LG Chem shuts Yeosu naphtha cracker after fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LG Chem, a South Korean petrochemical major, has shut down its naphtha cracker in Yeosu following a fire at dawn, a company spokesman said on Thursday.

The company said a fire broke out at its central control room at the Yosu cracker complex at around midnight local time (15:00 GMT) today.

The country's largest chemical company said it was in the process of figuring out the cause of the fire.

The facility can process about 1.2 million tonnes of ethylene per year (tpy).

The cracker shutdown is expected to last at least three weeks.

As MRC reported earlier, LG Chem is planning to spend USD2.4-billion to expand its naphtha cracking center (NCC) and polyolefin (PO) plant in Yeosu, South Korea. The project, which will expand the NCC and PO facility by 800,000 t/y each, is expected to be completed in the second 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 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers" inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
MRC

Rosneft сompletes development of innovative isopropyl alcohol technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Scientists of the Rosneft United Research and Development Centre have developed an innovative technology for processing acetone produced by Rosneft’s enterprises into isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol), a high-margin product that is now mainly imported in Russia, said the company.

The technology includes hydrogenation of acetone with the Company’s own heterogeneous metal-containing catalyst, obtained from raw materials available in the country. Technological potential development is one of the key items of the Rosneft-2022 Strategy. The Company pays special attention to innovation and breakthroughs, recognising the technological leadership as an essential element for competitive performance on the oil market.

The isopropanol will be used as an anti-icing agent in the production of the high-quality, odourless (as opposed to propylene-based isopropanol), frost-free car windscreen wiper fluid for the Company’s retail network. Isopropanol is also a component of solvents, reagents and a number of cosmetic products. Furthermore, it is the basis for highly effective antiseptics designed to combat the spread of infections, which is why the demand for isopropanol in Russia and worldwide is expected to grow significantly.

An industrial-grade acetone-to-isopropanol unit and in-house isopropanol-based windscreen wiper unit are to be constructed at Rosneft’s Novokuibyshevsk Petrochemical Company that has the relevant petrochemical profile.

As MRC informed earlier, Rosneft United Research and Development Centre, the institute of the corporate R&D complex of Rosneft Oil Company, has developed a laboratory unit for synthetic crude oil. The unit, which completed a synthetic oil production run, is capable of converting methane to synthetic liquid hydrocarbons. Rosneft said its technology for obtaining synthetic oil from associated petroleum gas has undergone a series of expert reviews, including international ones, and has been assessed as advanced process solution.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC

Arkema invests in US polymer resins start-up

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema leads the Series B investment in Adaptive3D, an innovative company and premium additive manufacturing photopolymer resin supplier, said Chemweek.

This investment complements our expertise in UV liquid resin material design and our commitment to accelerate 3D printing manufacturing technology development. Adaptive3D, through cutting-edge technologies, offers solutions enabling soft and elastomer end-products. The start-up sells photopolymer resins to enable additive manufacturing of tough, strain-tolerant, tear-resistant rubbers. Adaptive3D printable photo-resins are optimized for high-throughput manufacturing of functional complex 3-dimensional plastic and rubber parts in a wide range of applications in the consumer goods, healthcare, industrial, transportation and oil and gas markets.

Through its Sartomer’s activity and its pioneering N3xtDimension® range of advanced UV curable liquid resins, Arkema and Adaptive3D have already succeeded in many technical and commercial developments. With this announcement, the companies aim to partner across the end points of an additive manufacturing ecosystem, from new material development, scaled specialty resin manufacturing, to functional end-use parts, to deliver market leading materials solutions at scale. Arkema, specializing in many other material technologies like photoinitiators and thio-based materials, can further enhance Adaptive3D product offerings through custom solutions.

With this investment in Adaptive3D, Arkema takes a new milestone that will create exciting opportunities for new applications in footwear, medical, automotive and electronic appliances, among others. With materials developed to best meet market needs, both consumers and producers stand to benefit from the specialty and sustainable high-performance solutions developed by Arkema and Adaptive3D.

Challenging the aging model of injection-molded rubbers, Adaptive3D is now scaling production and distribution to deliver shelf-stable, print-stable, one-part photoresins that yield superior, manufactured end parts. Our resins enable customers to topologically optimize and micro-architect their polymeric products to provide a sustainable competitive advantage now."

"Arkema is a global leader in supplying specialty materials to enable sustainable, innovative solutions to manufacturing technologies. Adaptive3D photo-resins, based on Arkema materials and now validated in the market, further our customer-focused mission to reach into new application spaces. Adaptive3D delivers compelling materials properties with an ease of printing and post processing—a great step forward for the whole additive manufacturing field."

As MRC reported earlier, Arkema said in June, 2020, that it had finalized the divestment of its functional polyolefins business to SK Global Chemical. The divestment was announced last year. Arkema says the sale forms part of its strategy to refocus the group’s activities on specialty materials.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

Arkema is a global manufacturer in specialty chemicals and advanced materials, with 3 business segments - High Performance Materials, Industrial Specialties, and Coating Solutions - and globally recognized brands. The Group reports annual sales of EUR8.8 billion. Buoyed by the collective energy of its 20,000 employees, Arkema operates in close to 55 countries.
MRC

Pemex reported smaller Q3 comprehensive loss

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexican state energy producer Pemex reported a smaller Q3 comprehensive loss because of a decline in pension costs as well as favourable exchange rates and a rise in income from financial derivatives, said producer.

