Haldor Topsoe to build catalyst plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Haldor Topsoe will build a 15,000-tpy hydroprocessing catalyst plant at the company’s existing Bayport production site in Pasadena, Harris County, Texas, said the company.

The plant will increase production capacity of Topsoe’s TK catalyst family to meet increasing demand, both in traditional refining and for use with Topsoe’s HydroFlex technology for production of renewable diesel and jet fuel. The plant is expected to be fully operational in the first half of 2023.

"We are happy to announce this significant investment which will reduce lead time and secure stable deliveries of Topsoe’s top-tier hydroprocessing catalysts to our customers in the U.S. and globally. We see increasing demand for our refining catalysts driven by an increasing global demand for clean fuels as well as the surge in renewable diesel production using our world-leading HydroFlex technology and our proprietary renewable fuel catalysts," says Amy Hebert, Chief Commercial Officer, Topsoe.

The increased production capacity will also help meet growing demand for Topsoe’s hydroprocessing catalysts in the Middle East and South-East Asia. "We are proud to be a member of the innovative and expanding business community in Harris County. Topsoe has a long-standing presence in Bayport where our plant has been in operation for more than 50 years. With this expansion, our operations here are secured for years to come, and the area will benefit from new jobs directly at the facility, as well as more business for our local service providers,” says Amy Hebert.

The new refining catalyst plant is an important step forward in the work to achieve Topsoe’s vision – to be recognized as the global leader in carbon emission reduction technologies by 2024. “I am always looking for opportunities that strengthen our local economy and that also get people working in good-paying jobs. I am proud of this partnership between Harris County and Haldor Topsoe to build a new facility in the Pasadena-area of Precinct 2” says Adrian Garcia, Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner. “This project is the first under our newly adopted Economic Development Guidelines. We are also always supportive of new innovative methods of cleaner energy production, so this project satisfies a number of my goals for industry that decides to make its home in Precinct 2,” says Adrian Garcia.

“This is a huge win for the region and the new TK hydroprocessing catalyst manufacturing plant should be viewed as critical infrastructure to support the world's largest petrochemical complex. Its production will meet a growing global market demand coinciding with decades of unprecedented capital investment that has taken advantage of North America’s abundant low-cost and clean burning natural gas. With a 7-to-1 indirect job creation of high-paying careers, it is the type of project that further strengthens our economy in the Houston Port Region,” says Chad Burke, President & CEO, Economic Alliance Houston Port Region.

"Today’s exciting announcement from Haldor Topsoe to expand operations in Bayport with a new TK hydroprocessing catalyst plant serves as another prime example of the region’s leadership in the global energy transition to a low-carbon world. Houston has the expertise and built infrastructure necessary to produce and transport Haldor Topsoe’s hydroprocessing catalyst to customers in the U.S. and globally. We thank Haldor Topsoe for their continued investment in the Houston region," Says Susan Davenport, Chief Economic Development Officer, Greater Houston Partnership.

As MRC reported earlier, in May, 2020, Honeywell announced that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will use Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology in its second propane dehydrogenation plant, called "PDH 2". Located near Mont Belvieu, Texas, PDH 2 will produce 750,000 metric tons per year of polymer-grade propylene as part of Enterprise’s expansion of propylene manufacturing capacity.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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) -- Honeywell announced that the Societe Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR), the state-owned refining company of Cote d’Ivoire, will use Honeywell UOP Distillate Unionfining technology to produce diesel that complies with both AFRI 6 and Euro-V emission standards, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The investment is part of Cote d’Ivoire clean air program and SIR’s refinery modernization. UOP, a leading technology provider for the oil and gas industry, will provide services, equipment, catalysts and adsorbents. The UOP Unionfining process removes impurities to improve the quality of middle distillate feedstocks such as kerosene, jet fuel, and diesel oils that meet increasingly stringent regulations for fuels such as diesel.

"The addition of the UOP Distillate Unionfining process will allow SIR to meet changing diesel specifications in Africa, with a cost-effective solution that reduces the sulfur content while maximizing distillate yields,” said Laura Leonard, vice president and general manager, Honeywell UOP Process Technologies. “Our design for this unit and track record of success with this technology enables SIR to raise its crude processing capacity, as part of the modernization one of the West Africa’s largest oil refineries."

UOP Unionfining technology provides flexible solutions to gas oil conversion for ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel and kerosene production. UOP is the world’s leading provider of distillate hydrotreating technology and has licensed more than 370 Unionfining units globally.

The Societe Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR) was created in 1962 by the Ivorian government with the support of international oil groups. It refines crude oil and distributes petroleum products in Cote d’Ivoire and the rest of the world. SIR refines 3.8 million tons of crude oil on an annual basis.

