Turkish wealth fund to invest USD10 B in petrochemical refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Turkish wealth fund will invest around USD10 billion for the construction of a petrochemical refinery in southern Turkey, the state-run Anadolu news agency said, in a move it said was aimed at alleviating the country’s trade deficit, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Data on Monday showed Turkey’s trade deficit had more than tripled from a year ago to stand at USD2.15 billion in November, according to a special trade system. Both exports and imports rose year-on-year, the data showed.

The Turkish Wealth Fund (TVF), worth $50 billion, was set up in 2016 by the government to develop and increase the value of Turkey’s strategic assets and provide resources for investment. Last year, President Tayyip Erdogan appointed himself chairman of the fund and completely changed its board.

Anadolu, citing information obtained from the TVF, said the fund would to invest around USD10 billion for the construction of a refinery and petrochemical complex in the southern province of Adana. It said that construction will begin in 2021.

The project will create 10,000 jobs during the construction period and another 5,000 jobs when the complex is operational, Anadolu said. It added that the project would contribute around USD1.5 billion annually to Turkey’s trade deficit.

The TVF later confirmed to Reuters that it was planning a greenfield investment in the area, but did not provide further details.

The government has previously transferred to the TVF stakes worth billions of dollars of state assets, including stakes in flag carrier Turkish Airlines, major banks and fixed-line operator Turk Telekom.

In October, the fund’s general manager was quoted as saying the TVF wants to buy the 10% stake of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) in the Istanbul bourse. EBRD is set to sell its stake after the appointment of a former Halkbank executive who was jailed in the United States as CEO of the stock exchange. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Can Sezer Editing by Ece Toksabay).

As it was written earlier, Turkey and Ukraine are emerging as possible transit routes for Russian gas to eastern Europe from 1 January 2020. But with less than a month until new transit arrangements are expected to come in place, it is still uncertain whether the gas will flow north to south, or whether it will be shipped from Turkey to northern off-takers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Angolan oil company Sonangol has terminated a contract with Hong Kong-based consortium United Shine to build the Cabinda Refinery but plans to go ahead with other investors, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to state news agency ANGOP.

State oil company Sonangol canceled the contract due to "the failure (of the consortium) to submit additional technical, commercial and financial studies to support the project’s completion ... and shortcoming in corporate capitalization," the news agency quoted Sonangol as saying in a statement.

Sonangol has signed a memorandum of understanding with London-based investment firm Gemcorp Capital to finance and implement the 60,000 barrel per day (bpd) project and is also seeking other potential investors, ANGOP said.

Angola, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, imports 80% of its refined products despite producing around 1.5 million barrels of crude per day.

The country suffered some of its worst fuel shortages for years this spring, which led to the sacking of Sonangol chair Carlos Saturnino and prompted Africa’s second largest crude exporter to expand its domestic refining capacity.

As MRC informed before, Italian oil and gas company Eni expects to boost gasoline production at Angola’s Luanda refinery to 470,000 tonnes within two years from the current 110,000 tons a year.

We also reminad that Italy’s Versalis (part of Eni) took its cracker in Dunkirk, France offline in early September, 2019, due to a fire which broke out at the company’s petrochemical plant.Local media sources also reported that the fire was brought under control with no reported injuries. The cracker has a production capacity of 380,000 tons/year of ethylene and 95,000 tons/year of propylene.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrochemical maker TPC Group Inc will rebuild the Texas plant shut in the last week of November by devastating explosions that ignited fires that burned for six days, reproted Reuters with reference to a spokeswoman's statement.

The last fire at the Port Neches plant was extinguished late Tuesday after officials decided to let the petrochemicals burn out. The fear of further explosions earlier prompted the county to temporarily evacuate as many as 60,000 people from area homes. They were allowed to return on Friday.

"Our focus has been on mitigating the emergency and we have not assessed the condition of the remaining asset and infrastructure," said Sara Cronin, a TPC vice president. "At this point, we plan to rebuild the site."

On Friday, TPC Group Chief Executive Edward Dineen told the 175 employees who work at the Port Neches plant they would be paid until year-end, with the facility shut for an indefinite but extended period.

Cronin said there will be plenty of work to do.

"At our Port Neches site, we will need significant support for the Emergency Response Team and site recovery resources in 2020," she wrote in response to Reuters’ questions. "There will also be resource needs to assist the various investigations. Beyond that we will need resources to define our rebuild options and then rebuild the site."

The company carries property and business interruption insurance, Cronin said, and is working with its insurance carriers.

Federal and state investigations began last week and continued on Wednesday.

The US Chemical Safety Board, which investigates major industrial accidents, has scheduled a media briefing on Thursday to discuss its actions.

Neither federal nor state agencies have filed lawsuits against Houston-based TPC. The fire followed several others this year at petrochemical production and storage sites in Texas.

An official with the state’s pollution regulator has said the office plans to review chemical makers’ compliance with state regulations in the wake of the multiple fires.

Located adjacent to the Sabine Neches River, which is part of the Sabine Neches Waterway, TPC's Port Neches plant can produce more than 900 million lb (426,000 mt) of butadiene and raffinate a year, according to the company's website. The source familiar with company operations said the site has two butadiene lines with capacities of 166,000 mt/year and 260,000 mt/year. The MTBE unit at this site produces up to 400,000 mt/year.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Vietnam’s USD9-billion Nghi Son refinery will restart after a shutdown late in October for major maintenance work, reported Reuters with reference to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

Vietnam’s second 200,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) oil refinery, located 260 km (160 miles) south of Hanoi, Nghi Son started commercial operations in late 2018.

"We have basically completed the maintenance work, and we have been restarting the refinery, unit by unit," the source, who asked not to be identified, said.

"The refinery is scheduled to be fully operational by Dec. 12."

Both Nghi Son and the 130,000-bpd Dung Quat refinery, which started production in 2009, meet about 70% of Vietnam’s demand for refined oil products.

As MRC reported before, NSRP shut its PP unit on 21 June, 2019, owing to technical issues. The exact duration of the shutdown could not be ascertained.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.

We also remind that Vietnam’s Nghi Son oil refinery officially began commercial production from 14 November 2018, following months of tests. The USD9 billion refinery is 35.1 percent owned by Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co, 35.1 percent by Kuwait Petroleum, 25.1 percent by PetroVietnam and 4.7 percent by Mitsui Chemicals Inc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik plans to increase its capacity for sodium methylate at its Rosario/Santa Fe facility from 60,000 metric tons up to 90,000 metric tons until 2021, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The expansion is driven by growing demand for biodiesel in South America, mainly Argentina and Brazil. Sodium methylate is an important catalyst for large-scale biodiesel production.

"Confirmed higher mandates in Brazil such as the biodiesel blend increase from 11% to 15% by 2023, but also the competitiveness of biodiesel exports from Argentina throughout the world drive our decision,” said Marcos Salgueiro, general manager at Evonik’s Functional Solutions business line in South America. “This is why we continue to invest in our efficient reliable plant, which is strategically located right in the center of the Argentinean soybean and biodiesel production region."

"This investment, coupled with the ongoing expansion of our sodium methylate plant in Mobile, Alabama, demonstrates our commitment to our core market of the Americas,” noted Andreas Kripzak, vice president and general manager Americas.

Alexander Weber, global head of the product line Alkoxides & Potassium Derivatives, added: “This decision fits perfectly into our global strategy and strengthens further our market leadership position for alkoxides."

In addition to the increase in capacity, Evonik Functional Solutions is also investing in infrastructure and logistics improvements in South America, including expanded storage solutions in the region. These developments will ensure continuous high supply reliability to its customers.

A string of recent biodiesel production capacity additions in the region reflects the increased importance of the product in Central & South America. “We are following our customers’ investments with our own to ensure ample future supply for this important renewable fuel, which helps to reduce emissions”, said Elias Lacerda, regional president Central & South America.

Besides Argentina and the U.S., Evonik also produces high volumes of sodium methylate in Luelsdorf, Germany, mainly for the European and Asian markets.

As MRC informed earlier, PSC TAIF-NK, a wholly owned subsidiary of TAIF Group of Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia, has let a construction-related contract to Linde Group, Munich, for two hydrogen plants at its 7 million tonnes/year Nizhnekamsk refinery. The contract is valued at about ?120 million, according to Linde.

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.

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.
MRC