KBR will utilize PCMAX Technology for new polycarbonate project in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR, Inc. announced it has been awarded both a license and engineering (LBED) and a proprietary equipment supply contract by Cangzhou Dahua New Materials Co., Ltd.(CDNM) to build a new polycarbonate plant in Cangzhou City, China, as per Hydrocarbomprocessing.

KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the Government Services and Hydrocarbons sectors.

Under the terms of the two contracts, KBR will provide its proprietary PCMAXTM technology, basic engineering design package and proprietary equipment supply for a 100 Mtpy single train plant in Cangzhou. CDNM intends to expand annual production at a later stage to 200,000 metric tonnes.

The plant will utilize KBR's phosgene-based interfacial polycarbonate PCMAXTM technology. KBR's unique PCMAXTM technology offers a wide range of high-quality product grades with minimal capital investment.

"KBR has been our most trustworthy partner for decades," said Xie Huasheng, Chairman of CDNM. "The polycarbonate market in China is booming, and we believe that by choosing KBR's advanced technology, we can achieve the best quality of products and place ourselves in the leading position in this new market." "We are extremely pleased and honored to be CDNM's strategic partner," said John Derbyshire, President, KBR Technology and Consulting. "China is one of our most important markets and KBR is excited to be a part of this significant project."

KBR globally licenses and designs polycarbonate synthesis and compounding plants as well as complementary phenolic technologies, including phenol/acetone, and bisphenol-A (BPA). KBR's integrated phenolics offering provides advantages in raw materials, utilities, OPEX and maintenance costs.

Revenue associated with this project was booked into a backlog of unfilled orders for KBR's Technology and Consulting Business Segment in the fourth quarter of 2017.
MRC

LDPE plant to be shut by Bangkok Polyethylene

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bangkok Polyethylene, a PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) subsidiary, is likely to undertake a planned shutdown at its low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the company has schedule to shut the plant in early-September 2018. The planned shutdown is expected to remain in force for around two weeks.

Located at Map Ta Phut in Thailand, the plant has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, PTT is on track to start commercial operations at its new 400,000 mt/year metallocene C6 linear low density polyethylene plant at Map Ta Phut, Thailand, in the first quarter of 2018.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC

Trinseo presents new S-SBR grades at the Tire Technology Expo 2018

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, has highlighted its new S-SBR grades that address a diverse set of market needs - balancing energy efficiency with good processability - at the Tire Technology Expo 2018, as per GV.

In addition, the company announced that it will give an update on its new S-SBR pilot plant and the capacity expansion at the manufacturing plant in Schkopau, Germany.

"The strategic investments in our new S-SBR pilot plant and manufacturing plant ensures our customers’ competitiveness by accelerating the time to market for new performance tyre innovations," said Samer Al Jabi, Trinseo’s global business director, Synthetic Rubber. "The pilot plant will deliver sufficient quantities of diverse S-SBR formulations required for real-life tyre testing, meeting our customers’ growing needs for reduced product validation time."

During the expo, Dr. Sandra Hofmann, Technology and Innovation Director Synthetic Rubber, and Dr. Sven Thiele, Research & Development Leader Process and Product Development Anionic, presented advanced S-SBR, butadiene rubbers (BR), and new functionalisation technologies designed to achieve low rolling resistance, greater tyre safety and enhanced processability.

"Our advanced anionic polymerisation technology a"lows for excellent control of key parameters for reducing rolling resistance. Today, Trinseo has taken functionalisation technol"y to the next level by applying multi-functionalisation techniques," said Dr. Hofmann. "Our product portfolio includes a diverse set of functionalised and multi-functionalised S-SBR."

As MRC wrote before, Trinseo and its affiliate companies in Europe increased February prices for all polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile styrene copolymer (SAN) gradese, as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) - by EUR250 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR270 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR250 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR200 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo has approximately 18 manufacturing sites around the world, and more than 2,200 employees.
MRC

Parker Hannifin signs Enterprise Framework Agreement with Shell for instrumentation products

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Devon-Parker Hannifin Corporation, the global leader in motion and control technologies, has signed a new Enterprise Framework Agreement (EFA) with Shell for the provision of instrumentation valves, manifolds, process-to-instrument valves, fittings, tubing, protective enclosures and related products, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

As per the EFA spanning 4 years, Parker’s Instrumentation Group will supply a broad range of process instrumentation products to Shell and its affiliates worldwide.

"Parker is proud to be associated with Shell. Our engineering and commercial acumen demonstrate our capabilities as a key supplier in the energy market”, said Andrew Spivey, General Manager of Parker Hannifin's Instrumentation Products Division in Europe. "We have collaborated with Shell on engineering projects, and this has given us a front row view of emerging technical challenges in critical application areas."

"We are proud to see our clients place their confidence in our products and services." adds Nicolas Villemain, Division Market Development Manager of Parker Hannifin Instrumentation Products Division in Europe. "We believe that such cooperative relationships between major players in their respective spheres will help establish new standards for performance, safety and cost reduction."

Over the last decade, Parker has invested heavily in innovation, and has made many significant advances in areas including safety, speed of installation and maintenance, and lowering emissions. In particular, Parker’s new products can dramatically reduce the number of potential leak paths in a fluid system technology, and improve ergonomics for instrumentation and maintenance engineers. Its core values engineering customer challenges capture the company's goal of leadership in the process instrumentation market.

Also important is Parker’s long experience in designing and manufacturing instrumentation using corrosion resistant alloys that optimize protection in upstream and downstream environments - a major problem for many current oil and gas projects.

As MRC informed before, in January 2018, Royal Dutch Shell spent over USD400 million on a range of acquisitions, from solar power to electric car charging points, cranking up its drive to expand beyond its oil and gas business and reduce its carbon footprint.

Royal Dutch Shell, commonly known as Shell, is an Anglo–Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom.Created by the merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum and UK-based Shell Transport & Trading, it is the fourth largest company in the world as of 2014, in terms of revenue, and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors".
MRC

PE imports into Belarus decreased by 4.8% in 2017

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of polyethylene (PE) into Belarus dropped in 2017 by 4.8% year on year, reaching 123,600 tonnes.
Local companies increased their purchasing of all PE grades, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), as per MRC's DataScope report.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of Belarus, December 2017 PE imports to Belarus grew to 11,200 tonnes from 9,100 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies increased their purchasing of PE in Russia and Ukraine. Overall PE imports into the country reached 123,600 tonnes over the stated period versus 129,800 tonnes a year earlier. Demand for low density polyethylene (LDPE) and HDPE increased, whereas linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) imports decreased.

The structure of PE imports to Belarus by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

December total LDPE imports decreased to 3,300 tonnes from 3,600 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies reduced slightly their PE purchasing in Azerbaijan. Overall imports of this PE grade into Belarus totalled about 36,800 tonnes in 2017, compared to 23,200 tonnes a year earlier.

December LLDPE imports were 1,700 tonnes versus 1,400 tonnes a month earlier, local companies significantly raised their purchasing of Middle Eastern butene PE. Thus, overall LLDPE imports exceeded 34,800 tonnes in January - December 2017, whereas this figure was about 52,700 tonnes a year earlier.

December HDPE imports rose to 6,200 tonnes from 4,000 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies increased their purchasing of PE in Russia and Ukraine.Overall HDPE imports into the country were about 52,000 tonnes in January-December 2017, up by 16% year on year.

MRC