Jiangsu to launch inspections on chemical producers after blast

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s eastern province will launch inspections on chemical producers and warehouses after a deadly blast in the city of Yancheng, according to an emergency notice published by official media, reported Reuters.

An explosion at a pesticide plant in the province has killed 44 people and injured more than 600, the latest in a series of industrial accidents that has angered the Chinese public.

The notice, published on the news website of Jiangsu province’s Communist party, said the government will shut down any chemical firms found not complying with regulations on dangerous chemicals.

As MRC wrote earlier, a fire and explosion engulfed the Tian Jia Yi Chemicals plant last Thursday afternoon. The plant was operated by the Nee Group near Lianyungang, a port in Jiangsu province north of Shanghai. China’s industrial safety has improved in recent years, but dramatic accidents are often a trigger for public anger. Many have revealed the dangers of locating industrial plants close to residential areas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Energy group OMV and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have agreed to cooperate in the petrochemical sector and to explore opportunities to make use of OMV’s recycling expertise, the Austrian company said.

OMV is shifting the focus of its refinery division to aviation fuel and petrochemicals, banking on an ever-increasing appetite for air travel and plastic products.

It agreed to pay USD2.5 billion for a 15 percent stake in ADNOC’s refining business and a new trading joint venture with ADNOC and Italy’s Eni in January.

OMV and ADNOC signed two memorandums of understanding to evaluate future projects and set up a joint working group, it said.

"The agreement underscores our commitment to the strategic partnership with ADNOC and our willingness to bring value-enhancing expertise to this cooperation," said Chief Executive Rainer Seele in a statement.

OMV produces and markets oil and gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions – in a responsible way. With Group sales of EUR 23 bn and a workforce of more than 20,000 employees in 2018, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Romania and Austria as part of the Central and Eastern Europe core region as well as a balanced international portfolio, with Russia, North Sea, Middle East and Africa as well as Asia-Pacific as further core regions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's Hengli Petrochemical Co Ltd says in a filing to Shanghai Stock Exchange its unit's new oil refinery in Dalian has successfully produced gasoline, diesel, aviation kerosene and PX, said Reuters.

The company says the production at the new oil refinery is stable.

Hengli Petrochemical’s unit started test-running of the Dalian refinery, which has an annual capacity of 20 million tonnes, on Dec. 15.

Jiangsu Hengli Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd., through its subsidiary, manufactures woven fabrics. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Suzhou, China. Jiangsu Hengli Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Hengli Petrochemical Co., Ltd.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Perm facility is 100% ready for commissioning, with the first batch of dioctyl terephthalate coming off the line and shipped to customers as part of the pre-commissioning pilot, as per SIBUR's press release.

"We have successfully completed the construction, inert environment testing and support unit launch stages," said Konstantin Yugov, CEO of SIBUR-Khimprom. "Processing environment testing is currently underway as part of the pre-commissioning exercise, with the first batch of DOTP shipped to customers on 9 March."

SIBUR’s Perm-based DOTP facility will be Europe’s largest production site of its kind, setting the stage for the Company to assert its market leadership with 100 kt of DOTP manufactured annually. This eco-friendly and safe plasticiser is a key component in floor and roof coatings, wallpaper, cable compounds and other construction products designed to enhance their durability and wear and cold resistance.

SIBUR’s decision to set up DOTP production served as yet another milestone in the Russian petrochemical industry’s import substitution efforts while also contributing to the nation’s strengthened focus on exports. Today, the Russian market of common plasticisers faces a shortage of about 60 ktpa, which is covered with supplies from Europe. The Perm-based DOTP project will help substitute a major part of alternative product imports and enable plasticiser supplies to export markets, where the demand for DOTP is also rapidly growing.

As MRC informed before, Russia’s largest petrochemicals company, SIBUR, suffered an almost 8% drop in net income last year to 110.8 billion roubles (USD1.7 billion), citing currency weakness and a disposal that had boosted the previous year’s numbers. The weaker rouble, which increases debt held in other currencies, helped to lift SIBUR’s net debt to 317.6 billion roubles, up by 20 percent from 2017. SIBUR has been preparing an initial public offering (IPO) that could raise as much as USD3 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Valero Energy Corp may restart the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 335,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery next week, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

The AVU 75,000 bpd 147 CDU was shut on March 12 due to a malfunction on the heat exchanger, the sources said. Repaired bundles to be reinstalled on the heat exchanger are expected to be at the refinery by early next week.

As MRC informed previously, in March 2019, Valero Logistics UK Ltd, a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation and SemGroup Europe Holding L.L.C., a SemGroup Corporation company, signed an agreement for the purchase of SemLogistics Milford Haven fuel storage facility on the west coast of Wales. Situated across the Haven from Valero’s refinery at Pembroke, the facility is one of the largest petroleum products storage facility in the United Kingdom (UK) with 8.5 million barrels of capacity for storing gasoline, gasoline blendstocks, naphtha, jet fuel, gas oil, diesel, and crude oil.
MRC