LyondellBasell and SUEZ Begin Jointly Operating Plastics Recycling Venture

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, and SUEZ, a global leader in smart, sustainable resource management, have announced the successful completion of a transaction making each company a 50/50 partner in Quality Circular Polymers (QCP), a premium plastics recycling company in Sittard-Geleen, the Netherlands, as per LyondellBasell's press release.

LyondellBasell and SUEZ will today begin jointly operating Quality Circular Polymers, a plastics recycling venture in Sittard-Geleen, the Netherlands. The innovative joint venture marks the first time that a major plastics and chemicals company has partnered with a leader in resource management to contribute to circular economy objectives.

"Partnering with SUEZ allows us to contribute to the circular economy in a way that no plastics company has before," said LyondellBasell CEO Bob Patel. "For several years, we have seen increased demand for recycled and reused plastics, especially in Europe. With QCP, we have combined our respective expertise with SUEZ to create an innovative system that can be scaled as the circular economy grows."

"The circular economy will increasingly develop into a critical part of the plastic value chain. Moving forward, we will bear in mind the economics of operating our businesses must be balanced with environmental awareness," said SUEZ CEO Jean-Louis Chaussade. "As we move towards becoming value players in the circular economy, we will continue to seek opportunities for future growth."

The joint business will leverage the two partners' strengths. SUEZ will utilize its leading-edge technology solutions to improve the identification, separation and preparation of materials to be used as feedstock at QCP. LyondellBasell will apply its long-standing leadership in innovative plastic production technology, vast experience in product development and deep knowledge of important end markets such as consumer goods, where the company has a strong presence.

The QCP plant located in Sittard-Geleen will transform used plastic material into virgin-replacement quality PE and PP materials. The plant is capable of converting consumer waste into 25,000 tons of polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with an objective of 35,000 tons later in 2018 and 100,000 tons by 2020. The production capacity of the plant will address a growing need for improving the sustainability profile of high-quality plastics in Europe.

LyondellBasell will add QCP's recycled products to its range of existing PE and PP materials to help meet increasing customer demand and in line with the EU's Plastics Strategy.

Plastics recycling is also a key market for SUEZ, which operates nine dedicated facilities in Europe. In 2017, SUEZ processed 400,000 tons of plastic waste and produced 150,000 tons of new plastic resources. The company has set an objective of increasing its processing capacity by 50 percent to 600,000 tons in 2020.

As MRC informed before, in September 2017, LyondellBasell announced the successful startup of a new 20 ktpy polypropylene (PP) compounding plant in Dalian, China. This is the company's third facility in China, strategically located to serve the region's growing automotive market.

LyondellBasell is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies. The company manufactures products at 57 sites in 18 countries. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels.
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BP expects strong compliance for marine sulfur emissions caps

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil major BP Plc expects more than 90 percent of the world's shipping fleet will comply with new regulations slashing sulfur levels ships are allowed to burn starting 2020, as per Reuters.

Upcoming International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules will cut the amount of sulfur emissions that ships worldwide are allowed from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent by 2020.

"Potential non-compliance is a significant issue that the market has been contending with," Jason Breslaw, who leads BP's distillate trading origination across the Americas, said at an industry conference in New Orleans.

Breslaw said BP expects only about 9 percent of the industry is likely to be non-compliant as the rule takes effect. The compliance level has significant implications for demand for high-sulfur fuel oil; BP's estimates fall well short of other analyst estimates of about 30 percent non-compliance.

The IMO has said there would be no delays or exceptions to the coming rules, whether or not the industry takes the steps it needs to comply, and warned that all parties face consequences if they do not play their part.

Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimates about 30 percent non-compliance, said Alan Gelder, vice president of refining, chemicals and oil markets. "At the moment nobody is really doing anything ... with a number of the shippers playing chicken with the regulator, does the regulator blink? We don't know," Gelder told Reuters.

One way ships can comply with upcoming standards is to retrofit vessels with costly scrubbers, which can reduce sulfur emissions even if ships continue to burn dirty fuel.

But there are significant concerns with this process as well, industry participants said. The cost of installing scrubbers is about USD3 million to USD10 million, said Anil Rajguru, vice president of process safety at Fluor Corp.
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Yokogawa China to supply gas chromatographs for new refinery & petrochemical complex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced that its subsidiary, Yokogawa China Co., Ltd., won an order to supply the gas chromatographs for the first phase of a project to construct an integrated refinery and petrochemical production complex that is being undertaken by Zhejiang Petrochemical Co., Ltd. at a new industrial site in the Zhoushan archipelago, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This new, large-scale integrated refining and petrochemical complex that is being built by Zhejiang Petrochemical will eventually have an overall refining capacity of 40 million tons per year. The facilities that are being built include a crude oil terminal, oil refining and petrochemical production process units, storage tanks, and transport and service installations. The units constructed in the first phase will have the capacity to refine 20 MMtpy of crude oil and produce 1.4 MMtpy of ethylene. The first phase of this project is expected to be completed and put into production by the end of December 2018.

