Hanwha Solutions to invest in caustic soda capacity expansion in South Korea

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hanwha Solutions plans to increase its caustic soda, chlorine and ethylene dichloride (EDC) capacity annually at its Yeosu facility in South Korea, the company said.

Hanwha Solutions currently produces 840,000 tonnes of caustic soda per year and is the No. 1 company in the CA field in Korea. Caustic soda is a raw material necessary for cleaning, smelting, and bleaching of industrial materials such as metals, and it is essential to remove impurities in the cathode material production process, which is a core material for secondary batteries. It is also used to extract aluminum, a key material for lightweight materials, from rough bauxite. With this investment, Hanwha Solutions will build a caustic soda production facility with a total annual production capacity of 1.11 million tonnes by adding up to 270,000 tonnes, and leap forward as a major global producer.

As caustic soda production expands, the production of chlorine, a by-product, will also increase by 250,000 tonnes. In addition, the production of ethylene chloride (EDC), which is used as a raw material for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) by reacting chlorine with ethylene, will also increase by more than 280,000 tonnes. Hanwha Solutions is actively reviewing PVC facility expansion based on the additionally secured EDC volume.

Hanwha Solutions expected that additional sales of more than 300 billion won per year would be generated by commercial production of capacity expansion in the first half of 2025.

Earlier it was reported that Hanwha Solutions carried out planned annual preventive measures at the ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) plant in Ulsan (Ulsan, South Korea). Thus, maintenance at this enterprise with a total capacity of three lines of 120,000 tonnes of EVA per year began on 18 October of this year and was completed on 10 November.

As MRC reported earlier, the June production of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) amounted to 103,000 tonnes (100% of the main substance) against 105,000 tonnes a month earlier. For the first half of the year, the total production of caustic soda amounted to 642,500 tonnes, which is 1.2% less than the same indicator of the last year.

South Korean Hanwha Chemical was established in 1965. It is the first company in the country to start producing PVC, HDPE, linear polyethylene and chlor-alkali products.
MRC

1.Crude oil prices recover on large inventory draw as markets ignore gasoline build

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil prices recovered on Wednesday morning despite word from the Energy Information Administration of an inventory draw of 4.7 million barrels for the week to December 17, according to OilPrice. At 423.6 million barrels, crude oil inventories remain 8% below the five-year average - compared to 7% below the five-year average last week. Last week’s draw adds to last week’s huge draw of 4.6 million barrels from crude oil inventories. On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute estimated a crude oil inventory draw of 3.670 million barrels for the week to December 17.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire erupted on Thursday morning at an Exxon Mobil Corp complex in Baytown, Texas, one of the largest refining and petrochemical facilities in the United States, reported Reuters.

Four people were injured. There were no fatalities and those injured were in a stable condition, while other personnel were accounted for, Exxon said.

Emergency response teams were working to extinguish the blaze more than five hours after it erupted at about 1 a.m. on Thursday, the company said.

The fire occurred in a hydrotreater unit at the oil refinery that had been shut on Wednesday due to a bypass line leak, people familiar with plant operations told Reuters. The injured were contractors who had been repairing the leak.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said initial reports had indicated there had been some type of explosion at the plant. Social media users said on Twitter that a blast shook buildings in the area.

An Exxon official told a news conference the blaze had affected a unit that produces gasoline.

The Baytown plant houses a chemical plant, an olefins plant and the country's fourth biggest oil refinery, with capacity to process 560,500 barrels per day of crude.

The olefins facility, which began operations in 1979, is one of the largest ethylene plants in the world, according to the company's website.

Production was reduced across the Baytown refining and petrochemical complex in August 2019 because of a fire in a propylene recovery unit at the olefins plant. And as many as 37 workers were injured in another fire at the olefins facility in July 2019.

As MRC wrote previously, ExxonMobil said in late August, 2021, a small debris fire near an out-of-service tank was quickly extinguished at its 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas, refinery. There were no injuries.

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 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis (Vienna), a leading producer of polyolefins, has delayed the start-up of a new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant at its existing production site at Kallo, Belgium, which is the company's biggest investment in Europe, until Q3 2023, citing Covid-19, according to Kemicalinfo with reference to the company's email.

The plant in Kallo in the port of Antwerp was previously targeted to begin operations by the end of next year.

Pandemic-driven restrictions have wreaked havoc on maintenance and construction schedules in the industry. A new nitrogen facility being built by Nederlandse Gasunie NV in Zuidbroek in the Netherlands is also behind plan.

Borealis announced spending of EUR1 billion (USD1.1 billion) for its Kallo plant in 2019. The PDH facility will turn propane into propylene, which is then used in plastics.

As MRC reported earlier, the constriction works of Borealis' new PDH unit in Kallo began in September, 2019. The new PDH plant would have a targeted production capacity of 750,000 metric tons/year of propylene, making it one of the largest such facilities in the world. Borealis chose Kallo due to its logistical position and its experience in propylene production and handling. Borealis has selected the Honeywell UOP Oleflex technology for the new plant. Borealis already owns a 480,000-metric tons/year PDH plant at Kallo, which will continue to operate.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

Borealis is owned by OMV AG and Mubadala Investment Co., the Abu Dhabi state investment company. Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Deer Park refinery sale to the Mexican state-owned company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has been approved by the US government, according to EnergyCapital with reference to president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador' statement this Wednesday.

Firstly, as we have reported previously, the sale was a matter of dispute. Some US Congressman considered selling Shell’s Deer Park refinery to Pemex threatened US national security.

Moreover, the transaction had a value of $596 million, in a combination of debt and cash; plus, the value of hydrocarbon inventory. The transaction would allow Shell to focus its refining footprint further; while also maintaining integration optionality and retaining value through its Chemicals and Trading activities.

On the other hand, the acquisition has a political value for Mexico. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pledged to drive the country to energy self-sufficiency by 2023. Indeed, Mexico has a deep dependence on foreign fuel imports. It buys around 70% of its fuel consumption from abroad.

Furthermore, back in late November, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) denied the final approval for the sale. However, on Wednesday morning, the Mexican government said the CFIUS had finally approved the transaction.

In addition, Pemex Chief Executive Officer Octavio Romero, speaking alongside president Obrador, said that it was excellent news. He also remarked. “The idea is to finalize the purchase during the first weeks of 2022.”

As MRC informed previously, Royal Dutch Shell plc. said in November that its petrochemical complex of several billion dollars in Western Pennsylvania is about 70% complete and in the process to enter service in the early 2020s. The plant's costs are estimated to be USD6-USD10 billion, where ethane will be transformed into plastic feedstock. The facility is equipped to produce 1.5 million metric tons per year (mmty) of ethylene and 1.6 mmty of polyethylene (PE), two important constituents of plastics.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC