Ecuador seeks investor to build new refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ecuador is seeking private companies interested in building a new refinery on the OPEC nation’s coast with a capacity of up to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), reported Reuters a state official said.

The government of President Lenin Moreno signed a decree authorizing the design, construction and operation of the refinery, which will not include any participation by the Ecuadorean government or state-run companies.

"It is a private investment ... the investor can present a project to build the refinery," Oil Minister Carlos Perez told reporters. He said several companies were interested, without identifying any specific firms.

Ecuador expects the project will require a USD6 billion investment, but the total may change depending on the design.

The government this week will begin evaluating the financial and technical capacity of interested companies and within 60 days will produce a list of qualified investors that may submit proposals.

The refinery will have to include deep conversion plants to process heavy crude and will not purchase crude directly from Ecuadorean state companies, but rather will have to participate in bidding processes. It will also have to sell fuel to Ecuadorean state companies at prices below those quoted in the Gulf of Mexico, Perez said.

The refinery will function alongside the aging 110,000 bpd Esmeraldas facility, which has suffered chronic operational problems.

Moreno hopes to have Esmeraldas’ crude processing system run by a private operator due to environmental pollution problems in the area of the plant.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nouryon (former AkzoNobel) will double capacity at its surfactants plant in Stenungsund, Sweden to support the growth of several existing products as well as new sustainable technologies for markets including oil and gas, lubricants and fuels, and asphalt, as per the company's press release.

The EUR12-million expansion and upgrade project includes the installation of a new reactor and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2021.

The additional capacity will allow Nouryon to expand production of several innovative technologies for the oil and gas market. These include Armohib CI-5150, a corrosion inhibitor that meets the industry’s most stringent environmental requirements, as well as a new range of biodegradable demulsifiers that will give oil and gas producers a more sustainable option to separate crude oil from natural gas and water.

"Our customers are looking for more innovative and environmentally-conscious solutions that offer better biodegradability, lower toxicity, and meet the latest regulations," said AB Ghosh, Managing Director Surface Chemistry at Nouryon. "The design of this new reactor allows for a wide range of chemistries and technologies, including those required for creating more sustainable ingredients."

The expansion also allows Nouryon to increase output of products including Berol R648NG, a unique biodegradable surfactant used as a degreaser by customers in the cleaning market. It will also produce surfactants used in the lubricants and fuels and asphalt markets.

Nouryon CEO Charlie Shaver added: "We started producing surfactants at our Stenungsund site in 1917. Over the past 102 years, the facility has proven to be key to our growth and the investment to double capacity there makes good business sense. We are now well positioned to meet the growing demand from our customers for more sustainable products."

The Stenungsund project is the latest in a series of investments by Nouryon in Sweden to meet growth in customer demand. The company recently completed a EUR20 million project at Sundsvall that significantly raises production capacity for its Expancel expandable microspheres, and earlier this year completed a EUR4 million expansion of surface-modified colloidal silica at Bohus.

As MRC informed before, Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals) has licensed its innovative continuous initiator dosing (CiD) technology to Karpatnaftochim, Ukraine’s largest polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer. Nouryon’s patented CiD technology allows PVC producers to increase reactor output by up to 40E, improve product quality, and make the production process intrinsically safer – all with minimum capital expenditure.

Karpatneftekhim is one of the largest enterprises of Ukraine's petrochemical complex. Currently, the plant can produce annually 300,000 tonnes of PVC, 200,000 tonnes of caustic soda, about 180,000 tonnes of chlorine, as well as 250,000 tonnes of ethylene and 100,000 tonnes of polyethylene.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, Karpatneftekhim reduced its capacity utilisation in July, its total production fell to 14,500 tonnes from 20,800 tonnes a month earlier. Overall PVC production in the country reached 126,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2018, down 1% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plastic product distributor Curbell Plastics Inc. has purchased Nationwide Plastics Inc., a full-service distributor with extensive plastic part fabrication and precision machining capabilities, for an undisclosed amount, said Canplastics.

The acquisition adds Nationwide Plastics’ 50-plus employees and three facilities – in Arlington and Houston, Tex., and Jackson, Miss. – to the national Curbell distribution network, which now numbers 22 locations. Curbell has its own location in Arlington, and the two Arlington locations will eventually combine to form the largest Curbell branch, Curbell said in an Aug. 26 statement.

Founded in 1942, Curbell is headquartered in Orchard Park, N.Y., and distributes performance plastic sheet, rod, tube, film, adhesives, sealants, and prototyping materials for manufacturing. It also offers fabrication and machining services that include complete CNC plastics machining, and many different types of plastics molding and processing.

Curbell said that Nationwide Plastics will operate as a division of Curbell for the immediate future, and that customers of each company will continue to receive access to both organization’s technically trained sales and business development teams, as well as the Curbell and Nationwide Plastics e-commerce websites.

“We’re confident Nationwide Plastics customers will quickly see that the service level they’re used to will get even better as we combine our resources and talents with Curbell,” Nationwide Plastics vice president Chris Jones said in the statement.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nebraska is known for its corn-growing and husking, but injection molding training supplier RJG Inc. is partnering with Nebraska’s Central Community College (CCC) to bring injection molding training to the state, said Canplastics.

CCC and RJG will be opening a new training facility on the CCC campus in the town of Grand Island in the beginning of 2020, with RJG’s curriculum becoming part of the college’s program.

“RJG’s award-winning courses have trained countless injection molding professionals in a real-world, hands-on capacity to improve their careers and lives,” said Gary Chastain, consulting and training director at RJG. “CCC has a passion for teaching real-world skills, including injection molding, so the partnership made sense. They’ve been working hard to get the training facility up and running as quickly as possible for their students."

Currently, the mechanicals are in place, Chastain said, and the floor will soon receive its new finish in the 4,000-square-foot lab. One of the injection molding machines arrives.

The opening of the new facility has been assisted by many local injection molding companies, with machines donated by Becton Dickinson, Molex, Arburg, and Toyo. “Advanced Engineering is donating the complete cooling system, and Major Mold is helping with molds,” Chastain said. Other smaller donations include conveyors, robots, and more, he added.

“We are very excited to open up this opportunity to CCC students,” Chastain said. “Learning new skills through hands-on training is invaluable, especially today as less and less students choose manufacturing-based careers. We hope to instill a love of the trade and provide new opportunities to future molders."

CCC is a multi-campus community college serving a 25-county area in central Nebraska, and offers 36 career and technical education programs with a focus on degree, diploma, and certificate programs requiring two years or less to complete.

RJG is headquartered in Traverse City, Mich., and offers certifications including Master Molder I, II, and III,
Systematic molding, Injection molding essentials, and more.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, has increased September list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in Asia outside China (AOC), as per the company's press release.

The price increase was effective for orders shipped on or after 29 August, 2019, or as contracts otherwise allow, and is incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, September VAM prices rose by USD50/mt - for AOC.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese last raised its VAM prices for AOC on 19 July, 2019, by the sam amount.

According to MRC's DataScope report, July EVA imports to Russia increased by 4% year on year to 3,490 tonnes from 3,350 tonnes in July 2018, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation decreased in January-July 2019 by 14, 3% year on year to 22,440 tonnes (26,170 tonnes in the first seven months of 2018).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,600 employees worldwide and had 2017 net sales of USD6.1 billion.
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