Sonatrach, Turkish partner sign contracts for USD1.4-billion PDH, PP complex in Turkey

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The national hydrocarbons company Sonatrach officialized the launch of its huge petrochemical plant project in Adana, Turkey, with its partner, Ronesans, at an investment cost of USD1.4 billion, that will be financed by 70% through bank loans and 30% by the project shareholders, said Plasticsnewseurope.

A statement from Sonatrach, which copy was received by Echorouk, said it signed, Thursday, through its subsidiary Sonatrach Petroleum Investment Corp. (SPIC) and the Turkish company CPEY of Ronesans in Istanbul, a series of contracts to launch engineering studies for a petrochemical complex to produce propylene and polypropylene (PP-PDH), which will be completed in the Turkish region of Seyhan in the southern province of Adana.

The statement explained that the parties had launched on August,19, 2019, a joint venture company under Turkish law, as the company’s capital is estimated at 34% for the Algerian party and 66% for the Turkish party.
The large project’s company will undertake the design, engineering, construction and utilization of a production capacity of 450,000 tons per year of polypropylene in Turkey’s Seyhan industrial zone for petrochemical development.

The project will allow Sonatrach to secure an Algerian propane gas market for a long period up to 2040 with an estimated amount of 540,000 tons per year and to generate financial returns as a 34% shareholder in the project.

As it was informed earlier, Sonatrach's petrochemicals joint venture with Total has selected Honeywell UOP's C3 Oleflex technology for its proposed 565,000 tonne/year polymer-grade propylene project in Arzew, Algeria. The catalytic dehydrogenation technology converts propane into propylene.

Propylene is a feedstock for producing polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Huntsman Corporationannounced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of the remaining 50% interest in the Sasol-Huntsman maleic anhydride joint venture from Sasol, said the company.

Huntsman now owns 100% of the entity with manufacturing assets located in Moers, Germany, and the capacity to produce 230 million pounds annually of maleic anhydride. Huntsman paid Sasol approximately USD100 million, which includes acquired cash net of any debt and is subject to customary post-closing adjustments.

Peter Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO, commented: "Closing on the acquisition of the remaining interest in our maleic German joint venture provides us with the flexibility to fully integrate our European business into our worldwide footprint, thereby better servicing our global customer base in key markets such as construction and coatings. This fits well into our core strategy to expand our portfolio of businesses with higher, more stable margins and strong free cash flow."

Monte Edlund, President of Huntsman’s Performance Products division, added: "We are very pleased and excited to assume full control of this excellent business and asset. By fully integrating the Moers, Germany, plant with our existing maleic anhydride business, we will be able to improve our service and offering into key markets such as resins in construction, watercraft, transportation vehicles, and sporting goods, as well as into applications such as food acidulants, oilfield chemicals, and engine oil additives."

The deal was announced in July 2019.

As it was informed earlier, SIBUR intends to produce up to 45,000 tonnes/y of maleic anhydride, a key ingredient in paints and coatings, at its plant in Tobolsk, Siberia. Russia's market for decorative paint and coatings stood at about 877,300 tones, while the industrial paint and coating materials market was estimated at 416,700 tonnes, presenting 32.3% of the overall Russian market.

MA is mostly used in the manufacture of unsaturated polyesters resins (UPRs) used in the production of boat hulls, bathroom fixtures, automobiles, tanks and pipes. Other outlets include 1,4- butanediol (BDO), tetrahydrofuran (THF) and gamma-butyrolactone (GBL).

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2018 revenues more than USD9 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Phenol has broken ground at its world scale cumene investment in Marl, Germany, said the company.

The new state-of-the-art 750 000 t unit is scheduled to be completed in 2021. Its location will help optimise the efficiency of the plant by integrating raw materials from the refinery and cracker complex. The site also benefits from the Marl harbour waterway connection.

The ceremony was attended by Economy Minister Andreas Pinkwart and local politicians, as well as customers and business partners of INEOS.

INEOS Phenol is the world’s largest producer of phenol and acetone and the largest consumer of cumene as an essential raw material. The construction of the plant will support customer’s ambitions and secure the supply of raw material to the INEOS phenol and acetone plants located in Gladbeck and Antwerp for decades to come.

At the ceremony, Andy Currie, Director of INEOS Capital, said: “INEOS Phenol has been a strong contributor to the INEOS Group for nearly 20 years. The investment here, at Marl in a world scale cumene unit will help underpin the continued success of this business for many more years to come."

Hans Casier, CEO of INEOS Phenol, added: “We are very pleased to be making this important feedstock investment in our European business. It shows a clear commitment by INEOS to its business, customers and suppliers. Our customers should be confident that we are investing in our business to meet their long-term business needs."

Minister Pinkwart said: “The chemical industry is the driver of innovation, it provides essential basics and is imperative for coping with tasks ahead. This new plant will be a fine example of the industry's innovative strength. Today's ground-breaking ceremony is also a sign for the unique ‘Verbund’ structure of our chemical industry in North Rhine-Westphalia. The ‘Verbund’ makes an important contribution to the attractiveness of chemistry in the northern Ruhr area and to the increasing competitiveness of our industry."

Phenol is the main feedstock component for the production of bisphenol A (BPA), which, in its turn, is used to produce polycarbonate (PC).

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, July imports of PC granules and compounds to Russia, excluding deliveries from Belarus, were 2,3400 tonnes, compared to 1,840 tonnes a month earlier and 1,070 tonnes in July 2018. Last month's imports of PC granules, excluding Belarusian shipments, were 1,940 tonnes (extrusion grade PC - 1,290 tonnes, injection moulding PC - 580 tonnes, blow moulding PC - 80 tonnes) versus 790 tonnes in July 2018. In June 2019, imports of PC granules reached 1,350 tonnes. Shipments of PC granules, excluding imports of Sabic material from Belarus, rose in January-July 2019 by 87% year on year to 9,140 tonnes from 4,890 tonnes a year earlier.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US speciality chemicals company Trinseo SA has completed the acquisition of Dow Chemical’s latex production facilities and related infrastructure at Rheinmunster, Germany, said the company.

The €40m transaction, originally announced in May this year, includes full ownership and operational control of both latex production facilities at Rheinmunster, as well as site infrastructure and services contracts, and approximately 108 employees who have transferred from Dow to Trinseo.

“The completion of this acquisition is directly aligned with Trinseo’s strategy to grow its latex binders business in applications serving the coatings, adhesives and sealants markets, as well as speciality paper,” said Frank Bozich, president and CEO of Trinseo.

The Rheinmunster site, said Bozich, is “well positioned” for future expansion, and is ideally located to serve many of our European customers.

Trinseo aims to grow its latex binders businesses, particularly in applications serving the adhesives and construction industry.

“With these acquired assets, we will further enhance our product offerings to provide advanced solutions and chemistries that are required by our customers in attractive growth segments,” the company CEO added.

The acquisition enhances Trinseo’s production network across Europe – including an existing Trinseo latex production plant in Rheinmunster, which also houses the company’s R&D centre for latex binders, as well as operations in Hamina, Finland; Norrkoping, Sweden; and Terneuzen, The Netherlands.

Trinseo already operates a latex production plant Rheinmunster, in addition to sites in Hamina, Finland; Norrkoping, Sweden; and Terneuzen, The Netherlands.

As it was said earlier, Trinseo styrene unit in Terneuzen, Netherlands remains offline. It was shut in mid August.

As per MRC DataScope, shipments of general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) from Iran to Russia increased in August almost by four times from the previous month, totalling 920 tonnes versus 240 tonnes in July. Imports from Iran were 420 tonnes in August 2018. Producers Artan Petro and Petropaak with the share of 62% and 35%, respectively, accounted for the bulk of shipments from Iran.

Trinseo is a global materials solutions provider and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices fell on fading concerns of supply shortfalls and conflicts in the Middle East after the Sept. 14 attack on Saudi Arabia, but global benchmark Brent posted its biggest quarterly loss this year on demand fears due to the escalating U.S.-China trade war, said Reuters.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures settled at USD60.78, down USD1.13, or 1.8%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures, the U.S. benchmark, fell USD1.84, or 3.3%, to USD54.07.

Brent gained 0.6% while WTI fell 1.9% in September after volatile month where prices spike nearly 20% after the attacks halved Saudi Arabia’s output, but have pared nearly all those gains as output has been quickly restored.

For the quarter, however, global benchmark Brent fell 8.7%, the worst quarterly drop since the fourth quarter of 2018, when prices dropped 35%.

WTI also dropped 7.5% in the third quarter, as concerns that the trade war between the United States and China has plunged global economic growth to its lowest levels in a decade weighed on oil demand growth.

China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was slightly improved this month, increasing from 49.5 in August to 49.8 in September, but remained below the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

China, the world’s largest crude importer, warned of instability in international markets from any “decoupling” of China and the United States, after sources said U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration was considering delisting Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges.

“The U.S. and China are still far from any type of agreement. The concern is oil demand is not going to be there,” said Kyle Cooper, an oil analyst at IAF Advisors.

Saudi Aramco last week restored full capacity to the level before the attacks on its oil facilities, Ibrahim Al-Buainain, chief executive officer of its trading arm, said on Monday at a conference in the United Arab Emirates.

Aramco’s oil output capacity was restored to 11.3 million barrels per day (bpd) after the attack knocked out 5.7 million bpd of the kingdom’s output, sources told Reuters last week. Saudi officials said Aramco will reach 12 million bpd of capacity by November.

As MRC reported before, a number of Saudi Arabia's companies, such as Tasnee, Sadara, Advanced Petrochemical and Saudi Kayan, announced a curtailment of feedstock to their petrochemical plants, including polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) facilities, by an average of 30-50% due to the attacks on key Saudi Aramco facilities on Saturday.

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.
MRC