Zhong An United resumed production at PP plant in Huainan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhong An United Coal Chemical Co has restarted its polypropylene (PP) unit following an unplanned outage, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company resumed operations at this unit on October 15, 2019. The unit was shut owing to technical issues on October 6, 2019.

Located at Huainan, Anhui province, China, the PP unit has a production capacity of 145,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, Zhong An United Coal Chemical Co restarted its PP unit on August 24, 2019, following an unplanned outage. The plant was shut owing to technical issues on August 10, 2019.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Zhongan United Coal Industry Chemical Co. Ltd. mines, processes, manufactures, and distributes coal products. The сompany produces brown coal products, bituminous coal products, hard coal products, coking coal products, and other related products. Zhongan United Coal Industry Chemical markets its products throughout China.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asia is set to lead capacity growth in the global Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) industry from planned and announced projects between 2019 and 2023, contributing around 74% of the global growth by 2023, says GlobalData.

Asia is expected to have a new-build and expansion ABS capacity of 0.90 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from five planned and announced projects.

Dayanand Kharade, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, says: “In Asia, the capacity growth of ABS will be mainly from China, which is expected to account for around 85% of the region’s capacity."

GlobalData identified the Middle East as the second highest region in terms of capacity additions in the global ABS industry. The region will add a new-build capacity of 0.20 mtpa from a planned project. The entire capacity additions will be from, ‘Jam Petrochemical Company Assaluyeh ABS Plant’, which is expected to start operations in 2019.

North America and Europe are the other two regions, together adding a new-build ABS capacity of 0.12 mtpa by 2023. The entire capacity addition from North America will be from an announced project, ‘INEOS Styrolution Mexicana Altamira ABS Plant’ while from Europe, the entire capacity additions will be from a planned project, ‘INEOS Styrolution France Wingles ABS Plant’.

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Report, because of low prices in Asia in August, ABS imports to Russia amounted to 3.600 tonnes compared to 2,800 tonnes a month earlier and 2,700 tonnes in August last year. According to the results of January - August, the import of ABS in the Russian Federation did not change relative to the same period last year and amounted to 21,900 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A small earthquake hit operations at two oil refineries in Martinez, California, reported Reuters with referenece to the companies' statement.

Marathon Petroleum Corp said it was working to return its 161,500-barrel-per-day refinery to normal operations following a quake centered in nearby Pleasant Hill, with a magnitude of 4.5.

The company confirmed an upset, or malfunction, resulting from the quake but said it did not result in any “known spills or releases” or injuries.

"Marathon Petroleum personnel are working to assess the integrity of equipment to ensure a safe restart and return to normal operations," the company said in a statement.

Marathon had earlier reported the shutdown of multiple units because of the earthquake in a filing with the state pollution regulator. "No off-site consequences are anticipated," the filing said.

Energy intelligence service Genscape earlier reported that a 37,000-bpd hydrocracker, 26,000-bpd catalytic reformer, 40,000-bpd hydrotreater, 14,000-bpd alkylation unit and a hydrogen plant were shut at the plant because of the incident.

Nearby, Royal Dutch Shell Plc said some equipment had been temporarily affected at its 156,400-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Martinez, but that operations were now normal.

There were no major damages or injuries due to the quake in the Bay Area, local media reported.

A magnitude 4.5 quake is relatively small for earthquake-prone California, which lies on the San Andreas Fault.

As MRC informed earlier, Royal Dutch Shell Plc has restarted the hydrocracker at its 225,300 barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana, refinery. The 40,000 bpd hydrocracker was shut on Sept. 9 for a planned month-long overhaul. A longer than expected restart of the unit stretched the outage to six weeks. Shell also conducted maintenance works at its cracker in Norco with the capacity of 840,000 tonnes of ethylene per year over the stated period.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,436,390 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges. Shell companies have operations in more than 70 countries and territories with businesses including oil and gas exploration and production; production and marketing of liquefied natural gas and gas to liquids; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co. Ltd. is expected to lead the global planned and announced purified terephthalic acid (PTA) capacity additions during the period 2019 to 2023, contributing around 22% of the global growth by 2023, according to GlobalData,

Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co. Ltd. is expected to add a capacity of 5.00 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from two planned projects by 2023.

Dayanand Kharade, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, says: “Hengli Petrochemical Dalian PTA Plant’ and an expansion project ‘Hengli Petrochemical Dalian PTA Plant Expansion’ will account for the company’s entire capacity additions, each with a capacity of 2.50 mtpa. They are expected to start operations by 2023."

As MRC informed earlier, Hengli Petrochemical has taken off-stream its No. 1 purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant for a turnaround. The company has halted operations at the plant on October 7, 2019. The plant is likely to remain under maintenance for around two weeks. Located in Dalian, China, the No. 1 PTA plant has a production capacity of 2.2 million mt/year.

PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.

According to MRC's DataScope report, Chinese bottle grade PET deliveries to Russia increased 34% in the first eight months of 2019 to 95,600 tonnes. China accounted for 90% of the total imports, compared to 85% a year earlier.
August imports of material from China decreased by 41% to 7,600 tonnes from 12,800 tonnes in July. Jiangsu Sanfangxiang, Yisheng, Wankai and Sinopec were the leading Chinese suppliersof material to the Russian market.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gazprom Neft and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have entered into a Framework Agreement on Strategic Cooperation, said the company.

The companies will explore opportunities for implementing joint projects in the upstream and downstream sectors, as well as in information technologies, artificial intelligence, and other areas.

The document was signed by Vladislav Baryshnikov, Deputy CEO, International Business Development and a member of the Management Board, Gazprom Neft, and Abdulmunim Saif Al Kindy, Executive Director, Upstream Directorate, ADNOC.

Under this agreement the partners will study opportunities for collaboration in sour-gas exploration and production, developing enhanced oil and gas recovery strategies, and developing innovative technologies for investigating carbonate reservoirs.

The Agreement creates a platform for potential collaboration in developing production-analytical systems in hydrocarbon exploration, production, logistics, processing and sales. The parties will also assess opportunities for joint projects in geological prospecting and oil- and gas-field development, including at concessions within the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In addition to this, further areas for potential technological cooperation include developing management systems, information technologies and artificial intelligence (AI).

As MRC reported earlier, in March 2019, Borealis and ADNOC signed Memorandum of Understanding to explore strategic opportunities in the polyolefin industry. Under the terms of the agreement, Borealis and ADNOC will jointly explore potential growth opportunities within the integrated polyolefin industry in key geographical markets.

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.

ADNOC is one of the world’s leading diversified energy and petrochemicals groups, with a daily output of about three million barrels of oil and 10.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas. With 14 specialist subsidiary and joint venture companies, ADNOC is a primary catalyst for the UAE’s growth and diversification.

MRC