Sika acquires Chinese manufacturer of silicone sealants and adhesives

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sika has agreed to acquire Crevo-Hengxin, a Chinese manufacturer of silicone sealants and adhesives used in both industry and construction applications, said European-coatings.

Crevo-Hengxin manufactures a broad range of silicone products used for facades, fenestration, insulated glass, interior finishing and other sealing.

With this takeover, Sika is expanding its Target Markets Industry and Sealing & Bonding presence in China and the Asia Pacific region, and is gaining additional silicone technology plus a production footprint. Crevo-Hengxin generates sales of 45 million Euro, with a workforce of 140 employees.

As MRC informed earlier, Sika has opened a new production plant in Central America, located in Palin in the metropolitan area of Guatemala City.

Crevo-Hengxin is a family-owned manufacturer of a broad range of silicone products used for facades, fenestration, insulated glass, interior finishing and other sealing and bonding applications. In addition, the company holds a leading position as supplier of silicones for the growing solar industry. Crevo-Hengxin is located in Changshu, 50 kilometers north of Suzhou.

Operations comprise a production facility, a state-of-the-art R & D Center, a warehouse, and offices.
MRC

Hanwha Total Petrochemical increases ethylene production capacity by 30%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Daesan integrated refining and petrochemicals complex in South Korea, owned by Hanwha Total Petrochemical, has started its new ethylene production capacities, said the company.

With a USD450 million investment, the site can now produce 1.4 million tons per year of ethylene, an increase of 30%.

This project was launched in April 2017 and is the first in a series of three at the complex. More than USD300 million are being invested to expand polyethylene production capacity by 50% to 1.1 million tons per year by the end of 2019, and nearly USD500 million are being invested to increase polypropylene production capacity by close to 60% to 1.1 million tons per year by 2021.

The three projects take advantage of abundant, cost-advantaged propane feedstock from the shale gas revolution in the United States. With these investments, the Daesan facility will be in a position to capture margins across the ethylene-polyethylene and propylene-polypropylene value chains. The additional production capacity will help meet rapidly growing Asian demand.

These investments and today’s successful start-up of the first project reflect our strategy of meeting growing global demand for petrochemicals by channeling our investments into our world-class complexes and leveraging cost-advantaged feedstock” said Bernard Pinatel, President, Refining & Chemicals, Total.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Hanwha Total Petrochemicals Co., Ltd. is a joint venture between Hanwha General Chemicals and Total S.Aю Both companies own a 50% partnership in the venture. Founded in 2003 as a joint venture between Samsung General Chemicals and Total (as Samsung Atofina; changed name to Samsung Total in 2004), it was sold to Hanwha in 2015.The company manufactures building block chemicals that go into the making of a host of other chemicals needed to make various consumer products. It starts with a naphtha cracker, yielding propylene and ethylene, which are the raw materials in the production of all manner of polymers. Hanwha Total divides its operations in three: polymer production (polyethylene, polypropylene, high- and low-density polyethylene), base chemicals (selling the ethylene and propylene the company doesn't use itself, as well as aromatics used to make the materials that go into synthetic fibers), and oil products
MRC

Keiyo Ethylene naphtha cracker output affected by typhoon

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan’s Keiyo Ethylene Co has adjusted the throughout at its naphtha cracker due to a typhoon, a spokesman from co-owner Maruzen Petrochemical Co said on 12 September, reported Reuters.

Keiyo Ethylene, which is 45% owned by Sumitomo Chemical Co and 55% owned by Maruzen Petrochemical (a subsidiary of Cosmo Energy Holdings), operates a 768,000 tonnes per year (tpy) cracker in Chiba.

The exact throughput at the cracker was not disclosed.

Eastern Japan has experienced a strong typhoon this week, with power, flights and transportation affected and buildings damaged.

Earlier in the week, Cosmo Oil shut two crude units at its China refinery.

As MRC informed previously, this year, Keiyo Ethylene took its naphtha cracker in Chiba off-stream for a maintenance work on February 15, 2019. The repair works remained in force for around 10-15 days. Located at Ichihara in Chiba prefecture of Japan, the cracker has a production capacity of 740,000 mt/year.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Founded in 1991, Keiyo Ethylene Co. Ltd. produces and sells petrochemical products. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, and other petrochemical products.
MRC

Saudi officials considering delaying IPO after drone attack

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia officials are discussing delaying Aramco's initial public offering as attacks on the company's oil facilities have drastically reduced their output, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The company is expected to move forward with presentations to analysts and meetings with bankers as planned. However, Saudi energy officials and Aramco executives are debating a rescheduling of the IPO until after the company fully restores its production to normal levels.

Discussions of a change in the offering's timing have been confined to Saudi officials and Aramco executives, the report said.

Yemen's Houthi Group on Saturday claimed responsibility for the drone attacks on two Aramco's plants.

Aramco had planned to list 1% shares of the state oil plant on the Riyadh stock exchange before the end of this year and another 1% in 2020.

Based on the indicated USD2 trillion valuation that Saudi Aramco had hoped to achieve, a 1% float would be worth USD20 billion.
MRC

Total Port Arthur, Texas refinery restarts diesel hydrotreater

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total restarted a diesel hydrotreater at its 225,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Monday, reported Reuters with reference to Gulf Coast market sources.

Total is raising the production level on the 66,000 bpd Diesel Hydrotreater 3 (DHT 3), which was shut on Aug. 20, the sources said. Total repeatedly pushed back the restart date as repairs took longer than expected.

A Total spokeswoman did not reply to a request for comment.

As MRC informed earlier, on 9 December 2018, production at Total SA’s 225,500 barrel-per-day-capacity Port Arthur, Texas, refinery was cut by the outage of Sulfur Recovery Unit 3, reducing the plant’s ability to process acid gas. Production was cut by 40 percent of capacity in November when SRU 3 was shut.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC