth of contract PVC prices by both increasing demand on the back of tight supply and higher prices for imported material (devaluation of the rouble has increased prices of imported PVC by more than 3%).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PET market players reported higher export prices of Chinese and Korean bottle granulate, an increase of USD25-40/tonne from last week, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The spread of Chinese PET spot prices was heard at USD1,410-1,420/tonne FOB China. Spot deals were being concluded by major buyers at USD1,395-1,400/tonne FOB China.

Prices of Korean bottle PET grades were announced at USD1,440-1,450/tonne FOB Korea.

Feedstock price increases were a cause of the present PET price rise, said a Korean trader. Paraxylene prices went up because of a surge in oil prices in July. MEG prices also showed a rapid upward trend. Buying activity is going to grow in early August due to the end of the long holidays - Ramadan, a source added.
Major consumers of imported granulate in Russia and Ukraine said the growth of export prices in late July was predictable. Also, some market players expect an increase in purchasing prices by late August and a possible start of an upward price trend. Meanwhile, converters and traders said that the cost of procurement will be affected not only by higher export prices. An increase in an additional fee to the starting freight rate (GRI) will also affect pricec of the material brought to the CIS markets.

MRC