Zhong An United brought on-stream LLDPE unit in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhong An United Coal Chemical Co has restarted its linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) 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 LLDPE unit has a production capacity of 145,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's DataScrope report, September LLDPE imports to Russia rose to 15,400 tonnes from 13,100 tonnes a month earlier, with LLDPE imports from the USA showing a significant rise. Overall LLDPE imports to the Russian market reached 127,100 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, down by 7% year on year.

Zhongan United Coal Industry Chemical Co. Ltd. mines, processes, manufactures, and distributes coal products. The company 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) -- Mr. Shrikant Madhav Vaidya has taken over as the Director (Refineries) of IndianOil - India's highest ranked Public Sector Enterprise in 'Fortune 500' global listing, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

He is also a Director on the board of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (CPCL) & the 60 MMTPA West Coast Refinery and Petrochemicals Project, the world's largest grass root refinery project, coming up in Maharashtra.

Mr. Vaidya now spearheads the business & operations of nine refineries & petrochemical plants of IndianOil. With a robust Refineries Division, IndianOil (including its group companies) remains the nation's top refiner with a group refining capacity of 80.7 million tonnes per annum/161.4 million barrels per day.

A Chemical Engineer from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Mr. SM Vaidya has 33 years of extensive experience in refining & petrochemicals operations. Mr. Vaidya has had a decade-long association with India's largest Cracker Plant-the Panipat Naphtha Cracker Complex-right from its commissioning stage, which is one of the major drivers of IOC's petrochemicals business. He is among the select technocrats in the Indian oil & gas industry, who is proficient in all the facets of refinery-petrochemicals integration, desirable for the sustainability of the oil & gas industry in the long-term.

Prior to his elevation, Mr. Vaidya was heading the Operations Dept. of the Refineries Division, ensuring healthy gross refining margins, smooth supply of products and eco-friendly business operations. During his tenure, the Refineries Division registered a record performance on all major physical parameters. He also steered the timely roll-out of BS-VI grade auto fuels in NCR, and has expanded green energy options with bio-fuel & ethanol-blended fuel related projects in refineries. Mr. S M Vaidya has also led IndianOil's 8 MMTPA Mathura Refinery, and his dynamic tenure saw the introduction of innovative initiatives for greater sustainability and profitability.

With a strong technological prowess, business acumen and people-centric leadership style, Mr. Vaidya nurtures a strong vision of leveraging technology, innovative & sustainable solutions for the company's transformation into an integrated energy major.

As MRC informed earlier, Indian Oil Corp in September completed turnaround in early-October, 2019. The cracker was shut in early-September, 2019 for a maintenance turnaround. Located in Panipat, in the northern Indian state of Haryana, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 857,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 425,000 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.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lindsey Oil Refinery is one of the biggest producers of crude oil in the UK, producing around 10 million tons per year. In 2018 the facility celebrated its 50th year of production and has continued to look to the future. Over the last two decades, the refinery has been improving its capability to produce ultra-low-sulfur fuels so that it can become a cleaner and more efficient operation, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Installation was planned as part of wider maintenance and upgrades during a plant turnaround. Such turnarounds require large investment and are planned in detail, so it was vital that the project was kept on track.

ALE was tasked with lifting and transporting the new sulfur storage facility, which consisted of a concrete pit, weighing 304t, and its lid, weighing 90t. The new pit had been cast into the ground so had to be lifted with a large degree of precision. At 17m long and 4.1m wide, the pit’s size would also make it challenging to transport.

To lift the sulfur pit, ALE mobilized its Lift ‘N’ Lock gantry lifting system. The system’s jacking points can all operate in unison to maintain optimum control and safety.

The Lift ‘N’ Lock system was rigged with a bespoke rigging arrangement to lift the sulfur pit, then ALE maneuvered specialist 3 file SPT axles beneath it. The pit was transported almost two miles to its final location along public and site roads.

The lifting and lowering process was then repeated for the pit’s lid. Its different dimensions meant ALE had to design a second bespoke rigging arrangement. Due to its smaller size, ALE was able to transport the lid on a much shorter and more direct route.

With the concrete sulfur pit ready for installation, the refinery’s schedule was kept on track, ensuring it could continue to supply the market throughout the turnaround. The new pit will enable Lindsey Oil Refinery to store more extracted sulfur at the refinery before it is removed to be used in a variety of industrial applications.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, 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. The project at the 270,000 barrel per day refinery - representing a fifth of British refining capacity - still needs a final investment decision which is not expected before the second quarter of next 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 1,436,390 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of polyethylene (PE) into Ukraine increased to about 200,800 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up 12% compared to the same period of 2018. The greatest increase in demand occurred for high density polyethylene (HDPE), according to MRC DataScope.

Last month's PE imports into the country increased to 22,500 tonnes from 21,800 tons in August, local companies increased their purchasing of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE). Overall PE imports reached 200,800 tonnes in January-September 2019, compared to 179,000 tonnes a year earlier. The highest supply of HDPE increased most, while imports of ethylene copolymers declined.

The supply structure by PE grades looked the following way over the stated period.

September imports of high density polyethylene increased to 8,700 tonnes compared with 7,500 tonnes in August. Ukranian companies increased their imports of blow moulding and pipe grade HDPE. Overall HDPE imports reached 72,500 tonnes last year, compared to 54,900 tonnes a year earlier, PE shipments to all consumption sectors increased.

September imports of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased to 6,000 tonnes against 6,900 tonnes a month earlier, some companies reduced purchases of LDPE in Russia. Overall LDPE imports reached 58,200 tonnes over the stated period, up by 2% year on year.

September imports of LLDPE into the country decreased to 6,800 tonnes, compared with 6,500 tonnes in August. on a stronger purchases from producers in Saudi Arabia. In general, January - September LLDPE imports into Ukraine increased to 60,700 tonnes compared with 55,400 tonnes year on year.

Imports of other PE grades, including ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA), totalled 9,400 tonnes over the stated period, compared to 11,800 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Groups vying for the idled Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery have entered the second phase of the bidding process and are gearing up for visits to the plant, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to sources.

Roughly a dozen parties are in the running to buy the refinery, a source familiar with the situation said, pitching various uses for the fire-damaged facility that has been used to store and process fossil fuels for the last 150 years.

The effort began after PES closed its refinery and filed for bankruptcy on July 21, following a colossal blaze at one of its most dangerous fuel-producing units.

Whoever wins the auction to purchase the 1,300-acre site will hold the keys to reopen the largest and oldest East Coast oil refinery or repurpose all or part of it for another use.

Prospective buyers are seeking answers to a host of unanswered financial and legal questions, including potential environmental cleanup costs and uncertainty around insurance proceeds.

Groups in the bidding process are being given more information about PES’ finances and operations and are expected to tour the site, three sources familiar with the plans said. They have also been asked to submit more detailed proposals, as opposed to limited initial bids, by late November.

While the sale process is moving ahead, PES recently detailed in a court filing a way in which it could reorganize the company if it is able to reach agreements with creditors to swap debt obligations for shares in the company.

Such a move could avert a sale, according to the documents, which were filed on Thursday in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

PES has told buyers it reserves the option not to sell the plant after final bids are submitted.

Along with basic purchase price questions, bidders are being asked what, if any, portion of future insurance payouts tied to the blaze they would need to close a deal, the sources said. They have also been asked what percentage of any award they would require if PES wins its multi-hundred-million-dollar lawsuit against the federal government over excise taxes.

Parties that have publicly declared their pursuit of the PES complex include a group led by onetime PES Chief Executive Officer Philip Rinaldi, which has proposed restarting the full 335,000 barrel-per-day refinery and adding renewable natural gas production.

Philadelphia-based S.G. Preston pitched a renewable diesel and renewable jet fuels operation that would use a portion of the plant’s processing and logistics infrastructure.

Real estate developers, including Industrial Realty Group LLC and Alterra Property Group LLC, have also made early bids, the sources familiar with the plans said.

Outstanding questions include who is still working for PES, after it laid off most of its pre-fire workforce of 1,000 people, and the cost of maintaining water treatment systems so that rain and melted snow contaminated on-site do not stream into the nearby Schuylkill River, sources familiar with the plans said.

Prospective buyers must also contemplate the costs and responsibility for cleaning up PES land, especially if the winning bidder uses the site for something other than refining.

Soil and water at the PES site have been contaminated by more than a century of hydrocarbon releases, and chemicals harmful to human health, such as benzene, have been detected on the compound, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

PES is currently responsible for cleanup costs for contamination that happened after 2012, when the company was formed. Previous refinery owners are charged with clearing earlier contamination.
MRC