BASF ultrafiltration business secures major contract in India

MOSCOW (MRC) -- inge GmbH, a subsidiary of BASF SE and technology leader in ultrafiltration (UF) membranes, has secured the biggest project in company’s history and will supply high-capacity ultrafiltration technology for a desalination plant in Jamnagar (India), reported BASF on its site.

More than 4,000 modules from the T-Rack 3.0 series will provide 450,000 cubic meters of pretreated water per day to one of the country's largest oil refineries.

The desalination plant is built by IDE Technologies, one of the world’s leading water treatment specialists, and will use inge UF to protect the sensitive reverse osmosis membranes and to minimize the energy footprint of the plant. After multiple sea water pretreatment steps, the desalination plant will deliver up to 170,000 cubic meters of process water per day.

"Onsite pilot testing confirmed that our T-Rack 3.0 ultrafiltration modules meet the very demanding performance requirements in terms of process stability, filtrate quality and yield, especially during the monsoon period," explains inge CEO Bruno Steis. "Our unique technology delivers a continuous supply of pre-filtered water at a consistently high quality level independent of seasonal fluctuations with high turbidity, thereby helping to reduce the plant's energy and operating cost significantly."

The German-made modules are scheduled for delivery by the end of this year. The entire desalination plant is scheduled for commissioning in 2015 and represents one of the biggest ultrafiltration plants currently being built anywhere in the world. "The Jamnagar project is a landmark in our company’s history. It demonstrates that inge ultrafiltration membrane technology delivers exceptional performance at large-scale for multiple industries in need of innovative, sustainable and cost-effective solutions for water filtration," emphasizes Bruno Steis. Professional water treatment and environmentally beneficial water recycling are taking on increasing importance, particularly in water-stressed regions. inge ultrafiltration technology helps in promoting the sustainable use of the valuable resource water.

As MRC wrote previously, in early 2014, BASF announced it was inaugurating a new plant in Yeosu, Korea to strengthen the supply of Ultrason polyarylsulfone, one of the company’s high performance thermoplastics. The new plant, with an annual production capacity of 6,000 metric tons, will better serve the growing market in Asia Pacific. The new plant is the first of its kind to be built outside of Germany and brings the company’s global capacity of Ultrason polyarylsulfone to 18,000 metric tons per year.

Ultrason is widely applied in the electronics, automotive and aerospace industries for the production of heat-resistant, lightweight components. Other popular Ultrason applications include membranes for water treatment, fittings for drinking water pipelines or food contact parts as in espresso machines, or microwave-proof dishes. Ultrason is also used in the production of carbon fiber composite materials.

inge GmbH, based in Greifenberg, Germany, is a world's leading provider of ultrafiltration technology, a membrane process used to treat drinking water, process water, waste water and sea water. With a global reach enhanced by its network of partners, the company has completed numerous reference projects around the globe featuring its cutting-edge technology. In August 2011, inge became part of BASF, the world’s leading chemical company. Its range of products include highly-efficient ultrafiltration modules and cost-effective, space-saving rack designs as the core components of water treatment plants, rounded off by the superb technical support it provides to its customers. All the company's products are based on the in-house development of its patented Multibore membrane technology, providing the top-quality standards for which German-made goods are known.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The overall polyethylene (PE) imports into the Republic of Belarus decreased by 5.6% over the first eight months of 2014. The high density polyethylene (HDPE) market still demonstrated negative results, whereas demand for other PE grades increased this year, reported MRC analysts.

August PE imports into Belarus totalled 9,400 tonnes versus 9,600 tonnes last month. The overall PE imports dropped to 67,600 tonnes from January to August 2014 from 71,300 tonnes over the same period a year earlier.

The structure of PE imports by grades in the Republic of Belarus looks the following way over the stated period.

August imports of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) decreased by 10% from July (4,900 tonnes) to 4,400 tonnes. The overall imports of these PE grades reached 33,100 tonnes from January to August 2014 versus 29,400 tonnes a year earlier. The main PE suppliers to the local market were producers from Russia (about 4,800 tonnes) and Saudi Arabia (19,200 tonnes).

Imports of high -density polyethylene (HDPE) rose to 5,000 tonnes in August from 4,700 tonnes in July. At the same time, PE shipments from Russia continued to fall, which was offset by higher imports of Middle Eastern PE for the second consecutive month. The overall HDPE imports to Belarus fell over the stated period to 34,600 tonnes, down by 18% year on year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corp and Royal Dutch Shell have shelved plans to expand an existing petrochemical joint venture in Saudi Arabia as the results of feasibility studies were not encouraging, reported Arabian Business.

