Celanese to expand UHMWPE production at Bishop, Texas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese (Dallas, Texas), a global technology and specialty materials company and a global leader in vinyl acetate ethylene (EVA) emulsions, has announced plans to add a 15,000-metric tons/year line for the production of GUR ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) at its facility in Bishop, Texas, as per the company's press release.

Startup is expected by.the beginning of 2022.

“Electric vehicle demand is expected to have a compounded annual growth rate of greater than 25% through 2025, resulting in strong demand for Celanese GUR for lithium-ion battery separators,” says Tom Kelly, senior vice president, engineered materials.

Celanese expanded production of UHMWPE at its Nanjing, China, facility by 15,000 metric tons/year in June 2019. In March 2020, the company asked the US government for antidumping duties on imports of non-medical grades by Korea Petrochemical Industry Co. (KPIC; Seoul, South Korea).

UHMWPE is a small-volume specialty grade of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). IHS Markit estimates global demand at 100,000–150,000 metric tons/year. Braskem produces the material in Camacari, Brazil, and since 2016 at a new plant in La Porte, Texas. LG Chem has production at Daesan and Yeosu, South Korea.

As MRC wrote before, Celanese Corporation has announced an increase in its September low density polyethylene (LDPE) prices in the Americas. The price increases below are effective for orders shipped on or after 15 September 2020, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases. Thus, LDPE prices rose, as follows:

- by USD0.05/lb - for the USA and Canada;
- by USD100/mt - for Mexico & South America.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, LDPE and HDPE prices continued their upward trend in September in Russia due to shutdowns for maintenance at Russian plants. At the same time, the record level of LDPE prices led to a major decrease in demand, converters could not transfer record prices of material for finished products. In September, supply grew significantly in the HDPE market, despite Kazanorgsintez's shutdown for a turnaround. Supply of HDPE from SapSibNeftekhim and Ufaorgsintez increased. There was a surplus in the linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) market during September, however, polyethylene (PE) prices went up.

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 2019 net sales of USD6.3 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Russia totalled 36,300 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, down by 16% year on year. At the same time, exports rose by 2%, according to MRC's DataScope report.

Last month's SPVC imports to Russia decreased to 4,200 tonnes from 7,400 tonnes in August. July accounted for the peak in imports, and the increased supply from domestic producers and high prices in foreign markets forced many companies to further reduce imports in September. Thus, overall imports were 36,300 tonnes in January-September 2020, compared to 43,000 tonnes a year earlier, with resin from China and the United States accounting for the main reduction in imports.

At the same time, Russian producers managed to raise their exports, it is worth noting that producers traditionally reduce their export sales in the summer months.

Russian producers reduced their SPVC exports last month because of stronger demand from the domestic market. September exports of suspension did not exceed 6,300 tonnes, compared to 11,900 tonnes a month earlier. Thus, overall PVC exports totalled 151,100 tonnes in January-September 2020 versus 148,700 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A “technical defect” has disrupted production at part of the Gelsenkirchen integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in Germany, reported Chemweek with reference to operator BP.

The company operates plants in the Horst and Scholven districts at Gelsenkirchen, with the defect occurring at Horst, it says. “After a technical defect, there was an outage in the production area at the plant at Horst this morning,” BP says. “To relieve the systems, excess gases are currently [being] burnt using the flares at the production facility.”

BP says it is working to resume normal operations as soon as possible. It did not specify which unit has been affected, with sources suggesting it was the fluid catalytic cracker, but this was not confirmed by the company.

“There are many units in Horst...We don’t see an impact on the aromatics market at least,” according to one source. Output from the Gelsenkirchen complex includes some 1.05 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) of ethylene, 1.9 MMt/y of gasoline, and 4.2 MMt/y of diesel, according to BP data. Aromatics account for some 10% of total output from the Horst site, while olefins represent some 11% of total production, according to an IHS Markit analyst. The northern site at Scholven can produce 150,000 metric tons/year of para-xylene and 70,000 metric tons/year of ortho-xylene from mixed xylenes extracted at the refinery.

BP said earlier this month it would begin maintenance at the integrated refinery complex on 12 October, with the work at the northern site in Scholven expected to last about eight weeks.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

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.

BP plc (formerly The British Petroleum Company plc and BP Amoco plc) is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the world's seven oil and gas "supermajors", whose performance in 2012, made it the world's sixth-largest oil and gas company, the sixth-largest energy company by market capitalization and the company with the world's 12th-largest revenue (turnover). It is a vertically integrated company operating in all areas of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, power generation and trading. It also has renewable energy interests in biofuels, wind power, smart grid and solar technology.
MRC

1. BorsodChem eyes third quarter 2021 startup for aniline plant in Hungary

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BorsodChem (Kazincbarcika, Hungary) is planning to start production at its new 200,000-metric ton/year aniline plant in Kazincbarcika during the third quarter of 2021, reported Chemweek with reference to market sources. The facility in northern Hungary has received around EUR45 million (USD53 million) in state subsidies from the Hungarian government, which were approved by the European Commission in 2018. Production was initially scheduled to start in the second quarter of next year, but progress has been delayed due to COVID-19 and other “unforeseen issues,” according to market sources.

Synthomer also says that its new 60,000-metric tons/year nitrile butadiene latex capacity at Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, is on schedule for start-up in the fourth quarter of 2021. The plant’s current capacity is 90,000 metric tons/year. Synthomer made the announcements as part of a recent third-quarter update that it says shows “strong trading momentum across all three business divisions.” As a result, the company has raised its full-year EBITDA guidance by 10%. Volumes and margins at the company’s performance elastomers business are ahead of the prior-year period reflecting strong demand in nitrile butadiene latex following the COVID-19 pandemic and improved conditions in SBR through the third quarter, the company says.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Toyobo Co., Ltd. has agreed to set up a joint venture firm to produce yarns for automobile airbags with Bangkok-based Indorama Polyester Industries PCL (IPI), which is under the umbrella of the world’s largest polyethylene terephthalate (PET) producer, Indorama Ventures PCL (IVL), as per Toyobo's press release.

The joint company plans to build a new plant on the IPI factory site in Rayong Province, Thailand, and start operations in 1st Quarter of 2022.

The airbag market is expected to continue growing at three-four percent annually thanks to an increase in the number of airbags installed per vehicle and growth in the proportion of vehicles equipped with airbags in emerging economies. In 2014, Toyobo and IVL jointly acquired PHP Fibers GmbH (PHP), a German airbag yarn maker that held the second-largest share in the world at that time. Since then the relationship has grown stronger with many joint activities carried out between Toyobo and PHP.

Toyobo has long maintained a partnership with IVL, which is committed to expanding its mobility-related business. Given that Toyobo and the IVL group are capable of effectively using their resources in Thailand, they agreed to establish the joint venture company to produce PA66 airbag yarns and ramp up efforts to expand their airbag business. The JV will be integral part of the Indorama Mobility Group.

IVL, with its presence in Thailand, is undertaking the manufacturing for the proposed JV, with 100% offtake by Toyobo for its weaving plant.

Toyobo will diligently meet global clients’ needs as the sole manufacturer capable of producing and supplying airbag materials ranging from yarn to fabrics at our five operations hubs in Japan, Thailand, China, the United States and Europe.

As MRC reported earlier, IVL restarted its PET plant at Map Ta Phut on February 6, 2020. The plant was shut in mid-January, 2020 for maintenance. Located at Map Ta Phut, Thailand, the PET plant has a production capacity of 110,000 mt/year.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, contract prices of Russian plants increased by Rb1,000-1,500/tonne this month under the pressure from the growth of the dollar exchange rate against the rouble.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand, is one of the world's leading petrochemicals producers, a global manufacturing footprint with 59 sites in 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. The company's portfolio is comprises necessities and high value-added (HVA) categories of polymers, fibers, and packaging. Indorama Ventures has approx. 24,000 employees worldwide and consolidated revenue of USD 11.4 billion in 2019.
MRC