French Saint-Gobain opens construction chemicals plant in Malaysia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saint-Gobain has invested in a new plant to produce advanced solution for construction applications, including a large variety of mortars, waterproofing and construction chemicals solutions, said Businesstoday.

Located on a 50,000m? land in Johor, the southern state of Malaysia, the factory, will be devoted to serve the Company’s growing Malaysian and Singaporean markets. Saint-Gobain has been present in Malaysia for over 20 years. and this new factory is the fifth industrial establishment of the Group in the country and the 28th in Southeast Asia.

Arham Abdul Rahman, Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), commended Saint-Gobain’s continual confidence in Malaysia. Commenting on the Company’s latest expansion in Malaysia, he said, “The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to accelerate the adoption of digital technologies to be applied in the manufacturing of products. Given that research and innovation are at the heart of Saint-Gobain’s strategy, we are excited to witness this latest undertaking here. We are confident that Saint-Gobain will further benefit from Malaysia’s strategic location, comprehensive global trade agreements, competitive cost of doing business, multi-facetted talent pool as well business friendly policies."

This latest addition to Saint-Gobain’s footprints in Malaysia gathers the best of the Company’s technologies and manufacturing processes. This new plant is also designed to produce 3D printing solutions to support their pioneer positioning in this new market segment. The capacity of the plant is scalable for future demands.

Moreover, to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the new plant will utilise natural gas with lower carbon dioxide emission. The Company is committed to continually seek out and invest in Industry 4.0, recycling, raw material and energy reduction to reach its desired goal.

Javier Gimeno, Senior Vice-President, CEO Saint-Gobain Asia-Pacific said, “This investment in Johor is a tangible proof of the long term commitment of Saint-Gobain with Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Indeed, we are convinced of the huge potential of development in these geographies whose markets are increasingly driven by innovation, technology, products’ performance and genuine respect of the environment. At Saint-Gobain we strive every day to excel in all these fields so that we can bring to our clients and the final users the best value proposition.”

Details about the plant’s costs or capacities in tonnes or pounds per year were not disclosed.

As per MRC, Saint-Gobain, the world's largest manufacturer of building materials, in 2015 opened the third plant in Russia for the production of dry building mixtures in the city of Yegoryevsk, Moscow Region. The total investment in the construction of the plant amounted to more than 500 million rubles. The construction of the facility started in October 2013; in September 2014, the first line for the production of dry mixes was put into operation at the enterprise. It is expected that the plant will produce 120 thousand tons of dry building mixtures annually.

As MRC informed before, Russia's output of chemical products rose in March 2021 by 5.4% year on year. Thus, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 6.7% in the first moths months of 2021. March production of polymers in primary form was 958,000 tonnes versus 861,000 tonnes in February. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 2,740,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 8.5% year on year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) said on Thursday it can buy up to 2 million tons of crude oil from Iran if sanctions are lifted and terms are attractive, according to IranOilGas.

BPCL Director (Finance) N Vijayagopal said his company used to buy 2 million tons a year of crude oil from Iran before sanctions halted imports. BPCL bought 1.15 million tons of crude from the US in the last financial year, he said adding it would not be possible to replace dependence on the Middle East in the long run.

India stopped importing oil from Iran in mid-2019 following sanctions on the Persian Gulf nation by the Trump administration.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation’s largest oil firm, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) too had earlier this month expressed hope of resuming oil imports from Iran once the sanctions are lifted.

India was the second-biggest buyer of Iranian oil after China before sanctions halted supplies in May 2019.

Iran in 2017-18 was its third-largest supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia and met about 10% of total needs.

As MRC wrote before, in April, 2020, BPCL shipped the first consignment of acrylic acid from its Propylene Derivative Petrochemical (PDP) complex at Kochi Refinery. Acrylic Acid is one of the six niche petrochemical products produced in the new PDP Complex at Kochi Refinery.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State-backed Sinopec is ready to launch its first green hydrogen project in Inner Mongolia next year as part of an effort to help meet its goal of becoming China’s top hydrogen company by 2025, according to Energy Voice.

The 2.6 billion yuan (USD405 million) green hydrogen plant in Ordos, which will use solar and wind, is designed to have a yearly production capacity of 20,000 tonnes. The first phase will involve 10,000 tonnes hydrogen production, supported by 270 megawatts (MW) of solar power and 50 MW of wind power.

The green hydrogen will be consumed by Sinopec’s Zhongtian Hechuang coal-to-chemicals project in Ordos.

Sinopec, China’s largest hydrogen producer, also said it will focus on fossil fuel-based hydrogen production over the next five years and set up 1,000 hydrogen filling stations across the country, as part of its target to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Sinopec currently has yearly hydrogen production capacity of 3.5 million tonnes, mainly grey hydrogen as a by-product from its refineries, making up about 14% of total hydrogen production in China.

As MRC informed previously, Sinopec Engineering (Group) and ExxonMobil (Huizhou) Chemical (EMHCC) have recently entered into a BEPC (basic design, engineering, procurement and construction) contract for the proposed Huizhou Chemical Complex Project (Phase I). The main units of the project include a 1.6 million tonnes/year ethylene flexible feed steam cracker, downstream polymer and derivative units and utilities. The main product units include two performance polyethylene (PE) lines and two differentiated performance polypropylene (PP) lines.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of PE and PP, respectively.

According to MR''s ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group"s key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Energy pipeline companies will have to report cybersecurity incidents to the U.S. government under a new directive that will be announced by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), senior government officials said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The officials, who asked to remain unidentified, said the directive will impose fines on pipeline companies that fail to report incidents within 12 hours and mandate that the pipeline companies designated a cybersecurity coordinator to report incidents and coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). "This is the first time there's mandatory reporting of cybersecurity incidents," said one of the four senior officials that spoke to journalists ahead of the directive's unveiling.

The new directive comes after hackers earlier this month carried out a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline Co , the United States' biggest fuel pipeline system, that caused supply disruptions, price spikes and panic buying across the East Coast earlier this month. The directive was first reported by The Washington Post earlier this week.

The hackers, alleged to be operating out of Russia, held Colonial Pipeline's computer network hostage and successfully extorted millions of dollars in digital currency. The incident has bumped the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure to the top of the national agenda. The U.S. government has traditionally relied on private industry to flag hacks to officials, but is shifting toward mandatory reporting amid a number of major intrusions.

Similar mandates might appear in other industries. Speaking Wednesday, the officials said the new pipeline mandate is being eyed as a potential model for other sectors as well.

As per MRC, Colonial Pipeline restarted operations Wednesday at approximately 5 p.m. ET after a ransomware attack last week forced the entire system offline on Friday evening. The company did warn, however, that its pipeline would not be fully functional immediately.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Four oil firms including Nigeria's state-oil company have approached Dangote Industries to acquire a stake in Africa's largest oil refinery, a senior executive told Reuters.

Devakumar Edwin, group executive director, said the firms from Western and Middle East countries and involved in trading and crude production were looking to secure crude supply agreements, a similar objective to that pursued by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). "They are seeking to have 20% minority stake in Dangote refinery as part of collaboration ... so that they can sell their crude," Edwin told Reuters by telephone.

He said Dangote refinery is not looking for equity and the company wants to be able to secure crude from the market. Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude oil exporter, imports virtually all of its fuel due to moribund state refineries, which has prompted the state oil company's interest in the 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) Dangote refinery.

NNPC's spokesman, speaking to Reuters in a phone interview, said the corporation had considered the idea of acquiring a stake in the USD19.5 billion oil refinery project owned by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote. Edwin said the refinery is scheduled for mechanical completion this year with commissioning by January 2022.

Nigerian billionaire Dangote, who built his fortune in cement, first announced a smaller refinery in 2013, to be finished in 2016. He then moved the site to Lekki, in Lagos, upgraded the size and said production would start in early 2020. The company has held talks with firms including Vitol(VITOLV.UL) and Trafigura (TRAFGF.UL) over the supply of crude and lifting of petroleum products for sale abroad.

Nigeria lost its biggest customer, the United States, after it start producing shale oil. The U.S. is now pushing into some of Nigeria's most valued markets, Edwin said.

As per MRC, Africa's largest oil refinery will deliver its fuels to Nigerian consumers via roads and sea ports, and will effectively replace all of Nigeria's fuel imports once fully operational. The 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote oil refinery is under construction in Lagos, the biggest city in the most fuel-consuming nation in the region, which absorbed 266,000 barrels of petroleum products per day as of 2015. Congested ports and dilapidated roads led some to expect that the company would build a pipeline or other method of getting its fuel to consumers.

The Dangote group is also eyeing ethanol production at its sugar and molasses plant in Adamawa state, and has facilities at the refinery to blend ethanol with fuel if needed. Edwin said they are also already considering expanding plastics and petrochemical productions at the refinery, which will make polyethylene and polypropylene when it begins production.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC