Shell completes ethylene unit upgrade, expansion at Singapore complex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell has completed a revamp and upgrade of its Singapore ethane cracker, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project increased production for the 800,000-tpy ethylene plant on Bukom Island by 20%. The ethylene and olefins unit is also integrated with Shell’s 500,000-bpd refinery.

"This project reinforces the refining chemicals integration, including feedstock, product and logistics, that we put in place when we completed the Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex project," said Graham Van't Hoff, executive vice president at Shell Chemicals.

The revamp project will support expansion of other intermediate product facilities located on nearby Jurong Island, including Shell’s mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) plant and third-party facilities.

The Bukom Island ethylene cracker is a flexible-feed unit and can process both naphtha and LPG.

The recent upgrade also reduced energy consumption by around 7% and carbon dioxide emissions by 11%, according to Shell officials.

As MRC informed earlier, Royal Dutch Shell has signed a deal with Iraq worth USD11 billion to build a petrochemicals plant in the southern oil hub of Basra, boosting the country's aim to become a major regional energy player and diversify its income.

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.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay announced the creation of a new Global Business Unit that will integrate the GBUs Rare Earth Systems and Special Chemicals as well as the Fluorine Business of GBU Aroma Performance, said the company.

The new GBU Special Chem with annual sales of about EUR850 million and 3,100 employees worldwide in 2014 will be led by Hua Du and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and will be reported within the Advanced Materials Operating Segment.

"With its increased scale and enhanced innovation capabilities, Solvay Special Chem is better positioned to capture growth opportunities, and will focus on leveraging our technology and market position in auto-catalysts and fluor specialties to drive new growth in targeted markets, namely in Automotive and Electronics", said Roger Kearns, member of Solvay Executive Committee.

This new business reporting will be effective as from April 1, 2015.

As MRC informed earlier, Solvay plans to expand its production facility in Longview, WA., to meet growing demands from pulp and paper producers in the Pacific Northwest and other industrial markets around the United States.

Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company founded in 1863, with its head office in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels, Belgium. The company has diversified into two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics. Solvay supplies over 1500 products across 35 brands of high-performance polymers пїЅ fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra polymers, high-barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Limited propylene supply in Europe has led to two force majeures, according to Plastemart.

Borealis declared force majeure on polypropylene deliveries from its plant in Schwehaschat, Austria, due to a force majeure situation at its third-party monomer supplier, a company spokeswoman was reported in Platts.

A lack of monomer supply also led to a force majeure declaration on polypropylene production at LyondellBasell's PP unit in Tarragona and Ferrara, Italy.

It was still unclear if the plants had emerged from it.

At least 15% of European propylene production from crackers is now offline, including the largest of Total's three crackers at its Antwerp complex and its cracker in Feyzin, France; Repsol's cracker in Puertollano, Spain; the largest of Dow's three crackers in Terneuzen, The Netherlands; and Versalis' cracker in Dunkirk, France.

Chemical-grade propylene supply, produced at crackers and as a byproduct of refinery operations, saw greater pressure on supply due to production issues across oil refineries in Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean. Among those refineries in maintenance were Germany's largest, Mineraloelraffinerie Oberrhein (MIRO) in Karlsruhe; Shell's in Pernis, The Netherlands; ExxonMobil's in Port Jerome, France; Total's in Lindsey, UK; and Isab, Italy, 80%-owned by Lukoil and 20% owned by ERG.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC)--ThyssenKrupp has completed the formation of a new joint venture, ThyssenKrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers, said the producer in its press release.

It will trade under the name ThyssenKrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers and is operational with immediate effect. The new company combines the electrolysis business of the two companies under the managerial control of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions, the majority shareholder, and will be consolidated in the group. The plan to create a joint venture had been announced in November 2013 but was subject to approval by the supervisory bodies and the relevant antitrust authorities.

An increased global presence will be achieved by combining and harmonizing the worldwide capabilities for engineering, procurement and construction of electrolysis plants as well as technical support and sales. The new global setup will be rolled out during the next months. The company is headquartered in Dortmund and its main entities are based in Okayama, Tokyo, Shanghai, Milan and Houston.

As MRC informed earlier, ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions, the engineering and construction specialist of the ThyssenKrupp Group, has won a follow-up order from the Hungarian fertilizer manufacturer Nitrogenmuvek Zrt. to expand its production capacity.

ThyssenKrupp is a diversified industrial group with traditional strengths in materials and a growing share of capital goods and services businesses. Around 155,000 employees in nearly 80 countries work with passion and technological expertise to develop high-quality products and intelligent industrial processes and services for sustainable progress. Their skills and commitment are the basis of our success. In fiscal year 2013/2014 ThyssenKrupp generated sales of around EUR41 billion.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in Specialty Chemicals, has announced that it has acquired the black pigment preparations portfolio of Lanxess, located at Nagda, Madhya Pradesh, reported the company on its site.

This product line of Lanxess manufactures black pigment preparations used for processing of viscose fibre, which goes in the manufacture of mainly viscose-based apparels, knitwear, towels, bed-linen, etc. With this acquisition, Clariant in India gains additional pigment preparation capacity to cater to a larger, wider customer base.

Commenting on the acquisition, Dr. Deepak Parikh, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Clariant Chemicals (India) Ltd said, "Over the last couple of years we have made significant strides in building a value proposition for our stakeholders by sharpening our business focus and increasing our footprint in India. This was achieved through organic resource optimisation and capitalising on inorganic value opportunities."

Sambit Roy, Regional Director – Marketing and Sales (Pigments), Clariant in India said, "The pigment preparations business has been the mainstay of our India operations and we continuously adapt product offerings to suit evolving customer needs. This acquisition is a strategic decision to expand distribution networks. We will upgrade technical services and provide state-of-the-art technology in order to generate high quality products to support our customers' business growth."

As MRC wrote before, in April 2014, Clariant Chemicals (India ) Ltd., an affiliate of Clariant AG announced the successful closure of the acquisition of Plastichemix Industries - a Gujarat based masterbatches business in India, with production facilities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari.

Clariant in India has local pigment production activities at its Roha (Maharashtra) and Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu) sites. In the year 2014, Clariant invested in the expansion of its Roha pigments facility, thus strengthening its commitment to India.
MRC