Evonik carves out MMA, PMMA business as Röhm

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik Industries AG has carved out its methyl methacrylates (MMA) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) business with the €3bn sale of the unit to US private equity firm Advent International, said Plasticsnewseurope.

Named after Otto Rohm, Evonik's founding member and the founder methacrylate chemistry, Rohm GmbH will represent “quality and a pioneering spirit,” said the newly appointed chief executive Michael Pack in a 1 Aug statement. Now owned by Advent International, Rohm GmbH has average annual sales of EUR1.9bn and EBITDA of about EUR350m.

The company employs 3,900 people across 15 production sites in Germany (Worms, Darmstadt, Weiterstadt, Wesseling, Hanau), China, the US, Russia, and South Africa. “It is our goal to keep driving the growth of our business and to further strengthen leading market positions through investments and targeted expansion,” said Pack.

Advent has also revealed plans to further invest in technologies and Rohm production sites. “We see great potential to establish Rohm as a global market and technology leader in methacrylate chemicals,” said Ronald Ayles, managing partner and global head of chemicals at Advent International. “In partnership with the management and employees, we will continue to develop Rohm through investments and expansion.”

Rohm has a comprehensive product portfolio of products for a wide range of applications in the automotive, electronics, and construction industries. The company’s Plexiglas-branded PMMAs are used in cars, airplane windows, screens & displays or as building glazing.

In addition to being used as PMMA precursors, Rohm’s MMAs are also used in the production of varnishes & paints, floor coatings, adhesives, and other materials. Evonik started the carve-out activities in July last year.

In spite of its sales of roughly €1.9bn, Evonik defined the business as “outside the company's growth area.”

In an interview with PNE last October, Ralf Duessel, general manager high-performance polymers, said the decision was made due to the business’s cyclical nature, its cash-intensiveness as well as the fact that MMAs are standard chemicals, as opposed to specialty chemicals.


MRC

Evonik and thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions grant license for HPPO Technology to China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik and thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions have agreed to grant a license for HPPO Technology to Zibo Qixiang Tengda Chemical Co. to produce propylene oxide, as per Evonik's press release.

Corresponding agreements were signed by the parties in Guangzhou in China. In addition, Evonik has licensed the production of hydrogen peroxide for the exclusive supply of the propylene oxide plant to Qixiang Tengda. Furthermore, the companies have entered into a long-term agreement for the supply of the respective HPPO catalyst.

Propylene oxide is used mainly for the production of polyurethane foams, which are used in automotive parts, furniture upholstery, thermal insulation, coating materials, sports shoes, and other sports equipment. The global market for polyurethane is expected to grow with China being one of the most important growth markets. Tightening environmental regulations support the strategic focus of the Active Oxygens Business Line of Evonik, to further promote and expand the green HPPO Technology, including through licensing, on top of developing the traditional hydrogen peroxide business.

Claus Rettig, Chairman of the Board of Evonik Resource Efficiency segment, explains: “We’re proud of having gained Qixiang as a new strategic partner. With environmental awareness on the rise in China, HPPO is the technology of choice for sustainable production of propylene oxide because it produces no major byproducts apart from water,”

In the next few years Qixiang Tengda will construct a plant complex at the Zibo site (in China’s Shandong province), where up to 300 kmt of propylene oxide and the amount of H2O2 required for the HPPO process will be produced annually. The initial planning phase will start by the middle of August 2019. The plant is expected to come on stream in the first half of 2022.

HPPO stands for “hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide”, a process in which propylene oxide (PO) is obtained directly from hydrogen peroxide and propylene. What makes this possible is an HPPO catalyst based on titanium silicalite (TS-1) developed by Evonik especially for the process. Compared to conventional production processes for propylene oxide, the HPPO process requires a significantly lower investment volume and is more profitable. In addition, it is very environmentally friendly, since it is characterized by a high selectivity and no significant amounts of byproducts occur other than water.

The chemical company Qixiang Tengda is part of the Cedar Holdings Group. The company, with a workforce of more than 2,000, possesses a high degree of expertise and has many years of experience in C4 chemistry. Last year it generated sales of more than 3.5 billion euros (27.9 billion CNY).

