Grace licenses process technology to coal mine group

MOSCOW (MRC) -- W. R. Grace & Co., the leading independent supplier of polyolefin catalyst technology and polypropylene (PP) process technology, has licensed its UNIPOL® PP Process Technology to Datong Coal Mine Group Co., Ltd. , said the company.

The UNIPOL® PP facility, located in Datong, China, will produce 430 KTA of polypropylene and is scheduled to be completed in 2022.

The process technology along with Grace’s CONSISTA® catalysts enable the Datong Coal Mine Group Co., Ltd. to produce more than 200 resin grades so that they can provide more polypropylene options to their customers.

Grace's all gas-phase UNIPOL® PP Process Technology provides the broadest range of PP homopolymers, random copolymers, and impact copolymers in the industry. This process technology, without any moving parts inside of the reactor and requiring less equipment than any alternative, is a reliable, safe, and stable operation that leads to lower capital, operating, and maintenance costs.

Mr. Kuanqiang Jia, Chairman of Olefin Branch Company said, “We are excited to partner with Grace and invest in the UNIPOL® PP Process Technology. This technology enables us to efficiently produce a broad range of products for our customers and keep up with increasing demands for non-phthalate resins in the region."

Laura Schwinn, President of Grace’s Specialty Catalysts business, said, “Grace is excited to be the PP process technology choice for Datong Coal Mine Group Co., Ltd. Our UNIPOL® PP Process Technology provides Datong with the most advanced PP product capabilities available, enabling them to produce world-class products that will help them meet the growing demands of the Chinese market."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exxon Mobil Corp’s U.S. second-quarter refining profits bounced back from a loss earlier this year but remain below past levels in part because of a wave of production outages, according to an examination of data from Reuters and energy industry intelligence service Genscape, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

On Friday, the company reported its U.S. refining and marketing business earned USD310 million last quarter, less than half the $695 million in the same period in 2018. Its overall downstream profit fell to USD451 million versus USD724 million in 2018.

Outages at three refineries, including Exxon’s Baytown, Texas, plant reduced overall profits by USD150 million in the June quarter, the company said. Baytown resumed normal operations but two others - in Canada and in Saudi Arabia - are expected to remain at reduced levels through year-end, officials said.

The production losses “are not systemic to our overall performance,” Exxon Senior Vice President Neil Chapman said in a conference call, describing the three outages as isolated. Exxon has forecast higher than usual maintenance at its refineries this year as it prepares for a shipping industry shift to low sulfur fuels. In April, it said second quarter planned downtime would be similar to the first.

A fire this week that struck a plastics unit at its Baytown chemical plant also temporarily reduced production at the adjacent refinery, said people familiar with the matter.

During the second quarter of this year, the company’s U.S. crude distillation unit (CDU) outages cost it 16.4 million barrels of lost production, compared to 9.65 million barrels in the second quarter of 2018, according to Reuters calculations. The totals reflect the capacity of each shut unit and the number of lost production days.

CDUs do the initial breakdown of crude oil coming into a refinery, providing feedstocks for all other units in the refinery and producing unfinished motor fuels.

During the second quarter of this year the 238,000 bpd CDU at Exxon’s Joliet, Illinois, refinery was shut for nearly two months as part of extensive multi-unit overhaul. That outage accounted for about three-quarters of Exxon’s lost CDU production last quarter.

The next largest amount of lost production was at the Baytown refinery when another CDU was shut for eight days in June because of heavy rainfall. That same plant a year earlier undertook a 47-day overhaul of another CDU that hurt output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema SA has reported a 4.4% decline in first half earnings (EBITDA) at EUR777m, on flat sales of EUR4.4bn, said Plasticsnewseurope.

During the first six months of the year, volumes fell 2.4% compared to the year before, impacted by lower demand in automotive, oil & gas and consumer electronics, the French speciality chemicals company announced 1 Aug.

The 8% decline in volume was particularly noticeable within the high-performance materials segment. This was, however, offset by a 4.7% positive price development, leading to flat segment sales of EUR2bn.

Industrial specialities registered a 4% decline in sales during the first half, hit by 2.3% volume declines and 4.2% lower prices.

For the same period, Arkema witnessed “strong dynamic” in batteries and 3D printing as well as “good growth” in coating solutions, which registered 6.8% increase in volumes.

Prices across the group took a slight 0.6% hit for the period, impacted by lower prices in MMA/PMMA and fluorogases.

“Our performance, close to the record highs of last year, was driven in particular by the very solid performance of our speciality businesses,” said chairman and CEO Thierry Le Henaff commenting on the results.

Looking forward, Arkema has confirmed its outlook for 2019 despite expecting the macroeconomic environment to remain “volatile and complex” in the second half of the year.

The environment, said Arkema, will be marked by continued geopolitical uncertainties, which are weighing on global demand and raw material volatility.

The company, however, expects the inventory adjustments observed in the first half of the year in certain end-markets to ease in the second half.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese chemicals manufacturer Sumitomo Chemical has bought Turkey-based company Emas Plastik and its affiliates for an undisclosed amount, said Chemicals-technology.

The deal will help the acquirer increase its global polypropylene (PP) compound business, as well as meet the growing demand for products manufactured from recycled materials in Europe.

The acquisition is also expected to improve Sumitomo’s production and marketing to Turkish automobile and white goods appliance manufacturers.

The transaction was carried out via Sumitomo Chemical’s UK-based engineering compound subsidiary Sumika Polymer Compounds Europe.

PP compounds are high-performance materials produced using fillers such as synthetic rubber, glass fibres and other inorganic fillers.

This kneading of fillers into PP enhances the impact of resistance or stiffness for use in target applications such as automobile bumpers, interior components, or casing for white goods appliances.

In a statement, Sumitomo Chemical said that it ‘will continue to work on further expanding its business through enhancing its global network of production and marketing of PP compounds to respond more speedily to customer needs’.

Emas Group is involved in the manufacturing and sale of PP and other plastic compounds. The group includes Emas Plastik, AKCE Plastik and ALMEN in Turkey.

With the completion of the deal, the Emas Group has now become Sumitomo Chemical’s consolidated subsidiaries.

Sumitomo Chemical owns 55.1% of Sumika Polymer Compounds and the remaining 25% and 19.9% are respectively held by Japanese printing ink manufacturer Toyo Ink and Japanese trading house Itochu.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemical recycling specialist Garbo Srl is to build a commercial-scale PET recovery plant at an undisclosed location in Italy, said Plasticsnewseurope.

Due for start-up in 2020, the plant will use Garbo proprietary technology for the production of Bis(2-Hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) from PET chemical recycling, the company announced 1 Aug.

In collaboration with the University of Modena and Bologna, Garbo has developed the ChemPET recycling process, which it says is capable of handling “almost all” the currently non-recoverable PET-based waste.

The technology involves a chemical process, through which the PET is “reacted selectively” with ethylene glycol and transformed into a BHET intermediate product.

If adequately purified, BHET can be used as feedstock for the production of PET.
MRC