Strike at Pernis oil refinery to go ahead as planned

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell expects planned strikes at its 404,000 barrel per day Dutch Pernis oil refinery to go ahead as planned on Monday, reported Reuters with reference to a company's spokeswoman.

Shell currently has no estimate on the extent to which the strike might impact production, she added.

The strike, which comes after unions demanded higher wages, will also impact Shell’s Moerdijk chemical plant.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in May 2018, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Shell Nanhai B.V. (Shell) announced the official start-up of the second ethylene cracker at their Nanhai petrochemicals complex in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- German speciality chemicals producer Lanxess is expanding its polyamide 6 Durethan P product series with the addition of two new materials, said Chemicals-technology.

The two new variants, namely Durethan BKV50PH2.0 and Durethan BKV60PH2.0EF, can be used as an alternative to the polyamide 66 materials and feature short glass fibre content levels of 50% and 60% by weight, respectively.

Lanxess noted that the alphabet ‘P’ in the Durethan P product series stands for performance, and the new grades have the ability to withstand more cyclical mechanical loads than standard products with the same glass fibre content.

“As a result, we also see both product innovations as cost-effective alternatives to polyamide 66 compounds."
The new variants can be used to support structures for electrical and electronics modules in batteries for electric vehicles (EV’s), engine oil pans, engine, chassis mounts and seat shells for passenger cars.

Durethan development expert Dr Thomas Linder said: “As a result, we also see both product innovations as cost-effective alternatives to polyamide 66 compounds, which have become significantly more expensive recently due to their limited availability."

In order to further assess the behaviour of its materials under a pulsating load, Lanxess has developed a HiAnt fatigue screening test, which is based on a conventional Wohler test.

Last October, Lanxess showcased Durethan BKV30PH2.0, BKV35PH2.0, BKV40PH2.0, and Durethan BKV130P, the first representatives of its new product range at Fakuma, the international trade fair for plastics processing.

Last September, Lanxess announced a multimillion-euro investment in its global production network for high-performance plastics with the construction of a compounding facility at its Krefeld-Uerdingen site in Germany.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with about 19,200 employees in 25 countries. The company is currently represented at 74 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. Through Arlanxeo, the joint venture with Saudi Aramco, Lanxess is also a leading supplier of synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe has announced a price increase for all polystyrene (PS), as per the company's press release.

Effective April 1, 2019, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below will increase as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) - by EUR120 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) -by EUR120 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo last increased its prices for all PS grades on 1 February 2019. Thus, February prices for the said products grew, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS grades - by EUR45 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech HIPS grades - by EUR45 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.4 billion in net sales in 2017, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,200 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo has partnered with Grolman Group for the marketing and distribution of Trinseo's styrene-acrylic Ligos binders in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux region, said Rubbernews.

The agreement took effect March 1. SA Ligos binders are used in the paints, coatings and construction markets.

"Trinseo has been developing styrene-acrylic technology for many years, and we have demonstrated consistent levels of strong performance and quality with them," Andre Hugentobler, Trinseo's global industry development leader for Adhesives & Construction Binders, said in a statement. "Having a trusted distributor partnership with Grolman Group in strategic European countries speaks to the value Trinseo's SA Ligos binders brings to the construction and coatings market."

As MRC informed earlier, Trinseo latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced a price increase for all acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) grades in March.

- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR70 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR70 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.4 billion in net sales in 2017, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,200 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The government of Curacao is sending officials this month to meet with companies interested in taking over and operating the island nation’s sole refinery and expects to receive non-binding proposals this summer, reported Reuters.

Government-owned Refineria di Korsou has been searching for a business to replace Venezuela’s Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) as operator of the 335,000-barrel-per-day Isla refinery. The facility has been idled largely due to a lack of crude shipments.

Curacao has been looking for an operator willing to take over Isla, possibly before PDVSA’s contract to run the facility, which provides fuel and shipping operations, expires at the end of 2019.

Motiva Enterprises LLC initially was selected as preferred bidder, but dropped out of the running in January.

Curacao said in a statement it will send a team this month to visit companies interested in managing, operating and modernizing the facility, with the first trips scheduled this month in the United States and Britain.

It expects to evaluate potential bidders in May and June and accept non-binding proposals by July.

The government had previously held talks with China’s Guangdong Zhenrong to replace PDVSA as the refinery’s operator, but a deal was never reached.
MRC