The three were more than enough to offset a decline in revenue, which fell faster than costs. The following table shows the financial performance of the company.

If pensions and conversion effects are excluded, then Pemex would have reported a Q3 net income of Ps1.41bn, up from a net loss of Ps87.9bn. The conversion effects lower the value of Pemex's peso investments in subsidiary companies. Although Pemex reported a net income under this measure, its gross profit still fell by 44%, reflecting a drop in sales.

Revenue fell because of a drop in oil exports caused by the coronavirus and a decline in global prices for hydrocarbons. Oil production fell because a collision with the Olympic Future tanker triggered an emergency shutdown in Pemex's floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) system.

The shutdown lowered oil production by 59,000 bbl/day in July. In August, oil production fell by 9,000 bbl/day because of what Pemex called a sanitary contingency that was caused by the coronavirus.

Oil production is important for Mexico's petrochemical industry because its crackers rely on ethane as a feedstock for its crackers. The majority of Mexico's ethane is extracted from the associated gas produced from its oil wells.

Third-quarter production of ethane and other natural gas liquids (NGLs) fell to 208,000 bbl/day, the lowest since at least the third quarter of 2008. For comparison, Pemex produced nearly 400,000 bbl/day in 2010.

Because Mexico relies so heavily on ethane as a feedstock for its crackers, it is especially dependent on refineries to provide its petrochemical industry with domestic sources of propylene, benzene, toluene and mixed xylenes (MX).

As MRC informed earlier, Pemex is advancing a refinery rehabilitation program that will enable it to process 1.2 million b/d of crude oil by the end of 2020 and evaluating a reconfiguration of its petrochemical facility at Cangrejera, Mexico, into what would be its eighth refinery.

We also remind that in 2016, Pemex shut its steam cracker at its Cangrejera complex for maintenance on February 15. The cracker was idle for about 14 days. The conducted repairs at the cracker were a part of planned maintenance.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS).

MRC

Saudi Aramco downstream segment swings to loss, includes Sabic results for first time

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco’s downstream business, which includes the company’s refining and chemicals segments, has swung to an EBIT loss of 2.98 billion Saudi riyals (USD795 million) in the third quarter from a profit of SR3.00 billion in the prior-year period, according to Chemweek.

The year-on-year (YOY) decline “reflects a challenging market environment that continues to weaken refining and chemicals margins,” it says. The negative result also widens from an EBIT loss in the second quarter of SR1.29 billion.

Aramco, which does not break out its chemicals earnings separately, says the downstream result for the first time incorporates a full quarter of earnings from Sabic, following the closing of its USD69.1-billion acquisition of a controlling 70% ownership stake in June. “Integration with Sabic continues to progress and drives forward the downstream strategy of creating value from integration across the hydrocarbon value chain,” Aramco says. Sabic last week reported a net profit of SR1.09 billion for the third quarter, up 47% YOY.

Downstream capital expenditures (capex) for the third quarter totaled SR6.16 billion, down from SR6.44 billion a year earlier, with the decrease partially offset by the inclusion of Sabic’s capex. Aramco’s gross refining capacity in the quarter was 6.4 million b/d of crude, up 1.0 million b/d YOY.

Group net income for the third quarter was down over 44% YOY to SR44.21 billion (USD11.8 billion), beating the company-provided analyst consensus estimate of USD10.6 billion, but up on Aramco’s second-quarter group net income of SR24.62 billion. The company’s nine-month net income declined over 48% YOY to SR131.31 billion. For the first nine months of the year, Aramco’s downstream segment consumed 39.5% of the company’s crude oil production, slightly up compared with the prior-year period.

The company “saw early signs of a recovery in the third quarter due to improved economic activity, despite the headwinds facing global energy markets,” says president and CEO Amin Nasser. “Aramco’s integration with Sabic is proceeding as planned.” The company will continue to adopt a “disciplined and flexible approach to capital allocation in the face of market volatility. We are confident in Aramco’s ability to manage through these challenging times and deliver on our objectives,” he says.

Aramco also says it will maintain its commitment to its shareholders by declaring a dividend of USD18.75 billion for the third quarter, matching what it paid in the second quarter.

As MRC wrote before, Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) have decided to reevaluate their crude-oil-to-chemicals project in Yanbu on the kingdom's west coast, according to an Oct. 18 statement on the Tadawul stock exchange, as they slash spending due to low prices. The USD20 billion project may be downsized to use Aramco's existing facilities in the port city, instead of building a new plant, the statement posted by SABIC said.

We remind that in June, Aramco said it had completed the share acquisition of a 70% stake in SABIC from the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, for a total purchase price of Riyals 259.125 billion (USD69.1 billion). Combined, in 2019 Aramco and SABIC recorded petrochemicals production volume of nearly 90 million mt, including agri-nutrient and specialty products.

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

According to MRC"s ScanPlast report, Russia"s estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers" inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC