M&G Chemicals plans to invest in biorefinery in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- M&G Chemicals, a leading producer of PET for packaging applications in the Americas and the market's technological leader, plans to invest in a biorefinery in China that will make PET building block ethylene glycol from straw, as per Plastemart.

M&G of Tortona, Italy, part of the Mossi Ghisolfi Group, will build the biorefinery in Fuyang, in Anhui province with Chinese company Guozhen as partner. The biorefinery will process 2.2 bln lbs of straw annually.

In addition to ethylene glycol it will make ethanol and byproduct lignin will fuel an electric cogeneration plant. The plant will use enzyme technology supplied by Beta Renewables a company partly owned by Mossi Ghisolfi Group.

M&G estimates the biorefinery will cost about USD500 mln and be on stream in mid-2015. Beta Renewables recently started up a biorefinery in Crescentino, Italy.

"This is the first act of a green revolution that M&G Chemicals is bringing to the polyester chain to provide environmental sustainability," noted M&G Chemicals CEO Marco Ghisolfi in a news release. He cited growing demand for sustainable materials as evidenced by Coca-Cola Co.’s aim to use partially plant-based PET in all its bottles by 2020.

M&G plans to raise about USD500 mln in an initial public offering on the Hong Kong exchange by the end of the year.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, last September, M&G Group, announced that it had purchased the land in Corpus Christi, Texas where it will build its one million tonnes per year PET plant (2.2 billion pounds) and accompanying 1.2 million tonnes per year (2.6 billion pounds) PTA plant.

M&G Group is a family owned chemical engineering and manufacturing group headquartered in Tortona, Italy. M&G Group operates in the PET resin industry through its wholly-owned holding company Mossi & Ghisolfi International S.A. (M&G International). M&G International is one of the largest producer of PET resin for packaging applications in the Americas, with a production capacity in 2012 of approximately 1.6 million tons per annum.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Showa Denko is in plans to shut a steam cracker for maintenance turnaround, said Apic-online.

A source in Japan informed that the cracker is likely to be shut in mid-March 2014. It is planned to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located in Oita, Japan, it has an ethylene capacity of 695,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 425,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, Showa Denko and KH Neochem Co., Ltd. have agreed to dissolve their joint venture, Japan Ethyl Acetate Co., Ltd. (JEA). JEA was established in August 2003 for the purpose of strengthening the foundations of the two parent companies' ethyl acetate businesses. JEA began commercial production in April 2004.

Showa Denko K.K. is mainly engaged in the petrochemical business. The Petrochemical segment manufactures and sells olefin, organic chemicals and others. The Chemical Product segment supplies chemicals, industrial gases, special gas and functional drug for semiconductors, functional high molecular materials, among others.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Maoming Co. has selected Honeywell to rejuvenate and improve the operational performance of aging petrochemical plants in China’s Guangdong Province, reported GV.

Honeywell said its Profit Suite R400 process optimization software will be deployed at two of Maoming’s ethylene crackers, "helping to improve plant performance by increasing energy efficiency, improving flexibility of its operations, and maximizing the plants’ yield of high-value products."

The two plants have been operating for more than 50 years and currently produce 1-million t/y of petrochemicals, Honeywell noted.

Maoming Co. Deputy Chief Engineer He Lijian added: "We want to establish this project as a benchmark for other similar facilities within the Sinopec Group. Using this Honeywell solution, Maoming Co. is expecting an increase in production that would improve our profitability by more than USD 6-million per year."

As MRC wrote previously, this summer, Sinopec officially commenced operations at its new lubricant facility in Singapore. The lubricant plant, with an initial production capacity of 100,000 tpy, is the company's first direct overseas investment.

Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical Company (Maoming Company) - a subsidiary of Sinopec- is located in Maoming, Guangdong and was founded in May 1955. The company now has a crude oil processing capacity of 13.5 million t/a and an ethylene production capacity of 1 million t/a. Maoming Company has turned out to be a large-scale integrated refining and chemical enterprise with refining as the leading business and petrochemical sector as the mainstay.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec Limited is a Chinese oil and gas company based in Beijing, China. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York . Sinopec is the worlds fifth biggest company by revenue.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Munich-based specialty chemical company Wacker Chemie AG plans to expand its production capacity for dispersible polymer powders capacity at its Nanjing (China) site, in 2014, according to the company's press releae.

By productivity improvement and debottlenecking measures in existing facilities, German firm plans to essentially double its current capacity of 30,000 metric tpa to meet increasing customer demand in China.

Debottlenecking work is scheduled to start immediately upon issuing of the necessary permission by the local authorities.

WACKER’s dispersible polymer powder production output in Nanjing is expected to reach up to 60,000 metric tpa, depending on product mix.

With progressing urbanisation and increasing need for environmentally-friendly dry-mix building materials in China, local customer demand for WACKER’s dispersible polymer powders is poised to grow over the next few years. The planned capacity expansion will give WACKER sufficient long-term capacity to meet market demand in the region. As a result, WACKER will be able to offer its customers consistently high product quality and supply security in the years ahead.

"After the successful capacity expansion for vinyl acetate-ethylene (EVA) copolymer dispersions in Nanjing site earlier this year, we are now ready to increase our dispersible polymer powder capacity as well," explained Arno von der Eltz, President of WACKER POLYMERS. He added, "The market demand in China is continually growing, in particular for residential construction. The increasing trend towards construction of pre-decorated housing is also driving demand for ceramic tile adhesives, which require high-quality dispersible polymer powders. This capacity expansion will support market growth and strengthen our position as the leading manufacturer of dispersible polymer powders in China."

Located in the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park, WACKER’s Nanjing site manufactures VAE dispersions and dispersible polymer powders for the construction, coatings, and adhesives sectors, as well as for a variety of other industries.

As MRC informed before, in early 2013, Wacker Chemie AG officially launched its new production plant for EVA dispersions at its Ulsan site in South Korea. The additional 40,000 tonnes from the second reactor line increases the site's EVA-dispersion capacity to a total of 90,000 tonnes per year. This expansion is WACKER's response to the rising demand for high-quality EVA dispersions, especially in Southeast Asia's emerging markets.

WACKER POLYMERS is a leading producer of state-of-the-art binders and polymeric additives based on polyvinyl acetate and vinyl acetate copolymers. These take the form of dispersible polymer powders, dispersions, solid resins, and solutions. They are used in construction chemicals, paints, surface coatings, adhesives and nonwovens, and in fiber composites and polymeric materials based on renewable resources. WACKER POLYMERS has production sites in Germany, China, South Korea and the USA, as well as a global sales network and technical centers in all major regions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The rush in the Russian market of low density polyethylene (LDPE) has subsided in the end of November, following the shortage in September and October. Nevertheless, LDPE prices are high enough and Russian producers do not intend to reduce them, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

The September deficit of LDPE in the Russian market was caused by scheduled maintenance works in Kazan and Ufa.
Tight supply continued to be in October on the back of reduced capacity utilisation at Ufaorgsintez and exports growth. LDPE supply has improved in November noticeably, but the market is not oversupplied.

Offer prices for Kazan and Ufa 108 LDPE were heard in the range of Rb58,500-59,000/tonne FCA, including VAT.
There were no offers for PE by Angarsk production in the central region of Russia because of high price at the plant - Rb57,500/tonne FCA Angarsk, including VAT.

Offer price for 158 LDPE was heard in the range Rb57,500-59,500/tonne FCA, including VAT. Buying activity in LDPE market is weak, but the demand from local converters is quite stable.

Some market participants said the current situation was not typical for November. The demand is usually very low and prices are going down in November, but this year the Russian producers have managed to balance the domestic market by increasing exports.

Some Russian producers said they were not going to cut LDPE prices in December. Stock balances of LDPE remain within the normal range, with the stable demand. In the case of weaker demand from local converters, Russian producers are ready to increase export sales to balance the domestic market.
MRC