Maire Tecnimont and Siemens sign MOU to offer new digital predictive maintenance services

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Maire Tecnimont Group’s main EPC contractor Tecnimont and Siemens Italy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to offer cutting-edge digital predictive maintenance services to help clients increasing plant operability and reducing maintenance costs, as per Maire Tecnimont's press release.

The agreement calls for the two companies to work together on a specified number of feasibility studies and to identify a list of clients to be targeted for a joint commercial proposition thus, to promote the application of predictive maintenance technology to monitor critical plant assets.

Siemens’ Predictive Analytics is based on machine learning algorithms that can identify normal operating and faults conditions based on asset’s historical data and provide an early warning alarm to catch potential equipment glitches before they become a problem and cause the asset’s loss, and in the worst-case scenario, the loss of plant's production.

Maire Tecnimont will leverage its expertise as an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor in the natural resource transformation industry, to supply plant owners with artificial intelligence applications, based on Siemens Predictive Analytics technologies, for assets monitoring, performance evaluation and equipment maintenance.

This “open innovation approach” leverages on key technologies to find the best solutions for a plant owner’s particular needs or business environment. The results are tangible benefits such as improved production efficiency, more effective maintenance, a safer work environment, easier emissions control, and more effective training.

With this MoU, Maire Tecnimont Group continues to improve its portfolio of digital services offering clients a new digital value proposition to help them manage the energy transition by ramping up plant efficiency as well as ensuring environmentally best performing product and processes.

Siemens reconfirms its unique positioning in enabling companies to make the most out of digitalization through a holistic portfolio of software and automation solutions, supporting industries becoming faster, more flexible and efficient and reducing their time-to-market.

As MRC reported earlier, in May 2021, consortium of subsidiaries of the Italian engineering company Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. received a contract to build a new Indian Oil Corp (IOC) paraxylene plant in Paradip (Paradip, Odisha, India). The total amount of the contract for the design, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) of this plant with a capacity of 800,000 tonnes of paraxylene per year is estimated at approximately USD450 mln.

Paraxylene is a raw material for the synthesis of terephthalic acid (TPA), an intermediate product for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption grew to 263,660 tonnes in the first four months in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Bottle grade chips accounted for 78.3% of the increase in consumption due to the virtual absence of exports and higher imports.

Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. Listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, he is the head of an industrial group that leads the global market for the processing of natural resources (design of oil and gas installations, possession of technology, experience and knowledge). Its subsidiary NextChem works in green chemistry and technology to support the energy supply strategy. The Maire Tecnimont Group operates in approximately 45 countries, through approximately 50 operating companies, employing approximately 9,100 people.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, has announced that it has acquired certain technology relating to the production of polyacetal (POM) products from Grupa Azoty S.A. of Tarnow, Poland, after its decision to discontinue its POM manufacturing, as per the company's press release.

Celanese will take over all existing Tarnoform® contracts in order to serve Azoty’s customers. However, with the exception of certain equipment transferred in connection with the intellectual property transfer, this transaction does not include any of Azoty’s employees, tangible assets, manufacturing facilities or sales offices.

“This transaction will enable Celanese to serve Azoty’s customers with Celanese assets, thereby allowing for an incremental volume opportunity for Celanese as well as access to a POM customer base and a proven POM technology in Tarnoform,” said Tom Kelly, Senior Vice President, Engineered Materials, Celanese. “Our Engineered Materials business is a critical growth engine for Celanese, and we continue to take the strategic steps needed, such as this customer and product acquisition, to fuel the ongoing success of the business,” concluded Kelly.

The transaction is expected to close in early July 2021.

As MRC reported previously, earlier this year, Celanese Corporation announced that it plans to continue its ethylene-vynil-acetate (EVA) growth at the company’s Nanjing and Frankfurt facilities through the construction of two new EVA reactors.

The Grupa Azoty Group is the undisputed leader of the fertilizer market domestically and a key player in the fertilizer and chemical industry in Europe. It is the second largest EU-based manufacturer of nitrogen and compound fertilizers, also enjoying a strong position on the markets of melamine, caprolactam, polyamide, oxo alcohols, plasticizers and titanium white.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2020 net sales of USD5.7 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Montreal-based specialty recycling company Polystyvert has closed a round of funding to facilitate the development of a full-scale polystyrene (PS) recycling plant, said Canplastics.

The round includes new investor BEWI Group, a European provider of packaging, components, and insulation solutions, and said to be one of the largest integrated expandable PS (EPS) producers in Europe with an annual EPS production capacity of 200,000 tons, as well as new private investors.

Existing investors Anges Quebec, Anges Quebec Capital, Cycle Capital, and Quadriam also participated in the round. Proceeds will be used to facilitate the development of a full-scale plant – a strategic milestone for the company to demonstrate the high level of resin purity reached with Polystyvert’s innovative proprietary process, as well as its excellent environmental footprint.

“BEWI sees great potential in Polystyvert’s technology because it has the ability to treat highly contaminated streams while remaining very energy efficient,” BEWI chief operating officer Jonas Siljeskar said. “We believe this technology could be a game-changer for using recycled material in food packaging."

