Praxair starts new plant and extends pipeline system in Port of Antwerp

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Praxair has started up its second air separation plant and is extending its pipeline system in the Port of Antwerp, one of the largest petrochemical production complexes in the world, said the producer on its site.

The new 1,300-ton-per-day plant increases Praxair’s oxygen and nitrogen capacity in the Port and will support customers with long-term contracts. The new facility also produces liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon that will meet customer demand in the pharmaceutical, chemical, glass, metal fabrication, manufacturing and food & beverage industries in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Praxair has also started construction of additional oxygen and nitrogen pipeline extensions on the east and west banks of the Port, which are expected to be finished by the end of 2016.

"We continue to grow our industrial gas capacity and pipeline network in Belgium and the Netherlands to better serve customers in the region," said Frank Wegmann, managing director of Praxair Germany and Benelux. "The Port of Antwerp is the largest chemical and petrochemical complex in Europe and continues to make additional investments in its infrastructure to expand capacity. Praxair is well-positioned to grow with the Port given the investments we have made."

As MRC informed before, in early 2016, Praxair has started up an air separation facility in Zoucheng City, China with Yankuang Guohong Chemical Co. Through a long-term contract, Praxair’s 3,000 ton/day plant will provide oxygen and nitrogen to Yankuang, replacing the existing customer-owned air separation units.

Besides, in 2015, Praxair signed a 20-year agreement to supply approximately 170 MMscfd of hydrogen and 2,000 tpd of nitrogen to a new 750,000-tpy ammonia complex being built by a new entity formed by Yara and BASF. To help fulfill the raw material requirements of this world-scale ammonia project located in Freeport, Texas, Praxair is investing more than USD400 million to add hydrogen and nitrogen production capacity and extending its Gulf Coast pipeline systems approximately 46 miles from Texas City to the Freeport area. The pipeline extensions are scheduled to be in operation in 2016 and the supply to the complex is expected to start in late 2017.

Praxair, Inc., a Fortune 250 company with 2014 sales of USD12.3 billion, is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America and one of the largest worldwide. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products, services and technologies are making our planet more productive by bringing efficiency and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, primary metals and many others.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's output of products from polymers dropped in September 2016 by 2.3% from August, with pipes and films producers accounting for the decrease in production. The index of the production increase of products from polymers was 7.8% year on year in the first nine months of 2016, reported MRC analysts.

According to the Federal Service of State Statistics, September production of plastic pipes, hoses and fittings dropped to 55,200 tonnes from 56,400 tonnes a month earlier. In January-September 2016, overall output of these products totalled 422,000 tonnes, up by 8.8% year on year.

Last month's production of unreinforced and non-combined films decreased to 89,100 tonnes from 90,900 tonnes in August. Output of films rose in the first nine months of 2016 by 5% year on year, totalling 709,700 tonnes.

September production of boards, sheets and non-porous films grew to 26,900 tonnes, compared to 25,500 tonnes a month earlier. In January-September 2016, overall output of these products increased to 219,200 tonnes, up by 10% year on year.

Last month's production of boards, sheets and polymer porous films was 22,500 tonnes, compared to 21,500 tonnes in August. Overall output of these polymer products rose in the first nine months of 2016 by 2.3% year on year to 179,600 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russian companies reduced the production of basic chemicals by 3.2% in September compared with August. However, total index of production of basic chemicals in the first nine months of the year increased, as per Rosstat's data.

According to the Federal Service of State Statistics, last month's production of basic chemicals decreased by 3.2% in comparison with the August index, with the least decrease accounted for xylenes and ethylene. Thus, the growth of the production of basic chemicals remained positive and reached 3.5% in January - September of the current year.
September production of ethylene was 221,000 tonnes compared with 251,000 tonnes in August on the back of scheduled maintenance works at Sibur-Kstovo and Kazanorgsintez. Total production of ethylene in Russia in January-September 2016 was about 2.1 m tonnes, up 4.6% year on year.

September production of benzene decreased to 101,000 tonnes compared to 104,000 tonnes in August, which was also a result of the shutdown at Sibur-Kstovo and Kazanorgsintez. Total benzene production over the first nine months of the year was 896,000 tonnes, up 1.4% from the same period in 2015.

Russia's production of xylols in September decreased to 36,000 tonnes, compared with 47,900 tonnes in August 2016. Production of xylols in January-September 2016 totalled 420,400 tonnes, up 3.3% year on year.
September production of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) decreased to 89,200 tonnes (100% of the basic substance) against 96,800 tonnes in August. Reduction of caustic release provided RusVinyl due to the shutdown.
Total production of caustic soda in Russia exceeded 828,000 tonnes in January - September of this year, up 0.7% year on year.

September production of mineral fertilizers was 1.699 m tonnes (in terms of 100% nutrients), down 1% from the August level. Russia's production of mineral fertilizers in Jan-September 2016 exceeded 15.2 m tonnes, up 1.4% than in the same time a year earlier. Russia increased production of all types of fertilizers, the exception was only potash production volumes which declined by 7.4%.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem has commissioned a new UTEC ultra-high-molecular-weight-polyethylene (UHMWPE) production plant at its La Porte, Texas site. The new UTEC plant is scheduled for startup by the end of 2016 and reflects another milestone investment in Braskem's North American growth strategy, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The US UTEC plant will further Braskem's position in the UHMWPE market worldwide and complements the company's existing UTEC product line in Brazil. Braskem sells high performance UHMWPE under the trade name UTEC, developed and produced through Braskem's proprietary technologies.

"Our new UTEC UHMWPE plant in Texas is another step in bringing Braskem closer to our clients with advanced engineered polymers as well as creating additional high-quality engineering and production jobs in La Porte. The UTEC plant start-up scheduled for later this year will increase Braskem's UHMWPE capacity and market share as well as enable us to better serve our existing clients globally. The new plant combined with Braskem's dedicated US Innovation and Technology Center will make Braskem an even more reliable partner for its clients and play a key role in developing new applications for additional market segments," said Christopher Gee, Braskem Global Business Director for UTEC.

Earlier this year, Braskem enhanced its research and development capabilities for UTEC at the company's Innovation and Technology Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These new capabilities enable Braskem to expand its technical leadership in UHMWPE by providing instrumentation for testing, application development, and new product research.

In commissioning the new UTEC plant, Braskem is now completing the necessary steps to ensure a safe and successful startup. During this phase, the company is concluding functional tests and process control tests to verify performance of controls and integrated safety systems.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, Braskem SA will soon decide whether to build a plant in Texas or Pennsylvania to convert low-cost natural gas into polypropylene. The factory would produce at least 1 billion pounds (450,000 metric tons) of resin a year and would be the U.S. polypropylene industry’s first world-scale project in about 12 years, said Mark Nikolich, a vice president at Braskem in 2015. Preliminary engineering is under way for construction at existing Braskem sites in either La Porte, Texas, or Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) eyes to start-up its new paraxylene (PX) plant, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that the plant is likely to be started by end-October 2016.

Located at Jamnagar, Gujarat in India, the PX plant has a production capacity of 2.2 MMT/year.

As MRC informed previously, RIL has been buying PX for its new PTA plants at Dahej, which have a combined capacity of 2.24 million mt/year, but with the new PX plant starting up, the company is likely to turn into an exporter.

Besides, in April 2015, RIL successfully put into operation two plants in Dahej, Gujarat, India. The first is a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin plant, which consists of two lines with a combined manufacturing capacity of 650 KTA. This is one of the largest bottle-grade PET resin capacity at a single location globally, and consolidates Reliance’s position as a leading PET resin producer with a global capacity of 1.15 MMTPA, the company said. PET resin from the new capacity would find application in packaging for water, carbonated soft drinks, pharmaceuticals and other food and beverages.

The second facility is a new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant that provides a capacity of 1,150 KTA. With the commissioning of this plant, also built with Invista technology, Reliance’s total PTA capacity will increase to 3.2 MMTPA, and its global capacity share will rise to 4%.

Paraxylene, the key feedstock for the PTA plant, is sourced from Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery. The PTA plant is also forward integrated with the 650 KTA PET plant in the same complex, lowering operating costs and capturing full chain margins.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is an Indian conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, and is one of the world's largest producers of polymers (polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride). Reliance owns businesses across India engaged in energy, petrochemicals, textiles, natural resources, retail and telecommunications. Reliance is the second most profitable company in India, the second-largest publicly traded company in India by market capitalization and the second largest company in India as measured by revenue after the government-controlled Indian Oil Corporation.
MRC