Zimbabwe plans refinery for the countrys platinum mines

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zimbabwe is planning to build a base metals and precious metals refinery that will process platinum from all the country’s platinum mines, a budget statement said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The country, which is home to the second largest known deposits of platinum after South Africa, will impose a 5 percent tax on export of platinum concentrates in 2019 in a bid to encourage local processing of the metal.

Without giving details, the budget statement said Impala Platinum’s local unit Zimplats had shelved its USD131 million project to refurbish a base metals refinery to pave way for the national project.

It was not clear who would be behind the new project or its shareholders. Zimplats chief executive Alex Mhembere did not immediately respond to calls to his mobile phone.

Implats and Anglo American Platinum have operations in Zimbabwe, while Sibanye-Stillwater also has a joint venture mine with Implats in the country.

Privately-owned Karo Resources has previously said it was planning USD4.2 billion platinum mining project, including a precious metals refinery in Zimbabwe. A Russian consortium and Zimbabwean investors is developing a platinum project in Darwendale near Harare.

The project had stalled under former president Robert Mugabe, who resigned after a coup last year, but was revived when Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov visited Zimbabwe in March.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a bid to increase its footprint in the 3D printing materials market, thermoplastic resins distributor M. Holland Co. has signed a distribution agreement with Innofil3D, part of the BASF 3D Printing Solutions Group, that will give its industrial manufacturing clients access to the expanding BASF 3D product portfolio, said Canplastics.

This is the third such partnership that Northbrook, Ill.-based M. Holland has entered into this year. It recently signed a distribution agreement with 3DXTECH, which added 24 engineering materials to its portfolio, and in May of this year, Owens Corning named M. Holland master distributor of its XSTRAND line of fibreglass-reinforced products.

M. Holland is also continuing to invest in new 3D printing capabilities at its research and development centre in Easton, Penn., as well as its dedicated 3D Printing Lab at its Northbrook headquarters.

“Our agreement with M. Holland provides us a great opportunity to build on our knowledge of automotive, aerospace, and consumer goods 3D printing solutions in the U.S.,” BASF 3D Printing Solutions’ sales manager, Roger Sijlbing, said. “With our newly expanded 3D printing application technology centre we hope to provide M. Holland clients with innovative solutions to incorporate 3D printing practices in new, profitable ways.”
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, has announced that its subsidiary, Celanese US Holdings LLC, has completed its registered offering of EUR500 million of 2.125 percent Senior Notes due 2027, as per the company's press release.

The Notes are guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by the company and certain Celanese domestic subsidiaries. Proceeds from the notes were primarily used to refinance an existing term loan maturing in 2021.

"This transaction extends our debt maturity profile and reduces our interest expense at the same time. We continue to grow earnings and cash flow while also improving the strength of our balance sheet," said Scott Richardson, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

As MRC informed earlier, Celanese Corporation increased November list and off-list selling prices for Ateva EVA polymers in Asia and the Americas. The price increases below were effective for orders shipped on or after November 1, 2018, or as contracts otherwise allow, and were incremental to any previously announced increases. Thus, the company's EVA prices went up by USD110/mt for Asia, by USD0.05/mt - for USA & Canada and by USD110/mt - for Mexico & South America.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,600 employees worldwide and had 2017 net sales of USD6.1 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INVISTA’s technology and licensing group, INVISTA Performance Technologies (IPT), and Jiangsu Honggang Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (Honggang) have reached an agreement for the licensing of INVISTA’s latest purified terephthalic acid (PTA) process technology, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This is the first time that INVISTA and Honggang would be collaborating to build state of the art PTA assets; a further recognition by the PTA industry of the many technology and schedule advantages which INVISTA delivers for its customers.

Honggang will utilize INVISTA’s P8 PTA technology at a scale of 2.4 million metric tonnes per year. Since 2012 INVISTA has licensed nearly 21 million tonnes of PTA capacity, representing almost two-thirds of the license capacity awarded during this period. Of this capacity, 70% would be based upon INVISTA’s industry-leading P8 PTA technology, designed to deliver long term value for our many new and returning customers.

A kick-off meeting was successfully held in the week of Oct 8, 2018. The targeted project start-up date would be in Q4, 2020.

As MRC wrote before, in May 2018, IPT announced the success of its latest P8 PTA technology deployed on Jiaxing Petrochemical’s second PTA Line. Started up in record time in December 2017, the plant is now consistently operating at 100 percent design rate with a variable cost performance better than the target, firmly establishing Jiaxing Petrochemical’s second PTA Line as the global leader in terms of raw material and utility consumptions.

Invista is one of the world's largest integrated producers of polymers and fibers, primarily for nylon, spandex and polyester applications. With a business presence in over 20 countries, Invista's global businesses deliver exceptional value for their customers through technology innovations, market insights and a powerful portfolio of global trademarks.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Alberta said that it will double its incentives for companies developing new plants to make petrochemical products, as the Western Canadian province seeks to diversify its economy beyond crude extraction and export, reported Reuters.

The province will now provide royalty credits worth CD2.1 billion (USD1.6 billion), up from earlier commitments totaling CD1.1 billion, to projects that convert natural gas and oil into value added products like gasoline, fertilizer and plastics.

Alberta said it was expanding the program after receiving 23 applications from Canadian and international companies for the incentive program, representing CD60.2 billion in potential investment in the province.

"It sends a clear signal that companies from around the world want to invest in Alberta," said Margaret McCuaig-Boyd, Minister of Energy, in a statement. "We need to put our foot on the gas pedal."

The province has been struggling with sagging oil and gas prices, as rising crude output has outstripped existing pipeline takeaway capacity, while gas production that used to be sold into the Northeastern United States has been displaced by expanding US supplies.

In Alberta, most petrochemical upgrading uses natural gas byproducts like ethane, propane and butane.

The province first launched the petrochemical incentives in 2016. Two projects, including Inter Pipeline Ltd’s (IPL.TO) CD3.5 billion petrochemical plant near Edmonton, were approved to share the original CD500 million in royalty credits. It announced the second round earlier this year.

Alberta also said it would double its support for petrochemical feedstock plants, which provide the raw materials for petrochemical upgrading.

As MRC informed before, in December 2017, Inter Pipeline Ltd. announced that its board of directors had authorized the construction of a world-scale integrated propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene (PP) plant. The facilities, collectively referred to as the Heartland Petrochemical Complex, are estimated to cost USD3.5 B in aggregate and will be located in Strathcona County, Alberta near Inter Pipeline’s Redwater Olefinic Fractionator.
MRC