Fireball erupts over city after petrochemical plant blast

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Three workers were injured in an early Wednesday explosion that sparked a blaze at a petrochemical plant in Port Neches, Texas, the latest in a series of chemical plant accidents in the region, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

An initial explosion at the TPC Group plant was followed by secondary blasts, shattering windows and blowing locked doors off their hinges in homes near the facility, which is about 90 miles east of Houston.

Residents within a half-mile radius were evacuated.

The fiery blast follows others at petrochemical plants in east Texas. In April, a fire at a KMCO LLC plant northeast of Houston killed one worker and injured a second. A July fire at an Exxon Mobil Corp chemical plant in Baytown, Texas, injured 37, although none seriously.

People more than 30 miles away from the plant were shaken awake by the 1 a.m. CDT (0700 GMT) explosion, said sources familiar with the fire-fighting and rescue operations.

Some homes close to the plant sustained heavy damage and local police were going door-to-door to check for injuries, said the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

One of the three injured workers was flown by helicopter to a Houston hospital’s burns unit, the sources said.

The plant employs 175 and routinely has 50 contract workers on site. The company said the explosion occurred in a processing unit at the site.

"We cannot speak to the cause of the incident or the extent of damage, but TPC is assembling a team to conduct a full and thorough investigation," the company said.

TPC processes petrochemicals for use in the manufacture of synthetic rubber, nylon, resins and plastics. The company supplies more than a third of the butadiene in North America, according to its website.

"Right now, our focus is on protecting the safety of responders and the public, and minimizing any impact to the environment," TPC Group added.

Residents within a half-mile of the plant were ordered to evacuate, according to the sheriff’s office.

Firefighters continued to work to contain the blaze at about 7 a.m. CDT.

The Port Neches plant can produce more than 900 million pounds (408,233 metric tons) of chemicals, according to the company’s website.

Butadiene is one of the feedstocks for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Asia, the falling prices of feedstocks for ABS production have been pushing prices of material down in the Russian market. LG Chem's import prices for November quantities were as follows for Russian buyers: natural ABS - at USD1,400-1,420/tonne FOB Korea, black ABS - at USD1,610-1,630/tonne FOB Korea, white ABS - at USD1,640-1,660/tonne FOB Korea. December prices may drop by another USD30-50/tonn.
Natural grades of Korean ABS went down to Rb138,000-143,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, in the domestic market in mid-November, whereas black ABS was offered at Rb156,000-160,000/tonne and white ABS - at Rb158,000-163,000/tonne CPT Moscow , including VAT.

Headquartered in Houston, TPC was acquired in 2012 by private equity groups First Reserve and SK Capital.
mrcpast.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil-based Petrobras signed a contract to sell its bottled gas distributor Liquigas Distribuidora to Copagaz and Nacional Gas Butano, as announced earlier this month, as per Agenciapetrobras.

The sale price is R$ 3.7 billion, to be adjusted according to contract rules and paid upon transaction closing. As part of the transaction structuring, a minority and material equity investment will be made by Itausa in Copagaz.

The transaction closing is subject to compliance with precedent conditions, including approval by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE).

The operation complies with Petrobras' divestment guidelines and with the special regime of asset divestment by federal mixed-capital companies, provided for in Decree 9,188/2017.

This transaction is in line with the portfolio optimization and the improvement of the company's capital allocation, aiming at creating value for our shareholders.

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.

Liquigas is a wholly owned subsidiary of Petrobras and operates in bottling, distribution and sale of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Brazil. The company is present in almost all Brazilian states, and has 23 operating centers, 19 warehouses, a railroad storage and loading base and a network of about 4,800 authorized resellers, with a 21.4% market share approximately.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Grand Astor has planned to bring on-stream its polystyrene (PS) unit in Zhangjiagang, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company is likely to resume operations at the unit on December 10, 2019. The unit was shut for maintenance by November 19, 2019.

Located in Zhangjiagang, China, the unit has a production capacity of 120,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, another major PS producer in China - Sinopec Guangzhou Petrochemical, part of China's petrochemical giant - Sinopec, - has restarted its polystyrene (PS) unit following a planned outage. The company resumed operations at this unit on November 4, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance on October 8, 2019. Located in Guangzhou province of China, the unit has a production capacity of 60,000 mt/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics totalled 411,080 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, which corresponds to the last year's level. October estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics in the country rose by 2% year on year, totalling 46,740 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wrexham-based masterbatch manufacturer Silvergate Plastics has developed a new solution which addresses the build-up of pigments in machinery, as per PRW.

The company developed the tailor-made masterbatches after film manufacturers had reported pigment build-up in machines despite regular clean downs.

The clogging, Silvergate said in a release, slows down cycle times and disrupts overall production.

The new solution incorporates “quality ingredients that work together to improve dispersion during manufacture".

Available in different colours, Silvergate’s new masterbatch formulation was developed specifically to address the issue for the film market.

Manufacturers trailing the products have reported improved colour accuracy for plastic films, plus increased productivity.

Silvergate is the UK's largest independent custom colour masterbatch manufacturerю
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ad-Vance Engineering has completed a GDP1m round of investment across its business. The cash injection supported construction of a new manufacturing facility and expansion of its manufacturing team, said PRW.

The investment was made to support new export orders received by the company, which is based in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

Ad-Vance specialises in the design, manufacture and refurbishment of injection moulding tools for the plastics industry.

Having started by supplying the construction sector, R&D investment has seen this extended to the automotive and medical industries.

The company reports that it has increased sales and doubled its customer base since 2015. Looking at this another way, the company now works with 20% of the leading injection moulders across the UK.

Speaking about the company and the new investment, Roger Vance, founder and managing director, said: “By focusing our new business drive on the top tier injection moulders, we’ve recently won new contracts in the automotive, pharmaceutical and medical device sectors. This only consolidates our reputation as a premium supply chain partner."

In addition to R&D innovation, Ad-Vance offers internships for engineering graduates from Queen’s University in Belfast, while also running apprenticeship programmes in conjunction with local FE colleges.

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