Valero Texas City refinery hit by explosion, fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An explosion set off a huge fire at Valero Energy Corp’s 225,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Texas City, Texas, refinery on Thursday afternoon but the fire was quickly contained, according the City of Texas City Emergency Management office, as per Reuters.

Smoke rises from Valero Energy Corp's refinery plant in Texas City, Texas, U.S., April 19, 2018, in this still image from video obtained via social media. No injuries were reported and the blaze, which was burning light hydrocarbons, was contained about an hour and a half after it broke out, Texas City Emergency Management said.

Sources familiar with plant operations said the explosion at about 5 p.m. (6 p.m. EDT/2200 GMT) was on a 12,000-bpd alkylation unit. It was unclear if other units had been affected. Alkylation units convert refining by-products into high-octane components blended into gasoline.

Valero spokeswoman Lillian Riojas said the company was cooperating with local, state and federal agencies in responding to the fire, which was being fought by the refinery’s firefighting team.

"At this time, Valero has very little information as to the cause of the fire,” Riojas said. “Our primary concern is for the safety of our workers."

Firefighting units from Texas City and the neighboring Marathon Petroleum Corp refinery were called to the Valero plant, the sources said.

Workers at the Valero and Marathon refineries, adjacent to each other on the south side of Texas City, were told to shelter-in-place, though no such order was issued for the entire city, 42 miles (68 km) south of Houston.

The explosion was heard 5 miles (8 km) away from the Valero refinery and rocked buildings within a mile (1.6 km) of the plant, according to local media reports.

Texas City was the site of the deadliest industrial explosion in U.S. history when on April 16, 1947, a ship carrying more than 2,000 tons of ammonium nitrate blew up, setting off blasts on other ships and nearby oil storage tanks and killing 581 people.

The deadliest U.S. refinery explosion in the 21st Century took place on March 23, 2005, at the BP Plc Texas City refinery (now owned by Marathon), killing 15 workers and injuring 180 people.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company on Sunday reported a 74.3% year-on-year jump in its profits for the first quarter of 2018, as per Mubasher.

Kayan’s profits amounted to SAR 462.6 million during Q1-18, compared to SAR 264.5 million in Q1-17, according to a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

The Tadawul-listed firm attributed the rise in its first-quarter profits to a growth in an average of sales prices, as well as a decline in operating costs.

Sales’ revenues increased 2.25% to SAR 2.7 billion for the three-month period ended 31 March 2018, compared to SAR 2.67 billion in the year-ago period.

The company’s total income surged 83% to hit SAR 485.04 million during Q1-18 versus SAR 265.46 million for the same period in the prior year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Toray Industries, Inc. today announced that it has decided to establish a production facility for nylon and PBT resin compounds at its Indian subsidiary Toray Industries (India) Private Limited (TID), as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The resins, with their superior heat and chemical resistance properties and mechanical strength, are used in electrical components of automobiles and in electrical and electronic connectors. The facility, with an annual production capacity of 5,000 tons, will be set up at TID’s base in Sri City in Andhra Pradesh State and the company is aiming to start operations of the plant from September 2019.

India’s economy is expected to grow at a high annual rate of 6% from 2016 through 2030 and is a promising market. Demand for premium goods and value-added goods such as automobiles and home electronic devices is expanding on the back of rising income levels. Especially, the automobile market is expected to have a high annual growth rate of 7% towards 2025, and demand is expected to grow for engineering plastics for automobile applications.

In particular, with the recent trends in strengthening of environmental regulations, the customer requirements have become increasingly sophisticated primarily in automobile applications and it is safe to say that the demand for highly functional materials, which Toray specializes in, will increase.

The establishment of the new facility is in response to the above trends and is aimed at offering stable supply and shorter lead time through local production and at strengthening the development capability on-site and the functions of storage and delivery. "India is a region where we can expect the market to grow.

The establishment of the new facility this time is the first such base in India for Toray’s resin business, and we’re quite excited about it. We would like to capture this rapidly growing market without fail and strongly pursue business expansion," said Takashi Endo, who is general manager, Resins Division.

Going forward, Toray plans to make the TID business base in Sri City not only to cater to the demand inside India but also as a base for its global operations targeting South Asia. Toray will continue to enhance its overseas bases and strongly pursue global business expansion through further strengthening of organic collaborations with them.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The thyssenkrupp Group’s materials experts are digitizing their entire range and consolidating it in the world’s biggest virtual warehouse, as per Hydracarbonprocessing.

With more than 3.5 million square meters of storage space at 271 operating sites around the world, Materials Services is now closer than ever to its customers and offers round-the-clock access to more than 150,000 products and services through its new omnichannel structure, enabled by a powerful, self-developed AI (Artificial Intelligence) solution.

"Due to our holistic approach in the digital transformation of our business model, we have consistently and comprehensively created the important prerequisites over the last few years to enable the launch of innovative solutions. By digitally connecting our global inventories of roughly 150,000 products we can offer our customers the widest possible selection of our various materials and services and optimum availability 24/7,” says Hans-Josef Hoss from the Board of thyssenkrupp Materials Services. From plastics, steel products and nonferrous metals to diverse materials and supply chain management services – nowadays customers of thyssenkrupp Materials Services want customized access to the entire range. Hans-Josef Hoss: “In surveys and personal discussions we listened closely to what our customers want, and for more and more of them the ability to order our products and services however and above all whenever they need them is of key importance. Our omnichannel solution guarantees direct access to us and our products – anytime and anywhere."
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- As part of its digitalisation strategy, leading German speciality chemicals supplier Covestro AG has started cooperation with Chinese internet giant Alibaba, as per Plasticsnewseurope.

The company announced 23 April that it is now offering its polymer materials in a flagship store on 1688.com, an online platform of Alibaba. The link covestrochina.1688.com will offer high-tech material polycarbonate as well as pre-products for polyurethane foams, coatings and adhesives.

The platform is the biggest online business-to-business marketplace in China. The Chinese economy, said the Leverkusen-based materials supplier, has shown “tremendous progress” in innovation and digitalisation over the recent years.

"Digitalisation rapidly changes customer needs and preferences and offers new business opportunities, especially in the fast-growing Chinese economy," said Markus Steilemann, Chief Commercial Officer and future CEO of Covestro.

According to Steilemann, China plays an important role for Covestro, not only in terms of market size but also with regard to innovation in relevant markets and technologies. "With the launch of an online store on Alibaba we follow our strategy by innovating our business models in close cooperation with our customers," he added.

The main goal of the online launch, added Covestro, is to give customers an "efficient purchasing experience".

"We want to make the customer experience more convenient and efficient. Particularly in a market like China, which is at the forefront of digitalisation, we need to be where the customers are," added Xiaobin Zhong, head of commercial operations for the coatings, adhesives and specialties business of Covestro in the Asia Pacific region.

As a start, Covestro will offer around 50 products on 1688.com. The second wave of products to launch, said Covestro, is already being planned. The company expects online commerce to contribute up to €1bn in accumulated sales by the end of 2019.
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