Ineos signs renewable power deal with RWE

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos says it has agreed on a long-term power purchase agreement for renewable offshore wind power in Belgium with RWE (Essen, Germany), said Chemweek.

Under the terms of the 10-year deal, which begins in 2021, Ineos will purchase 56 megawatts (198 gigawatt hours/year) of offshore wind power from RWE Supply &Trading, an RWE subsidiary, produced at the Northwester2 wind park in the North Sea off Belgium.

The deal will take about 25% of Northwester2’s electricity. It will reduce the carbon footprint of Ineos’s operations in Belgium by a further 745,000 metric tons of CO2 over the length of the contract, which is the equivalent of taking 65,000 cars off the road each year, Ineos says.

It is the second renewable power supply agreement by Ineos, following a deal announced in September with Engie (Paris, France). The two agreements will reduce the carbon footprint of Ineos’s operations by almost 2 million metric tons of CO2 over the life of the contracts, Ineos says.

"We will continue to look at the options for further expanding the use of renewable energy, as agreements such as this support our roadmap towards a reduction in carbon-based energy across our sites," says David Thompson, CEO of the Ineos Trading business.

As MRC informed earlier, Ineos Oxide, an Ineos subsidiary, has declared force majeure on propylene output from one of the two steam crackers at Dormagen. This declaration was not confirmed by Ineos. There are two steam crackers at Dormagen, one with a capacity of 670,000 metric tons/year and another with a capacity of 530,000 metric tons/year.

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

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.

Ineos Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

ExxonMobil takes 25% stake in Cyclyx recycling consortium

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil has joined Cyclyx International as a founding member, says Agilyx (Tigard, Oregon), which launched the consortium in June to leverage systems developed in-house to manage waste-plastic feedstock for chemical recycling, reported Chemweek.

In exchange for an USD8 million investment, ExxonMobil will receive a 25% equity interest as well as prioritized access to plastic waste for potential advanced recycling projects, access to Agilyx’s artificial intelligence platform, and agreement to collaborate on technology.

“One of Cyclyx’s goals is to invite other companies to join as members, connecting waste producers with advanced and mechanical recyclers through innovative supply chains,” says Agilyx.

Agilyx in 2019 entered into a partnership with General Electric through its licensing and research divisions to develop artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive modeling and optimization tools based on Agilyx’s data and domain knowledge to increase recycling rates for all waste plastics.

As MRC informed earlier, ExxonMobil underttook a planned shutdown at its cracker in Singapore. The company halted operations at the cracker for maintenance on September 14, 2020. The cracker was expected to remain off-line till end-October, 2020. Located at Jurong Island, Singapore, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 1 million mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

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.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world"s oil and about 2% of the world"s energy.
MRC

Ukrainian PVC imports down by 30% in January-November, exports down by 7%

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Ukraine decreased by 30% in the first eleven months of this year, compared to the same period in 2019 and reached about 31,100 tonnes. Sales of Ukrainian PVC to foreign markets dropped by 7% year on year, according to a MRC's DataScope report.

Last month's SPVC imports into the Ukrainian market decreased to 2,100 tonnes from 2,100 tonnes in October, with North American PVC accounting for the decrease in shipments. Overall SPVC imports reached 31,100 tonnes in January-November, compared to 44,700 tonnes a year earlier.

At the same time, the increased demand from the domestic market amid growing capacity utilisation of the Ukrainian producer led to a decrease in export sales. European producers with the share of about 78% of the total imports over the stated period were the key suppliers of PVC to the Ukrainian market. Producers from the USA with the share of about 16% were the second largest suppliers.

Last month, Karpatneftekhim decreased the volume of external sales, due to a shutdown for a scheduled maintenance, the export sales of Ukrainian PVC amounted to 3,200 tonnes against 11,900 tonnes in October. Overall, about 139,500 tonnes of PVC were shipped for export in January-November 2020, compared to 150,400 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

PetroChina Dushanzi declared emergency shutdown at PP, PE plants

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical, an affiliate of the Chinese petrochemical giant PetroChina, has unexpectedly shut part of its polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) plants on 15 December due to a fire at the upstream unit that leads to a compressor failure at the polyolefin plant, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The affected production lines include two old PP plants with a combined capacity of 140,000 tons/year, a 100,000 tons/year old PE unit, and a 100,000 tons/year standalone high density polyethylene (HDPE) line.

There are no confirmations on the restart date at the time of this report. Sources said that depending on the repairment at the upstream plant, the company might take between a week to two months to come back online.

Players are not expecting a major impact on the market given the size of the plant and the current sluggish demand condition in China.

As MRC wrote before, state-owned PetroChina plans to spend about Yuan 10 billion (USD1.49 billion) annually in the next five years for low carbon emission transitions as part of the company"s effort to meet Beijing"s call for carbon neutrality by 2060.

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 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.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.
MRC

Indian Navin Fluorine to invest USD26.6 million for setting up new plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Navin Fluorine announced that its board has approved capital expenditure for setting up of a multi-purpose plant (MPP) with an outlay of Rs 195 crore (USD26.6 million), according to Kemicalinfo.

The capex will be undertaken by its wholly owned subsidiary, Navin Fluorine Advanced Science (NFASL) at Dahej, Gujarat and will be funded through a mix of internal accruals and debt.

The company said its new capacity is expected to come on stream during H1 of FY23 and will create opportunities for new products in life science and crop science sectors in the specialty chemicals business.

Commenting on the development, Radhesh Welling, MD of Navin Fluorine International said, “This investment will lay foundation for the next phase of growth of our Specialty Chemical business. It will help us enhance our product offerings and strengthen our customer relationships along with providing building blocks for future growth.”

Navin Fluorine International is one of the largest manufacturers of fluorochemicals in India. The company has four strategic business units: Refrigeration Gases, Inorganic Fluorides, Speciality Fluorides & Contract Research and Manufacturing Services (CRAMS).

As MRC reported earlier, Asahi Songwon Colors on Monday announced the commencement of commercial operations at the Dahej plant of Asahi Tennants Color, its joint venture with Tennants Textile Colours Limited (TTC) of UK. Gokul Jaykrishna, CEO of Asahi Songwon Colors said, “The commencement of operations of the JV company gives Asahi the perfect launching pad to widen its presence as a leading global supplier of pigments, and make a mark in the AZO pigment space."

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in October 2020 by 7.2% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals grew in the first ten months of 2020 by 6.3% year on year, 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-October output. October production of polymers in primary form grew to 857,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in September. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 8,340,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17% year on year.
MRC