Wanhua Chemical to achieve commercial production at new butadiene unit in Yantai

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's Wanhua Chemical targets to achieve on-spec production from its new 50,000 mt/year butadiene unit in Yantai this week, reported S&P Global.

Market participants are closely monitoring China's butadiene exports as the new butadiene plant startup will likely increase the volume.

As MRC informed before, Wanha Chemical started up the LPG feed steam cracker in Yantai, China in early November and managed to produce on-spec ethylene cargoes on 9 November 2020. The cracker has an annual capacity of 1 million tons/year of ethylene, 530,000 tons/year of propylene.

The cracker is part of the company’s newly constructed petrochemical complex. Downstream units at the same site are integrated with the cracker, however, these units have yet to come online.

The company's petrochemical plants will include the following production capacities: 400,000 mt/year of PVC, 150,000 mt/year of ethylene oxide (EO), 350,000 mt/year of high density polyethylene (HDPE), 450,000 mt/year of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) an 300,000 mt/year of polypropylene (PP).

Butadiene is the main feedstock for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, ABS shipments to the Russian market virtually remained at the previous month's level, totalling 5,060 tonnes. Overall consumption of material in the country was 37,120 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, down by 6% year on year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- GTT has received an order from the Korean shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for the tank design of two LNGCs on behalf of a European shipowner, said Gasprocessingnews.

Each vessel will offer a capacity of 174,000 m3. GTT will design the tanks of the vessels, which will be fitted with the Mark III Flex membrane containment system. Deliveries of the vessels are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2023 respectively.

Philippe Berterottiere, Chairman and CEO of GTT, declared: "We are pleased with the confidence placed in us by HHI, a partner with whom GTT has developed a long-term collaboration."

As MRC informed earlier, ADNOC LNG has signed up to a six-year supply agreement with Vitol, the world’s largest independent energy trader, for the sale of 1.8 MMtpy of post-2022 LNG volumes and a two-year supply agreement with Total for 0.75 MMtpy of 2021 and 2022 LNG volumes.

As MRC informed earlier, ADNOC announced it has completed the first phase of its large-scale multi-year predictive maintenance project to maximize asset efficiency and integrity across its upstream and downstream operations.

As MRC reported previously, 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 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high density 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, excluding producers" inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema has completed the acquisition of Colorado Photopolymer Solutions (CPS), a US-based provider of photopolymer formulation services, according to Kemicalinfo.

The deal was completed earlier this month. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

CPS is a developer and marketer of value-added, formulated photopolymer resin solutions for energy curing technology, especially for three-dimensional (3D) printing markets.

Its formulation and materials design expertise, supported by ‘strong innovation capabilities’, will enable photocure resins and photoinitiators leader Sartomer to further support its customer base and other partners.

According to Arkema, the acquisition aligns with its strategy of becoming a pure speciality materials player by the year 2024.

“The project will foster the development of an integrated offering of customised and formulated additive manufacturing solutions to accelerate the design of turnkey solutions for the 3D printing market,” Arkema said in a press statement.

“The deal would complement Sartomer’s expertise, as well as resin solutions,” it added.

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 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s Petro Rabigh, the 50:50 joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, said on Sunday it had appointed Nasser al-Mahasher as president and chief executive after the resignation of Abdullah bin Saleh al-Suwailem from the position, reported Reuters.

According to the statement, al-Mahasher was previously chief executive of S-Oil Corporation, a South Korean-headquartered petroleum and refinery company.

The change will become effective from September 1, PetroRabigh added.

As MRC wrote previously, Petro Rabigh completed all construction works for capacity expansion at its ethane cracker in late March 2016, after which the cracker's capacity rose to 1.6 million mt/year from 1.3 million mt/year. The expanded cracker began production in late April, 2016.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, has an annual output capacity of 18 million tonnes of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals. Thus, the complex currently has a cracker to produce 1.6-million t/y of ethylene, as well as downstream production of polyethylene, polypropylene, propylene oxide, ethylene glycol and butene-1.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hyosung (Seoul, South Korea) says it will invest USD36 million to almost double existing production capacity at its spandex fiber plant in Santa Catarina, Brazil, reported Chemweek.

The 10,000-metric tons/year capacity expansion for the facility in southern Brazil will be completed by December 2021, raising the plant’s total capacity to 22,000 metric tons/year, it says. The capacity hike will help to meet a “rapid rise” in demand for the synthetic fiber in the Americas, it says.

“In the Brazilian market, the import tariff rate for spandex is as high as 18%, which is more than double the rate applied in other regions. Therefore, a local production base is essential for maintaining price competitiveness,” according to Hyosung. Brazil’s location is also advantageous for export to nearby countries, it says. The company first established a production base in Brazil in 2011 and currently holds a market share in Brazil of 65%.

“The unprecedented risk caused by Covid-19 has aggravated uncertainty and accelerated the speed of change,” says Hyosung chairman Cho Hyun-joon. “In times of change, we must turn crisis into opportunity by continuously investing in our future.”

Hyosung, the world’s leading producer of spandex, also says it decided in November to invest 60 billion South Korean won (USD55 million) to expand production capacity at its existing 25,000-metric tons/year spandex plant in Turkey to target the market in Europe. The expansion will be completed by the third quarter of 2021 and raised the plant’s capacity to 40,000 metric tons/year.

The company produces approximately 340,000 metric tons/year of spandex fiber, one third of current global demand.

As MRC wrote previously, following the start-up at the newly constructed PP plant in Vietnam on 12 February 2020, it was reported that Hyosung reached on-spec cargoes approximately in mid-February. The first prime grade parcels were homo-PP yarn grade F501N with a melt index of 3.7.

This is the No. 1 PP unit that has an annual capacity of 300,000 tons/year, operating using external sources of propylene. The company is constructing the Phase II project at the same location, which houses a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant and No. 2 PP unit that could produce another 300,000 tons/year.

According to MRC"s ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

Hyosung Corporation is a Korean industrial conglomerate, founded in 1957. It operates in various fields, including the chemical industry, industrial machinery, IT, trade, and construction.
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