CVR Energy proceeds with KBR on second phase scope for alkylation revamp project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR, Inc. announced that a subsidiary of CVR Energy, Inc. ("CVR Energy") is proceeding with the next phase of the KBR Solid Acid Alkylation Technology (K-SAATTM) project for its refinery in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

CVR Energy previously awarded a contract to KBR to provide the basic engineering design based on K-SAAT technology to revamp its existing HF alkylation unit at its Wynnewood refinery. CVR Energy now plans to take the project to the next phase, which would entail KBR providing detailed engineering of the process equipment, proprietary equipment supply and module fabrication. The expected mechanical completion of the project would be late 2024, subject to regulatory and internal approvals.

"We are extremely happy to continue working with CVR Energy on its efforts to migrate from a traditional hydrofluoric acid-based alkylation process to KBR's innovative and groundbreaking K-SAAT process that delivers higher alkylate yield and quality," said Doug Kelly, KBR President, Technology. "The Wynnewood refinery would be the first US installation of K-SAAT technology, which is a leading choice for grassroots alkylation applications as well as for revamping existing facilities to improve plant economics. Eliminating liquid acid catalysts just makes it that much more attractive."

"We are pleased to have selected KBR's innovative alkylation technology for our Wynnewood refinery," said Dave Lamp, Chief Executive Officer and President of CVR Energy. "We chose K-SAAT after assessing available alkylation technologies and considering the benefits we intend to achieve."

KBR's K-SAAT provides an opportunity to maximize the yield and quality of an ultra-clean gasoline blendstock with the ExSact™ catalyst, a revolutionary solid-acid catalyst that has been engineered to outperform liquid acid catalysts. The first commercial K-SAAT plant has been operational in China since 2018 and this technology has received great interest from refiners globally.

KBR's licensed process technology is found in more than half of the world's FCC units and a majority of residue upgrading units. K-SAAT technology reflects KBR's commitment to providing innovative technologies that give our customers a competitive edge in attractive markets.

As MRC reported earlier, in September 2020, Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group Co. (Baofeng Energy) selected KBR's proprietary cracker technology for its new methanol-to-olefins (MTO) project to be built in Ningxia, China. Under the contracts, KBR will provide process technology licensing and process design packages for Baofeng Energy's 500,000-t/y coal-to-olefins facility and its 500,000-t/y C2-C5 comprehensive utilization project. Once complete, the complex will be the "largest" single-train MTO plant in the world, KBR noted.

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

Borealis appoints new CEO

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis has announced the appointment of Thomas Gangl as its new CEO, effective 1 April 2021. He will take over from current CEO Alfred Stern, who is stepping down from the position to join Borealis majority owner OMV’s executive board with responsibility for its new chemicals and materials division, which will include its Borealis activities, according to Chemweek.

Gangl is currently a member of OMV’s executive board with responsibility for refining and petrochemical operations, which OMV announced yesterday is being split into two separate, expanded divisions. He has been OMV’s chief downstream operations officer since 2019.

“We have succeeded in gaining an exceptional manager and expert from among our own ranks to take the helm of Borealis,” says Rainer Seele, OMV’s CEO and Borealis supervisory board chairman. Gangl has “played a significant part” in shaping OMV’s refining and petchems business and was also responsible for establishing chemical recycling, “thereby laying the foundation for our future circular economy,” he says.

A decision on OMV’s executive board member for refining will be taken at a later stage, it says.

OMV owns a 75% stake in the Borealis joint venture, with the remaining 25% held by Mubadala (Abu Dhabi, UAE).

As MRC reported earlier, Borealis has fully resumed production at its steam cracker in Stenungsund, Sweden. Thus, the cracker with the capacity of 625,000 mtyear of ethylene was restarted on 15-17 January, 2021. Meanwhile, the status of the force majeure on the products from this cracker remains unclear at the moment. Force majeure at Stenungsund was declared after a fire started at the cracker on 10 May last year. A restart of the cracker was initially planned for the fourth quarter of 2020, a Borealis spokesperson told OPIS in September.

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, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC

Henkel expands partnership with printed electronics firm in Belgium

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Henkel expands strategic partnership with Quad Industries for driving printed electronics solutions, said the company.

Henkel Adhesive Technologies and Quad Industries, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, today have announced the expansion of their strategic partnership to offer capacities and support for technological value creation and prototyping with printed electronics solutions across multiple industries. The companies started their collaboration in 2019 and since then successfully worked on different projects such as the development of the innovative COVID-19 smart health patch introduced by Byteflies that was launched in 2020. With the advancement of the partnership Quad Industries has become a strategic partner in Henkel?s ecosystem for design creation, prototyping and manufacturing of printed electronics via flatbed screen printing.

With more than 35 years of experience in printed electronics across multiple industrial markets Henkel Adhesive Technologies offers a broad material expertise, market know-how and partner network to support the commercialization process for smart product solutions. The business unit is a leading provider of a broad portfolio of conductive inks and coatings that enable flexible, cost-efficient and high-performing applications.

"At Henkel we believe in a differentiated partnership approach across the entire value chain,” explains Stijn Gillissen, Head of Printed Electronics at Henkel. “Our network enables us to provide customers not only with products and knowledge, but also connecting them with circuit designers, printing manufacturers or external IoT specialists. Together we can leverage the potential of digital transformations by utilizing the benefits of printed electronics."

Quad Industries has been at the forefront of applied electronics for more than 25 years and is well-known as a trusted partner in the development and manufacturing of user interfaces, control panels and sensing devices for both consumer and industrial applications. In recent years, the company has extended its activities in the domain of printed electronics, using its extensive knowledge to develop and manufacture printed, flexible sensor solutions.

Together with Henkel, Quad Industries and four other medical and technology companies, Belgium-based Byteflies, a medically certified B2B-services company, has developed a smart health patch for remote patient monitoring. The system was initially set up to monitor the vital functions of patients with heart failure and epilepsy. After the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 the partners leveraged the patch’s potential for coronavirus patients. This new COVID-19 smart health patch allows continuous, remote, and wireless monitoring of patients’ respiration, heart rate, and temperature and is already applied by numerous hospitals in Flanders, Belgium, to monitor up to 300 patients infected with the virus.

Henkel solutions ensure the optimal material performance of the COVID-19 smart health patch and other digitally enhanced medical applications, for example for point-of-care diagnostics or wound care. The company has developed medical electrodes and conductive inks that enable the patch to be used for five days rather than just one. Quad Industries printed the electronic circuit on a very thin and stretchable foil and integrated the technology into the wearable patches. With the expansion of their strategic partnership the two companies now bundle their expertise to enhance the support of manufacturers in the development, commercialization and production of smart printed electronics solutions in markets such as healthcare, hygienics, automotive and furniture and building.

Quad Industries is a leading technology provider specialized in the manufacturing of customized printed electronics. For more than 25 years we have been serving well-known, international customers in in a broad range of markets such as medical, automotive, home appliance and industrial markets. With a competence center in Belgium and a production location in Slovakia, we are in the heart of Europe. Ready to support you with contract development and contract manufacturing – from lab-scale prototypes to high volume manufacturing.

As per MRC, Henkel Adhesive Technologies strengthens its capabilities for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) solutions by investing in Feelit, Haifa, Israel. The start-up has developed a unique sensor technology for predictive maintenance for various applications in manufacturing. With the investment Henkel aims to further expand its leading MRO portfolio for its broad customer base in industrial markets.

As MRC informed earlier, Henkel has provided a business update for the third quarter and says that, based on preliminary figures, its adhesive technologies business unit achieved positive organic sales growth of 1.3% in the quarter. All business areas in adhesive technologies showed a recovery in demand compared with the second quarter, the company says. Henkel notes that in the first nine months of 2020, adhesive technologies recorded a 6.8% decline in organic sales.

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

Borealis earnings rise on stronger polyolefin markets in Europe, Asia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis (Vienna, Austria) has reported fourth-quarter net earnings of EUR210 million (USD252 million), a 52% rise compared with the prior-year period and up sequentially on earnings of EUR163 million in the third quarter, driven by a “stronger polyolefin market in both Europe and Asia,” it says.

The improvement in net income comes despite a 9% decline year on year (YOY) in net sales to EUR1.69 billion, although the sales figure is slightly higher sequentially than the third quarter. The earnings increase “is a very strong finish to the year,” Borealis says, adding that net debt in the fourth quarter was reduced by EUR77 million. “However, the rise in the natural gas price and operational issues impacted the contribution from the Borealis fertilizers business,” it says. Borealis separately today has announced the start of a sales process for the divestment of its nitrogen fertilizer business.

In Europe, Borealis benefited in the fourth quarter from higher polyolefin sales volumes, especially in the packaging and automotive segments, stronger polyolefin margins, and positive inventory effects, according to majority owner OMV in its financial results, also released today. The positive developments were “partially offset by a reduced light feedstock advantage versus naphtha and an unplanned outage of the [Porvoo] steam cracker in Finland,” OMV says. The result of Borealis’s fertilizer business was lower YOY with decreased margins as the cost of higher natural gas prices “could not be fully passed through to the market,” OMV says. The Borealis Borouge joint venture with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) in the UAE also recorded a significant improvement in the quarter, driven mainly driven by stronger polyolefin volumes and prices in Asia, it says.

In a 2021 outlook by OMV, polyethylene (PE) sales volumes for Borealis this year are projected to be slightly above the 2020 level of 1.76 million metric tons (MMt). Polypropylene (PP) sales volume for Borealis are expected to be in line with 2020’s volume of 2.12 MMt. The European PE indicator margin in 2021 is forecast to be above the prior year’s level of EUR350/metric ton, while the European PP indicator margin is expected to be above 2020’s level of EUR413/metric ton.

For the full year 2020, Borealis reported net profit of EUR589 million, down from EUR872 million in 2019, “despite a market environment heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Borealis says. Net sales declined to EUR6.8 billion from EUR8.1 billion in the prior year. The 2020 result was negatively impacted by a lower oil price environment, resulting in a reduced light feedstock advantage, negative inventory effects in Europe, and a lower polyolefins price environment in Asia, it says. A deteriorating fertilizer market environment also negatively impacted the result, it adds.

Despite this, demand for polyolefins “remained healthy,” leading to a slight rise in sales volumes compared with 2019 due mainly to higher sales in the packaging sector, partially offset by lower sales in the automotive sector. The annual result “is a strong financial result in the context of a very challenging market environment impacted by the pandemic and a declining oil price, which has led to a negative price and inventory value development,” says Borealis CEO Alfred Stern.

As per MRC, Borealis has fully resumed production at its steam cracker in Stenungsund, Sweden. Thus, the cracker with the capacity of 625,000 mtyear of ethylene was restarted on 15-17 January, 2021. Meanwhile, the status of the force majeure on the products from this cracker remains unclear at the moment.

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.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC

PKN Orlen Group petchem operating profit surged in Q4

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Poland’s PKN Orlen Group said that higher margins drove its petrochemical operating result to zloty (Zl) 250m (USD66.8m) in the fourth quarter of 2020 from Zl 2m in the same quarter of the previous year, said the company.

PKN Orlen, the state-controlled oil refining giant announced its financial report for 2020, indicating that the net profit of the company, after including the profits from taking over energy company Energa was at PLN 3.4 bn (EUR 0.76 bn).

"In 2020 we recorded very solid results, despite the unfavourable conditions caused by the [COVID-19] pandemic. The key to the success in the fuel-energy trade is diversifying the areas of activities. This is why we observe the trends and respond to them, which directly results in financial results,” Daniel Obajtek, the CEO of PKN Orlen said.

The EBITDA LIFO result was PLN 12.1 bn (EUR 2.69 bn) and the income from sales was at PLN 86.2 bn (EUR 19.19 bn), the consolidated report after Q4 2020, published by Orlen reads.

The company stated that the key investments in development had continued and PLN 9 bn (EUR 2 bn) was spent on that purpose. The retail segment achieved a record result of PLN 3.3 (EUR 0.73 bn), while the energy sector recorded EBITDA LIFO profit at PLN 3.4 bn (EUR 0.76 bn).

As MRC reported earlier, in December 2020, PKN Orlen (Plock, Poland) announce that the company will invest an average of 4.4 billion zloty (USD1.2 billion) per year between 2021 and 2030 on a major expansion of its integrated petrochemicals business and the creation of a plastics recycling division as part of an enhanced strategic focus on petchems and renewables over the next 10 years.

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