Accident happened at BASF and Gasprom pipepline with injury to person

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Just before midday on October 23, 2014 in Ludwigshafen-Oppau, a serious accident involving a fire took place at construction works on the ERM (Rhein-Main natural gas) pipeline carried out on behalf of GASCADE Gastransport GmbH, sid the company in its press release.

One person was dead upon rescue. There are fears of further injuries. "First of all we want to express our deepest regret. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims. Rescue measures were initiated as soon as possible. The rescue services have acted quickly and comprehensively. We thank them very much for that," says Christoph von dem Bussche, Managing Director of GASCADE Gastransport GmbH.

At midday on Thursday, the pipeline was damaged during earthworks by an as-yet unknown cause and leaking natural gas caught fire. The fire has since been extinguished and the pipeline taken out of service. GASCADE has initiated all other necessary measures and provides information about the situation on an ongoing basis.

The ERM pipeline is almost 57 kilometers long, 40 centimeters in diameter, and runs from Ludwigshafen to Karlsruhe.
MRC

Fluor and Technip win EPC work from Petronas for RAPID refinery project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A joint venture of Fluor and Technip was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) management contract by Malaysia's Petronas for its Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project located in Pengerang, Johor, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under the contract, the Fluor and Technip JV will be responsible for the utilities, interconnecting and offsites scope of work. Fluor booked the contract in the third quarter of 2014.

We are honored by the confidence that [Petronas] has shown in awarding our team this additional work on the RAPID refinery project,” said Ken Choudhary, president of Fluor’s energy and chemicals business in the Asia region. "The RAPID project will have a significant positive impact on the Malaysian economy."

RAPID is part of the mammoth Petronas Pengerang integrated complex development that is valued at an estimated USD27 billion. It comprises RAPID and its associated facilities including the Pengerang co-generation plant, liquefied natural gas (LNG) re-gasification terminal, air separation unit, raw water supply project as well as other ancillary facilities.

RAPID will consist of a 300-Mbpd refinery and petrochemical complex with a combined capacity of producing 7.7 MMmtpy of various grades of products, including differentiated and specialty chemicals products.

RAPID’s refinery start-up is expected by early 2019.

As MRC wrote before, in July 2014, Technip, leader of a joint venture with Fluor, was awarded a program management consultancy contract by Petronas for RAPID project in Johor. The contract includes overall project and site management for the project and provision of project management services for specific engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning packages within Rapid.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC

Export of Russian PS increased more than twofold in January-September 2014

MOSCOW (MRC) - Export shipments of Russian polystyrene (general-purpose and high-impact grades) to foreign markets grew more than twofold in January-September 2014 to about 68,000 tonnes, compared with the same time a year earlier, according to MRC ScanPlast.

High impact polystyrene (HIPS) was in the greatest demand in the foreign markets, with exports reached 35,100 tonnes over the reported period, up 86% year on year.

Export shipments of general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) increased to 33,300 tonnes in the first nine months of the year, having increased more than 2.5 times from the same time a year earlier.


Extrusion grades of GPPS were in the strongest demand; the lion's share occurred for 825ES by Nizhnekamskneftekhim production). Exports of HIPS for sheet extrusion increased twofold in the first nine months of the year to about 29,000 tonnes.

Exports of GPPS for XPS boards production increased to 16,750 tonnes over the reported period, having increased by 2.2 times.

The main consumer of Russian HIPS and GPPS remains Ukraine. However, exports to Ukraine in the reporting period increased only by 2%, while shipments to other regions of the world showed a better growth.

Among the new markets should be noted Egypt. There were no exports of Russian PS in Egypt in 2013, but in January-September it reached more than 10,000 tonnes. Egypt was the second largest consumer of Russian polystyrene in the third quarter.

MRC

BASF bio-based polyamide is for the first time used for serial production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kunststoffwerk AG Buchs, a subsidiary of Wiha Werkzeuge GmbH, is the first BASF customer to process and use the engineering plastic Ultramid B3EG6 MB for serial production of its Longlife brand of meter rules, as per BASF's press release.

The polyamide used is one of the first BASF products to be produced and marketed on the basis of the mass balance approach. The "MB" material is derived from bio-based feedstock and thus helps to save fossil raw materials and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the mass balance approach certified by TUV SUD, 100% of the fossil raw materials needed to make Ultramid B3EG6 MB are replaced with renewable raw materials at the beginning of the production process. The abbreviation MB indicates the calculation via the mass balance approach. The certified MB plastic is identical to its fossil counterpart in terms of formulation and quality, and is already available in commercial quantities.

The mass balance approach is comparable to feeding "green" electricity into the power grid. It offers a way to utilize renewable raw materials in BASF’s existing system of integrated production known as Verbund. Under the mass balance approach, biomass - for instance, in the form of biogas or bio-naphtha from certified sustainable production - is used as a feedstock in place of fossil resources at the beginning of the value chain and is subsequently allocated to individual products in a defined manner.

The mass balance approach employed by BASF was developed jointly with TUV SUD and certified for the BASF production facilities in Ludwigshafen, Antwerp and Schwarzheide. Kunststoffwerk AG Buchs has also been certified by TUV SUD regarding use of Ultramid B3EG6 MB: This requires an annual review of the entire value chain all the way to the end product on the basis of high quality standards.

As MRC informed earlier, in May 2014, BASF offered high performance Ultramid (polyamide), which is derived from renewable raw materials with certified biomass. The share of renewable raw materials in the sales product is then indicated in the respective quantity. A third-party certification confirms to customers that BASF has used the required quantities of renewable raw materials which the customer has ordered in the value chain.

Besides, BASF is building a new Ultramid polymerization plant with a capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year in Shanghai, China. The new plant is planned to start up in 2015.

BASF operates Ultramid polymerization plants in Ludwigshafen, Germany; Antwerp, Belgium; Freeport, Texas and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The production of polyamide for film, textile and carpet fiber as well as for engineering plastics applications is integrated into BASF’s global Verbund structure with polyamide intermediates (i.e. adipic acid, anolon, caprolactam), chemical raw materials (i.e. ammonia, cyclohexane, sulfuric acid), energy, by-product recovery, logistics and other services.
MRC

PVC imports in Belarus decreased by 16.8% in January - August 2014

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in Belarus decreased to 25,400 tonnes in the first eight months of this year, down 16.8% year on year, according to MRC DataScope.

PVC imports in the country has seasonally increased since June, in August it reached 4,100 tonnes. Total PVC imports decreased to 25,400 tonnes in January - August 2014, compared with 30,500 tonnes year on year.

Such a serious decline in demand for PVC from the local converters resulted from a lower demand for finished PVC products in the domestic market (down more than 30% compared to 2013 figures), whereas export sales, including in Russia , declined by about 20%.

Key suppliers of PVC to the local market were producers from Germany, with their share increased to 54% from the total imports in the country over the reported period.

At the same time, some Belarusian companies do not rule out the growth of PVC supply from Russia, including a new production site - RusVinil.

MRC