Evonik appoints new head of catalysts

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik Industries says it has appointed Sanjeev Taneja head of its catalysts business on the same date catalysts became part of Evonik's newly created smart materials division, 1 July, according to Chemweek.

He took over from Steffen Hasenzahl, who has been named managing director at Evonik Creavis, the company’s strategic innovation unit, Evonik says.

Taneja was previously president and managing director at Evonik India, Evonik’s chemical business subsidiary in India, the company says.

As MRC informed before, Dow and Evonik have recently entered into an exclusive technology partnership. Together, they plan to bring a unique method for directly synthesizing propylene glycol (PG) from propylene and hydrogen peroxide to market maturity.

We remind that Dow plans to install a new furnace in its steam cracker at Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, increasing its ethylene capacity, currently 1.42 million metric tons/year (MMt/y), by 130,000 metric tons/year. Dow will split the cost of the project and the incremental volume equally with an unnamed regional customer, according to CEO Jim Fitterling, who announced the news during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. Start-up is slated for the first half of 2021.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer 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

Severstal increases stake in joint venture with Linde GmbH

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PAO Severstal announces it has closed a deal to increase its shareholding in its joint venture with Germany's Linde GmbH for the production of coil-wound heat exchangers (CWHE) for use in medium-scale and large-scale LNG plants. Following the completion of the transaction, Severstal will have a 50% stake in the joint venture, said the company.

The joint venture was established in June 2017 under a scheme to localise production of CWHE in Russia. In 2019, as previously announced, Severstal signed an agreement to purchase a 26% stake in the joint venture with Linde.

Increasing its stake reflects one of the key priorities of Severstal's updated strategy – guaranteeing superior customer experience by providing high-tech customized solutions to the energy industry.

Alexander Shevelev, CEO of Severstal, commented: "Increasing our share in the joint venture was a logical step towards increasing our presence in the dynamically developing market of LNG production, storage and transportation. Heat exchangers are not assembled on a production line, but are exclusively made to order. The key advantage of this is the ability to develop unique engineering solutions for specific projects. This allows us to consider all the nuances of technological processes at a customer's plant and, as a result, maintain close contact with our partners at each stage of the project implementation. At the moment, the JV’s order capacity is approaching 100%, and there is potential to build additional capacity. In October 2019, the joint venture received its first export order, which is due for delivery in 2020."

As MRC informed earlier, Linde has announced that it has started up a state-of-the-art hydrogen and carbon monoxide facility in Clear Lake, Texas (TX), as well as a new air separation unit in LaPorte, TX. The plants will supply oxygen, nitrogen and carbon monoxide to Celanese, under a previously announced long-term agreement, and hydrogen to other customers via Linde’s US Gulf Coast pipeline system.

Besides, Linde PLC has recieved a contract to provide technology for PJSC Sibur Holding’s cracker at Amur gas chemical complex (GCC). GCC is an integrated 1.5 million tons per year polyethylene and polypropylene production complex to be built near Svobodny in Russia’s far-east Amur region. The contract was awarded to Linde under a consortium with Sibur subsidiary and project contractor NIPIgazpererabotka (Nipigaz).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim.
MRC

Merck opens pharma lab in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- German pharma and life sciences major Merck KGaA (MRK: DE) today announced the opening its M Lab Collaboration Center in Shanghai, China, the company’s largest of nine centers worldwide, said Chemweek.

Merck Innovation Hub, the first in China, started in late 2019, with the company announcing a 100 million renminbi (USD14 million) seed fund injected into the China Innovation Hub.

“With the booming pharmaceutical industry in Asia and greater emphasis on novel drug therapies, we see an increase in R&D on leading-edge treatments including cell and gene therapies in China,” said Udit Batra, a member of the Merck executive board and chief executive, Life Science. “Our M Lab Collaboration Center offers customizable solutions and services that help bio pharmaceutical and biologics companies improve their processes from drug discovery, development to manufacturing — saving costs and increasing speed to market,” he added.

With a total lab size of approximately 10,000m2, Merck’s newest M Lab Collaboration Center is located in Pudong, at the heart of the biomedical sciences and research community in Shanghai.

It includes pilot scale and process development support labs that offer non-GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) lab space where pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturers can explore ideas, learn innovative techniques and work side-by-side with the company's scientists and engineers to solve critical process development and production challenges.

As mRC informed earlier, Merck celebrated the opening of its new packaging center at the science and technology company’s headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany. The new 161,458-square-foot facility will be dedicated to the packaging and shipping of Merck’s current portfolio of pharma medicines in more than 90 countries and help meet increasing patient needs for flagship medicines Glucophage®, Concor and Euthyrox in the areas of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and thyroid disorders respectively. It will also provide capacity for potential future pharma products currently in clinical development such as evobrutinib in the area of neurology-immunology or tepotinib in the area of oncology.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim.
MRC

Marathon Galveston Bay, Texas, refinery overhaul to finish in late July

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Marathon Petroleum Corp plans to finish a multi-unit overhaul in late July at its 585,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, said sources familiar with plant operations, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Marathon shut the 225,000-bpd Pipestill 3B crude distillation unit (CDU) on Monday to begin connecting to it the units shut for the overhaul, the sources said. Marathon spokesman Sid Barth declined to comment.

The company began the overhaul on May 23 with the shutdown of a 65,000-bpd reformer, a 60,000-bpd residual oil hydrotreater and an aromatics unit, the sources said. Five days later, the 60,000-bpd hydrocracker, the 31,500-bpd alkylation unit and a 47,500-bpd aromatics recovery unit were shut along with a sulfur recovery unit.

The overhaul was originally scheduled to begin in March, but was pushed back twice to reduce the risk that large numbers of contract workers at the refinery would spread novel coronavirus, according to the sources.

As MRC wrote previously, Marathon Petroleum Corp idled its 166,000 barrel-per-day (bpd)refinery in Martinez, California beginning April 27 in response to the coronavirus pandemic’s hit to demand for refined products.

Meanwhile, Marathon Petroleum Corp plans to operate the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 585,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas. The 140,000 bpd FCC restarted on Sunday, 12 April, after repairs following a March 23 brief power outage that shut the unit.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

Nouryon opens integrated services office in Houston

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nouryon says it has opened a new integrated services office for its North America business in Houston, Texas, reported Chemweek.

The facility will employ 50 people initially, covering logistics, customer service, engineering, procurement, manufacturing support, and sustainability, with more than 100 to be employed eventually, it says.

The company has three major chemical production sites and employs nearly 700 people in the Houston area, according to Nouryon. The company opened the world’s first metal alkyls production site in Battleground, Texas, in 1959 and later added sites in Pasadena and Houston, it says.

"We have a long history with Houston, and this is the right time for Nouryon to build on our successful relationship with the city," says Charles Shaver, CEO at Nouryon. "While the world faces one of its greatest economic challenges, we are demonstrating our commitment to Houston by bringing in high quality jobs and future employment opportunities," he says.

As MRC wrote previously, in February 2019, Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals) announced that it would license its innovative continuous initiator dosing (CiD) technology to Karpatnaftochim, Ukraine’s largest polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer. Nouryon’s patented CiD technology allows PVC producers to increase reactor output by up to 40 percent, improve product quality, and make the production process intrinsically safer - all with minimum capital expenditure.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, Ukrainian company Karpatneftekhim (Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk region) has increased prices of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) for July deliveries to the domestic market by USD70-80/tonne under the pressure from higher feedstock prices.
MRC