McDermott awarded ethylene technology and extended basic engineering contract in Russia for two ethylene crackers

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDermott International, Inc. has announced today it has been awarded a sizeable technology contract from Baltic Chemical Company (BCC) and a sizeable Extended Basic Engineering (EBE) contract from China National Chemical Engineering No. 7 Construction Company Limited (CC7), reported CISION.

The ethane cracking project is owned by Baltic Chemical Complex LLC, a subsidiary of RusGazDobycha.

McDermott's Lummus Technology will provide both the Process Design Package (PDP) Engineering and the license for its olefin production and recovery technology. Lummus Technology's proprietary ethylene steam cracking process is the most widely-applied process for the production of polymer-grade ethylene, representing approximately 40 percent of the world's capacity.

"Lummus Technology has been present in Russia for many years where we have been - and will continue to be reliable partner to our many clients here,'' said Leon de Bruyn, Senior Vice President, Lummus Technology. "We are excited to be selected for two world-scale ethylene plants by BCC and bring our reliable, high-yield and energy-efficient steam cracking technology to a project that has so much visibility in the petrochemicals industry."

The project is the largest ethylene integration project in the world. Located near Russia's shores at the Gulf of Finland, the natural gas processing chemical plant will be comprised of two ethylene cracking facilities, each with an annual capacity of 1.4 million tons.

"McDermott's end-to-end infrastructure and technology solutions are an important differentiator for operators in Russia,'' said Tareq Kawash, McDermott's Senior Vice President for Europe, Africa, Russia and Caspian. "The potential future pull-through opportunities related to the Lummus Technology portfolio make us uniquely positioned to execute this phase and future phases of the project."

McDermott has previously partnered with CC7 on the Afipsky Hydrocracker project and the ongoing Lukoil Delayed Coker Unit project.

The extended basic engineering work will primarily be executed from McDermott's downstream Centers of Excellence in The Hague and Brno, Czech Republic.

Work on the project will begin immediately and the contract award will be reflected in McDermott's fourth quarter 2019 backlog.

McDermott's Lummus Technology is a leading licensor of proprietary petrochemicals, refining, gasification and gas processing technologies, and a supplier of proprietary catalysts and related engineering. With a heritage spanning more than 100 years, encompassing approximately 3,400 patents and patent applications, Lummus Technology provides one of the industry's most diversified technology portfolios to the hydrocarbon processing sector.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 976,790 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

McDermott is a premier, fully integrated provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry. For more than a century, customers have trusted McDermott to design and build end-to-end infrastructure and technology solutions to transport and transform oil and gas into the products the world needs today. Our proprietary technologies, integrated expertise and comprehensive solutions deliver certainty, innovation and added value to energy projects around the world. Customers rely on McDermott to deliver certainty to the most complex projects, from concept to commissioning. It is called the "One McDermott Way." Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott's locally focused and globally-integrated resources include approximately 32,000 employees, a diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels and fabrication facilities around the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell announced that Hyundai Chemical, a joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Chemical, has selected LyondellBasell's Lupotech T process technology for a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers plant to be built in South Korea, according Apic-online.

The facility, to be built in Daesan, will have 300,000 t/y of capacity. No additional details of the project were available.

"Proven safety features based on decades of experience in high-pressure application design make Lupotech T the technology of choice for LDPE plant operators," LyondellBasell noted. "High conversion rates and effective process heat integration are key attributes of the . . . process and contribute to a sustainable growth of the LDPE and EVA markets."

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2018, Yantai Wanhua Chemical Group has selected technology from LyondellBasell for a new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plant and polypropylene (PP) unit in Yantai City, Shandong Province. The complex will include a 350,000-t/y HDPE plant, based on LyondellBasell's Hostalen ACP process technology, and a 300,000-t/y PP unit, which will utilize LyondelBasell's 5th generation Spheripol PP process technology. Cost of the project and a schedule were not given.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhejiang Hengli Petrochemical is ready to launch its Phase II PP plant by end of November 2019, completing both phases of the newly constructed petrochemical complex, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The Phase II PP unit has an annual capacity of 400,000 tons/year and would rely on spot propylene for the trial period while waiting for the new PDH unit to come online.

Hengli started up the 450,000 tons/year Phase I PP plant in May 2019 and at the moment, spot cargoes from this unit are widely available in the domestic ground. The producer is also offering BOPP cargoes to the Indonesia market, sources said.

As MRC informed before, in May 2018, INVISTA’s technology and licensing group, INVISTA Performance Technologies (IPT), and Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co.,Ltd. (Hengli) reached an agreement to license INVISTA’s latest purified terephthalic acid (PTA) process technology for Hengli’s fourth PTA line. Hengli’s first three PTA lines, the first of which began operation in 2012, also utilize INVISTA’s technology and have a combined capacity of 6.6 million metric tonnes per year. The fourth line will have a design capacity of 2.5 million metric tonnes per year and will be installed at Changxing Island, Liaoning Province of China.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 976,790 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) to Ukraine decreased in January-October 2019 by 25% year on year to 10,400 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was at 13,900 tonnes in the first ten months of 2018.
Nizhnekamskneftekhim's material accounted for 51% in the overall structure of imports to the Ukrainian market for the first ten months of 2019, compared to 67% in January-October 2018.

However, October imports of material rose by 45% from September 2019 to 1,200 tonnes versus 800 tonnes. This figure was also at 1,200 tonnes in October 2018.

Overall imports of this polystyrene grade into the country decreased in the fist ten months of 2019 by 2% year on year to 20,500 tonnes from 20,800 tonnes a year earlier.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of expandable polystyrene (EPS) into Ukraine dropped in the first ten months of 2019 by 1% year on year, totalling 30,100 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was 30,500 tonnes in January-October 2018.

Russian material accounted for 49% (15,000 tonnes) of the total shipments in the first ten months of 2019, compared to 58% (17,800 tonnes) a year earlier. Chinese EPS shipments reached 38% (11,300 tonnes) over the stated period, compared to 28% (8,700 tonnes) in January-October 2018.

October EPS imports into Ukraine were 2,900 tonnes versus 3,900 tonnes a month earlier and 3,400 tonnes in October 2018.

The share of Russian material grew to 54% (1,500 tonnes) last month from 46% (1,800 tonnes) a month earlier. The share of Chinese shipments dropped to 33% (900 tonnes) in October from 38% (1,500 tonnes) in September.

MRC