As MRC reported earlier, Evonik Industries AG combined its isophorone chemistry and epoxy curing agents business in the new Crosslinkers Business Line effective July 1, 2017. The newly formed Business Line, headed by Min Chong, is part of the Resource Efficiency Segment,

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world.
MRC

Grassroots petrochemical complex planned for British Columbia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- West Coast Olefins is planning to build a USD5.6-B grassroots petrochemical complex in Prince George, British Columbia, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company plans to build the facility in the BCR Industrial Area in Prince George. The facility would produce ethylene and polyethylene. According to the Vancouver Sun, the facility would consist of:

An NGL recovery plant, with feedstock to originate from Enbridge's Westcoast Pipeline
A 1-MMtpy ethylene plant
A polyethylene plant
offsites and additional infrastructure.
The complex could include a monoethylene glycol plant, as well.

West Coast Olefins has started the formal regulatory review process and I s planning to make a final investment decision by the end of 2020. If greenlighted, the complex is scheduled to begin operations in 2023.
MRC

SOCAR Energoresource sells Gunvor diesel from Antipinsky refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SOCAR Energoresource LLC has sold to Gunvor up to 150,000 tons of ultra-low sulfur diesel through a tender, industry sources told Reuters.

The deal is for diesel originating from the Antipinsky refinery, loading via the Baltic port of Primorsk over August-September, the sources said.

A SOCAR Energoresource spokesman declined to comment.

Previously SOCAR Energoresource sold via tender up to 90,000 tonnes of 10 ppm diesel originating from Antipinsky refinery to Litasco for loading via the Baltic port of Vysotsk in August.
MRC

Facility to become the largest integrated refinery and petrochemicals plant in Kuwait

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell announced that Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) has awarded reconfiguration of refining and petrochemicals sections of its Al-Zour refinery to Honeywell UOP, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The newly designed complex will increase the plant’s output capacity of fuels and petrochemicals.

Honeywell UOP will revise the configuration and capacity of the refinery’s gasoline production facilities. In addition, Honeywell UOP will supply technology licenses, design services, key equipment, and state-of-the-art catalysts and adsorbents to produce clean-burning fuels, paraxylene, propylene and other petrochemicals.

"When completed, this will be the largest integrated refinery and petrochemicals plant ever constructed in Kuwait," said Jim Moshi, general manager for Middle East, Honeywell UOP. "In addition to aromatics and propylene, the Euro-V fuels it will produce will be the cornerstone of Kuwait’s clean fuels initiative."

The refinery’s gasoline section will include a world-scale 98,000 barrels per day (bpd) RFCC complex for production of propylene, gasoline, and petrochemical aromatics, and a UOP SelectfiningTM unit to produce low-sulfur gasoline blending components. Two UOP Merox™ units will be used to treat propane for propylene production, and isobutane to make clean-fuels blending components. Also included is an 11,800-bpd Butamer unit to convert normal butane to isobutane.

The petrochemicals section includes an aromatics complex that will produce 1.4 million metric tons per year of paraxylene. It will use the latest generation LD Parex aromatics technology, including the Sulfolane, Isomar and Tatoray processes. The CCR Platforming unit and naphtha hydrotreater have been expanded to meet the needs of the larger gasoline and aromatics complexes.

Honeywell UOP is a leading licensor of process technology for the production of aromatics. As of last year, Honeywell UOP licensed more than 100 complexes and more than 700 individual process units for the production of aromatics, including more than 300 CCR Platforming process units, 158 Sulfolane units, 80 Isomar units, 58 Tatoray units, 100 Parex units worldwide.

Over the last 50 years, Honeywell has delivered more than 2,300 projects for more than 165 customers in Kuwait. Honeywell is the first company to build "Made in Kuwait" solutions to power digital transformation across the country’s growing oil, gas and petrochemical sectors. The recently launched Honeywell Customer Solutions Center, located in Mina Abdullah enables product assembly and customer testing and acceptance to be consolidated under one roof, making it easier and faster for customers to deploy new technologies. Prior to that, the Company launched the Honeywell Automation College, which delivers global training capabilities locally through more than 300 courses specifically designed to address the requirements of Kuwait’s power and water, oil and gas, and automation industries.

The recently launched Honeywell Customer Solutions Center, located in Mina Abdullah, enables product assembly, customer testing and acceptance to be consolidated under one roof, making it easier and faster for customers to deploy new technologies. Prior to that, the company launched the Honeywell Automation College, which delivers global training capabilities locally through more than 300 courses specifically designed to address the requirements of Kuwait’s power and water, oil and gas, and automation industries.

As MRC reported earlier, in November 2018, Kuwait Petroleum Co said it prepared a study to transform its al-Zour refinery into a commercial one to increase its profitability.
MRC