As MRC reported earlier, in May, 2020, Honeywell announced that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will use Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology in its second propane dehydrogenation plant, called "PDH 2". Located near Mont Belvieu, Texas, PDH 2 will produce 750,000 metric tons per year of polymer-grade propylene as part of Enterprise’s expansion of propylene manufacturing capacity.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased. PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global refining runs are expected to continue rising in July and August due to increasing vaccination rates and easing social distancing measures around the world, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Paris-based agency, however, expected the trend will lose momentum in winter due to seasonal maintenance of refineries. Refiners around the world significantly reduced their operations in 2020 as they faced an unprecedented fall in fuel demand brought about by the coronavirus pandemic and mobility restrictions. The lockdowns at their peak destroyed over 20% of global oil demand.

The refining runs have been rising since February as widespread vaccination programmes started in several countries and restrictions were eased. After stagnating in May, global refining throughput increased by 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, IEA said in its monthly report.

That was the largest monthly increase since July 2020, which supported crude oil prices. Increased product supply and higher crude oil prices negatively affected product cracks and refinery margins in June. Runs are expected to increase by another 2.7 million bpd over July and August from June levels but will start declining in September and October as refinery maintenance season begins.

The gap between the global refineries throughput in the fourth quarter of the year and its peak in 2018 will be around 2.6 million bpd. The global throughput is not expected to reach 2018 levels by the end of next year, according to IEA. "The main deficit will be on account of Europe and North America, while the Middle East, some parts of Asia, and Latin America are on track to surpass 2018 levels in 2022," IEA said.

The activity of European refiners is not expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels any time soon, IEA said. As a result, annual average throughput rates of Chinese refiners are expected to exceed the European rivals by 3 million bpd in 2022. Chinese refiners reached parity with European refineries in 2019 in terms of throughput.

IEA said stalled talks by top oil producers over releasing more supply could deteriorate into a price war just as COVID-19 vaccines are sending demand for oil surging.

As MRC wrote before, in early July, US crude stocks fell for the sixth straight week as refiners ramped up output in response to rising demand, according to the Energy Information Administration. Crude inventories fell by 6.7 million barrels in the week to June 25 to 452.3 million barrels, a steeper drop than the 4.7 million barrels expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.

We remind that Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world's third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.

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) -- The owners of Limetree Bay, a Caribbean refinery that was once the largest in the Western Hemisphere, filed for bankruptcy after lenders balked at putting new cash into a project dogged by cost overruns and regulatory troubles, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The St. Croix refinery overhaul was the most expensive effort in nearly a decade to expand refining capacity in the hemisphere. Investors plunged several billion dollars into the project, aimed at taking advantage of its prime location along shipping routes in the Caribbean. The plan fizzled after construction delays and the COVID-19 pandemic, which slashed demand for fuel worldwide.

The refinery finally restarted in February - only to shut three months later when Limetree Bay ran afoul of U.S. environmental regulators who ordered shut after a series of fires and noxious gas releases. "Severe financial and regulatory constraints have left us no choice but to pursue this path, after careful consideration of all alternatives," Jeff Rinker, Limetree Bay's chief executive, said of the bankruptcy filing in a statement.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in May ordered the plant to shut temporarily after the gas releases contaminated local drinking water, shut a school and led residents to complain of breathing problems and foul odors. The EPA order, and subsequent investigations by U.S. officials, made investors wary of investing the additional money needed to get the refinery restarted, the company said in court filings.

Late on Monday, Limetree and its debtors requested court approval to obtain up to USD25 million in so-called debtor-in-possession financing. This would allow the parties to immediately borrow USD5.5 million, with approval for rest of the amount at subsequent hearings.

More recently, lenders objected to the plant's call for new cash to complete the project, according to the head of EIG Global Energy Partners, the Washington-based private equity firm that leads the largest investor group. "EIG supports the company's efforts to secure funding," EIG Chairman Blair Thomas said in a statement, adding "to date the senior lenders have objected" to those efforts. The firm and its partners became "the reluctant owners" earlier this year when its original sponsor withdrew, he said.

Westbourne Capital, an Australian debt investor that provided a USD700 million term loan, holds the senior-most debt in the project and could decide the plant's fate, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified. Westbourne did not reply to requests for comment.

As MRC wrote before, in early July, US crude stocks fell for the sixth straight week as refiners ramped up output in response to rising demand, according to the Energy Information Administration. Crude inventories fell by 6.7 million barrels in the week to June 25 to 452.3 million barrels, a steeper drop than the 4.7 million barrels expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.

We remind that Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world's third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.

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) -- MEGlobal has announced its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) to be shipped in August 2021, according to the company's press release.

Thus, on 12 July, the company said ACP for MEG would be at USD840/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival in August 2021, up by USD10/tonne from the previous month.

The August 2021 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.

As MRC reported earlier, MEGlobal announced its July ACP for MEG at USD830/MT CFR Asian main ports, as in June and May, when the company's MEG prices went down by USD100/tonne from April 2021.

MEG is one of the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Russia, spot prices of producers Ecopet and SIBUR remained unchanged last week. Producer's average spot prices fell to Rb118,000-130,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

MEGlobal is a fully integrated supplier of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), collectively known as ethylene glycol (EG).
MRC