Jacobs Engineering wins contract from ExxonMobil for polyethylene expansion

MOSCOW (MRC)-- Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced it received a contract from ExxonMobil Chemical Company to provide engineering, design and construction management services as part of a new 650 kTa polyethylene facility to be located at ExxonMobil’s Beaumont polyethylene plant, said the producer on its site.

Under the terms of the contract, Jacobs is delivering front end engineering, detailed design and construction management to support enabling works and installation of offsite facilities, including rail, and interconnecting piping required for the new polyethylene train. The completed facility will produce pelletized polyethylene to be used in the manufacture of plastic products.

In making the announcement, Jacobs Senior Vice President Petroleum and Chemicals Manuel Junco stated, "Our proactive project execution plan will support the high degree of integration and versatility of ExxonMobil’s existing plant, all while delivering a design that enables safe, efficient construction. The experience and lessons learned we’ve gained while executing similar, recent projects will contribute to the success of this important expansion."

As MRC informed earlier, Jacobs Engineering received a contract from MEGlobal, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Equate Petrochemical Company and a world leader in the manufacture and supply of merchant monoethylene glycol (MEG) and diethylene glycol, to provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for a new MEG manufacturing facility near Freeport, Texas.

Jacobs is one of the world’s largest and most diverse providers of full-spectrum technical, professional and construction services for industrial, commercial and government organizations globally. The company employs 50,000 people and operates in more than 30 countries around the world.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR, Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Brown & Root Industrial Services, LLC, a provider of engineering, construction, and reliability-driven maintenance solutions, has acquired the MEI Group, LLC (MEI), a full-service turnaround specialist for industrial facilities, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Headquartered in White Castle, LA., with more than 1,300 employees throughout the U.S. Gulf Coast region, MEI is a provider of turnaround, specialty, and construction related services to the refinery, petrochemical and fertilizer markets. With the acquisition of MEI, Brown & Root Industrial Services will grow to more than 8,500 employees across 31 locations nationwide, significantly expanding its turnaround, specialty welding, construction, and fabrication services.

"In 2015 we rebranded our operating expenditure facing business as 'Brown & Root.' The addition of MEI's resources and expertise to our industrial and maintenance services offering finalizes our build out of capabilities," said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO.

As MRC informed earlier, KBR, Inc.’s JV with SOCAR was awarded a second program management consultancy contract for the Azerikimya Production Union of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan. This award marks the second award to the JV, SOCAR-KBR LLC., since its inception in mid-2015. SOCAR-KBR LLC. was formed to help further Azerbaijan's ambition for creating a world-class Azerbaijan based engineering company. SOCAR-KBR LLC will build upon KBR's more than 20 years of project experience in Azerbaijan to perform program management services from its established offices in Baku for the Azerikimya modernization project.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has started engineering for a stepwise capacity increase of its methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) production facilities at the company’s Verbund site in Geismar, LA. Capacity will be increased incrementally from 300,000 mtpy to around 600,000 mtpy, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"The engineering for the capacity increase of the MDI synthesis has already started. In subsequent steps, which will be implemented in alignment with business development, the MDI precursor units in Geismar will be expanded accordingly," said Stefano Pigozzi, President of BASF’s Monomers division.

Stefan Doerr, head of the regional business unit Monomers North America, added: "With this investment, BASF will support the growth of its North American customers. Our existing infrastructure at the Geismar site combined with the competitive raw materials based on shale gas make the Geismar site ideally suited for this investment. The experienced BASF team at the site will ensure smooth implementation of the project."

As MRC wrote before, in September 2015, BASF began its first MDI production at its wholly-owned site in Chongqing, China. Production will be ramped up gradually in line with market demand, said the company then.

MDI is an important component for polyurethanes - an extremely versatile plastics material that contributes towards improved insulation, provides lighter materials for cars, and helps save energy in buildings. MDI production will support these key industries in China’s western areas.

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 generated sales of more than EUR70 billion in 2015.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LG Chem is likely to shut its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant for a maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant is planned to be shut in December 2016. It is expected to remain shut for a period of around one week.

Located in Daesan, South Korea, the PVC plant has a production capacity of 240,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, in January 2016, LG Chem said it had decided to drop a plan to jointly build a USD4.2-billion petrochemical complex in Kazakhstan, citing a prolonged slump in oil prices and a sharp increase in facility investments. In 2011, the chemical company said it would construct the complex near the western Kazakh city of Atyrau as part of a 50-50 joint venture with two Kazakh companies. The plan involved building ethylene and PE plants with annual capacities of 840,000 tonnes and 800,000 tonnes, respectively. The project was announced in 2013.

LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to ICIS report, it is 15th biggest chemical company in the world in 2011. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Total imports of polypropylene (PP) into Russia increased to about 144,200 tonnes in the first ten months of 2016, up 13% compared to the same period of 2015. Russia's imports of all grades of PP increased, with the exception of PP random copolymers, according to MRC DataScope.

Russia's imports of PP increased in October, having reached 14,300 tonnes compared with 12,400 tonnes in September. The main increase occurred for the supply of homopolymer PP raffia grade from Turkmenistan. In general, PP imports into Russia totalled 144,200 tonnes in January-October 2016, compared with 128,000 tonnes year on year. The decrease in supply showed only in PP random copolymers segment due to a significant growth of production by Nizhnekamskneftekhim, Stavrolen and Tomskneftekhim.

PP imports in Russia over the reported period looked as follows.
October imports of homopolymer PP into the country grew to 5,300 tonnes, compared with 3,300 tonnes in September. Local companies increased their supply of homopolymer PP raffia grade from Turkmenistan. Total imports homopolymer PP raffia grade into Russia exceeded 64,500 tonnes in January - October 2016, compared with 52,000 year on year.

October imports of PP block copolymers was about 2,800 tonnes, which actually equal to the level in September. Total imports of PP block copolymers into Russia exceeded 26,700 tonnes in the first ten months of the year, up 10% year on year. The greatest increase in supply accounted for pipe propylene copolymers.

Russia's imports of PP random copolymers in October were about 3,000 tonnes against 3,300 tonnes a month earlier on a seasonal factor local producers of pressure pipes reduced the purchase of the feedstock in Europe. Total imports of PP random copolymers into Russia increased to 28,700 tonnes in the first ten months of the year, up 3% year on year. The reduction accounted for only pipe PP random copolymers, while purchases of film and injection moulding copolymers grew.

Imports of other propylene polymers for the reported period increased to about 24,200 tonnes compared with 22,100 tonnes in the same time a year earlier.


MRC