Ineos GBP1 Billion UK spending includes VAM

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos has selected its Hull, Saltend, UK, site as the location for its long planned 300,000 t/y vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant, which will cost GBP150 million and form part of a just announced GDP1 billion investment in its British asset base, said Chemanager-online.

Within the investment package, the Swiss-headquartered group’s largest single project will be a GBP500 million upgrade of the 500-km Forties Pipeline System it acquired from BP in 2017. The four decades old pipeline system carries around 40% of the UK’s oil production and eventually supplies the Petroineos refinery at Grangemouth, Scotland, in which PetroChina holds a 49.9% stake.

The aging facility has been in need of repair for some time. Shortly after Ineos bought it, a crack was discovered, forcing a three-week shutdown. Also for some time, Ineos has been planning to modernize energy supply at Grangemouth. The already begun investment in a new steam and power plant is expected to swallow GBP350 million in funding.

The power plant being built by US engineering contractor Fluor will replace an existing power station, which is also 40 years old. High pressure steam produced in the new plant will be used by production facilities at the Scottish site, Fluor said.

The industry association Oil & Gas UK called the Ineos investment plan “a vote of confidence” in UK industry. Since announcing the VAM project in spring 2018, Ineos has been playing a guessing game about where its plant would be built, following months of silence on whether a new plant would be built at all. In 2013, the group shuttered an existing plant at Hull, also acquired from BP, saying its high production costs made it was uncompetitive.

Ineos had suggested that the VAM plant could be built either at Hull or Antwerp – it has ethylene hubs at both locations. Director Tom Crotty said in July last year that construction would be financed from its own cash flow, but acknowledged talks with the UK Department Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy about investment aid.

“Any help would tilt the scales in favor of Hull,” Crotty was quoted as saying said at an industry forum on Brexit.This week’s announcement of the UK investment scheme was seen by some as an attempt to smooth the waters after the flap over plans by Ineos chaiman Jim Ratcliffe and the privately owned group’s two other shareholders to move their domicile to Monaco to save tax.

Ineos executives commenting on the new plans stressed that the group believes in the future of manufacturing at an “uncertain moment” in the country’s industrial life.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Italian contractor Tecnimont has won another contract for Borouge in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as per Chemanager-online.

This time, Tecnimont will provide front end engineering and design (FEED) services for the fourth expansion of Borouge’s complex at Ruwais. The value of the contract for Tecnimont is roughly USD45 million on a reimbursable basis. Tecnimont has previously worked on Borouge’s first polyolefins complex, which was completed in 2001. Since then, it has also worked on the Borouge 2 and 3 complexes, in 2007 and 2010, respectively.

"Our strong, technological competitive edge in transforming natural resources into innovative, higher-value products enables us to be at the forefront of Abu Dhabi’s multi-billion downstream strategic investment plan," said Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Maire Tecnimont.

Borouge partners Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Borealis intend to finalize the downstream configuration within three months of awarding the FEED contract. FEED services are expected to finish during 2020. ADNOC and Borealis have also awarded a project management contract to TechnipFMC and a license contract to WorleyParsons.

The Borouge 4 complex will include a mixed feed cracker, the world’s largest with an ethylene capacity of 1.8 million t/y, using a variety of feedstocks that include ethane, butane and naphtha. Overall capacity will be 3.3 million t/y of olefins and aromatics.

Ahmed Omar Abdulla, CEO of Borouge, said the project is expected to generate more than USD3.5 billion in local activities during the engineering, procurement and construction phases. He added that once operational, Borouge 4 will contribute an extra USD6 billion to Abu Dhabi’s GDP.

In December 2018, Borouge started building its fifth PP plant in Ruwais. The 480,000 t/y unit, which will be integrated within Borouge 3, is scheduled to go on stream in the third quarter of 2021. It will expand Borouge’s total PP capacity by 25% to 2.24 million t/y.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Negotiations on prices of European polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for March shipments to the CIS markets have begun this week. European producers increased their export prices on rise in ethylene prices in the region, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The March contract price of ethylene was agreed up by EUR30/tonne from February, which presupposes the decrease in PVC production costs by, at least, EUR15/tonne. Taking it into account European suppliers increased export prices of suspension PVC (SPVC) for March shipments to the markets of the CIS countries, prices are suggested to be risen by EUR10-20/tonne in comparison with February.

Demand for PVC from the main consumers in the CIS countries remained at a low level this month due to the seasonal factor. At the same time, some companies intend to slightly decrease the volume of purchases, since they have sufficient stocks of PVC from February purchases.

Some producers have restrictions on shipments in the current month, but given the low demand, such restrictions were not critical.

Deals for March shipments of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) to the CIS markets were discussed in the range of EUR710-765/tonne FCA, whereas last month's deals were done in the range of EUR690-755/tonne FCA.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont Electronics & Imaging announced today that it is investing USD220 million to build new production assets at its Circleville, Ohio, plant, said the company.

The new assets will expand production of DuPont Kapton® polyimide film and Pyralux® flexible circuit materials to meet growing market demand in automotive, consumer electronics, telecom and defense. DuPont anticipates that the new assets will be operational by 2021.

"This investment is a reflection of our strong commitment to our customers around the world," said Jim Fahey, President of DuPont Electronics & Imaging. "Our new production assets will position us well to support the growing need across many sectors for our advanced high-reliability materials for innovations in areas such as 5G, automotive, flexible displays and artificial intelligence."

With world-class manufacturing and R&D capabilities, DuPont's Circleville plant is the natural location to expand. This facility has manufactured polyimide film for various electronics and industrial applications for more than 60 years.

The company is also making concurrent infrastructure and personnel investments at the DuPont Hsinchu, Taiwan, site to support growing customer needs. DuPont previously announced plans to increase Kapton® production by up to 20 percent by the end of the first quarter of 2019. Having successfully done that, the new assets will add significantly more production over the next several years.

Kapton polyimide films, made only by DuPont, have helped set industry standards for over 50 years in high performance, reliability and durability. Kapton® polyimide films offer an industry-leading durability and reliability for extreme applications with excellent mechanical, thermal and electrical properties.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- One of two Russian producers of dioctyl phthalate (DOP) plasticizer has announced a price reduction for March shipments. Russian dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) plasticizer is also expected to appear in the market in March, reported MRC analysts.

Fairly high prices of DOP plasticizers remained in the Russian plasticizers market in the first two months of the year, prices were in the range of Rb107,000-110,000/tonne, including VAT and delivery. One of the two producers announced the price reduction of Rb103,000/tonne for March shipments, including VAT and delivery. Market participants said the second manufacturers rolled over February prices due to limited stocks.

Thus, offer prices for March deliveries of Russian DOP plasticizer are in the range of Rb103 000-108 000/tonne, including VAT and delivery.

There were also offer prices for shipments of Russian DOTP plasticizer in the second half of March. SIBUR launched its own production at the site in Perm in March. Market participants said March offer prices were heard at an average of Rb98,000/tonne FCA Perm, including VAT.
MRC