The two partners in the joint project, known as SADAF joint venture in Jubail, on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, first announced plans to explore an expansion of their petrochemical plant in 2012.

The expansion was due to add polyols, propylene oxide (PO) and styrene monomer. SABIC did not say by how much the plant was due to be expanded nor gave an estimated cost.

"Shell and SABIC have agreed not to pursue this investment further but have agreed to continue to have constructive discussions to explore other opportunities for expansion," a Shell spokesman said in a statement on Thursday.

SABIC, one of the world's largest petrochemical groups, said the decision would not have any impact on its earnings, according to a statement on the Saudi bourse website.

As MRC wrote before, in February 2013, Royal Dutch Shell took a final investment decision tol increase production capacity at its Singapore petrochemical plant to meet demand for specialized materials used in the automotive and furniture industries. The upgrade will increase the plant's capacity to produce polyols - industrial chemicals used to make high-quality foams - by more than 100,000 metric tpy to 360,000 tpy. The project is expected to be completed in 2014.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world’s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- French oil major Total appointed refining head Patrick Pouyanne as chief executive and former CEO Thierry Desmarest as non-executive chairman, said the company in its press release.

The nominations at the head of the world's fourth-largest integrated oil company came less than 48 hours after the brutal death of Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie in a plane crash in Moscow.

Desmarest, previously honorary chairman of the oil group, will keep his new position until the end of 2015, after which the roles of CEO and chairman would again be combined, Total said in a statement following an emergency board meeting.

Pouyanne, 51, had a key role in merging Total's loss-making "downstream" refining and petrochemical units in recent years, and also had senior roles at the group's "upstream" exploration units in Angola and Qatar.

Pouyanne will likely face a politically sensitive situation in France, where he told unions earlier this year that Total would seek to cut capacity among its five refineries, with more details about the plan expected next spring.

The company will be hoping to avoid a repeat of its problems in 2010 when Total's decision to close down the Dunkirk refinery prompted weeks of strikes by angry unions and disrupted French oil supplies.

A graduate of France's elite Polytechnique and Ecole des Mines engineering colleges, Pouyanne was also a ministerial advisor under previous conservative governments.

Desmarest, 68, headed the group during the mergers of Total with Petrofina and then Elf in 1999.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Chemical, the largest US chemical maker by sales, said this year’s plunging oil prices will stimulate national economies and help rather than hurt its plastics business next year, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Lower oil prices should help increase gross domestic product in the US, the UK, Japan and China, Howard Ungerleider, chief financial officer of Midland, Michigan-based Dow, said on a conference call with analysts. The positive effect will become more visible through 2015, he said.

"Low oil price means more demand in the GDP," CEO Andrew Liveris said on the call.

Brent crude, the benchmark for global oil trading, has plunged more than 20% from its June high to about USD86/bbl, meeting a common definition of a bear market. Oil prices should rebound to more than USD100/bbl next year as economies strengthen, Liveris said.

While lower oil prices probably are an indication of weak economic growth, Liveris’ bullish comments on the decline and Dow’s third-quarter results are "calming" for investors, said John Roberts, a New York-based analyst at UBS Securities.

The oil drop narrows margins for ethane-based plastics and could erode sales volumes in the fourth quarter as customers cut inventories at year-end, Liveris said. Still, US ethane remains among the cheapest feedstocks in the world even with oil at USD80, Ungerleider said. Cheaper oil also boosts profitability at Dow’s plastics operations in Europe, he said.

As cheaper oil helps global economies expand, plastics- industry ethylene plants will run, on average, at 91% of capacity by early 2016, up from 90% at the end of this year and 88% at the start of the year, Ungerleider said. That will give Dow the ability to keep raising prices, he said.

Global economic growth is expected to rise to 3.4% or more next year, up from 2.8% this year, the CFO said.

As MRC wrote before, Hanwha Chemical, one of South Korea's leading polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride producers, has picked Credit Suisse to advise on possible purchases from Dow Chemical's chloro-alkali business but its interest is still in the early stages. The spokesman for Hanwha said no details had been decided.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. As of 2007, it is the second-largest chemical manufacturer in the world by revenue (after BASF) and as of February 2009, the third-largest chemical company in the world by market capitalization (after BASF and DuPont). Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
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