Air Liquide to supply China leading display manufacturer

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide China will build new production capacities in Mianyang City (100 km Northwest of Chengdu), Sichuan Province and Chongqing City, said Chemweek.

These will supply BOE, the world’s leading company in flat-panel displays and an IoT company, in the context of new long-term supply agreements. Since 2017, Air Liquide’s total investment for BOE amounts to more than 100 million euros.

Air Liquide will build, own and operate new high-purity nitrogen production facilities with a total capacity of 75,000 Nm3/h, for BOE’s production of AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) displays, a technology that is increasingly used in high-end smartphones. It will also provide volumes of oxygen, hydrogen, argon and carbon dioxide to BOE fabs in Chongqing and Mianyang. The facilities are expected to begin operations in 2021.

Leveraging Air Liquide’s most advanced technologies, and in line with its Climate Objectives, the new power-efficient nitrogen production facilities are expected to have a reduced power consumption by 10% compared to previous units, which is equivalent to avoiding CO2 emissions of over 8,000 tons per year.

Since the beginning of its partnership with BOE in 2004, Air Liquide has continued to build on this relationship, with the construction of carrier gas plants on 10 sites across China to support the gas and services requirements of BOE.
Francois Abrial, member of the Air Liquide Group’s Executive Committee supervising Asia-Pacific, said: "Air Liquide is pleased to strengthen its over 15-year long partnership with BOE, which testifies of our ability to provide unique technical expertise as well as safe and reliable service to our clients over the long term. Air Liquide is a provider of innovative solutions for the growing electronics industry, particularly in the context of world deployment of 5G networks. Thanks to these new production capacities, the Group will not only support a strategic customer, but will also contribute to the development of an industry which is well established in the southwest of China."

As MRC informed earlier, in September 2020, Air Liquide finalised an agreement with Sasol to acquire the biggest oxygen production site in the world with a plan to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30%. After the announcement on July 29, the international major industry gas company has now entered into a business purchase agreement with Sasol to acquire the oxygen production site in Secunda, South Africa.

We remind that Sasol's world-scale US ethane cracker with the capacity of 1.5 mln tonnes per year reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol's new cracker, the heart of LCCP, is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities that came online and will provide feedstock to the company's six new derivative units at Sasol's Lake Charles multi-asset site.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
MRC

Air Liquide strengthens its long-term relationship with BASF in South Korea

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide (Paris:AI) and BASF, a world-leading chemical company, have signed a contract in South Korea’s Yeosu National Industrial Complex to extend the term of their existing agreements over the long term. Within this context, Air Liquide leveraged the start-up in 2020 of its fourth hydrogen and carbon monoxide unit in this major industrial complex to increase by 20% the contractual volumes dedicated to BASF, according to BusinessWire.

Air Liquide’s first contract with BASF in Yeosu was signed 20 years ago. Since then, Air Liquide has significantly developed its industrial footprint in the Yeosu basin, culminating in the construction of a state-of-the-art, highly efficient hydrogen and carbon monoxide plant designed and built by Air Liquide’s Engineering and Construction. This latest unit, which started up in 2020, is fully integrated with Air Liquide’s three other plants through its 40 km pipeline supply network in Yeosu to ensure the highest level of safety, reliability, efficiency, and flexibility to its customers.

Recognising this strong industrial set up and customer focus of Air Liquide, BASF has renewed its trust in Air Liquide by extending the existing contracts over the long term, and increasing its reserved capacity by +20%, further reinforcing the long-standing relationship between Air Liquide and BASF.

Francois Abrial, member of the Air Liquide Group’s Executive Committee supervising Asia-Pacific, said: “We are pleased to strengthen our long-term partnership with BASF, a leading global company and long-standing strategic customer of the Group, by extending and expanding further our collaboration in the Yeosu basin. This major contract is a demonstration of BASF’s trust and confidence in Air Liquide to create value and deliver long-term performance to our customers.”

Air Liquide has been present in South Korea since 1996, providing industrial gases and related services to major industries (petrochemicals, oil refining, steel, automotive, and renewable energy, etc). Today, Air Liquide operates 4 main affiliates in Korea: Air Liquide Korea for industrial gases & services as well as the hydrogen energy market, VitalAire Korea for Home healthcare equipment & services, Air Liquide Solutions Korea for electronic gases & services, and Air Liquide Advanced Materials Korea for cutting edge production and development of advanced materials.

