Celanese took off-stream its Singapore VAM unit

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, has undertaken an unplanned shutdown at its Vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) unit in Singapore, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Singapore informed that the company has halted operations at the plant owing to shortage of feedstock on October 23, 2019. The exact duration of the shutdown could not be ascertained.

Located in Jurong Island, Singapore, the plant has a production capacity of 210,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, Celanese Corporation experienced an emergency incident at approximately 12:00 noon Central time on Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Celanese Clear Lake facility in Pasadena, Texas. On-site emergency personnel extinguished the fire quickly, and appropriate regulatory and first responder agencies were notified and mobilized at the scene to support the incident. All Celanese, site partner and contractor employees are accounted for and no injuries were reported. No shelter in place was issued, and the emergency was cleared at 4:30 p.m. local time.

According to MRC's DataScope report, September EVA imports to Russia fell by 22,7% year on year to 3,420 tonnes from 4,430 tonnes in September 2018, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation decreased in January-September 2019 by 18,2% year on year to 29,190 tonnes (35,690 tonnes in the first nine months of 2018).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2018 net sales of USD7.2 billion.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fujian Meide Petrochemical Co. Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Packing Group Company Ltd, will utilize the Honeywell Process Reliability Advisor for prescriptive monitoring of on-purpose propylene at its new UOP C3 Oleflex unit in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China, as per Apic-online.

The plant is designed to convert propane into 660,000 t/y of propylene. Status of the facility could not be confirmed.

Honeywell Process Reliability Advisor continuously feeds plant data through Honeywell UOP process and fault models with software to provide key performance information and process recommendations.

"The service helps plants run more smoothly and de-tects problems before they can affect production and plant profitability," Honeywell noted.

As MRC informed before, Honeywell's UOP already has business ties with Fujian Meide. Earlier, in 2011, it licensed its C3 Oleflex process technology to Fujian Meide to produce 660,000 metric tons of propylene annually. The new unit is expected to produce the same annual quantity starting 2015.

Propylene is a feedstock for the production of PP.

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.

Honeywell is a global diversified technology and manufacturing company with a wide range of aerospace products and services, control, sensing and security technologies for buildings, homes and industry, turbochargers, automotive products, specialty chemicals, electronic and advanced materials, process technology for refining and petrochemicals and energy efficient products and solutions for homes, business and transportation.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell has begun the commissioning works of its new high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in La Porte, Texas, reported NCT with reference to the company's statement during an earnings conference call.

The brand new plant will utilize LyondellBasell’s patented Hyperzone technology to produce 500,000 tons/year of HDPE. Sales volumes from the plant are expected to increase during the first quarter of 2020.

The cost of the project is estimated at USD900 million, the company reported.

As MRC wrote before, in October 2019, LyondellBasell sarted up a new, fifth production line at its polypropylene (PP) compounding plant in Knapsack, Germany capable of producing 25 kt/yr. With this, capacity of the Knapsack facility is over 200 kt/yr, making the site "the world’s largest polypropylene compounding facility".

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's September estimated HDPE consumption fell to 70,570 tonnes from 108,320 tonnes a month earlier. Russian producers reduced their output due to maintenance works, whereas imports were high partially because of an increase in US shipments. The estimated HDPE consumption in Russia totalled 862,170 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 7% year on year. HDPE imports increased by 47%, whereas production dropped by 5% due to a long period of maintenance works at three production capacities.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- German chemicals group Evonik Industries reported a 6% drop in its third-quarter adjusted core profit, citing global economic slowdown, said Reuters.

Third-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for one-offs, dropped to 543 million euros (USD604 million), but slightly above the average estimate of 537 million euros in a company-provided poll.

Evonik confirmed its full-year outlook of adjusted EBITDA to at least reach last year’s level of 2.15 billion euros, excluding its methacrylates unit, the maker of plastics for clear acrylic sheet it sold to buyout group Advent in August.

In September 2019, Evonik expanded its production capacity for the high-purity C13 alcohol isotridecanol (ITDA) at the Marl Chemical Park. This will enable the specialty chemicals group to continue to build on its position as manufacturer of this product, and to grow with its customers.

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The focus on more specialty businesses, customer-oriented innovative prowess and a trustful and performance-oriented corporate culture form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. They are the lever for profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company. Evonik benefits specifically from its customer proximity and leading market positions. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world with more than 36,000 employees.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Altivia Ketones & Additives, LLC an affiliate of Altivia Petrochemicals, announced that it acquired Dow’s Acetone Derivatives Business and associated chemical manufacturing assets at Institute, W.Va., as well as the Institute Industrial Park, said Chemengonline.

Altivia successfully assumed operations and product distribution without delay on November 1.

The Acetone Derivatives Business manufactures ketones and carbinols, used primarily in the coatings, adhesive and pharmaceutical industries. It is the largest North American production facility of its kind.

"We have implemented a thorough transition plan over the past 12 weeks to ensure continuity and avoid disruptions during our assumption of operations at Institute, West Virginia,” said Altivia’s Chief Executive Officer J. Michael Jusbasche. “Customers of our Ketones business and stakeholders at our Institute Industrial Park will experience a seamless transition to Altivia."

The 460-acre Institute Industrial Park was originally operated by Union Carbide and became an industrial park in the mid-1980s. The facility houses the acetone derivatives business acquired by Altivia, as well as other Dow and DuPont businesses, which receive utility and logistics services to support chemical production activities.

Earlier in 2019, Dow had said that the business's acetone derivatives are used as solvents and as chemical intermediates. The coatings industry uses the solvents for nitrocellulose and other cellulose ethers as well as for vinyl chloride-vinyl acetone and other resins. The companies announced the deal in mid-August.

As MRC informed earlier, Dow Chemical's propylene dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Freeport, Texas, is offline for a turnaround. Sources said the PDH unit went offline for scheduled maintenance September 26, and the work is expected to last 45-60 days. Originally, sources expected the turnaround to begin in early September, but then learned it had been delayed.

As MRC informed previously, Dow Chemical began major maintenance on the LHC 1 cracker at Terneuzen, Netherlands from 9 September, 2019. More than 1,500 extra employees from various external companies will carry out maintenance work in the subsequent period.

Propylene is a feedstock for producing polyprolypele (PP).

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.

Dow believes that plastic waste has value and can be transformed into new products and energy. In addition to plastic roads, Dow is working with key partners in South America to use recycled plastics to develop construction materials for schools in Colombia. Dow is also at the forefront of developing and scaling chemical recycling technology to take recycled plastic waste back to feedstock for the creation of new products. By reimagining new ways to reuse, recycle and repurpose plastic waste, Dow and its partners are leading the way in the development of innovative circular economy solutions.

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