For the first phase of this project, Yokogawa China will supply 190 Yokogawa GC8000 process gas chromatographs. This is Yokogawa’s largest order to date for the GC8000, an analyzer that separates and measures the density of the components in gases and volatile liquids.

Zhejiang Petrochemical was established on June 2015 as a limited partnership between Rongsheng Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Juhua Group, Zhejiang Tongkun Holding Group Co., Ltd., and Zhoushan Ocean Comprehensive Development and Investment Co., Ltd. It is a private holding, state-owned joint-stock company. The company is mainly engaged in crude oil import and export, oil refining, petrochemical production, and the sales, storage, and transportation of its products.

Spurred by this order, Yokogawa will expand the sale of its process analyzer systems and pick up the pace of its process analyzer systems integration business.
MRC

Huntsman acquires Demilec


MOSCOW (MRC) -- Huntsman Corporation announced the acquisition of Demilec, one of North America’s leading manufacturers and distributors of spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation systems for residential and commercial applications, from an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., as per the company press release.

Demilec has annual revenues of approximately USD170 million and two manufacturing facilities located in Arlington, Texas and Boisbriand, Quebec where they produce a full suite of MDI based SPF formulations which they market directly to applicators as well as through distributors. Demilec specializes in both closed cell and open cell formulations, with a focus on products with renewable and recyclable content that are eco-friendly, bio-preferred and reduce energy consumption through highly efficient insulation properties.

Under terms of the agreement, Huntsman will pay USD350 million in an all-cash transaction, funded from available liquidity. Based upon full year 2018 EBITDA estimates, this represents a purchase price multiple of approximately 11.5x or 7.5x, pro forma for synergies. The transaction is expected to close by the end of second quarter 2018.

Commenting on the acquisition, Tony Hankins, President of Huntsman's Polyurethanes division, said: "Demilec has pioneered MDI SPF insulation and coating technologies for over 30 years, building a strong market reputation with architects, builders and designers. Demilec and the entire SPF industry has delivered strong double digit growth, which we expect to be sustained as their technology provides outstanding insulation performance in a world which is increasingly concerned with improving energy efficiency. The Demilec team will continue to be fundamental to the ongoing success of the integrated business after the transaction has closed, as we r apidly build our North American platform and aggressively expand the business into international markets."

Peter Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO further commented: "This bolt-on acquisition is a great fit to our core strategy to move downstream. The integration of Demilec into our Polyurethanes business offers significant synergies and delivers substantially higher and very stable margins by pulling through large amounts of upstream polymeric MDI into specialized spray foam systems. This integrated business will have greater than 25% EBITDA margins and double digit growth."
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Taiwan orders CPC to partially halt Talin refinery after fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan's government has ordered state-run refiner CPC Corp to partially suspend operations at a refinery in the southern city of Kaohsiung, a government official told Reuters on Monday, after a fire injured three workers, reported Reuters.

CPC's Talin refinery in Kaohsiung was hit by an explosion on Saturday and part of its production will be suspended until further review, said Chung Mon Pi, chief secretary of the city's Labour Affairs Bureau.

The incident will affect daily production of about 35,000 barrels of reformate, but there will be no shortfall in domestic supply thanks to abundant inventory, CPC Vice President Ann Bih told Reuters by telephone.

However, the company will "adjust its supply" to overseas markets, she said but did not elaborate.

CPC is aiming to resume its full production at the plant by end-March after a review by the government, she said.

"The company has to address our concerns and improve safety before it's allowed to resume full production," said Pi.

The injured workers remained in intensive care unit, the government said.

The company said total damage and the exact reason for the fire were still under investigation. It was fined TD300,000 (USD10,253) by authorities in Kaohsiung after the incident.

CPC's diesel output was hit in January after an explosion at a refinery in the northwestern city of Taoyuan.

Bih said it will still "take some time" for the company to fully resume the production at the plant.

As MRC wrote before, in early December 2017, CPC Corporation resumed operations at its residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) unit in Dalin following a turnaround. The unit was shut for maintenance in mid-September 2017. Located at Dalin in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the RFCC has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

CPC Corporation, Taiwan, is engaged in the exploration, production, refining, procurement, transportation, storage, and marketing of oil and gas. The company provides fuel oil, including automotive unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel, low-sulfur fuel oil, marine distillate fuels, marine residual fuels, and aviation fuel; petrochemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, para-xylene, and ortho-xylene; liquefied petroleum gas products comprising liquefied petroleum gas, propane, butane, and a propane/butane mixture; lubricants, motor oil, industrial oil, grease, and marilube oil; SNC products, including petroleum ether, naphtha, toluene, xylene, crude octene, methyl alcohol, normal paraffin, viscosity-graded asphalt cement, and sulfur; and natural gas.
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