A world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, Air Liquide is present in 80 countries with approximately 67,000 employees and serves more than 3.7 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide’s scientific territory and have been at the core of the company’s activities since its creation in 1902.

Air Liquide’s ambition is to be a leader in its industry, deliver long term performance and contribute to sustainability. The company’s customer-centric transformation strategy aims at profitable, regular and responsible growth over the long term. It relies on operational excellence, selective investments, open innovation and a network organization implemented by the Group worldwide. Through the commitment and inventiveness of its people, Air Liquide leverages energy and environment transition, changes in healthcare and digitization, and delivers greater value to all its stakeholders.

As MRC reported earlier, in September 2020, Air Liquide finalised an agreement with Sasol to acquire the biggest oxygen production site in the world with a plan to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30%. After the announcement on July 29, the international major industry gas company has now entered into a business purchase agreement with Sasol to acquire the oxygen production site in Secunda, South Africa.

We remind that Sasol's world-scale US ethane cracker with the capacity of 1.5 mln tonnes per year reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol's new cracker, the heart of LCCP, is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities that came online and will provide feedstock to the company's six new derivative units at Sasol's Lake Charles multi-asset site.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
MRC

Corbion to expand lactic acid production at Blair, Nebraska site

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Corbion (Amsterdam, Netherlands) announced on Thursday that it will expand lactic acid production at its Blair, Nebraska, facility by 40% to meet growing demand for natural ingredients, said Chemweek.

The use of lactic acid and its derivatives as ingredients in foods and beverages for safe preservation and in home and personal care products for disinfection and hygiene has increased steadily in the Americas over the past five years, Corbion says. “Manufacturers of food, home, and personal care products worldwide are finding the efficacy, consumer-friendliness, and sustainability advantages offered by lactic acid-based solutions to be highly valuable in responding to multifaceted market pressures,” it adds.

Corbion also operates lactic acid production facilities in the Netherlands, Brazil, Spain, and Thailand, and early last year announced plans to build a new lactic acid plant at its existing site in Rayong Province, Thailand, to help meet global demand.

As per MRC, Total Corbion PLA, a 50/50 joint venture between Total and Corbion, announced the start-up of its 75,000 tonnes per year PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) bioplastics plant in Rayong, Thailand. The plant has successfully produced Luminy® PLA resins. This bioplastic provides a valuable contribution towards the circular economy being 100% renewable and biodegradable and offering multiple environmentally-friendly waste solutions.

As per MRC, Total Petrochemicals and Refining USA announced a 6 cents / lb (USD132 / t) increase in February prices for polypropylene (PP) in the US. The increase in PS prices will come into force on February 1. According to the letter, Total's February price hike is on top of previously announced price increases.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
MRC

Shell chemicals business swings to strong profit on higher margins, prices

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell’s chemicals business has reported strong fourth-quarter earnings of USD367 million on a current cost of supply (CCS) basis, swinging from a loss of USD78 million in the prior-year period, reflecting “higher realized margins in base chemicals and intermediates from a stronger price environment,” reported Chemweek with reference to the company's statement.

The earnings are also substantially higher sequentially on the company’s third-quarter segment earnings of USD131 million.

Adjusted chemicals earnings of USD381 million also swung from a loss of USD65 million a year earlier, and were up 167% sequentially. Shell’s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings were boosted by a year-on-year (YOY) increase in base chemicals margins of USD129 million, while intermediate margins rose by USD128 million YOY, it says. Higher base and intermediate chemicals margins were seen across most product segments, along with higher joint venture chemicals income due to improved margins and demand in Asia, it says.

For the first quarter of 2021, Shell is forecasting chemicals sales volumes of 3.6-3.9 million metric tons, with an average manufacturing plant utilization rate of 80–88%. The average plant utilization rate in the fourth quarter was 79%, up from 71% in the prior-year period, due mainly to improved site availability, it says.

Full fiscal year 2020 chemical earnings on a CCS basis rose 69% YOY to $808 million, boosted by the fourth quarter’s higher realized margins from the stronger price environment, partly offset by lower sales volumes due to the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the previous year, Shell says. Adjusted full-year chemicals income of $962 million was up 30% YOY. Average chemicals manufacturing plant utilization for the year was 80%, up from 76% in the prior year, due mainly to higher maintenance activities in Asia and Europe in 2019, in addition to strike actions in the Netherlands that year, it says.

Chemical segment capital expenditure (capex) in the fourth quarter totaled USD830 million, down from USD1.02 billion a year earlier but up USD235 million on the third quarter’s total. Full-year 2020 chemicals capex totaled USD2.64 billion, down from USD4.09 billion in 2019.

Shell reported a group loss of USD4.47 billion for the fourth quarter on a CCS basis, swinging from a profit of USD871 million a year earlier, while its full-year earnings swung to a loss of USD19.92 billion from income of USD15.27 billion in 2019. The loss was due mainly to negative earnings in its upstream, oil products, refining, and corporate segments, caused primarily by lower oil prices, production volumes, demand, and refining margins, as well as previously announced impairment charges. Adjusted fourth-quarter group earnings were $393 million, down 87% from USD2.93 billion in 2019, while adjusted full-year income was USD4.85 billion, down 71% YOY from USD16.46 billion.

Group capex for the full year was cut to USD18.0 billion from USD24.0 billion in 2019, coming in USD2.0 billion under its previously stated goal for 2020 of USD20.0 billion. Operational expenditure totaled USD33.0 billion in 2020, down USD4.5 billion YOY and beating its stated reduction target for the year of USD3.0-4.0 billion.

As MRC wrote before, Royal Dutch Shell has reported an outage at its olefins plant in Deer Park, Texas, USA, on 5 January, 2021. The plant flared for 16 hours following unspecified process upset. Maximum steam cracker operating rate in Texas falls to 89%.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

Linde partners with Hyosung to build hydrogen facility in South Korea

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Linde announced that it has partnered with Hyosung Corporation (Hyosung), one of South Korea's largest industrial conglomerates, to build, own and operate extensive new liquid hydrogen infrastructure in South Korea, said the company.

This robust hydrogen network will support the country's ambitious decarbonization agenda to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. On behalf of the joint venture, Linde will build and operate Asia's largest liquid hydrogen facility. With a capacity of over 30 tons per day, this facility will process enough hydrogen to fuel 100,000 cars and save up to 130,000 tons of carbon dioxide tailpipe emissions each year. Based in Ulsan, the plants will use Linde's proprietary hydrogen liquefaction technology which is currently used to produce approximately half of the world's liquid hydrogen. The first phase of the project is expected to start operations in 2023.

Under the partnership, Linde will sell and distribute the liquid hydrogen produced at Ulsan to the growing mobility market in South Korea. To enable this, the joint venture will build, own and operate a nationwide network of hydrogen refueling stations.

"Hydrogen has emerged as a key enabler of the global energy transition to meet the decarbonization goals set out in the Paris Agreement," said B.S. Sung, President of Linde Korea. "The South Korean government has set ambitious targets for hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles and the widespread, reliable availability of liquid hydrogen will be instrumental to achieving these targets. We are excited to partner with Hyosung to develop the hydrogen supply chain in South Korea."

"Our partnership with Linde is a cornerstone of the development of South Korea's national hydrogen economy and will advance the entire liquid hydrogen value chain across the country, from production and distribution to sales and services," said Cho Hyun-Joon, Chairman of Hyosung Group. "We look forward to working with Linde to further reinforce and strengthen Hyosung as a leader in the global hydrogen energy transition."

As MRC informed earlier, in late 2019, the TOTAL refinery in Leuna awarded Bilfinger two further major contracts worth roughly EUR30 million: the first involves exchanging the reactor systems; the second, performing the turnaround for the plant’s POX methanol facility.

We remind that Total is evaluating new gas cracker project in South Korea as part of petchems growth strategy.

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.

Linde is a global leader in the production, processing, storage and distribution of hydrogen. It has the largest liquid hydrogen capacity and distribution system in the world. The company also operates the world's first high-purity hydrogen storage cavern, coupled with an unrivaled pipeline network of approximately 1,000 kilometers to reliably supply its customers. Linde is at the forefront in the transition to clean hydrogen and has installed close to 200 hydrogen fueling stations and 80 hydrogen electrolysis plants worldwide. The company offers the latest electrolysis technology through its joint venture ITM Linde Electrolysis GmbH.
MRC