Oriental Energy Ningbo PDH unit in China operates at full capacity in February

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oriental Energy Ningbo said its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit had been operating at full capacity this month, reported S&P Global.

At present, this PDH plant's capacity utilisation is at 100%, as the company's polypropylene (PP) production at the same site is mainly manufacturing material used in the production of medical masks and protective clothing.

Located in Zhejiang, China, the PDH unit has a propylene capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, in 2018, Oriental Energy Ningbo restarted its PDH unit following an unplanned outage, in end-September. The unit was shut owing to technical glitch in mid-September, 2018.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical is running its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant at 70%-80% capacity, sources close to the company told S&P Global, adding it has no plans to increase its run rate unless logistical issues improve.

Zhejiang Satellite, located in eastern China, uses around 720,000 mt/year of propane as feedstock when operating at the full capacity of 450,000 mt/year to produce propylene.

As MRC reported earlier, Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co. started up a second propylene plant using Honeywell UOP's C3 Oleflex technology at a new petrochemical complex in China in September 2019. The new unit has the capacity to produce 450,000 t/y of polymer-grade propylene. With the first unit, which was started up in late 2014, the company now has a production capacity of 900,000 t/y. Honeywell UOP's C3 Oleflex technology uses catalytic dehydrogenation to convert propane into propylene.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Company Limited develops, manufactures and sells acrylic acid esters, methacrylic acids, pigment intermediates, acrylic emulsion polymers, super absorbent polymers, and other acrylic downstream products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ChemOne Group (Singapore), an oil & gas, petrochemicals and natural resources conglomerate, has announced the launch of a USD3.38-billion Pengerang Energy Complex (PEC) in the state of Johor, Malaysia, according to Chemweek.

ChemOne said construction of the project, which it says will be one of the world's largest and most competitive integrated condensate splitters and aromatics production facilities, will start in the second half of 2020 with completion due four years later.

ChemOne is the master developer and majority shareholder through its sponsorship in PEC. Maire Tecnimont is ChemOne's engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning partner for the project, and UOP is the technology provider for PEC. The project is in line with the government's transformation program to increase Malaysia's petrochemical output and establish it as a regional trading hub. At full capacity, expected from 2024, PEC is expected to generate an annual export revenue of USD5 billion for Malaysia. It is expected to serve the Asian markets.

PEC will have a processing capacity of 150,000 b/d of condensate and side feed of naphtha; an aromatics capacity of 2.3 million metric tons/year (MMt/y); oil products output of 3.9 MMt/y and hydrogen of 50,000 metric tons/year. The condensate splitter will produce heavy aromatics naphtha, a primary feedstock for the aromatics plant. The second phase of the development envisages a 300,000 b/d refinery complex to serve regional demand, and with back integrated supply chain to the aromatics complex.

Edwin Seow, a principal at ChemOne, said, "With the petrochemical market set to pick up further, PEC is poised to deliver profitable growth while creating gainful local employment and moving Malaysia further up the value chain in the petrochemical sector."

ChemOne was one of the developers of the Jurong aromatics complex in Singapore, now owned by ExxonMobil. A major refinery and petrochemical project is already nearing completion in Johor. Both are being built by a joint venture of Petronas (Kuala Lumpur) and Saudi Aramco.

As MRC wrote before, ExxonMobil Corp completed maintenance work at its Singapore chemical plant. The company said earlier that the plant was undergoing maintenance, which had caused flaring at the plant. ExxonMobil’s petrochemical complex located on Jurong Island is integrated with its refinery there and produces a range of feedstock and products such as polymers and aromatics.

Besides, we remind that on 12 November, 2019, Exxon Mobil Corp’s Baytown, Texas, chemical plant returned to normal operations after a malfunction in the polypropylene (PP) production area. Exxon’s adjoining 560,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) Baytown refinery was unaffected by a transformer malfunction in the chemical plant.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tianjin Bohai Chemical will likely postpone the restart of its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant by another 19 days to February 29 due to sluggish demand, reported S&P Global with reference to a company source.

This came after the facility, located in northeastern China, had delayed the restart of its 600,000 mt/year propylene plant to February 10, from February 6, extending the Lunar New Year holidays in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Tianjin Bohai uses 720,000 mt/year of propane when at full capacity.

"We have to postpone the restart further back to February 29, due to poor demand for propylene," the company source said.

Except for Tianjin Bohai, other PDH plants were said to have resumed operations, though Shaoxing Sanyuan may shut again due to limited propane feedstock, market sources said.

The company originally planned to shut its 600,000 mt/year PDH plant for 30 days maintenance starting from December 28, 2019.

Located in Tianjin, China, the PDH plant has a propylene capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, the company last shut this plant for an unscheduled turnaround from 1 to 11 November, 2019.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

Tianjin Bohai is a state owned enterprise, with over 100 subsidiaries and 35,000 employees. It has joint venture relationships with a number of foreign partners, including: LG Chem, Solvay, Akzo Nobel, Clariant, Veolia, Air Liquide and Vopak.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, has undertaken a turnaround at its vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) unit in Singapore, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Singapore informed that, the company has shut the unit for maintenance on February 4, 2020. The unit is likely to remain off-line for about 10-12 days.

Located in Jurong Island, Singapore, the unit has a production capacity of 210,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, Celanese Corporation brought capacity untilisation at its vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) unit in Clear Lake (Texas, USA) to 100% in late January 2020. In October 2019, the company was progressing in restarting on-site production units after experiencing an emergency incident on Saturday, September 21, 2019, at its Clear Lake facility in Pasadena, Texas. The Fairway Methanol unit restarted in early October 2019 and approached full operating rates in mid-October. The acetic acid and VAM production units restarted at reduced rates during October, with full operating rates inititally expected for all production units at Clear Lake within the fourth quarter of 2019.

According to MRC's DataScope report, December 2019 EVA imports to Russia dropped by 4,1% year on year to 3,600 tonnes from 3,760 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation decreased in January-December 2019 by 17,8% year on year to 39,55 tonnes (48,09 tonnes in 2018).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2018 net sales of USD7.2 billion.
MRC