Shell to restart naphtha cracker in Singapore after maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell Singapore is due to restart its naphtha cracker in Bukom Island this week following a two months maintenance shutdown since the beginning of October 2019, reported CommoPlast.

Thus, this cracker was taken off-stream for the turnaround on 1 October 2019.

The cracker is able to produce 960,000 tons/year of ethylene and 550,000 tons/year of propylene.

As MRC informed earlier, in March 2019, Mammoet safely completed a critical lift at Shell’s Pennsylvania Chemicals Project in Potter Township, utilizing its MSG80 to hoist a 2,000 ton quench tower into position. The facility is the first major US project of its kind to be built outside of the Gulf Coast region in 20 years. Once operational, the facility will boast an ethane cracker and three polyethylene units, and is expected to employ up to 600 employees.

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.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

Cosans subsidiary Raizen taking part in Brazils refinery bidding round

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian energy group Cosan Ltd said its subsidiary Raizen is taking part in the bidding round organized by state-run oil company Petrobras for the sale of refineries in the country, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Cosan’s chief financial officer Marcelo Martins told analysts and investors that Raizen is still evaluating the possibility of buying a refinery from Petrobras and said that the return required would be quite high for the risk.

As MRC informed earlier, Shell and Cosan have reached an agreement to strengthen the Raizen JV in Brazil, through a change in its contractual structure. The partners have agreed to remove the mutual time-bound buyout options included in the original JV, signed in June 2011, and in doing so have transformed Raizen from a temporary to a permanent JV.

As MRC wrote before, in mid-October 2019, Royal Dutch Shell Plc restarted the hydrocracker at its 225,300 barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana, refinery. The 40,000 bpd hydrocracker was shut on Sept. 9 for a planned month-long overhaul. A longer than expected restart of the unit stretched the outage to six weeks, the sources said.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 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.
MRC

AkzoNobel share buyback

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel has repurchased 312,000 of its own ordinary shares in the period from November 25, 2019 up to and including November 29, 2019, at an average price of EUR87.39 per share, said the company.

The consideration of the repurchase was EUR27.27 million.

This is part of a repurchase program announced on February 13, 2019. The total number of shares repurchased under this program to date is 29,954,819 ordinary shares for a total consideration of EUR2,378.57 million.

AkzoNobel intends to repurchase common shares up to a value of EUR2.5 billion as part of a total €6.5 billion being distributed to shareholders following the sale of the Specialty Chemicals business. The share buyback is due to be completed by the end of 2019.

In accordance with regulations, AkzoNobel will inform the market about the progress made in the execution of this program through weekly updates and at share buyback overview page.

As it was written before, AkzoNobel finalized the acquisition of BASF’s global Industrial Coatings business, which supplies a range of products for industries including construction, domestic appliances, wind energy and commercial transport, strengthening its position as the global number one supplier in coil coatings.

As MRC informed earlier, BASF would expand the capacity of ethylene oxide and ethylene oxide derivatives at its Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The total investment adds about 400 000 tpy to BASF’s production capacity for the corresponding products with an expected investment amount exceeding EUR500 million.

Ethylene is a feedstock for producing polyethylene (PE).

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.

Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people. Established in 1992 and specializing in sustainable water-based and advanced eco-friendly products, Mapaero operates a production facility in France and has around 140 employees.
MRC

Indorama Ventures acquires Californian PET recycler Green Fiber International

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global chemical manufacturer Indorama Ventures (IVL) has acquired Green Fiber International Inc (GFI), a recycling company in Fontana, California, USA, reported The Nation Thailand.

The facility produces Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (rPET) flakes. The acquisition has a combined capacity of 40,000 tonnes/annum.

Green Fiber International has been offering high-quality recycled PET bottle flakes for food contact to the US West Coast packaging market since 2018.

This acquisition extends IVL’s recycled flake supply chain to the West Coast, allowing the company to further support the efforts of its customers in the water and soft drinks industry to ensure that PET bottles are recycled and put to further use, thus ensuring the creation of a circular economy.

The acquisition is strategically in line with IVL’s long-term sustainability objectives and part of the company's stated plan to invest significantly in recycling over the next five years.

The proximity of the facility to a large supply of recovered PET bottles on the US West Coast will create new opportunities to meet the increasing demand for rPET in more sustainable packaging solutions.

"We are really excited to have completed the acquisition of Green Fiber International, and welcome GFI’s employees to the Indorama Ventures family. At Indorama Ventures, we play a key role in promoting the circular economy and environmental sustainability globally by pursuing the right opportunities to fill gaps that are intrinsic to a sustainable future. We strongly feel that this acquisition will contribute to profitable future growth in the sustainable recycling business with the potential to expand further," Yashovardhan Lohia, executive director and chief recycling officer of Indorama Ventures, said.

As MRC informed previously, in February 2019, IVL commenced production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) at plants it acquired from Artlant PTA in Portugal and EIPET in Egypt.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption dropped in September 2019 by 10% year on year, totalling 58,210 tonnes. Overall, 551,320 tonnes of PET was processed in Russia in the first nine months of 2019, up 9% year on year.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand, is one of the world's leading petrochemicals producers, a global manufacturing footprint with 59 sites in 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. The company's portfolio is comprises necessities and high value-added (HVA) categories of polymers, fibers, and packaging. Indorama Ventures has approx. 15,000 employees worldwide.
MRC

Total aiming for two additional LNG trains in Mozambique LNG

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French energy major Total aims to expand its Mozambique liquefied natural gas (LNG) project with two additional trains, or plants, where the gas is supper-chilled for easier transport, reproted Reuters with reference to a company executive's statement.

"We're starting to look at studies for train 3 and train 4, because the resources are clearly there to develop," Mike Sangster, head of Total Exploration and Production for Nigeria, told an oil conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

Total concluded the acquisition of Anadarko's 26.5% interest in the Mozambique LNG project for USD3.9 billion in September as part of its takeover of Anadarko's Africa assets that included projects in Ghana and Algeria.

Sangster added that the company expected to close its acquisition of Anadarko assets in Ghana and Algeria early next year once regulatory approvals were cleared.

The firm said in September the Mozambique project included the construction of a two-train liquefaction plant with a capacity of 12.9 million tonnes per year.

Sangster said costs for Mozambique were "very competitive" with good terms.

The firm has said 90% of Mozambique LNG was already sold under long-term contracts largely indexed to the oil price.

Jean-Pierre Sbraire, Total's Chief Financial Officer, said in a call with analysts during the company's third quarter results that "Mozambique LNG was a jewel" the its acquisition of Anadarko's Africa assets.

As MRC informed before, in early November 2019, Total disclosed that it is evaluating construction of a new gas cracker at its Deasan, South Korea, joint venture (JV) with Hanwha Chemical.

Total is also developing a USD1.4-billion propane dehydrogenation and PP complex at Arzew, Algeria, in partnership with Algeria’s state-owned oil company Sonatrach. The facilities will be designed to produce 600,000 metric tons/year each of propylene and PP. The project is in FEED phase with FID due in 2021.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 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.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC