Foster Wheeler wins engineering on monoethylene glycol project of Qatar, Shell

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Foster Wheeler has been awarded a contract by Shell Global Solutions to develop the basic engineering package for a world-scale mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) facility at Ras Laffan, Qatar.

The value of the contract was not disclosed and will be included in the company’s third-quarter 2012 bookings. The MEG facility will be part of a new petrochemicals complex in Ras Laffan Industrial City being developed by a joint venture of Qatar Petroleum and Shell.

The two-train MEG facility, based on Shell’s OMEGA technology, is planned to produce 1.5 million tpy of MEG. Foster Wheeler was previously the front-end engineering design and engineering, procurement and construction management contractor for Shell’s OMEGA-based MEG plant on Jurong Island in Singapore, officially opened in December 2009.

"We believe our project execution performance on Shell’s MEG facility in Singapore, one of the world’s largest MEG facilities, was world class, and was a key factor in positioning us for this award," said Umberto della Sala, chief operating officer for Foster Wheeler.
MRC

(plasteurope) -- German automotive supplier Plastal’s plant in Hambach, France announced that the French plant had joined a string of other Plastal facilities that have become part of French automotive giant Faurecia (Nanterre). This means the financial restructuring of the German group, which is specialised on the production of plastic parts for car bodies and bumpers and had filed for insolvency in early 2009 has now been wrapped up.

Over the course of the last few years, Faurecia acquired most of Plastal’s plants in a piecemeal fashion, starting with the group’s six German sites as well as its operation in Spain. This approach has safeguarded all the sites’ operations as well as the almost 3,000 employees whose livelihoods had been threatened by the insolvency.

MRC

(plasteurope) -- The Medical Plastic Systems (MPS) business unit of Gerresheimer (Dusseldorf / Germany) is expanding its plant in Dongguan / China into a competence centre for the injection moulding, printing and assembly of medical devices. In a move aimed at reducing production costs, the company plans to start the manufacture of price-sensitive products including lancing devices and lancets at its plant in Pfreimd / Germany, and then transfer the process to China.

Gerresheimer's operations in Dongguan already boast 15 injection moulding machines "By combining our European development and industrialisation competency with the production potential in China, we are able to offer our customers customised solutions with attractive production costs," said Manfred Baumann, the COO of Gerresheimer Regensburg. By now, the company has set up an entire process chain for lancing devices in Dongguan, including 15 injection moulding machines, two semi-automatic assembly units including welding installations, as well as six Kent printing machines for pad printing.

The transfer of the industrialisation process from the company’s technical company centre in Wackersdorf, Germany to Dongguan is overseen by Gerresheimer’s Production Coordination Unit.
MRC

(plasteurope) -- Mitsui Chemicals (Tokyo / Japan) is restructuring its ethylene and polyolefins operations in Chiba / Japan in response to weak domestic demand and increased competition from the Middle East and China. The restructuring, which is expected to take place next year, includes reducing ethylene output from the two crackers at the site and closing an HDPE plant.

"Construction of new large-scale petrochemical facilities in the Middle East and China and increased reliance on shale gas in North America have forced Japan’s petrochemical industry to undertake sweeping fundamental reforms to strengthen its competitiveness in the global market," Mitsui said.

The two Chiba crackers are operated by Chiba Chemicals Manufacturing (Tokyo), a 50:50 joint venture between Mitsui and Idemitsu Kosan. Chiba Chemicals Manufacturing intends to cut output from the crackers from August 2013

In addition, Prime Polymer, a polyolefins joint venture between Mitsui and Idemitsu Kosan, will suspend production at a 130,000 t/y HDPE plant in Chiba in March 2013. Output from the plant competes directly with general purpose products and imports, Mitsui explained.

Prime Polymer is rationalising its production as part of a shift in focus from generic product areas to high value-added products. The company decided to close two PP plants in Chiba, and will increase production of high value-added Evolue from 240,000 to 300,000 t/y from November 2011, Mitsui said. It did not provide details of the PP closures.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - In August price quotation of PTA in Asian markets continued to grow steadily. By the end of the month the price of imported material in the Chinese port increased by USD39/tonne, as per MRC analysts.

Market players reported the tightened supply of the key feedstock, which is the main driver of the prices. Two powerful typhoons resulted in the closure of Ningbo - the major port in the east of China. The port resumed the work on 28 August, but not at full capacity. Several local makers of PTA also suffered from the typhoons, which led to problems with the domestic supply.

The shortage of imports supply was another important factor in the price. Due to the reduction of the output of terephthalic acid in South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, some Chinese consumers are not able to buy material in the foreign markets.

The price quotation of PTA, voiced at the last day of August, made USD1,030-1,045/tonne, CFR China. It should be noted that in early August the spot price of PTA in the Chinese port was at USD991-1,006/tonne, CFR China.

At the same time, the weak demand from producers of PET limits the further rise of PTA prices. In the second half of August lacklustre sales of PET fiber made local textile manufacturers reduce the capacity utilization to 75%. Buyers in the market believe that when the supply of PTA stabilizes, the price can go down to the previous level.

MRC