Adnoc, ADQ to invest USD5 billion in chemical anchor projects at Ruwais, UAE

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) and ADQ on Tuesday announced launch of a new joint venture Taziz which will drive the development of industrial projects within the planned Ruwais Derivatives Park, said Chemweek.

It will lay foundation for new technology-led industries in Abu Dhabi and the UAE and act as a catalyst for the UAE’s economic diversification and technology-led growth. “Derivatives Park is to commence in early 2021 with initial chemical production expected in 2025. Potential investment projects selected for phase one will amount to more than USD5 billion (Dh18 billion),” Abu Dhabi Media Office tweeted.

Led by the Abu Dhabi Inc., the UAE capital is diversifying its economy with the help of state-backed entities such as Adnoc and ADQ. These entities are investing in diverse sectors in order to promote sustainable growth of the local economy.

Last month, ADQ, one of the region's largest holding companies with a broad portfolio of major enterprises spanning key sectors of Abu Dhabi's diversified economy, entered into a non-binding agreement with Lulu International Holdings (LIHL), the leading hypermarket and supermarket chain in the Middle East, for an investment supporting LIHL’s expansion of operations in Egypt of up to USD1 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, ADQ and LIHL will work to collectively develop up to 30 hypermarkets and 100 express minimarket stores as well as state-of-the-art logistics hubs, distribution and fulfilment centres to strengthen the retailer's ecommerce business across Egypt. It is estimated that this expansion will create up to 12,000 jobs, fostering economic and social growth throughout the country.

As MRC informed earlier, in early May, 2020, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) began a gradual restart of its Ruwais oil refinery complex after a scheduled maintenance shutdown. The Ruwais complex, which has capacity of 835,000 barrels per day, was shut down early this year, the ADNOC spokesman said. And in late July 2019, ADNOC said its Ruwais refinery west cracker was offline for 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 1,496,500 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asian refining margins for jet fuel rose to their strongest level in more than four months on Friday, while cash differentials for the aviation fuel firmed to their smallest discounts since early June helped by firmer demand and a drop in regional supplies, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Planned run cuts at some Asian refineries have helped tighten jet fuel supplies, while improved scopes for arbitrage shipments to United States and Europe were supporting the spot market, trade sources said. But as the European market weakens with renewed coronavirus lockdowns, jet fuel barrels from the Arab Gulf and India would likely head East, capping improvement in market fundamentals, a middle distillates trader said.

Refining margins, also known as cracks, for jet fuel in Singapore climbed 3 cents to USD2.81 per barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours on Friday, a level not seen since June 22. The cracks have doubled this week, posting their second consecutive weekly rise. Cash discounts for jet fuel JET-SIN-DIF were at 22 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes, the smallest discounts since June 4. They were at a discount of 31 cents per barrel a day earlier.

The front-month time spread for jet fuel narrowed its contango structure on Friday to trade at a discount of 35 cents per barrel, compared with minus 40 cents a day earlier, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. The jet fuel market in Asia was also drawing support from improving air freight demand and seasonal heating demand for closely-related kerosene, ahead of peak winter months in Japan and South Korea.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Repsol has selected Axens Vegan technology for its first production plant for advanced biofuels in Spain at its Cartagena refinery, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This new plant will be capable of producing 250,000 TPA of biodiesel, biojet, bionaphtha, and biopropane. Repsol’s project outlines Axens’ expertise in hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO) and its commitment to power sustainability in transport.

Vegan technology is able to hydrotreat a wide range of lipids and to produce low-density and high cetane renewable diesel as well as renewable sulfur-free jet fuel. This renewable fuels technology allows producers to effectively address today’s environmental regulations and secure energy diversification with drop-in premium quality products.

The scope of Axens’ work includes the supply of process books, catalysts & adsorbents, proprietary equipment, trainings and technical services.

“This advanced biofuels plant is a step forward in Repsol’s commitment to become a net zero carbon company in 2050. Repsol is promoting different technological options for sectors of transport where electrification is not a technically viable option. This adds to renewable hydrogen and synthetic fuels projects that provide new routes towards carbon neutrality in transport”, stated Repsol.

“Axens is excited to work with Repsol, providing Vegan technology for this advanced biofuels plant in Cartagena. This award further strengthens Axens’ technology position for sustainable and renewable biofuels. Repsol will benefit from a notable know-how backed by 50 years of experience in middle distillates hydro-treatment and hydrocracking/hydro-isomerization along with support in technology, services and state-of-the-art catalysts developed, manufactured and provided by Axens”, said Patrick Sarrazin, Axens’ executive vice-president, Process Licensing Global Business Unit.

As MRC reported previously, Spanish refiner Repsol took its fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) at Corunna offline in April and reported no change in the situation as of October 2, 2020. At Bilbao, Crude 2 unit, which was taken offline May 9 due to market reasons, is still offline, the company said October 2. The unit is expected to stay offline until market conditions warrant. The halt has affected 40% of the refinery's crude distillation and also includes the visbreaking unit.

We remind that Repsol shut down its cracker in Tarragona (Spain) for maintenance in the fourth quarter of 2019. The turnaround at this steam cracker, which produces 702,000 mt/year of ethylene and 372,000 mt/year of propylene, was pushed back from Q3 2019. The exact dates of maintenance works were not disclosed.

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.

Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The ACC, in partnership with Titus MRF Services, will this month launch the Northeast Secondary Sortation Project, a study into the potential for increased recovery of paper and plastics from recycling streams in the US Northeast, reported Chemweek.

Working with materials recovery facilities (MRFs) in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont, the project will collect samples of container line residuals destined to be landfilled for compositional analysis to determine what additional recyclable commodities could be recovered through secondary sortation.

In 2019, the Pacific Northwest Secondary Sortation Project conducted similar testing in Oregon and Washington, says ACC. Additional materials recovered in a 60-day study included polyethylene (PE), mixed paper, cartons, polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and thermoforms.

“The research concluded that, if implemented at a regional scale, serving the populations of Oregon and Washington, a secondary sortation facility would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 130,000 tons per year, equivalent to taking more than 27,600 cars off the road,” says ACC.

As MRC wrote before, ACC’s chemical activity barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator and composite of industry activity, rose 0.9% in October on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This is significantly smaller than the 1.5% increase in September, and a 2.6% gain in August, indicating a continued economic recovery, albeit at a slower pace.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Construction work on the largest investment to date by the specialty chemicals company Evonik in Germany, at more than EUR400 million, is progressing well, said Chemweek.

The first plant was completed on schedule in mid-October and is currently being commissioned. Further plants will follow by the first quarter of 2021, with full completion expected in the first half of 2021.

Marcus von Twistern, who is in charge of the entire project, states: "The project team has done an excellent job over the past months under the conditions of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. " Challenges such as interrupted supply chains or entry restrictions for assembly personnel had to be overcome. Von Twistern emphasizes: "We have always found solutions, so we do not currently expect any major delays for the complete completion of the polyamide 12 plant complex". Work on the concrete and steel structures has been completed, most of the units have already been delivered and installed, and the piping and electrical installations are in full swing. The future operating team has also already started training the new work processes.

With the additional plants for polyamide 12 and its precursors being built at the Marl Chemical Park in North Rhine-Westphalia in addition to the existing production facilities there, Evonik will increase its overall capacity for the polymer by more than 50 percent. "Polyamide 12 is an important part of our strategic growth for special applications," says Dr. Claus Rettig, head of the Smart Materials Division. "With the new plant complex, we are consolidating our position as a market leader for this high-performance polymer." Polyamide 12 is used in attractive growth markets such as automotive engineering, gas piping, sports and 3D printing.

As MRC reported 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.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

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