Interviews point to leak of process fluid in TPC fire - CSB

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) says it has been unable to enter TPC’s Port Neches, Texas, facility, but interviews with the three employees injured by the explosion at 1 a.m. on 27 November suggest that the incident began with a leak in a processing unit, reported Chemweek.

"They reported a loss of process fluid from a unit and tried to evacuate the scene," CSB board member Manuel Ehrlich said at a news conference held Thursday and reported by the Beaumont Enterprise, a local newspaper. The fluid, probably butadiene, vaporized and soon ignited, Ehrlich said, stressing that the information was preliminary, and that the cause of the release had not been identified. The incident, he said, represented a "fundamental failure of the system."

The fire that followed destroyed two distillation towers at the site and significantly damaged two others before it was extinguished on 4 December. On 6 December, TPC reported that small residual fires had been identified and were being contained.

Citing Jason Sanders, environmental manager of TPC’s Houston facility, the Beaumont Enterprise says TPC has begun planning to transfer products stored at Port Neches to other TPC facilities "while repairs are underway." The report says 71 spherical storage tanks contained raffinate, butadiene, and other products at the time of the explosion, while 17 cylindrical atmospheric tanks held methanol, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), and N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP). TPC says 12 tanks were damaged by fire.

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) - The Gazprom Neft Moscow refinery has completed the autumn repair campaign. The work was carried out at 12 technological installations of the plant, said the company in its press release.

Everything was carried out over 200 major events for the repair and diagnostics of equipment. At the refineries, work was carried out to replace the heating element coils, repair pipelines, heat exchangers, refrigeration equipment and internal devices of the columns.

"Technological facilities not involved in the repair continued to operate normally and ensured the release of petroleum products in accordance with the production plan," the report said. The company informs that all work was completed on time.

Over 1,500 specialists were involved in the scheduled repair. "The completed repair of the" small technological ring "guarantees its further uninterrupted operation," concluded Maxim Artemenko, deputy director general of the MNPZ on technical issues.

In early 2017, MNPZ stopped the installation of the "large technological ring" for continuous repairs. In May 2018, a scheduled repair of the Small Ring installations was carried out, which was completed in 28 days.

Since 2019, the company planned to switch to a four-year cycle of equipment overhaul. This will increase the volume of oil refining and production of motor fuels.

Today MNPZ is one of the main producers of fuel for the Moscow region, the share of the enterprise is 34%. The plant produces 30 types of petroleum products: Euro-5 standard motor fuels, road, construction and polymer-modified bitumen, liquefied gases for municipal use, etc.

Gazpromneft - Moscow Oil Refinery is a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft. The installed capacity of the plant is 12.15 million tons per year. The company produces automobile gasolines, diesel, marine and aviation fuel, fuel oil, high-octane additives to motor gasolines, bitumen and gases for various purposes, as well as polypropylene (PP). And since 2010, the Moscow Oil Refinery and SIBUR have established a joint venture for the production of polypropylene - NPP Neftekhimiya LLC. Currently, the Moscow Oil Refinery is implementing a large-scale modernization program, the total investment in which will reach more than 130 billion rubles by 2020.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wacker Chemie has said that it intends to take an impairment charge of around EUR750 million (USD831 million) in its financial statements for 2019 on its hyperpure polysilicon production facilities, as per Chemweek.

The write-down is due to the continued absence of a recovery in solar-grade polysilicon prices on the back of high overcapacity created by Chinese manufacturers, the company says.

The exact amount to be written down will become clear during the completion of the financial statements. The impairment will reduce the value of property, plant, and equipment in the consolidated statement of financial position and also group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), Wacker Polysilicon’s EBIT, and the group net result for the year. Cash flow will not be affected by the write-down.

"The expected solar-market recovery has not yet materialized, and prices are still very low for polysilicon used in photovoltaic applications," said chief financial officer (CFO) Tobias Ohler. "At the same time, we only have limited visibility at present of how the market will develop. That is chiefly because China’s construction of new solar installations falls short of initial expectations. An additional burden is the high polysilicon overcapacity in China. The Chinese government is subsidizing this expansion not only with loans and incentives, but also by providing polysilicon producers there with coal-generated electricity at extremely favorable prices. We have adjusted our projections for the coming year accordingly."

Wacker’s polysilicon strategy remains unchanged. “We are continuing to work hard to reduce our costs and are keeping our focus on polysilicon for semiconductor applications and on high-quality material for monocrystalline solar cells,” Ohler said.

Due to the impairment, Wacker now expects a net loss for 2019 of around EUR750 million compared with previous guidance of "slightly positive net income." Today’s guidance excludes special income of EUR112.5 million in insurance compensation, which Wacker booked in the third quarter of 2019. Wacker’s net result would exceed EUR100 million before the special effect stemming from the write-down but including this insurance compensation.

As MRC informed earlier, in September 2019, following a construction phase lasting 20 months, Wacker Chemie AG brought a new spray dryer for the production of dispersible polymer powders on stream in Ulsan, South Korea. The plant is part of an ongoing site expansion aimed at boosting the company’s production capacity for dispersions and dispersible polymer powders in Asia.

We also remind that in 2013, Wacker launched a new EVA production plant - with an additional 40,000 tonnes annually - at its Ulsan site in South Korea back in February. The production capacity of the site has, thus, almost doubled then, making the plant complex one of the biggest of its kind in South Korea - thereby solidifying the company's global leading position in this segment.

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).

Wacker Chemie AG is a worldwide operating company in the chemical business, founded 1914. The company is controlled by the Wacker-family holding more than 50 percent of the shares. The corporation is operating more than 25 production sites in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The product range includes silicone rubbers, polymer products like ethylene vinyl acetate redispersible polymer powder, chemical materials, polysilicon and wafers for semiconductor industry.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Huntsman Corp. has signed an agreement to buy polyurethane spray foam maker Icynene-Lapolla for USD350M in cash, said Plasticsnews.

The deal should close in the first half of 2020. The deal expands Huntsman's footprint in the growing North American spray foam market. It also gains more spray foam technology to go with its Demilec business.

Mississauga, Ontario-based Icynene-Lapolla has annual sales of around USD230M, putting the price at about 10 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortiation.

Tony Hankins, president of Huntsman's polyurethanes division, said the combination of Icynene-Lapolla with its PU spray foam product range and reflective roof coatings, with Huntsman's Demilec PU spray foam business will significantly strengthen Huntsman's energy-saving insulation business.

"This combination of companies will provide Huntsman with the largest global array of spray foam technology. This is the size and type of downstream assets that we will continue to add to our company," CEO Peter Huntsman said. Huntsman is based in The Woodlands, Texas.

Lapolla Industries Inc. was founded in 2005 by Doug Kramer, who became the CEO of Icynene-Lapolla after his firm combined with Icyene Inc. in 2018. Huntsman bought Demilec in March 2018 for $350M.

Huntsman management believes that spray foam will be an important business group. These businesses typically have higher margins and more consistent sales than cyclical commodities like diisocyanates and polyols.

As MRC informed earlier, in August 2019, Huntsman Corp, the US chemicals group, sold two of its businesses to Thailand-based petrochemicals company Indorama Ventures for more than USD2bn.

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.

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2017 revenues of more than USD8 billion. Its chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets. The company operate more than 75 manufacturing, R&D and operations facilities in approximately 30 countries and employ approximately 10,000 associates within its four distinct business divisions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azelis, a leading distributor of specialty chemicals and food ingredients, is delighted to announce it has signed an agreement with Ak-tas D?s Ticaret A.S. (Aktas) and individual shareholders to acquire 100% shares of Ekin Kimya, the leading Turkish specialty chemicals distributor for pharma chemicals, food ingredients and lab chemicals, said the producer.

Headquartered in Istanbul, the company represents a large number of renowned world-class specialty pharmaceutical, food ingredients and lab chemicals manufacturers who have a strong strategic fit with Azelis’ principal and customer base.

Ekin Kimya was founded in 1995 by Dr. Murat C?t?roglu. He owns the company, together with Prof. Dr. Ekrem Ekinci and Aktas, a leading distributor and trader of bulk petrochemicals. Ekin Kimya employs over 70 talented people who are experts in their fields and define the company culture, offering solutions for the benefit of all stakeholders. “One Route, One Team” management approach is embraced by the whole company ensuring strong teamwork and advancement through a clear strategic roadmap.

Azelis and Ekin Kimya share a strong focus on specialty service offerings and technical expertise. In addition to Azelis’ three laboratories in Turkey - personal care, homecare and food - Ekin Kimya will be bringing a modern pharmaceutical lab to the new set-up. This is expected to provide more added value services to Azelis’ existing customer base and will help to further grow the business and emphasize the specialty positioning.

As MRC informed earlier, Azelis Americas CASE, LLC has agreed with Huntsman Advanced Materials’ for a territory expansion. As of Oct. 1, 2019 Azelis will provide its customers access to HAM products in the West Coast and Northeast, complementing its existing relationship in other regions. The new agreement expands the geographic coverage to include the West Coast and Northeast.
MRC