NOVA Chemical to restart its Geismar cracker later this week

MOSCOW (MRC) -- NOVA Chemical is expected to restart its cracker in Geismar, Louisiana, later in the week of October 12, reported S&P Global.

The 928,000 mt/year cracker in Geismar was shut in mid-September for unplanned repairs unrelated to storms in the USA. The company postponed the restart until after Delta passed, the storm impacts were minimal.

As MRC informed earlier, NOVA Chemicals has resumed construction activities in a phased approach at its Corunna site. The company said on April 16 it will gradually increase the number of workers involved in construction of the new polyethylene (PE) plant and the cracker expansion project. NOVA announced in late March that it was sending home the majority of the construction workers at the Corunna site to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,496,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of all ethylene polymers increased, except for linear low desnity polyethylene (LLDPE). At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a plastics and chemical company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is wholly-owned ultimately by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lummus Technology today announced that it has been awarded a contract by Enter Engineering Pte. Ltd. for the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex in Uzbekistan. Lummus’ scope includes the design and supply of four proprietary Short Residence Time VI and VII type cracking furnaces, which will more than double the production of ethylene at Shurtan’s facility, said the company.

“Our advanced SRT® ethylene furnaces optimize reliability in capacity, yield, run-length and energy efficiency,” said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. “We are grateful to continue our partnership at Shurtan and look forward to working with Enter Engineering to expand the ethylene production while reducing relative emissions and operating costs at the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex."

As MRC informed earlier, Lukoil is planning a 280,000-metric tons/year PP plant at its integrated refinery and
petrochemicals facility at Burgas, Bulgaria. Lummus Technology has been awarded a contract by Lukoil (Moscow, Russia) to license its Novolen polypropylene (PP) process for a new 280,000-metric tons/year PP facility in Burgas, Bulgaria. The value of the contract and the timescale has not been disclosed.

Lummus Technology’s technology was also selected by Lukoil in September for a new 500,000-metric tons/year PP production unit at Kstovo, Russia. Kstovo is one of Lukoil’s largest refineries in Russia with a throughput of 17 million metric tons/year.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, Poliom took off-stream its PP production for the scheduled maintenance on 2 September; the shutdown will take a little more than two weeks. The plant's annual production capacity is 230,000 tonnes. It is also worth noting that Ufaorgsintez also shut its production capacities for a scheduled turnaround on 12 September, the outage will last until 10 October.

Lummus was selected due to its leading ethylene technology position and its extensive experience with ethylene furnaces, having developed pyrolysis furnaces as part of its proprietary equipment portfolio. The first generation of the pyrolysis heater—called SRT-I (Short Residence Time)—was developed in the mid-1960s. Since then, seven generations of SRT® pyrolysis furnaces have been commercialized. The most widely-selected SRT furnaces include SRT-III, SRT-V, SRT-VI and SRT?VII. Lummus has provided more ethylene furnaces than any other ethylene process licensor, representing more than 40 percent of worldwide capacity.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell announced it plans to carry out major maintenance work on a unit at its Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands from mid-October to end November, reported Reuters.

The company did not specify the unit involved.

Pernis is Europe’s largest oil refinery with a capacity to process 404,000 barrels per day.

As MRC wrote previously, a unit failure at Royal Dutch Shell’s Pernis oil refinery in Rotterdam was resolved on August 17, 2020.

We remind that Shell will announce a major restructure by the end of the year as the company prepares to accelerate its shift toward its net-zero emissions goal by 2050, said CEO Ben van Beurden to employees. The restructuring will include workforce reductions as part of broader cost-cutting measures, although no figures have been decided yet, the CEO reportedly said during an internal webcast.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,496,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of all ethylene polymers increased, except for linear low desnity polyethylene (LLDPE). At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

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

1. BASF expects third-quarter net loss on impairments as COVID-19 crushes demand

BASF has released preliminary figures for the third quarter and says it expects to post a net loss of EUR2.12 billion (USD2.50 billion) compared with a net profit of EUR911 million in the year-earlier period due to non-cash impairments and restructuring provisions, below current analyst estimates, said Chemweek. However, the company says its operating performance was “better than expected” during the third quarter and expects to record a 5% sales decline to EUR13.81 billion from EUR14.56 billion in the third quarter of 2019. This was mainly driven by negative currency effects, the company says.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazanorgsintez (part of TAIF Group) has finished a gradual resumption of operations at its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production capacities after shutdown for maintenance, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's clients said Kazanorgsintez had fully resumed operations at its LDPE production after a scheduled turnaround by the beginning of this week. The outage was quite long and started in mid-September. The plant's annual production capacity is 225,000 tonnes.

It is also worth noting that a gradual start-up of high density polyethylene (HDPE) production capacities began last week, after a shutdown for maintenance. The plant's production capacity is 540,000 tonnes per year.

Kazanorgsintez is the largest domestic producer of polymers and ethylene copolymers, a leading enterprise in the chemical industry of the Russian Federation, which is of strategic importance for the development of the economy of the Republic of Tatarstan and is part of the TAIF Group of Companies. At present, the company produces ethylene, polyethylene, polycarbonate, polyethylene pipes, bisphenol, phenol, acetone, ethylene glycols, ethanolamines and other organic synthesis products. The product range includes over 170 items. Kazanorgsintez's annual output is 1.7 million tonnes. The products comply with international quality standards and are exported to 31 countries around the world. The main types of feedstocks for the production of material are: ethane, ethylene, liquefied hydrocarbon gases (propane, butane), benzene, ethylene oxide, propane-propylene fraction, vinyl acetate.
MRC