Zhejiang Petrochemical to shut new ACN plant in China for maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhejiang Petrochemical Co Ltd plans to shut down its new acrylonitrile (ACN) plant at Zhoushan in eastern Zhejiang province on 10 December for a 18-20 day turnaround, reported S&P Global with reference to a company source.

This plant's production capacity is 260,000 mt/year.

The company started up new ACN plant on 23 June, 2020, and produced on specification material in the week ended 4 July.

As MRC informed earlier, Zhejiang Petrochemical Co Ltd started up its ethylene cracker in late December 2019 and its polyolefin plants in late December 2019-January 2020.

Market sources reported then that one of its polypropylene (PP) plant with capacity of 450,000 tons/year started up by 30 December 2019, followed by another line with same capacity by 15 January 2020.

Meanwhile its 450,000 tons/year of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and 300,000 tons/year of high density polyethylene (HDPE) were launched around similar time with PP plants.

ACN 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Merck KGaA says it is investing a total of EUR40.0 million (USD48.5 million) to increase the production capacity of its facilities at Danvers, Massachusetts, and Jaffrey, New Hampshire, by the end of 2021 and in 2022, respectively, to meet "unprecedented demand" for products and services to customers developing lifesaving therapies, including COVID-19 vaccines, said Chemweek.

The two sites provide products and services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing, the company says. The total investment at Danvers is about EUR21 million and will add 6,000 square meters to the site's 11,000-square-meter facility used for single-use assembly operations, Merck says. The total investment at Jaffrey is about EUR18.5 million and will expand the existing 24,000-square-meter facility by 2,300 square meters, the company says.

"The global coronavirus pandemic has significantly increased demand for our single-use and virus-filtration technologies, which we are supplying to more than 50 different companies working on COVID-19 vaccine candidates," says Chris Ross, interim head/life science at Merck.

With these expansions, the total amount of investments announced by Merck in life sciences in 2020 exceeds EUR350 million, the company says. They include investments to enhance capabilities and capacity at Buchs, Switzerland; Carlsbad, California; Madison, Wisconsin; and Darmstadt, Germany.

As MRC informed earlier, Merck KGaA says it has entered a collaborative partnership with Siemens for the joint development of an overall process-control system for the automation of modular production of materials and products for the electronics, pharmaceutical, and life science industries.

As MRC informed earlier, Merck KGaA has presented its new sustainability strategy, with which it aims to integrate sustainability more deeply as an essential component of its corporate strategy. The main aims of the strategy are to develop sustainable science and technology, integrate sustainability into all the company's value chains by 2030, and achieve climate neutrality and reduce its resource consumption by 2040, Merck says. The company will report annually on the current implementation status of the strategy.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in September 2020 by 6.7% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased by 6.1% year on year in the first nine months of 2020, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-September output. Last month's production of primary polymers decreased to 852,000 tonnes from 888,000 tonnes in August due to shutdowns in Tomsk, Ufa and Kazan. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 7,480,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 16.4% year on year.

Headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, Merck opened an OLED application center in Pyeongtaek, Korea, in 2015. Merck Korea now has 11 operation sites and some 1,200 employees and operates businesses in functional materials, health care and life sciences. The functional materials business encompasses advance materials for information technology products such as displays and semiconductors. It also includes cosmetics and paints for automobiles.
Its health care business involves pharmaceutical and medical devices for treatments of cancer, multiple sclerosis and infertility. The life sciences business deals in an extensive portfolio of over 300,000 products used for protein research, cell biology, antibodies, water purification and microbiome tests.
MRC

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.
MRC

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