As per MRC, The Dutch company BEWI Synbra completed scheduled repairs at its expanded polystyrene (EPS) production facility in Porvoo (Porvoo, Finland). BEWI Synbra closed the plant consisting of two lines with a total capacity of 110,000 tonnes of EPS per year for scheduled repairs in early March. The scheduled works were completed on 18 March.

As per MRC's ScanPlast, Russia's estimated consumption of polystyrene (PS) and styrene plastics totalled 187,320 tonnes in the first four months of 2021, up by 20% year on year. April estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics was 49,370 tonnes, up by 35% year on year (36,620 tonnes a year earlier). PS production rose in January-April 2021 by 6% year on year. Russian producers manufactured 179,840 tonnes of material over the stated period.
Founded in 2011, Polystyvert has developed a low-carbon-footprint process to recycle polystyrene based on a dissolution technology. Once dissolved, the process can mechanically and chemically separate contaminants and additives – including a wide range of hard-to-remove contaminants such as pigments and brominated flame-retardants – before finally separating the original polymer from the solvent. The end-product is then a cleaned polymer that can be used as new raw material resin again, to manufacture various categories of PS products, including food-grade applications.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Australia’s parliament has approved plans to pay Viva Energy Ltd and Ampol Ltd up to AD2.3 billion (USD1.8 billion) to keep their struggling oil refineries open to protect the country’s fuel security, reported Reuters with reference to Energy Minister Angus Taylor's statement.

Under the plan announced in May the government agreed to top up earnings at Australia’s two remaining refineries when refining margins are weak through 2027, with an option to extend to 2030.

It also agreed to provide up to AD125 million each to Ampol and Viva to upgrade their refineries to produce ultra-low sulphur petrol by end-2024. Payments to the refineries will begin from July 1, the government said.

The fuel industry will also be required to hold minimum stocks of 24 days of petrol and jet demand and 20 days of diesel demand from July 2022, with a 40% increase in diesel holdings required from July 2024.

Australia’s ageing refineries have found it difficult to compete with much bigger, new refineries across Asia. The country’s two other refiners - BP and Exxon Mobil Corp - are shutting their plants this year.

As MRC informed before, in Februar, 2021, ExxonMobil Corp said it will close its 72-year-old Altona refinery in Australia, the country’s smallest, and convert it to a fuel import terminal as refiners struggle with low demand.

And in March, 2021, BP plc stopped importing oil for its refinery in Western Australia, the country’s largest, and had decommissioned the plant by the end of March.

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 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea’s SK Global Chemical (SKGC) plans to take a 10% stake, for about Canadian dollar (CD) 56m (USD45m), in Canada’s Loop Industries, and the companies plan to form a joint venture, Loop said.

South Korea’s SK Global Chemical is buying a 10-per-cent stake in Quebec-based Loop Industries Inc. for USD56.5-million, and the two plan to form a joint venture to deploy Loop’s proprietary plastic recycling technology in Asia.

Under the deal, SKGC will buy 4.7 million Loop shares for USD12 each. SKGC is also being granted options to boost its stake over the next three years, contingent on the progress of construction of a first Asian manufacturing plant.

The two are announcing the deal eight months after Loop’s shares tumbled following a negative report by prominent U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research. Hindenburg said in mid-October it had interviewed former employees, competitors, corporate partners and chemists, and concluded that “Loop is smoke and mirrors with no viable technology."

Loop responded by saying the report was “either unfounded, incorrect or based on the first iteration” of its technology, which is a chemical process, rather than a mechanical one, for recycling plastic into what the company says is high-quality usable material.

Loop’s shares on the Nasdaq lost half their value in the 17 days after the release of Hindenburg’s report, falling as low as USD5.85. They have since recovered, closing on Tuesday at USD13.12.

The deal with SKGC, part of one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates, shows the promise of the technology, said Loop founder and chief executive officer Daniel Solomita.

Under a memorandum of understanding, the companies intend to form a joint venture to build sustainable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyester fibre manufacturing facilities throughout Asia. SKGC would own 51 per cent of the venture and Loop the remainder. Loop would also receive an annual royalty based on a percentage of revenue.

PET, used in things such as drink bottles, is a major source of pollution, and Loop says its process recycles it into virgin-quality plastic. “Our technology is really at the forefront of what the circular economy is,” Mr. Solomita said. “You take a finished product and break it down into what it used to be, and build it back up again into a finished product or something of a higher quality."

As per MRC, Clariant, a specialty chemicals major, is selling its pigments business to a consortium consisting of pigment maker Heubach Group (Langelsheim, Germany) and private investment firm SK Capital (South Korea). The combined business will operate under the Heubach name and create a leading global pigments business with annual sales of more than EUR 900 million (USD1.09 billion).

According to MRC's ScanPlast, the total estimated PET consumption in Russia increased in January-April 2021 by 13% compared to the same period a year earlier and amounted to 263,660 tonnes. 78.3% of the increase in consumption falls on the share of bottled PET granulate due to the virtual absence of exports and an increase in the volume of imports. In April, the total estimated consumption amounted to 80,150 tonnes, which is 34% more than in the same month last year.
MRC