US energy companies prepare for severe weather during landfall of tropical storm Ida

US energy companies prepare for severe weather during landfall of tropical storm Ida

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US energy companies on Thursday began airlifting workers from Gulf of Mexico oil platforms and moved vessels ahead of a powerful hurricane forecast for the weekend, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Gulf of Mexico offshore wells account for 17% of US crude oil production and 5% of dry natural gas production. Over 45% of total US refining capacity lies along the Gulf Coast.

Exxon Mobil Corp said it was preparing its 520,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana refinery for severe weather, but operations were normal on Thursday.

Phillips 66 operations at refineries in Lake Charles and Alliance, Louisiana, “will be adjusted based on the storm’s progression,” spokesman Bernardo Fallas said.

BP PLC, BHP, Chevron, Equinor and Royal Dutch Shell removed workers from offshore facilities, spokespeople said. BHP and Chevron evacuated non-essential staff while Equinor said it is preparing to move workers off its Titan platform.

BHP, BP and Shell said they have begun to shut in production at offshore platforms. Chevron said its production remained at normal levels on Thursday, while Occidental Petroleum and Hess Corp said they are monitoring weather conditions.U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline prices rose in the past two trading sessions because of concerns around the storm, traders said.

Tropical Storm Ida was swirling in the Caribbean Sea and forecast to march through the main oil-producing region of the Gulf on Friday. Louisiana declared a state of emergency and called on residents to prepare for a major hurricane. Ida is expected to strike the central Gulf Coast with a life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and heavy rains, the National Hurricane Center said. It could make landfall as a category 3 hurricane packing winds of up to 111 miles (178 km) per hour.

As MRC reported before, the fourth-largest US refiner Phillips 66 said earlier this month that it put the smaller of its two Louisiana refineries up for sale amid continued losses and an uncertain future for motor fuels. The company is holding talks with a potential buyer on the sale of its 255,600 barrel-per-day (bpd) Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, according to two people familiar with the matter. The identity of the potential buyer could not immediately be learned. US refiners have closed or sold oil processing plants as the COVID-19 pandemic slashed demand for gasoline and jet fuel, generating losses for the industry.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

Asian PET recycling companies report feedstock shortage due to COVID-19 pandemic

Asian PET recycling companies report feedstock shortage due to COVID-19 pandemic

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Southeast Asian polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling companies will continue facing challenges with the availability of raw materials, due to the low collecting and processing rate, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, reported S&P Global with reference to market sources.

Many manufacturers are still looking to shift more volumes for local sales, as exports are restricted by container shortage and higher freight costs, sources said.

As MRC informed earlier, Alpek (Monterrey, Mexico) expects to finish commissioning and begin production at a Reading, Pennsylvania, recycled PET facility in the third quarter of 2021, reported. DAK Americas, Alpek's US subsidiary, bought the facility in late-May for USD98.1 million at an auction in the bankruptcy case of California recycled PET producer CarbonLite.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption totalled 411,200 tonnes in the first six month of 2021, up by 12% year on year. Russian companies processed 62,910 tonnes in June, compared to 85,890 tonnes a month earlier.
MRC

Sika to bivest European Industrial Coatings Business to Sherwin-Williams

Sika to bivest European Industrial Coatings Business to Sherwin-Williams

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Sherwin-Williams Company will acquire the European industrial coatings business of Sika AG, said Ccoatingsworld.

The acquired business will become part of the Sherwin-Williams Performance Coatings segment and that includes approximately 130 Sika employees. The transaction is expected to close in the beginning of 2022.

Based in Germany, with additional sales and technical support in Poland, Austria and Switzerland, the Sika European industrial coating business engineers, manufactures and sells corrosion protection coating systems for high-value interior and exterior steel infrastructure, bridges, airport and rail, wind and energy, chemicals, power transmission and stations, interior linings for oil and gas tanks, vessels, and pipework, and water and wastewater applications, along with fire-protection coating systems to protect and preserve steel, wood and concrete building components. The business generated approximately CHF 75 million (USD82 million) in sales for the year ended Dec. 31, 2020.

"This transaction fits our strategy of acquiring complementary, high-quality, differentiated businesses that add to our profitable growth momentum,” said John G. Morikis, Sherwin-Williams chairman, president and chief executive officer. “The business brings us scale, unique technology, a strong sales and marketing team, technical service capabilities, strategically located manufacturing, and leading specification and approval positions, all of which we can leverage further throughout Europe and other regions across the world."

As per MRC, Swiss specialty and construction chemicals company Sika has acquired Shenzhen Landun Holding, a manufacturer of waterproofing systems in China, for an undisclosed sum. Shenzhen Landun has a range of waterproofing products and technologies that "perfectly" complement Sika’s portfolio. The acquisition provides a platform for Sika to further grow and strengthen its position in the fast-growing Chinese waterproofing market.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in June 2021 by 10.2% year on year. However, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 8.2% in the first six months of 2021, according to Rosstat's data. June production of polymers in primary form was 937,000 tonnes versus 956,000 tonnes in May. Russia's overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 4,460,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 12.8% year on year.

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 200 factories. Its more than 20,000 employees generated annual sales of CHF 7.09 billion in 2018.
MRC

Production of polymer auto components in Russia is localised by almost 50% - NPP POLYPLASTIC

MOSCOW (MRC) - In the near future, the total volume of use of local compounds will approach 50% and about 70% of the total Russian volume will fall on NPP POLYPLASTIC, the company said in a statement.

Today, almost every car that is manufactured in Russia has parts made from domestic polymer composite materials.

“Russian raw materials are used in the production of models of the Renault-Nissan-Avtovaz, Volkswagen, Skoda, Peugeot-Citroen, Hyundai, Kia, Kamaz, GAZ, UAZ alliance. 70% of the total Russian volume is made by NPP "POLYPLASTIC", - noted Ekaterina Smirnova, deputy director for sales of the trading house "Polyplastic".

Today, Russian manufacturers of raw materials for auto components in industrial volumes are producing a new brand assortment for these brands. For example, "Polyplastic" produces materials for the manufacture of parts for the bumper group and engine compartment of the new Volkswagen Polo and Skoda Rapid, the company is a strategic partner of Peugeot-Citroen in Russia, nominations for new projects of the Renault-Nissan-Avtovaz Alliance have been received.

In 2020, the compounder underwent homologation and began supplying material for the production of large-sized exterior parts for Hyundai cars.

Earlier it was reported that RPE "POLYPLASTIC" increased the shipments of compounds by 13% in the first half of the year, the company said. In 2021, a Russian compounder entered the Polish market with its materials. The first shipment took place in April, and by the end of the six months a cooperation agreement was signed with one of the leading distributors of this European country.

SPE "POLYPLASTIC" plans to modernise 50% of production lines by 2025 in terms of automation of the control system and traceability of production process data.

Research and Production Enterprise "POLYPLASTIC" specializes in the production of thermoplastic composite materials and polymer raw materials for processing by injection molding, injection molding and extrusion and occupies a leading position in the Russian market of compounds based on thermoplastics. The company is in the TOP-10 among European compounders. The total production capacity of the enterprise is more than 115 thousand tons per year.
MRC

Sabic and Fujian Petrochemical to build mega petrochemical complex

Sabic and Fujian Petrochemical  to build mega petrochemical complex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Riyadh-based global chemical company Sabic has inked a joint venture contract with China's Fujian Petrochemical Industrial Group Co., Ltd (FJPEC) to build a world-class mega petrochemical complex in China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With a total investment of 40 billion yuan (about USD6.18 bn), the complex will be built at Gulei Industrial Park in Zhangzhou city, east China's Fujian Province. It will consist of a mixed feed steam cracker that holds an annual ethylene capacity of 1.5 m tonnes, as well as a series of downstream facilities including a mono ethylene glycol (MEG) unit, two polyethylene (PE) units, two polypropylene (PP) units, one polycarbonate (PC) unit and several by-product units.

Sabic announced in September 2018 that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Fujian provincial government to build a world-class petrochemical complex in China's southeastern province.

Fuhaichuang Petrochemical, formerly Dragon Aromatics (Zhangzhou), relaunched its 1.6Mtpa paraxylene plant and 4.5Mtpa purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Guley in December 2018 following a stopover that lasted more than three and a half years.

Dragon Aromatics was restructured in October 2017 into Fujian Fuhaichuang Petrochemical, which is 90% owned by China's Fuhua Gulei Petrochemical and 10% by Taiwan's Xianglu Group, the previous owner of Dragon Aromatics.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Fuhua Gulei is a joint venture between Fujian Petrochemical Group, funded by the Fujian government, and the local Jiulongjiang Group in Zhangzhou, a metropolitan area in Fujian province.

Sabic is a diversified company manufacturing chemicals, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest state-owned company in Saudi Arabia. Sabic is currently the world's second largest producer of ethylene glycol, the third largest polyethylene producer, and the fourth largest polypropylene producer.
MRC