Albemarle, Sinopec Catalyst and FRIPP sign heads of agreement in field of hydrocracking

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Albemarle Corporation, a leader in the global specialty chemicals industry, has announced that it has signed a Heads of Agreement in the field of heavy feedstock hydrocracking for the company's catalysts business unit, as per PRNewswire.

Sinopec Catalyst Co. Ltd. (SCC), Sinopec Fushun Research Institute of Petroleum and Petrochemicals (FRIPP), and Albemarle's catalysts business are combining strengths by cooperating in the field of catalytic hydrocracking. The cooperation will be worldwide and on a non-exclusive basis. Albemarle, SCC and FRIPP will combine forces to be the supplier of choice for supplying hydrocracking pre-treat and hydrocracking catalysts and expertise.

"We are pleased to strengthen our position in hydrocracking by this Heads of Agreement with SCC and FRIPP," said Silvio Ghyoot, Albemarle's President, Catalysts. "We look forward to developing this Heads of Agreement further towards a productive business cooperation from which a number of customers around the globe will benefit."

Mr. Gu Songyuan, President of Sinopec Catalyst Co., stated, "Albemarle is a trusted catalyst supplier in the industry which is why we pursued a partnership with them. Together, we will offer the global refining industry strong profitable solutions for heavy feedstock hydrocracking by combining solid hydrotreating and hydrocracking expertise."

Mr. Fang Xiangchen, President of Sinopec Fushun Research Institute of Petroleum and Petrochemicals, added, "Combining FRIPP's hydrocracking pilot plant expertise, references and application knowledge with Albemarle's hydrotreating know-how will lead to great added value propositions for refiners, enhancing their profitability in a significant way."

As MRC informed earlier, China's Sinopec group, parent of Sinopec Corp, will invest USD29.05 billion to upgrade four refining bases between 2016 and 2020 to produce higher-quality fuels.

Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is a global specialty chemicals company with leading positions in lithium, bromine and refining catalysts.

Sinopec Catalyst Co., Ltd. (SCC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SINOPEC, is one of the world's biggest manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers for oil refining and chemical catalysts. With the support of Sinopec group which possesses industrial facilities of various technology resources, SCC improves its core strength to offer one-stop solution to different problems from the industrial facilities operation. SCC produces oil refining catalysts, polyolefin catalysts, catalysts for basic organic raw materials, coal chemical catalysts, environmental protection catalysts, additives, and absorbents.

Sinopec Fushun (Dalian) Research Institute of Petroleum and Petrochemicals is a research institute directly under SINOPEC.

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.
MRC

Saudi Aramco, Air Products and ACWA to form USD8bn JV

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco, Air Products and ACWA Power are set to form an USD8bn Gasification/Power joint venture (JV) in Jazan Economic City (JEC) in Saudi Arabia, as per Hydrocarbons-technology.

The companies have signed a term sheet to form the JV, which will buy the gasification assets, power block and the associated utilities from Saudi Aramco for more than USD8bn.

The assets are currently under construction and will be transferred to the JV upon start-up, which is set to take place next year.

The facility will be owned and operated by the JV under a 25-year contract.

Saudi Aramco downstream senior vice-president Abdulaziz Al-Judaimi said: "The Gasification/Power JV will be central to the self-sufficiency of our megaprojects at Jazan.

"The JV will enhance the overall value of the refinery and integrated gasification combined cycle power plant, and aid in transforming the province by positioning JEC for additional foreign direct investment and private sector involvement."

Saudi Aramco will supply feedstock to the JV, which in turn will produce power, hydrogen and other utilities for the company.

Air Products will own at least 55% of the JV, with the remaining stake to be owned by Saudi Aramco and ACWA Power.

The JV will serve Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery and terminal located at JEC that will process heavy and medium crude oil to create liquefied petroleum gas, sulfur, asphalt, benzene and paraxylene.

It will also add 400,000 barrels a day of refining capacity.

Air Products chairman, president and CEO Seifi Ghasemi said: "Building on the success of our Lu’An project in China, this new project further extends Air Products’ leadership position supplying syngas to major companies around the world.

"We appreciate the trust that Saudi Aramco continues to place in us, first in awarding us the air separation unit, and now moving toward an expanded scope of supply at Jazan."

Ghasemi further added that the JV advances the efforts of the public private partnership (PPP) model to develop critical infrastructure assets in the region.

As MRC reported previously, in July 2017, Saudi Aramco and France's Total unveiled plans to build a mixed-feed cracker and derivatives in Jubail, near their joint refining complex. The cracker is expected to have a capacity of 1.5 MMtpy.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
MRC

Polydist UK and SABIC announce broader strategic relationship

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polydist UK and plastics-maker SABIC have announced broader strategic relationship. Polydist UK has been proud to introduce SABIC’s Specialties products to their current portfolio of polymer resins, as per SABIC's press release.

The products include the well-known SABIC brands NORYL resins, ULTEM resins and LNP compounds, co-polymer polycarbonate grades, and flame retardant grades of the resin brands LEXAN, CYCOLOY and VALOX.

The company became an official UK distributor for SABIC’s Specialties products range from 10th of August 2018.

Polydist and SABIC have developed a strong and successful relationship since the signing of their first distribution agreement in 2015 covering SABIC LDPE and LLDPE materials from the Wilton, Geleen and Gelsenkirchen plants.

