Sabic polycarbonate plant in Spain to be run on renewable power

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sabic said that its polycarbonate manufacturing facility at Cartagena, Spain, is set to become the world’s first large-scale chemical production site to be run entirely on renewable power, following the signing of a major agreement, said Chemweek.

The deal will see Iberdrola, one of the world’s biggest electricity utility companies, invest almost EUR70 million (USD82.3 million) to construct a 100 MW solar PV facility with 263,000 panels, on land owned by Sabic, making it the largest industrial renewable power plant in Europe. The plant is expected to be fully operational in 2024.

The 25-year deal represents another milestone in Sabic’s journey to transition all its global operations to cleaner energy. Sabic’s ambition is to have 4 GW of either wind or solar energy installed for its sites globally by 2025, rising to 12 GW by 2030. In 2019, solar panels were installed at Sabic sites in India and Thailand, helping reduce greenhouse emissions by 200 metric tons, and Sabic’s Home of Innovation at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has been completely solar powered since 2015.

Bob Maughon, executive vice president/sustainability, technology & innovation and CTO and CSO at SABIC, said, “This ground-breaking deal with Iberdrola is a significant step towards achieving our long-term sustainability and clean energy targets…The solar PV powered plant in Cartagena demonstrates that Sabic continues to drive the sustainability agenda in the chemicals industry and that a transition on such a large scale is possible.

“In recent years, the many breakthroughs in renewable energy technology have made deployment at this kind of scale possible…The new PV plant will deliver an 80,000 metric tons annual reduction in indirect CO2 emissions, and furthers strengthens our support and contribution to wider climate change initiatives like EU 2030 and our alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

Once the solar plant comes online, Sabic’s customers, including those in the automotive and construction sectors, will have access to polycarbonate produced with 100% renewable power, further responding to customer and consumer demands for more sustainable solutions in an increasingly carbon-neutral world.

Plans are also underway to install PV technology at Sabic’s global HQ in Riyadh, and a final-stage feasibility study with Marafiq and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu is underway to explore a $300 million, 300-megawatt solar array project on the western coast of Saudi Arabia. Once complete, Sabic will take the electricity generated by the plant and deliver it to local chemicals manufacturing plants.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PC consumption (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus) rose in January-May 2020 by 19% year on year to 38,900 tonnes (32,700 tonnes a year earlier).

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world"s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world"s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

BASF partners with Jaguar Land Rover in APAC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF’s Coatings (BASF) division and Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) global headquarters have signed a cooperation agreement with Glasurit and R-M, premium refinish paint brands of BASF, to support the development and implementation of JLR’s Global Body & Paint Programme covering 16 importer countries and markets in Asia Pacific, said the company.

Under the agreement, the partners will commit to a long-term strategic collaboration that enables them to exceed the industry standard in vehicle body repair and paint refinish. The partnership includes the supply of refinish products and color-matching solutions. Additionally, a dedicated Regional Body & Paint Manager has been appointed to help develop and implement JLR’s Global Body & Paint Programme in the region.

BASF will work closely with JLR to ensure the total branded paint solutions meet their stringent repair specifications and process standards, supported from a global support network that offers guaranteed methods and expertise. In addition to Glasurit and R-M paint solutions, RODIM®’s user-friendly accessories for painters are included to ensure highest quality and an efficient damage repair process.

As part of the total offer, BASF is also providing comprehensive Advanced Business Solutions (ABS) that help JLR drive profitability and efficiency within its network of authorized body shops and appointed retailers. This includes a set of innovative services, tools, training, and performance management modules designed to improve the processes and overall performance of JLR’s authorized body shop facilities.

"Jaguar Land Rover and BASF are committed to helping their business partners to develop, this year more than ever before given the challenges we are currently facing together,” explained Mike Hill, Global Strategic Account Management, BASF Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions Europe. “The Global Body & Paint Programme offers a balanced approach, taking care first and foremost of body shop business infrastructure, for example, in facility planning, tooling, and technical compliance. Glasurit and R-M experts, together with the JLR Programme Manager, will support body shops to be more profitable through our unique ABS, tailored to improve JLR’s body shop operations and grow commercial opportunities."

Thanks to the innovative partnership, JLR and BASF ensure a uniformly high international standard across JLR’s authorized body shop network around the world. As such, the guaranteed repair quality through the most efficient processes helps deliver the highest standards of customer service.

"Last year in March, BASF signed the same agreement with JLR for region Europe. This latest agreement has expanded our global footprint and shows the continued trust and commitment to growing the partnership. JLR is also utilizing the latest technologies from Glasurit and R-M to drive growth,” said Hill. “There have been some great examples of teams from JLR and BASF working closely to develop the authorized body shop networks in Europe and identifying high quality repairers that not only meet the high standards and expectations of a premium brand, but also address the geographical challenges. Italy is a very good example as we have seen an increase of over 30% in its authorized network."

As MRC reported earlier, BASF Total's cracker in Port Arthur, Texas, is undergoing maintenance and expected to restart on 23 July, 2020, according to the company's statement in a filing with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). An unexpected outage occurred at BASF Total Petrochemical’s joint-venture (JV) olefins unit at Port Arthur, Texas, on Thursday afternoon, 11 June, 2020. The cause of the outage is being investigated, with a compressor shutdown cited as a possible factor, according to TCEQ filing. The JV’s steam cracker at Port Arthur has a production capacity of more than 1 million metric tons/year of ethylene and 544,000 metric tons/year of propylene, according to IHS Markit data.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of EUR59 billion in 2019.
MRC

August prices of Russian PVC to rise by Rb2,000/tonnes

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Negotiations over August shipments of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) to the domestic market began in the Russian market on Wednesday. Local producers announced a further price increase, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Last month, amid a major rise in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) prices in foreign markets and a significant fall in supply due to scheduled outages for maintenance, Russian producers achieved a price increase of Rb6,000/tonne and higher. Russian producers also intend to raise their August prices by Rb1,500-2,000/tonne partially because of the weakening of the rouble against the dollar and high prices in Asia and Europe.

Demand for SPVC in the Russian market began to recover dynamically in June-July after a major decrease in April-May. And in July, due to scheduled shutdowns for maintenance at SayanskKhimPlast and RusVinyl, some converters were unable to build up sufficient stocks of polymer.

Turnarounds have been coming to an end, RusVinyl resumed its production at the beginning of the week. SayanskKhimPlast will begin producing PVC in a week, which should increase supply of resin in the market. But at the same time, demand for polymer is strong. And the increased supply from domestic producers might be easily offset by deferred demand from converters.

Imports have grown in the past couple of months, but they were still significantly lower year on year. High prices in foreign markets, particularly, in China and Europe, the incessant devaluation of the rouble against the dollar and long-term deliveries in certain regions, also negatively affected imports.

Converters were in no hurry to agree deals for August shipments of Russian PVC, hoping to limit price increases by a less amount than was announced by producers. Consumers understand that they will hardly be able to avoid the rise in August prices, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to transfer new prices of material to finished products.

Overall, August deals for Russian resin with K=64/67 were negotiated in the range of Rb80,000-83,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, up by Rb1,000-2,000/tonne from July, for quantities of up to 500 tonnes.
MRC

SK Innovation to shut Ulsan units

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SK Energy plans to shut a CDU and a RHDS at the Ulsan complex in second-half of 2020, said Chemweek.

SK Energy has decided to pursue a deep change that boldly breaks the mold of the existing business structure and working method, recognizing that it’s not possible to survive or grow in this new normal with only the existing business portfolio focused on the existing oil business, amidst this low-carbon energy paradigm shift. The company has decided to innovate the business model in the two directions of 'Green' and 'Platform', based on eco-friendliness and digital technologies.

Securing carbon reduction technologies: All efforts to secure innovative technologies that can reduce greenhouse gases, is being made by SK Energy. It is taking the lead in discovering CCU (Carbon Capture & Utilization) technology that captures greenhouse gases (CO2) and reuse them as biofuels or raw chemical materials through chemical and biological processes.

Eco-friendly biofuel production and renewable energy business promotion: With the spread of the green paradigm the need for eco-friendly low-carbon fuels is continuing to increase. Major oil companies such as Shell and BP are reorganizing their portfolios around low-carbon businesses such as natural gas and renewable energy. Also participating in this trend, SK Energy, using the manufacturing facilities and infrastructure of the existing fuel products is reviewing ways to produce eco-friendly biodiesel and bio aviation oil.

At present, around 10 SK fuel service stations and NeTruck Houses are producing electricity through solar panel installations, and the company plans to keep expanding and will continue to review eco-friendly businesses that are the best fit for energy companies based on renewable energy such as solar power and hydrogen.

As MRC informed earlier, SK Capital (New York, New York) is acquiring a majority interest in Techmer PM (Clinton, Tennessee), a designer and producer of engineered compounds and polymer modifiers. John Manuck, president and CEO of Techmer, says access to the resources of SK Capital will allow Techmer to grow beyond North America.

We remind thatn SK Global Chemical, a subsidiary of SK Innovation, plans to shut down its production processes for ethylene and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) within its naphtha cracking center in Ulsan, South Korea. The 200,000-t/y naphtha cracker, which started commercial operation in 1972, and the EPDM unit, which began commercial operation in 1992, will be mothballed from December 2020 to shift the company's focus to high-value added chemicals.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

Sinopec Zhongyuan shut 180,000 T of ethylene capacity

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Corp’s Zhongyuan Petrochemical Corp has shut down its ethylene production of 180,000 tonnes per year from Aug. 1 until Sept. 14 for maintenance, reported Reuters with reference to Sinopec's statement.

The plant, based in the central region of Henan, also plans to carry out maintenance on its 600,000-tonnes-per-year methanol to olefins (MTO) unit during the period of July 24 to Oct. 22.

The overhaul aims to eliminate safety risks at the production units and to ensure smooth operation in the next five years, the statement said.

Zhongyuan Petrochemical also has polyethylene (PE) production capacity of 260,000 tonnes per year and polypropylene (PP) capacity of 160,000 tonnes per year.

As MRC wrote previously, in mid-June 2020, top Chinese state refiner Sinopec Corp said it had started up a USD6 billion new refinery and petrochemical plant in south China, making it the country’s third integrated complex to start operations in the past 18 months or so. The Sinopec venture, situated in coastal city of Zhanjiang, comprises a 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude oil refinery and an 800,000 tonne-per-year ethylene facility, built at a cost of 44 billion yuan (USD6.2 billion), Sinopec said in a statement.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group"s key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC