Solvay to build new compounding unit in Mexico to serve regional and North American markets

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay, a world leader in polyamide-based performance materials, is building a Technyl polyamide compounding unit in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, with initial annual capacity of 10KT, said the producer on its site.

This new facility is expected to become operational in the third quarter of 2017 to serve the region’s and America’s growing automotive and consumer goods markets.

Mexico is the second largest producer of automobiles and commercial vehicles in the Americas and is ranked seventh worldwide with annual production exceeding 3,5 million units in 20151. In addition, many consumer goods and electrical equipment players are located close by, offering new opportunities for Solvay.

"This new plant will help us to support our fast growing Technyl polyamide business in North America, in addition to our current capabilities," states Vincent Kamel, President of Solvay Performance Polyamides. "Many of the world’s top automotive OEMs are located in the region, which makes it an ideal base for us to serve both local and U.S. markets and contribute with our solutions to cleaner mobility."

To minimize investment cost and time to market, Solvay is partnering with Chunil Engineering, one of its major customers. Solvay is planning additional investments to serve the NAFTA2 market.

"Our collaboration with Chunil Engineering - a global automotive tier 1 - enables us to optimize the site’s infrastructure including the use of power, water and waste treatment," explains Peter Browning, General Manager of Solvay’s Engineering Plastics Business Unit. "As our business develops we will expand this modular 10KT unit’s capacity to meet the rapidly growing needs of our customers in the region."

As MRC wrote previously, in early 2016, Solvay unveiled its plans to sell its polyamide business and gave investment bank Goldman Sachs a mandate to find a buyer,

Solvay Engineering Plastics Business Unit is the global specialist in polyamide-based engineering plastics, with more than 60 years of experience in the development, manufacture and marketing of a complete range of high-performance materials under the Technyl brand for demanding applications in automotive, consumer goods and electrical markets. With a growth strategy bolstered by six production sites worldwide, the Business Unit employs its expertise and innovation capabilities in order to serve the needs of its customers more closely through a global network of technical and R&D centers.

Solvay is headquartered in Brussels with about 30,900 employees spread across 53 countries. It generated pro forma net sales of EUR12.4 billion in 2015, with 90% made from activities where it ranks among the world’s top 3 players.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s Jilin Connell Chemical Industry Co. has selected Honeywell UOP’s Advanced methanol-to-olefins (MTO) process to tap domestic coal resources to produce ethylene and propylene, the essential ingredients for making plastics, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Jilin Connell is the ninth company to license the Honeywell UOP technology, which produces superior yields at lower cost compared to competing technologies.

The new plant, scheduled for completion in 2017, will be located in Jilin City in China’s Jilin Province, and will convert domestic sources of methanol into 300 Mtpy of ethylene and propylene. The new plant’s offtake will be supplied to ethylene oxide and propylene oxide manufacturers currently operating in the same industrial park.

"Honeywell UOP’s Advanced MTO technology is a proven process in China, which is expected to invest more than $100 B in coal-to-chemicals technology in the next five years,” said Mike Millard, vice president and general manager of UOP’s Process Technology and Equipment business. “This technology has the highest yield of ethylene and propylene with the lowest consumption of methanol and catalysts, as well as the lowest operating and capital costs of any methanol-to-olefins solution."

Ethylene and propylene are the two most widely used components to make plastics in the world. Global demand for ethylene and propylene is growing 4% to 5% per year, with growth driven by strong demand for plastics and other chemicals, particularly in China.

These components have traditionally been derived from crude oil. For regions lacking domestic sources of crude oil, the Advanced MTO Technology allows for the use of other more economical feedstocks such as coal and natural gas.

Honeywell UOP’s Advanced MTO process combines the UOP/Hydro MTO process and the Total/UOP olefin cracking process to significantly increase yields and feedstock efficiency. The process converts methanol from coal and natural gas into ethylene and propylene. At the heart of the technology are UOP’s proprietary catalysts, which make it possible to efficiently adjust the ratio of propylene and ethylene produced so operators can most effectively meet demand for those products. In addition, the Advanced MTO process offers the lowest operating cost, quick and efficient start-up and operational reliability.

Jilin Connell Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. was established in November of 2006 with operations in the Jilin Economic and Technology Development Zone. The company’s main products currently include aniline, nitrobenzene, nitric acid and synthetic ammonia. It also operates a 60,000-cubic meter per hour coal gasification unit.

As MRC reported earlier, in July 2015, China’s Better Clean Energy has licensed the advanced methanol-to-olefins (MTO) process of Honeywell's UOP to convert methanol into high-value petrochemicals, helping meet growing global demand for plastics and other key materials. This award was UOP’s fifth licensing win for its MTO process and comes after the successful start up of its first commercial-scale MTO facility for China’s Wison Clean Energy in September 2013. That unit has produced more than 360 million lb of ethylene and propylene since it went into production, meeting all of its performance criteria, including yield quality and quantity.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil giant Chevron Corp. reported a 37 percent decline in profit for the third quarter from last year, reflecting lower oil prices and weak refining margins, said Rttnews.

However, both revenue and earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' estimates. In addition, the company raised its quarterly dividend. Chevron's net income for the third quarter was USD1.28 billion or USD0.68 per share, down from USD2.04 billion or USD1.09 per share in the prior-year quarter.

On average, 22 analysts expected the company to report earnings of USD0.37 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Total revenues and other income for the quarter declined 12 percent to USD30.14 billion from USD34.32 billion in the same quarter last year, but topped analysts' consensus estimate of USD29.05 billion.

Sales and other operating revenues decreased 11 percent to USD29.16 billion from USD32.77 billion in the prior-year quarter. Chevron's worldwide net oil-equivalent production was 2.51 million barrels per day in the quarter, down slightly from 2.54 million barrels per day in the year-ago period.

The company noted that production increases from major capital projects, shale and tight properties, and base business were more than offset by normal field declines, the effect of asset sales, and maintenance-related downtime.

Chevron's upstream segment's earnings rose to USD454 million from USD59 million in the year-ago period on higher natural gas sales and lower expenses, partly offset by lower crude oil and natural gas realizations. Meanwhile, downstream earnings fell 52 percent from the year-ago period to USD1.07 billion, reflecting lower margins on refined product sales, lower earnings from the 50 percent-owned Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, and the absence of year-ago gains on derivative instruments.

Chevron's board of directors has approved a USD0.01 per share increase in the quarterly dividend to USD1.08 per share, payable in December 2016. With this increase, the company has raised the annual dividend payout on its common shares for the 29th consecutive year.

As MRC informed earlier, in July 2016, USD36.8bn expansion of the Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan, the largest investment by private sector oil companies this decade, has been given the go-ahead by Chevron of the US, bucking the trend of delays and cancellations resulting from the slump in crude prices since mid-2014.

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. One of the successor companies of Standard Oil, it is headquartered in San Ramon, California, and active in more than 180 countries. Chevron is engaged in every aspect of the oil, natural gas, and geothermal energy industries, including hydrocarbon exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eni reported that its third-quarter loss attributable to shareholders from continuing operations narrowed to 562 million euros from 783 million euros, a year ago, said Poandro.

Loss per share from continuing operations was 0.16 euros compared to a loss of 0.21 euros. Adjusted operating profit was 258 million euros, down by 66.3%. READ MORE Abercrombie & Fitch Q1 GAAP net loss USD63.2 million.

Adjusted loss attributable to shareholders from continuing operations was 484 million euros compared to a loss of 54 million euros, prior year. Adjusted loss widened due to a weaker operating performance, lower results from E&P equity-accounted entities and the company's reduced ability to recognize deferred tax assets on the basis of a muted outlook for future taxable earnings.

Third-quarter net sales from continuing operations was 13.12 billion euros compared to 16.01 billion euros, previous year. Hydrocarbon production at 1.71 million boe/d, up by 0.4% in the quarter; excluding the Val d'Agri shutdown, portfolio transactions and price effects in PSAs, production rose by 2.2%.

As MRC informed earlier, in June 2016, Eni announced that it could not reach an agreement with the US private equity firm SK Capital to sell a majority stake in ENI’s chemicals subsidiary Versalis (Milan) and has terminated the discussions.

Eni is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. It has operations in in 79 countries, and is currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of EUR68 billion (USD 90 billion), as of August 14, 2013. The Italian government owns a 30.3% golden share in the company, 3.93% held through the state Treasury and 26.37% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Another 39.40% of the shares are held by BNP Paribas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec’s chemical segment reports a 1.5% rise in operating profits in the first nine months of 2016 compared with the year-ago period, to 15.1 billion renminbi (USD2.25 billion), said Chemweek.

Nine-month sales for the chemicals segment decreased 8.3%, to 224.1 billion renminbi. Chemical sales volume in the first nine months of 2016 increased 11.2% year-on-year (YOY), to 50.46 million metric tons (MMt), Sinopec says. Ethylene-equivalent consumption in China in the first three quarters of 2016 was flat compared with the same period last year and the competitiveness of naphtha-based chemicals improved in the low oil price environment, Sinopec says. Third-quarter figures have not been disclosed.

Sinopec’s ethylene production decreased 1.9% YOY in the first nine months of 2016, to 8.11 MMt; production of plastics decreased 1.1%, to 11.13 MMt; production of synthetic rubber decreased 7.3%, to 619,000 metric tons; and the output of fibers decreased 3.4%, to 934,000 metric tons. Sinopec's production of monomers and polymers for synthetic fibers increased 2.1%, to 6.83 MMt.

Sinopec’s total capital expenditure was 24.9 billion renminbi in the first nine months of 2016, of which the chemical segment accounted for 3.96 billion renminbi.

As MRC informed earlier, in June 2016, Rosneft and Sinopec signed a Framework Agreement on joint pre-feasibility study of the project related to the construction and operation of a gas processing and petrochemical complex in East Siberia.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
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