SABIC has continuously invested in its Specialties range of resins and compounds. Typical examples include materials for moulding impellers to strict tolerances for pumps and home appliances, safety critical industrial applications in sectors including aerospace and railways, powder coating, conveyor systems and LED lighting.

SABIC offers technical support to designers so they can make optimal use of the typical material characteristics such as super-high modulus for metal replacement, flame retardancy at thin wall section for weight reduction, low friction and wear to reduce noise, hydrostability, antistatic and electrical conductivity. The materials are typically used by customers to extend product life span, reduce assembly costs and improve aesthetics.

Polydist will hold an extensive local inventory and will be able to offer small scale sampling for product development, prototyping and part testing needs. Samples can be delivered with a shortened lead-time to help support speed and flexibility in application development.

As official distribution partner, Polydist can also offer optimum pricing structures in UK for the branded Specialties range of products.

At signing the agreement, Pieter Keijer, Commercial Director of SABIC’s Specialties business in the region said: "We look forward to our broader relationship with Polydist and strengthening our business in the UK. Working together we can further develop our joint objective to proactively help customers find solutions to their toughest challenges."

Richard Bradwell, CEO of Polydist commented: "I am delighted to be working with SABIC on this innovative range of technical materials as they will add great value to our extensive portfolio. We highly value our longstanding relationships with our supply partners and aim to deliver the aspirations of SABIC and our customers across this exciting range of products."

As MRC reported earlier, in November 2017, SABIC developed new materials for customers producing LED automotive lighting parts. LEXAN HF4010SR resin was one of the new offerings. This polycarbonate (PC) material can make it possible for customers to develop complex headlight bezels with enhanced aesthetics. SABIC also added new grades to its existing LEXAN XHT resin line, which can offer improved flow at high temperatures compared to other high-heat polycarbonate materials available today.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the worldпїЅs market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

India allows conditional import of petcoke

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India allowed import of petcoke for use as feedstock in some industries, sending shares of cement manufacturers higher, reported Reuters.

Cement companies, which account for about three-fourths of the country’s petcoke use, were impacted by petcoke-related policy flip-flops, which began with a supreme court judgment banning use of the fuel in and around capital New Delhi last year.

The directorate general of foreign trade banned the use of imported petcoke as fuel, but said shipments for use as feedstock in certain industries were allowed.

"Import of Petcoke is allowed for only cement, lime kiln, calcium carbide and gasification industries, when used as the feedstock or in the manufacturing process on actual user condition," the directorate general of foreign trade said.

Shares of cement companies such as Ultratech Cement Ltd, Shree Cement Ltd, Ambuja Cements and ACC Ltd rose following the announcement.

Shree Cement, one of the country’s significant users of petcoke, saw its shares rise as much as 3.6 percent to 17,898 rupees (USD255.36), its highest level this month.

Usage of petcoke, a dirtier alternative to coal, in the energy-hungry country has come under scrutiny due to rising pollution levels in major cities.

India’s imports of petcoke have declined this year as cement companies substituted some of their petcoke with coal to avoid production delays due to pollution-related policy changes.

As the world’s largest consumer of petcoke, India imports over half its annual petcoke consumption of about 27 million tonnes, mainly from the United States. Local producers include Indian Oil Corp, Reliance Industries and Bharat Petroleum Corp.

India is the world’s biggest consumer of petroleum coke, which is a dark solid carbon material that emits 11 percent more greenhouse gases than coal, according to the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy.

As MRC wrote previously, in December 2017, India raised the effective import duty on petroleum coke to 10% from 2.5%, according to a government order.
MRC

PP imports to Russia grew almost by a quarter in Jan-Jul

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of polypropylene (PP) into Russia rose in the first seven months of 2018 by 24% year on year to 114,900 tonnes. Shipments of all grades of propylene polymers increased, according to MRC's DataScope report.


Russian companies reduced slightly their PP imports in July, which were 17,100 tonnes versus 17,600 tonnes a month earlier; shipments of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) decreased. Overall, 114,900 tonnes of propylene polymers were imported into Russia in January-July 2018, compared to 92,600 tonnes a year earlier. Imports of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with homopolymer PP accounting for the greatest increase in deliveries.

Overall, the structure of PP imports to Russia by grades looked the following way over the stated period.


July imports of homopolymer PP dropped to 5,900 tonnes from 6,500 tonnes a month earlier, shipments of homopolymer PP raffia from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan decreased. Overall imports of this PP grade reached 41,600 tonnes in January-July 2018, compared to 33,300 a year earlier.

Last month's imports of PP block copolymers were 3,800 tonnes, compared to 4,200 tonnes in June. Local companies reduced their purchasing of PP block copolymer for injection moulding in Europe. Imports of PP block copolymers into Russia rose to 28,200 tonnes in the first seven months of 2018, compared to 23,600 tonnes a year earlier.

July imports of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) were 4,300 tonnes, compared to 3,200 tonnes a month earlier, purchases from films and pressure pipes producers increased. Overall imports of this grade of propylene copolymers were 21,200 tonnes in the first seven months of 2018, compared to 16,300 tonnes a year earlier, with imports of pipe grade propylene copolymers accounting for more than a two-fold increase.

Imports of other propylene polymers totalled 23,900 tonnes over the stated period, compared to 19,200 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC