Nayara selects Grace Unipol process for world-scale PP facility in Gujarat

MOSCOW (MRC) -- W.R. Grace & Co. has licensed its Unipol PP process technology to Nayara Energy for a new world-scale polypropylene (PP) plant to be built at the site of Nayara's 20-million-t/y Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, India, as per Apic-online.

The 450,000-t/y PP unit is part of Nayara's USD850-million investment at the refinery to expand into petro-chemicals. A start-up date was not available.

The PP plant will use 450,000 t/y of propylene feedstock to produce a broad range of phthalate-free products for the Indian market.

"We are confident that the wide range of homo-, ran-dom- and impact copolymer products, combined with our non-phthalate Consista catalysts, will give Nayara Energy the edge it is seeking in the polypropylene resin marketplace," noted Laura Schwinn, president of Grace's Specialty Catalysts business.

As MRC reported earlier, in April 2019, W. R. Grace & Co. completed the USD416 million acquisition of the Polyolefin Catalysts business of Albemarle Corporation,

A leader in polyolefin catalysts and licensing, Grace has the world’s broadest portfolio of polypropylene and polyethylene catalyst technologies used to produce thermoplastic resins for a variety of applications. A leading innovator and strategic partner to its customers, Grace supplies catalyst solutions for all polyolefin processes, as well as polypropylene process technology and process controls. Grace employs approximately 3,700 people in over 30 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - German chemicals maker BASF (BASFn.DE) on Thursday stuck with its investment budget and future earnings forecasts to try to move on from a surprise cut to its profit outlook for 2019 earlier this month that hit its shares, said Reuters.

BASF, the world’s largest chemicals group after the breakup of rival DowDuPont (DD.N) (DOW.N), in July warned of a fall of as much as 30% in 2019 operating profit instead of a rise, partly because of U.S./China trade friction.

But Chief Executive Martin Brudermueller, who has launched asset sales and cutbacks since taking office last year, said the guidance cut would not make him more cautious in the future. “Our response to this can’t be to be without ambition to avoid having to review our targets. The management team remains committed to an ambitious development at BASF,” Brudermueller told reporters on a conference call.

The CEO said ongoing investment projects would continue as planned and reaffirmed a payout policy to increase dividends year by year. He has faced criticism from analysts for sticking with what they categorized as “aspirational targets” for too long, and for catching the market off guard with the profit warning.

BASF on Thursday also cut its 2019 growth expectations for global industrial production and for global chemical production to 1.5% from a previous forecast of 2.7%. The CEO said the trade dispute showed no sign of abating, rattling its customers, but long-term growth prospects of the chemical industry remained intact.

But he also said new plant and equipment projects due to break ground next year and in 2021 might be postponed depending on how the business cycle developed.

BASF is shedding its construction chemicals and pigments businesses, is carving out its oil and gas business, and in June unveiled plans to cut 6,000 jobs as Brudermueller seeks to stem an earnings decline.

BASF, which also reported this month that second-quarter adjusted group operating income had almost halved, on Thursday said that lower volumes and margins at its basic petrochemicals businesses accounted for most of the weakness in the second quarter.

The Chemicals and Materials businesses accounted for 83% of the overall earnings decline in the second quarter.

BASF shares were down 1.3% at 0941 GMT at 63.04 euros, underperforming a 0.5% decline in the STOXX Europe 600 Chemicals .SX4P but were still trading above levels before the profit warning on July 8.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- JXTG Holdings, Japan’s biggest oil refiner, said it plans to close a 115,000 barrel per day (bpd) Osaka refinery that it owns with PetroChina next year, amid falling demand for crude products in Japan, reported Reuters.

The closure will cut Japan’s refining capacity to just over 3.4 million bpd, down from 5.6 million bpd in the 1980s when Japan accounted for almost 10 percent of global oil product output.

Four of Japan’s biggest refiners have merged into two in recent years and cut operations as they seek business from a shrinking, aging population that consumes less fuel because of more efficient vehicles and gasoline-electric hybrids.

"In light of the increasingly severe business environment, (JXTG) has decided to terminate refinery operations at the Osaka refinery," the company said in a statement, citing declining domestic demand as well as competition in Asia.

The refinery will be shut in October next year, a month after the expiry of JXTG’s venture with PetroChina, and the site will be converted to an asphalt-fueled electric power station, JXTG said.

JXTG holds 51% of the venture while PetroChina, one of China’s biggest energy companies, has the rest. No details were given on costs, although JXTG said the changes would not affect its earnings in the current financial year.

In the meantime, JXTG is in talks with PetroChina about the Chinese company becoming a partner in its 129,000 bpd Chiba refinery near Tokyo.

A JXTG spokesman told Reuters by phone that it was likely the companies would agree to similar stakes in that refinery as in the Osaka facility, but the arrangement has not been finalized.

PetroChina did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Osaka refinery mostly processes crude from the Middle East and Asia-Pacific supplied by PetroChina.

JXTG is focusing on growth areas such as chemical products, power generation and electronic materials under a plan through 2040, when it expects Japanese oil demand will have halved.

JXTG is the result of a takeover by JX Holdings of TonenGeneral in 2017 and controls roughly half the market for gasoline and other oil products in Japan. Idemitsu Kosan, the country’s second-biggest refiner, completed the purchase of Showa Shell Sekiyu in April, 2018, after a fractious drawn-out process.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and a consortium led by Japan’s JXTG Holdings Inc are among the companies interested in buying a stake in India’s Bina oil refinery, a source close to the matter said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Bina plant in central India, capable of processing 156,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, is operated by Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL), a 50-50 joint venture between Oman Oil Co and state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL).

“There are a new set of companies who have approached BPCL for a stake in its Bina refinery,” said the source, who asked not to be named as the discussions are private.

BPCL plans to double the capacity of the refinery in next five years and build a petrochemical complex that would require an investment of about 500 billion rupees (USD7.24 billion), the source said.

Bharat Petroleum did not respond to a request for comment. Petronas and JXTG were not immediately reachable for comment. After initially investing in the 120,000 bpd plant Oman Oil did not take part in the first round of expansion. India allowed BPCL in 2016 to issue debt instruments of up to 30 billion rupees to be converted into equity of BORL to fund the initial expansihere to 156,000 bpd.

Oman Oil is now considering whether to invest in a second round, the source added. Even if Oman takes part in this expansion its overall stake would not translate to a 50 percent share as it had not funded the previous expansion, the source said.

BPCL wants to retain a 50% share in the plant, leaving room for a new partner, the source added. The Middle Eastern company will finalize what stake it wants to hold in the expanded capacity in about three months and the rest will be sold off, the source added.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lotte Chemical and GS Energy have signed a contract to establish a joint venture in the second half of this year for the production of bisphenol A (BPA) and C4 oil products at Lotte's site in Seoul, South Korea, according to Apic-online.

The new joint venture, tentatively named Lotte GS Chemical Co., will invest around USD678-million by 2023 to build a plant with a production capacity of 200,000 t/y of BPA products and 210,000 t/y of C4 oil products.

GS Energy, through its GS Caltex subsidiary, plans to supply the facility with propylene, benzene and C4 oil raw materials.

Lotte GS Chemical will be owned 51% by Lotte and 49% by GS Energy.

As MRC informed before, Lotte Chemical Corp's US ethane cracker in Louisiana commenced commercial operations within May, 2019. With the commencement of the plant, the South Korean company hopes to boost its cost competitiveness by diversifying away from mainly naphtha as a feedstock to make ethylene, a key ingredient for petrochemical products, it said in a statement.
MRC