Helm to inrease share of propylene from Schwedt

MOSCOW (MRC)--Helm will increase the volume of propylene it markets from the PCK refinery at Schwedt in Germany by more than 100,000 tonnes from 1 January, said the company.

An additional shareholder of PCK Schwedt had awarded Helm with the “exclusive marketing and logistic services from one of the most modern refineries in Europe”.

Benjamin Kraatz, head of the propylene department at Helm AG, said: “We are very pleased with this development. The increase in volume will further strengthen our reliability and flexibility towards our partners. Thanks to Helm's excellent logistics and supply chain coordination, we are well equipped to provide the best possible service to our suppliers and customers.”

In January 2019, Helm started to market a “major share” of propylene produced from Rosneft’s German refineries, of which the PCK Schwedt refinery is one. The others are the MIRO refinery in Karlsruhe and the Bayernoil refinery in Vohburg.

Propylene is the main feedstock for producing polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated consumption of PP in the Russian market totalled 694,210 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 14% year on year. The supply of propylene block copolymers (PP-block) and propylene homopolymers (PP-homo) increased.

Helm AG is a Hamburg, Germany based family company established in 1900. HELM is one of the world’s largest chemicals marketing companies. The Company secures access to the world’s key markets through its specific regional knowledge and over 100 branches, sales offices and participations in over 30 countries. As a multifunctional marketing organization HELM is active in the chemicals industry (Feedstocks and Derivatives), in the crop protection industry, in active pharmaceutical ingredients, pharmaceuticals and in the fertilizer industry. Helm AG has a total of 1,521 employees.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lotte Chemical Titan has take off-stream its polypropylene (PP) plant for a turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Malaysia informed that the company has undertaken a planned shutdown at the plant on October 2, 2019. The plant is slated to remain shut for around two weeks.

Located at Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, the PP plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2018, Lotte Chemical Titan successfully began commercial operations at its new PP plant in Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia. The 200,000-t/y facility is known as PP3. The cost of the project was not given.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Lotte Chemical Titan produces Malaysia's most comprehensive portfolio of olefins and polyolefins which contribute to the enhancement of everyday life. Lotte Chemical Titan's production site in Malaysia consists of eleven process facilities, two co-generation plants and three tank farms. They are located on 2 sites in Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Langsat in the state of Johor. In 2006, Lotte Chemical Titan acquired PT Lotte Chemical Titan Nusantara, Indonesia’s first and largest polyethylene plant in the country. This acquisition boosted the polyolefins capacity by approximately 50%, thus making the company one of the largest producers in South East Asia. Lotte Chemical Titan was acquired by Lotte Chemical Corp., forming part of the Lotte conglomerate of Korea, in 2010. The company thus became one of Lotte Chemical Corp.’s largest overseas subsidiaries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Marquis Energy will cut ethanol production rates at its 100 million gallons-per-year plant in Necedah, Wisconsin, Chief Executive Officer Mark Marquis told Reuters, the latest company to announce output cuts amid weaker margins, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company will continue to run its 400 million gallons-per-year Hennepin, Illinois, plant at full production, he added.

The move comes after President Donald Trump’s administration this month decided to grant exemptions from the nation’s biofuel laws to 31 refineries. The decision infuriated ethanol producers who blamed the Trump administration for bailing out the oil industry while U.S. farmers are suffering due to trade tariffs and low prices.

“When we heard they issued 31 SREs (Small Refinery Exemptions )... it just devastated the industry,” Marquis said.

The nation’s largest ethanol producer, POET, announced on Tuesday it was cutting production at its plants, blaming the waivers for the move.

Biofuel supplier World Energy announced last week that the company will stop production and furlough employees at facilities in Georgia, Mississippi and Pennsylvania because of the SRE decision.

The EPA said in a statement on Tuesday there was “zero evidence” that the refinery waivers have hurt demand for ethanol, which biofuels producers dispute.

Refining margins to produce ethanol in the Corn Belt are negative, falling on Tuesday to USD-0.04 a gallon, below last year’s level of USD0.04 a gallon for this time of year, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gazprom and SIBUR get down to assessing gas processing and petrochemical projects in the Republic of Tatarstan and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, said the company.

On the margins of the 9th St Petersburg International Gas Forum SIBUR and Gazprom have signed two roadmaps to promote cooperation between the two companies on large-scale investment projects in the realm of gas processing and petrochemistry.

The documents were issued in furtherance of the Cooperation Agreement signed in September 2019 at the 5th Eastern Economic Forum.

The first roadmap envisages completion of feasibility studies for projects involving transportation of ethane-containing gas from the deposits of the Nadym-Pur-Taz region and construction of a gas processing plant in the Republic of Tatarstan.

The second roadmap deals with the diagnostics, geotechnical investigations and construction cost estimates required for completion of the Novy Urengoy Gas Chemical Complex project in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area.

Based on the results of the roadmap activities, the parties will decide on further cooperation in project implementation.

As it was informed earlier, SIBUR subsidiary BIAXPLEN has acquired a 50% stake in the European BOPP film producer Manucor. Manucor is a leading European BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) film producer, with a single production site of 100,000 tonnes/year in Italy. BIAXPLEN is a subsidiary of Russian petrochemical company SIBUR, and Russia’s largest BOPP film producer.

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. Meanwhile, 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.

SIBUR is the largest integrated petrochemicals company in Russia. The Group sells its petrochemical products on the Russian and international markets in two business segments: Olefins & Polyolefins (polypropylene, polyethylene, BOPP films, etc.) Plastics, Elastomers & Intermediates (synthetic rubbers, EPS, PET, etc.). SIBUR’s petrochemicals business utilises mainly own feedstock, which is produced by the Midstream segment using by-products purchased from oil and gas companies. More than 26,000 employees working in SIBUR contribute to the success of customers engaged in the chemical, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, construction, energy and other industries in 80 countries worldwide. In 2018, SIBUR reported revenue of USD 9.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA of USD 3.3 billion.
MRC

MOSOCW (MRC) -- Shell has been forced to burn off "significant" volumes of ethane because it cannot sell it to a firm that has temporarily shut down its plant with flaring issues in Fife, reported BBC News.

Residents living near the Mossmorran site thought flaring would be reduced after Exxonmobil closed in August.
However, flares have continued to burn because Shell's only ethane customer is Exxonmobil, which shares the site.
Shell said it was "actively exploring alternative ethane outlets".

Exxonmobil chose to temporarily close its plant to undertake maintenance on its boilers.

Shell's Fife Natural Gas Liquids plant separates natural gas liquids into ethane, propane, butane and natural gasoline for storage and onward distribution.

It sells its ethane to Exxonmobil's neighbouring Fife Ethylene plant, which turns it into ethylene.

Since the Fife Ethylene Plant was temporarily closed down Shell said it "did not have the storage capacity for the significant quantities of ethane produced from North Sea gas".

Exxonmobil's plant at the site will be closed until at least November for work to be carried out to make the plant more "reliable".

A total of GBP140m of work will also be spent by Exxonmobil improving the plant.

ExxonMobil said it had started recruiting 850 temporary workers to carry out the work over the next 12 months.
The operator said the investment was on top of the GBP20m it spends annually on maintaining its Mossmorran site.

A Shell Fife Natural Gas Liquids spokesman said: "The (ExxonMobil) Fife Ethylene Plant is currently the primary customer for ethane supplied by the Shell Fife Natural Gas Liquids plant, and processes ethane into ethylene.
"Our ground flares are burning excess ethane as the Fife Ethylene plant is currently not available for receiving the ethane to process it into ethylene.

"We have taken measures within the North Sea (SEGAL) supply system to help to manage the situation and are actively exploring alternative ethane outlets during the temporary shutdown.

"However, the volume taken by the Fife Ethylene plant is significant and any solution is likely to be for some volume rather than the full volume of ethane the Fife Natural Gas Liquids plant produces."

James Glen, chairman of the Mossmorran Action Group, said: "I think it is ironic that Shell is being forced to flare off excess product because of the problems at Exxonmobil.

"Residents had hoped for some respite but they are having to continue to suffer from light and noise impact as a result of Shell's flaring."

As MRC wrote earlier, Exxon Mobil Corp is planning to spend more than 500 million pounds (USD650 million) to upgrade the UK’s largest oil refinery, Fawley, on England’s south coast.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption was 1,081,100 tonnes in the first half of 2019, up by 8% year on year. Deliveries of all PE grades increased. Meanwhile, the estimated consumption of PP in the Russian market totalled 694,210 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 14% year on year. The supply of propylene block copolymers (PP-block) and propylene homopolymers (PP-homo) increased.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC