JX Nippon plans to restart a cracker in Japan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- JX Nippon Oil & Energy is in plans to restart its residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC), as per Apic-Online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the unit is likely to be restarted on October 20, 2013. It is currently under a maintenance turnaround.

Located at Sendai in Japan, the RFCC unit has a propylene production capacity of 100,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. is considering shutting down oil refinery operations at its Muroran plant in Hokkaido by the end of March 2014. JX Nippon will keep the Muroran refinery as a manufacturing plant for petrochemical products and keep its employees through job displacement.

The Nippon Oil Corporation, or NOC or Shin-Nisseki is a Japanese petroleum company. Its businesses include the exploration, importation, and refining of crude oil; the manufacture and sale of petroleum products, including olefines (ethylene, propylene) and aromatics.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiyo Vinyl Corporation, a subsidiary of Tosoh Group, is expanding its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) capacity at Chiba, Japan, by 10,000 tonne per year with construction of a new unit, as per Tosoh's press release.

Replacing aging production facilities with state-of-the-art facilities improves safety, enhances production efficiencies, stabilizes supply and raises the plant’s ability to meet increasing demand, explained Tosoh, which controls 68% of Taiyo Vinyl.

The additional capacity is expected to be completed in October 2014.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, Honeywell UOP has been selected by Japan's Taiyo Oil to supply technology and catalysts to improve operational flexibility and increase petrochemical production at the Shikoku complex in Ehime, Japan.

Taiyo Vinyl Corporation, a subsidiary of Tosoh Group, is one of the major Japanese polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer. The Chiba plant is a vital supply hub for Taiyo Vinyl. It ships PVC to over 50% of the subsidiary’s customers located in the Kanto region of Japan, which includes Tokyo.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrofac, an international service provider to the oil and gas industry, Linde and GS Engineering & Construction Corporation have been engaged by KLPE to provide services to the development of its Integrated Petrochemicals Complex and Infrastructure project, in the Tengiz and Karabatan regions of Kazakhstan worth up to USD3.58 billion in total, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The first part of the contract is worth USD77 million, of which USD21 million is Petrofac's share, and will involve the consortium undertaking engineering work on an open book estimate.

Petrofac will lead the consortium for the execution of the Integrated Petrochemicals Complex and Infrastructure, or IPCI, project.

Subject to satisfactory conclusion of the open book estimate, and successful contract conversion, it is contemplated that the IPCI project will move into a second phase, in excess of USD3.5 billion, for a polyethylene plant comprising two streams each producing 400,000 tpa of product.

Eventual scope for the IPCI petrochemical project will include the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of a gas plant, ethane cracker, gas pipelines, polyethylene plants and associated utilities and offsites in the Tengiz and Karabatan areas.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, South Korean petrochemical company LG Chem is planning to build an ethylene production plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. The project is going to be constacted in collaboration with two other Kazakh firms. The production is expected to begin in late 2016. LG projects that the plant will manufacture up to 800,000 tonnes of ethylene a year by injecting a USD4.2 billion investment into the complex.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's cabinet has approved state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp.'s (HPCL) 372 billion rupee (USD6 billion) refinery and petrochemicals complex in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari.

The 9 million tpy refinery will mostly draw upon crude supplies from Cairn India Ltd.'s oilfields in the state.

Hindustan Petroleum will own 74% of the project, while the Rajasthan state government will own the rest. The refinery, located in Rajasthan's Bamer town, is expected to go on stream in four years.

The project's clearance comes ahead of state elections in Rajasthan, due to take place toward the end of this year.

Besides, as MRC wrote previously, another major Indian petrochemical (polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride) producer Reliance Industries plans to expand capacity at its refineries in the western state of Gujarat. Last year, the company unveiled an USD18 billion investment plan for India over the next five years.

India imports three-fourths of its energy requirement but has one of the world's largest refining capacities. The country has also emerged as one the largest exporters of refined products in the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sistema JSFC, the largest publicly-traded diversified holding company in Russia and the CIS, has acquired a 98% stake (resulting in effective ownership of 100%) in OJSC United Petrochemical Company (UPC) from the Group's subsidiary JSOC Bashneft for RUB 6.2 billion, according the the company's press release.

The value of the stake is based upon an independent appraisal carried out by an international consultant.

UPC's development plans will be financed partly by its own cashflow, as well as debt financing and joint venture initiatives with leading international petrochemical companies.

Mikhail Shamolin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sistema, commented: "This acquisition is a natural expansion of our energy investments. UPC is already one of the leading petrochemical producers in Russia with a reliable supply of raw materials from Bashneft's downstream operations and competitive production costs. Combined with Russia's increasing consumption per capita of petrochemical products, UPC provides Sistema with a solid entry into an attractive and growing sector.

UPC's development plans currently envisage organic growth focused on existing and new production lines, as well as commenced discussions with leading international petrochemical groups on possible joint venture opportunities".

UPC is a vertically integrated petrochemical group which owns four enterprises located in the Bashkortostan region: Ufaorgsintez, Tuimazinkoye and Shkapovskoye Gas Processing Plants and Bisphenol-A plant. In 2012, UPC generated a combined revenue of RUB 17.9 billion.

Ufaorgsintez is one of the leading petrochemical producers in Russia. Polypropylene and ethylene account for over 50% of its production line, while 90% of total sales are made to the domestic market. The company benefits from an established production chain with feedstock sourced from Bashneft's Ufa refineries, the Tuimazinskoye and Shkapovskoye Gas Processing Plants, which produce liquid petroleum gas and nafta from stable natural gasoline (SNG). As MRC informed previously, Ufaorgsintez has just announced an increase in contract polypropylene (PP) prices by Rb550-2,000/tonne amid strong demand and tight supply and an increase in contract low density polyethylene (LDPE) prices for the domestic market from 16 September by Rb1,000-1,550/tonne.
MRC