Wanhua Chemical to build second PDH unit in southern China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wanhua Chemical, a major petrochemical producer in China, plans to build a new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Fujian Province, southern China, adding to the PDH plant it operates at Yantai, eastern China, reported Indian CHEMICAL News.

The new plant will be built within the Fujian Jiangyin economic zone, near the city of Fuqing.

According to sources, the plant is expected to be completed in 2023.

The company's board has also approved plans to build associated downstream propylene derivative production chains in the Fujian Jiangyin zone.

Wanhua's PDH unit at Yantai has 750,000 metric tons/year of propylene capacity. It also operates a steam cracker with capacity for 1 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) of ethylene and 520,000 metric tons/year of propylene at Yantai that came online in November last year.

As MRC wrote previously, in January, 2020 Wanhua Chemical Group disclosed plans for a second ethylene cracker project at its Yantai, China, site with local government officials. The project will include a 1.2-million metric tons/year (MMt/y) ethylene unit; pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation; aromatics extraction; and production facilities for butadiene, high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyethylene (PE) plastomers and elastomers, polypropylene (PP), and other derivatives. Timing and other details were not disclosed. The second ethylene project will use naphtha and C4s as feedstock.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of PP.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian oil producers reduced gas flaring only slightly last year and failed to reach a targeted level by a large margin, hampered by a lack of necessary infrastructure at new oilfields, a draft government document seen by Reuters showed.

Flaring, or the combustion of gas generated by various processes in the oil industry, generates carbon dioxide emissions.

Climate change poses a series challenge for Russia, with the economy heavily reliant on oil and gas production, as well as mining, and the government is under pressure to cut emissions.

The draft document, outlining oil industry developments until 2035, showed that the utilisation of the associated petroleum gas (APG) oil companies produce as a byproduct of crude extraction, rose to 82.6% in 2020 from 81.5% in the previous year - well below the 95% target which was expected to be achieved in the mid-2010s.

The document cites lack of infrastructure needed to transport and utilise APG, as well as a number of incidents at refining facilities as the main reasons for the high level of gas flaring.

The rate of APG utilisation in Russia rose to 88.2% in 2015 from 76.2% in 2013 but has declined since then, according to the document.

The World Bank found Russia, Iraq, the United States, and Iran accounted for 45% of all global gas flaring in 2017-2019. Gas flaring rates dipped across most of the top 30 gas flaring countries in early 2020 due to the pandemic.

The Russian document shows Surgutneftegaz had the most success in containing gas flaring, with its APG utilsation rate rising to 99.5% last year. At Russian gas giant Gazprom , it stood at 98.9%, but was just 73.1% at energy major Rosneft.

Russian APG utilisation rose to 94.7 billion cubic metres (bcm) overall in 2020 from 94.1 bcm in 2019. The rest was flared into the atmosphere.

As MRC informed earlier, 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 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 ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Clermont-based company Carbios, a pioneer in the enzymatic recycling of plastic and textile polymers, has signed an agreement with Equipolymers which should host, at its site in Schkopau (Germany), a unit that will produce 40,000 tonnes of recycled PET each year, said Axelera.

In March, Carbios and Equipolymers, a subsidiary of Equate Petrochemical, signed a “ non-exclusive and non-binding agreement in the form of a Letter of Intent ”. If confirmed, Equipolymers, “ European leader in PET production ”, will host a unit at its Schkopau (Germany) site that will produce 40,000 tonnes of recycled PET each year using the enzymatic process developed by Carbios.

This agreement also provides for " assistance in securing the sources of supply of PET waste for this unit " which will enable Carbios to " transform the plastics industry market and take full advantage of its global leadership in this industry ". In addition, it will consolidate its model: the concession of operating licenses for its technologies and know-how and the sale of enzymes to its licensees who will build their own production units for recycled PET.

As MRC informed earlier, Equipolymers planned to carry out maintenance works at the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Schkopau (Sckhopau, Germany) in October. Neither the exact start and end dates of repair work at this enterprise, where two production lines with a capacity of 160,000 tonnes/year and 175,000 tonnes/year, were reported.

According to MRC's ScanPlast, the estimated PET consumption in Russia in January 2021 increased by 3% compared to the same indicator a year earlier. In total, according to the results of the first month of the year in Russia, the total estimated consumption of PET amounted to 57,420 tonnes.

