Honeywell opens China propylene catalysts plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell has opened a new manufacturing facility in China to produce catalysts used to make components for plastics production, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with the reference to the company's announcement.

This new site in Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province, has begun production of catalysts used to covert propane to propylene as traditional sources for this product shrink. The catalysts are used in the Oleflex process developed by Honeywell’s UOP, a global leader in technology for the oil and gas industries.

Over the past four years, UOP says it has licensed its Oleflex technology to 30 producers globally, including 25 in China. The first two of these new plants came online in China last year.

"This is another important milestone for Honeywell as we invest in capacity to meet strong customer demand for our game-changing technologies," said Darius Adamczyk, president and CEO of Honeywell's Performance Materials and Technologies business. "This investment will support our growth while helping China meet growing domestic and global demand for propylene."

Honeywell announced its plans to add this manufacturing capacity in October 2013. The facility is located in an established, world-class industrial park about 85 miles northwest of Shanghai.

In addition to Oleflex catalysts, the site will produce adsorbent materials used in applications including refining and petrochemical production and natural gas processing. Honeywell also is planning production of materials for other fast-growing technologies at the site.

"This campus enables Honeywell to help Chinese petrochemical producers meet global demand for propylene with UOP’s Oleflex technology," said Scott Zhang, vice president and general manager for Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies in Asia.

As MRC informed previously, the largest refiner in Kazakhstan has selected technology from Honeywell's UOP for the modernization of its facility. The Pavlodar Oil Chemical Refinery (POCR) of KazMunaiGas will use a range of UOP processes and services to upgrade its facility in Northeast Kazakhstan Province, allowing it to meet Euro-5 standards aimed at reducing motor vehicle pollution.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil posted Q1 earnings of USD4.9 billion, or USD1.17 per diluted share, down from USD9.1 billion a year earlier. But that topped the analyst forecast of USD3.64 billion, according to Bloomberg.

The company posted adjusted earnings per share of USD1.17, down 44% compared to the previous period, but much better than the forecast of USD0.82.

"ExxonMobil’s balanced portfolio delivered solid financial results in the quarter," said CEO Rex Tillerson in the statement. "Regardless of current market conditions, we remain focused on business fundamentals and competitive advantages that create long-term shareholder value."

Earnings on upstream operations, or those involving finding and drilling crude oil, were USD2.9 billion in the first quarter, down from USD4.9 billion a year ago.

US upstream operations posted a loss of USD52 million, down USD1.3 billion year-over-year. Oil-equivalent production increased 2.3% from the first quarter of 2014, with liquids up 6% and gas down 1.6%. Due to the oil crash, the company slashed its capital expenditures by over USD4 billion last month.

As MRC informed before, in early 2014, ExxonMobil officially opened its multi-billion dollar Singapore chemical plant expansion on Jurong Island, to serve growth markets in the Asia-Pacific region. The expansion included a second 1-million-t/y steam cracker, two 650,000-t/y polyethylene plants, a 450,000-t/y polypropylene plant, a 300,000-t/y specialty elastomers unit, an aromatics extraction facility to produce 340,000 t/y of benzene, and a 125,000-t/y oxo-alcohol expansion.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has begun trial operations at the mononitrobenzene plant within the integrated 400,000 metric ton methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) complex in Chongqing, China. Mononitrobenzene is a precursor for the production of MDI, said the company.

This MDI site covers an area of more than 50 hectares, including facilities of 400,000 metric tons per year of Mononitrobenzene, 300,000 metric tons per year of aniline, 400,000 metric tons per year of crude MDI, and an MDI splitter with a capacity of 400,000 metric tons per year.

MDI is an important component for polyurethanes – an extremely versatile plastics material that contributes towards improved insulation for appliances and reefer containers, provides lighter and more modern materials for cars, and helps save energy in buildings.

As MRC wrote previously, BASF will expand its capacity for the production of Paliocrom effect pigments by more than 20% by 2017 in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The investment will enable the company to accommodate for the growing demand of its aluminum-based effect pigments in the automotive coatings sector. With an investment of approximately EUR10 million, BASF aims to strengthen its position in this fast-growing market.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of over EUR74 billion in 2014 and over 113,000 employees as of the end of the year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yibin Tianyuan is likely to restart a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant following maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is planned to be restarted in mid-May 2015. It was shut in mid-April 2015.

Located in Sichuan province, China, the plant has a production capacity of 380,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, Shandong Dongyue is restarting its PVC plant following maintenance turnaround in early March 2015. It was shut on February 6, 2015. Located in Shandong province, China, the plant has a production capacity of 120,000 mt/year.

We also remind that Guangzhou Tosoh shut down its PVC plant in China for maintenance turnaround on February 27, 2015. It remained off-stream for around one month. Located in Guangzhou, China, the plant has a production capacity of 250,000 mt/year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell said that its earnings for the first quarter fell by 56 percent compared with a year earlier, as improved performance in marketing and refining failed to offset the effects of the plunge in oil prices, said the company in its press release.

The Anglo-Dutch company’s profit, adjusted for inventory changes and one-time items, was USD3.2 billion, compared with USD7.3 billion in the same period a year earlier. Still, the results beat analysts’ consensus forecasts, and Shell’s shares rose about 1.5 percent in morning trading in London.

But analysts said that there was cause for concern in Shell’s results. In an indication of how quickly a drop in oil prices can erode margins, the company said that its earnings from finding and producing oil and gas were USD675 million for the quarter, compared with USD5.7 billion a year earlier.

Shell said that the price it received for oil in the first quarter was 52 percent lower than the same period in 2014, while the price of natural gas fell by 27 percent. The fall in prices directly cut USD4.7 billion from earnings.

As MRC informed earlier, Royal Dutch Shell has completed a revamp and upgrade of its Singapore ethane cracker. 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.

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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