AkzoNobel supplying powder coatings for landmark water pipeline in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A major infrastructure project in China which is using powder coatings on the interior of potable water pipes has specified sustainable products supplied by AkzoNobel, as per the company's press release.

The agreement with Guangdong Water involves providing high-performance Resicoat R2 coatings for the Pearl River Delta water resource allocation project - the largest investment in a water diversion project in the history of Guangdong Province.

Designed to ensure the supply of clean and safe potable water to more than 50 million people, the landmark project will feature the highest water transmission pressure and the longest shield tunnel in the world. It consists of a mainline, a branch line, three pumping stations and four storage reservoirs.

“We have rich global experience in drinking water and pipeline projects and will continue to play our part in improving people’s lives through our eco-premium and high-performance solutions,” says Daniela Vlad, Director of AkzoNobel’s Powder Coatings business. “We’re excited to be contributing to this significant project by supplying products that will provide comprehensive protection to the new water pipeline.”

The company’s Resicoat R2 coating is specially designed to be used in the drinking water industry, typically being applied to valves and fittings and water pipelines. The product’s high density and high hardness provide robust abrasion resistance, anti-cathodic stripping, anti-bending, anti-corrosion and adhesion, all of which combine to help prolong the lifecycle of pipelines. Resicoat R2 has also received the drinking water safety product license in China.

“Applying safe, environmentally friendly coatings to potable water projects is fundamental to ensuring water quality throughout the delivery process,” adds Karen Yin, AkzoNobel Powder Coatings’ Regional Commercial Director for North Asia. “Our Resicoat range can therefore play a vital role in drinking water sanitation and the reinforcement of regulations and environmental protection.”

The Pearl River Delta is one of the world’s most densely populated areas and the water supply has to be continuously expanded. The water resource allocation project is designed to channel water from the Xijiang River in the west to the eastern Pearl River Delta. As well as helping to prevent water scarcity, it will create emergency water reservoir for the Southen areas in China including Hong Kong.

AkzoNobel has extensive experience in water pipeline projects, notably in the US, South Korea and the Middle East. For example, the company successfully supported the Tulalip water pipeline in Washington State in the US. Meanwhile, the Resicoat range also covers several other industries and applications, such as electric vehicle batteries, rotors and stators, busbars, oil and gas, valves, fire hydrants, pipe connections and rebar, resistors and plugs.

As MRC reported earlier, AkzoNobel says that it has recently made a non-binding proposal to acquire Tikkurila for EUR31.25/share, valuing Tikkurila at about EUR1.4 billion (USD1.7 billion). The company says that the offer represents a 113% premium compared with the volume-weighted average trading price of Tikkurila shares during the three-month period prior to 17 December 2020, when an initial offer to acquire Tikkurila was made by PPG Industries. It also notes that it is 13% higher than PPG’s revised bid, made on 5 January 2021 - in response to a rival bid from Hempel (Lyngby, Denmark) as Tikkurila disclosed on 18 January. PPG launched its tender offer for Tikkurila on 14 January after it had been recommended by Tikkurila's board.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% 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-November 2020 output. November production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell (LBI), one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world and the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), one of the largest integrated energy companies in China, have announced the signing of an agreement to form a 50:50 joint venture (JV) which will produce propylene oxide (PO) and styrene monomer (SM) in China's domestic market, as per LBI's press release.

First announced on December 23, 2019, the JV will operate under the name Ningbo ZRCC LyondellBasell New Material Company Limited.

LyondellBasell's Torkel Rhenman, Executive Vice President, Global Intermediates and Derivatives, signs an agreement with Sinopec to form a 50:50 joint venture (JV) in Houston, Texas

"As China's economy continues to grow, so will demand for propylene oxide and styrene monomer. We are excited to expand our relationship with Sinopec through this joint venture in order to better serve China's domestic market. Sinopec's outstanding operational capabilities combined with LyondellBasell's leading technology is a win-win," said Torkel Rhenman, Executive Vice President, Intermediates and Derivatives, and Refining.

"Built on the remarkable success of our first Joint Venture, we are very delighted to continue to enhance the important partnership with LyondellBasell for future achievements. The establishment of the new Joint Venture is not only in line with the national drive for further opening-up, but also a vital step for Sinopec to deepen and expand our international operations," said Yu Baocai, Senior Vice President of Sinopec Corp. "We have great expectations on the new Joint Venture for propelling the economic development of the city of Ningbo to a new level. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), Sinopec will continue to promote green industrial upgrading and innovative transformation, contributing to the everlasting economic growth of Zhejiang Province and Eastern China, and even the development of the chemical industry in China."

The JV will construct a new PO and SM unit in Zhenhai Ningbo, China. This new unit will have 275 kilotons per annum (KTA) capacity of PO and 600 KTA capacity of SM. The unit will use LyondellBasell's leading PO/SM technology. Products produced by the JV will be marketed equally by both partners, significantly expanding their respective participation in the Chinese market for PO and SM. Startup is expected at the end of 2021.

The formation of the JV is subject to approvals by relevant government authorities, including antitrust review by the State Administration for Market Regulation. LyondellBasell expects to make its equity contribution to the JV during the first quarter of 2021.

According to IHS Markit, China accounts for more than 60 percent of chemical market demand in Asia and represents 40 percent of global chemical market growth over the next decade. PO and SM are core products of LyondellBasell and are used in a variety of applications including packaging, building and construction, furnishings and transportation.

LyondellBasell operates five wholly-owned facilities in China which are located in Guangzhou, Suzhou, Dalian, Dongguan and Changshu.

As MRC reported previously, in early December 2020, LyondellBasell, one of the world's largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies, announced it had joined the United Nations (U.N.) Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative. Under the U.N. Global Compact, signatories are encouraged to align their operations and strategies with key principles on human rights, labor and anti-corruption.

We remind that in September 2020, LyondellBasell announced that Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company LLC (DRPIC) selected LyondellBasell's world-leading polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) technologies for a new facility. The new plants will comprise of a PP plant that will utilize LyondellBasell's Spheripol PP process technology to produce 280,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of PP and a 480-m.t./yr high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plant which will utilize LyondellBasell's Hostalen ACP process technology and will be built in Al Duqm, Oman.

Styrene is the main feestock for the production of polystyrene (PS).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics totalled 454,990 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020, which corresponds to the last year's figure. November estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics grew by 4% year on year to 45,830 tonnes. .

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges, like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road, and ensuring the safe and effective functionality in electronics and appliances. LyondellBasell sells products into more than 100 countries and is the world's largest producer of polymer compounds and the largest licensor of polyolefin technologies. In 2020, LyondellBasell was named to Fortune Magazine's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies" for the third consecutive year

Sinopec Group is the largest oil and petrochemical products supplier and the second largest oil and gas producer in China, the largest refining company, and the third largest chemical company in the world. Its total number of gas stations ranks the second place in the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures edged higher during mid-morning trade in Asia Jan. 27, spurred by bullish data from the American Petroleum Institute and an improved pandemic outlook in the US, even as demand-side uncertainties owing to the progression of coronavirus elsewhere continued to weigh on sentiment, reported S&P Global.

At 10:55 am Singapore time (0255 GMT), the ICE Brent March contract was up 11 cents/b (0.20%) from the Jan. 26 settle to USD56.02/b, while the March NYMEX light sweet crude contract was up 11 cents/b (0.21%) at USD52.72/b.
The uptick comes as data from the American Petroleum Institute released Jan. 26 showed a massive 5.27 million-barrel draw in crude inventories in the week ended Jan. 22. Analysts, in contrast, had told S&P Global Platts that they had expected the draw in the same week to be much smaller at roughly 1.7 million barrels.

"Crude oil prices today are underpinned by a much larger-than-expected weekly draw in inventories, as well as a weakening US Dollar," Margaret Yang, DailyFX strategist, told Platts Jan. 27.

Any increase in crude prices this morning, however, may have been tempered by the bearish elements in the API report, which also indicated that fundamentals in downstream product markets remained weak. US gasoline and distillate inventories jumped by 3.06 million barrels and 1.40 million barrels, respectively, in the week ended Jan. 22.

At 10:55 am, the NYMEX February RBOB contract was trading 0.44 cents/gal (0.28%) lower than the Jan. 26 settle at USD1.5763/gal and NYMEX February ULSD contract was up by 0.04 cents/gal (0.03%) at USD1.5988/gal.

Market participants will now be looking towards more comprehensive inventory data from the US Energy Information Administration to be released later in the day.

Meanwhile, progress towards alleviating the pandemic situation in the US may also have supported oil markets Jan. 27.

"Continuous drop in US daily COVID-19 counts has brightened the energy demand outlook as the likelihood of easing some of the lockdown measures is rising with the rollout of vaccines," Yang told Platts. "US daily COVID-19 new cases have fallen to 133,913 on January 25th, marking the lowest reading since November 15th, according to CDC."

Outside of the US, however, the pandemic situation remained grim. In Europe, countries are considering greater restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, whereas in Asia, demand-side concerns remain heightened following an outbreak in China.

Already, authorities in China have called upon citizens to not travel during the Lunar New Year Holiday, souring sentiment in the oil markets.

"While the general upward direction of travel in the market makes sense, it's difficult for oil traders to make a definitive near-term shift to the next price level higher given the very uncertain near-term demand outlook," surmised Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at Axi, in a Jan. 27 note.

As MRC informed previously, oil producers face an unprecedented challenge to balance supply and demand as factors including the pace and response to COVID-19 vaccines cloud the outlook, according to an official with International Energy Agency's (IEA) statement.

We remind that the COVID-19 outbreak has led to an unprecedented decline in demand affecting all sections of the Russian economy, which has impacted the demand for petrochemicals in the short-term. However, the pandemic triggered an increase in the demand for polymers in food packaging, and cleaning and hygiene products, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. With Russian petrochemical companies having the advantage of access to low-cost feedstock, and proximity to demand-rich Asian (primarily China) and European markets for the supply of petrochemical products, these companies appear to be well-positioned to derive full benefits from an improving market environment and global economy post-COVID-19, says GlobalData.

We also remind that in December 2020, Sibur, Gazprom Neft, and Uzbekneftegaz agreed to cooperate on potential investments in Uzbekistan including a major expansion of Uzbekneftegaz’s existing Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex (SGCC) and the proposed construction of a new gas chemicals facility. The signed cooperation agreement for the projects includes “the creation of a gas chemical complex using methanol-to-olefins (MTO) technology, and the expansion of the production capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex”.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Venator Materials named three new members to its board of directors, all of whom are affiliated with private equity firm SK Capital Partners (New York, New York). The appointments come after SK Capital acquired a 39.75% stake in Venator for USD100 million, said Chemweek.

The three new board members are Barry Siadat, co-founder of SK Capital; Aaron Davenport, managing director at SK Capital; and Heike van de Kerkhof, CEO of Archroma, a portfolio company of SK Capital. Siadat also serves on Archroma’s board, and is chairman of Ascend Performance Materials’ board.

Daniele Ferrari, Peter Huntsman, Kathy Patrick, and Venator CEO Simon Turner will continue to serve on Venator’s board. Douglas Anderson and Robert Margetts have resigned from the company’s board, effective 1 January.

As per MRC, SK Capital Partners completed the acquisition of a 39.75% stake, roughly 42.4 million shares, in titanium dioxide maker Venator from Huntsman for roughly USD100 million. The deal includes a 30-month option for the purchase of Huntsman’s remaining approximate 9.5 million shares by SK at US2.15/share. Huntsman spun off Venator in a 2017 initial public offering.

As MRC reported earlier, Nanjing Jinling Huntsman, a joint venture between Huntsman and Sinopec Jinling, planned to shut its propylene oxide plant in Nanjing (Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China) on November 1 for scheduled maintenance. This plant with a capacity of 240,000 tonnes/year of propylene oxide will be closed until approximately 25 November.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Larsen and Toubro, announced that it has bagged an over to ?7,000 crore project to set up dual feed cracker unit in Rajasthan., said Chemweek.

In its regularity filing it did not provide the exact value of the contract, but specified that it secured the mega project from HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL).

"L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering Limited (LTHE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Larsen and Toubro, has won an order from HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL), a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Government of Rajasthan," L&T said in a regulatory filing.

L&T said the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract is for setting up a dual feed cracker unit (DFCU) for Rajasthan Refinery Project at Barmer, Rajasthan. "The DFCU is the biggest EPCC contract awarded in the country to date in the refinery and petrochemical sector," the company added.

The DFCU is used to convert Refinery Naphtha and Offgases to produce polymer grade Ethylene and Propylene by the process of thermal cracking. Shares of L&T were trading 1.24 per cent higher at ?1,161.95 apiece on BSE.

The recovery in the L&T stock has gathered further steam after the company informed the exchanges that it has won multiple orders for its construction and mining business.

So far in the December quarter, shares of the company have rallied nearly 31%. The stock of the engineering and capital goods major is now only around 7% away from its pre-covid highs.

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

HRRL is a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Government of Rajasthan.
MRC