Equipolymers is a company dedicated to the manufacture and marketing of PET resins. The company is a 50/50 global joint venture of The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) and Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Since its formation in 2004, Equipolymers has leveraged the unique strengths of its parent companies, Dow and PIC of Kuwait. Equipolymers is the preferred partner for brand-owners and other key value chain players in the PET market, through innovation-driven leadership and high-quality product standards. Equipolymers' production facilities are located in Ottana (Italy) and Schkopau (Germany).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plastic Technologies Inc. (PTI), a Holland, Ohio-based PET packaging research and development firm, and Italy-based PET packaging machinery specialist Sipa SpA have entered into a new strategic partnership agreement, said Canplastics.

In a news release, Sipa officials said the partnership will “help both companies to increase their visibility and create new business opportunities."

"Joining forces with Sipa makes perfect sense for PTI. We bring extensive knowledge in package development and material expertise to their capabilities’ portfolio,” said Thierry Fabozzi, PTI CEO. “This strong collaboration will also give PTI access to Sipa’s latest equipment and enable us to provide even better turnkey solutions for our brand-owner customers."

"In addition to the technical synergies, we also see geographic advantages,” said Sipa chairman Dr. Gianfranco Zoppas. “PTI’s well-established footprint in the U.S. will allow Sipa to further reinforce its visibility and success for its equipment technology in North America. Sipa’s relationships elsewhere in the world will help introduce PTI as a leader in package development, giving the possibility to Sipa to provide a very comprehensive offering to the market."

As per MRC, while beverage producers may still hold reservations about using recycled PET, according to KHS, a supplier of filling and packaging systems based in Dortmund, Germany, sees increasing bottle-to-bottle recycling rates as one sustainable solution to the challenges facing the industry. The degradation occurring the mechanical recycling of polypropylene, polyethylene or polystyrene is irreversible. However, this is not the case for recycled PET. In fact, PET is currently the only recycled plastic approved as a food-contact material.

Also we remind, soft drinks manufacturer Britvic has announced its intent for all its plastic bottles in the UK to be produced entirely from 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) by the end of 2022, three years ahead of its original schedule. The company says the move covers its entire UK portfolio of Britvic-owned brands, and also those it produces under a newly signed 20-year franchise bottling agreement with PepsiCo for its carbonated brands in the UK. Britvic was a founding signatory of The UK Plastics Pact, and says it has already removed more than 1,500 metric tons of primary plastics from its supply chain since 2017, with all its primary packaging already fully recyclable.

According to MRC's ScanPlast, the estimated PET consumption in Russia in January 2021 increased by 3% compared to the same indicator a year earlier. In total, according to the results of the first month of the year in Russia, the total estimated consumption of PET amounted to 57,420 tonnes.

Sipa operates 17 sales branches, four manufacturing facilities (two sites in Italy, one in Romania and one in China) and 28 service centres; it also has eight injection molding refurbishment centers in Italy, China, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, and two in the U.S.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Pakistan Refinery Limited is seeking to buy a second-hand refinery complex to upgrade its operations and increase output to help meet rising demand for petroleum products as the country emerges from a pandemic-driven slump, reported Reuters.

The South Asian country currently has five refineries with a total capacity of 417,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to Pakistan's 2020 economic survey, the largest of which stands at 150,000 bpd.

If the purchase goes ahead PRL could double its capacity to 100,000 bpd.

The company this week sought offers to purchase a second-hand refinery complex for relocation to Pakistan, according to an advertisement placed in international media. It was undertaking an upgrade and potential expansion project to produce Euro V specification and high speed diesel oil. For this purpose, it intends to purchase a pre-owned refinery complex with one or more conversion units, which should have a 50,000 to 100,000 bpd throughput design.

Pakistan's total refining capacity is 19.37 million tonnes per year, according to the Economic Survey, while the country consumes 19.68 million tonnes of petroleum products annually. The government says refinery capacity is not being fully utilised on account of financial as well as technical problems, and is supplying only 11.59 million tonnes per year, with the rest of the country's needs imported.

As MRC informed previously, in early April 2020, Pakistan’s Attock Refinery was operating its 54,000 barrels per day (bpd) plant at 29% capacity and was preparing to shut the complex in a week’s time because of weak local demand. Iit was the third Pakistani refinery to halt operations because of the collapse in demand as the country implemented a lockdown to try to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
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