EPA issues final notice to ExxonMobil Baytown to construct part of ethylene expansion project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently issued a final notice of decision for the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) for greenhouse gas (GHG) construction permit for the ExxonMobil Olefins Plant in Baytown, Texas, as per 4-traders.

The company proposes to construct a new ethylene production unit consisting of eight ethylene cracking furnaces and recovery equipment to produce polymer-grade ethylene.

"We are working to control greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean energy in the new projects coming to communities across Texas," said EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry. "These projects show that economic development and environmental protection can go hand-in-hand."

On Nov. 25, 2013, EPA issued a final permit to the facility. The permit was appealed to EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, which denied review of the petition on May 14, 2014. On May 14, EPA finalized the permit allowing ExxonMobil to begin construction of the project. The project is part of a multibillion-dollar expansion project in Baytown. It's estimated to create 10,000 construction jobs and 350 permanent jobs.

"ExxonMobil's petrochemical expansion, enabled by growing supplies of shale energy, will create thousands of new jobs and boost the Houston area economy and tax revenues by nearly a billion dollars a year. This export-oriented project is a powerful example of how shale energy can revitalize the U.S. economy in an environmentally responsible manner," said Stephen D. Pryor, president, ExxonMobil Chemical Company.

In June 2010, EPA finalized national GHG regulations, which specify that beginning on January 2, 2011, projects that increase GHG emissions substantially will require an air permit.

As MRC informed previously, in March 2014, ExxonMobil Chemical announced that it will build facilities to manufacture premium halobutyl rubber and Escorez hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin at its recently-expanded petrochemical complex in Singapore. Engineering and procurement activities had already begun, with construction expected to begin in the second half of 2014 and completion anticipated in 2017.

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) -- Arkema, a global chemical company, and Polymem, a French SME specializing in the manufacture of filtration modules from hollow fiber membranes, have jointly developed a new ultrafiltration hydrophilic membrane technology to produce high quality water over the long term, reported Arkema on its site.

This ultrafiltration technology using membranes manufactured by Polymem from a brand new nanostructured Kynar PVDF polymer developed by Arkema, makes the treatment of water using membranes more effective and less energy-intensive.

The aim of the partnership is both to speed up the commercial development of this ultrafiltration membrane technology boasting durable hydrophilic properties, and to make it accessible to other water treatment players without delay. This technology has been proven by an ultrafiltration demonstrator manufactured by Polymem.

As a water treatment technology, membrane filtration is being adopted by many plants for recycling municipal and industrial wastewater, for drinking water, or for pre-treatment in seawater desalination. The water is fed at low pressure through thousands of semi-permeable and porous hollow fibers that retain suspended solids, impurities, bacteria and viruses. Today, one of the materials that is most widely used for these membranes is PVDF, in which Arkema is the world leader.

As MRC reported before, in early 2014, Arkema announced the construction of a new organic peroxide plant on its Changshu site in China. This investment will help double the site’s production capacity. By doubling its production capacity in China, Arkema will continue to support the strong growth in the organic peroxide market in Asia, a region in which the Group is also a producer in India, South Korea and Japan. The new Changshu plant is due to come on stream in early 2016.

Arkema with annual revenue of EUR6.1 billion is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc. Arkema operates 11 organic peroxide plants on the three continents, has operations in more than 40 countries, some 14,000 employees and 10 research centers.

Polymem, a French independent SME located in the Toulouse area, established in 1997 by two engineers specializing in hollow fiber membranes for water treatment, manufactures water filtration membranes and modules for municipal, industrial and commercial markets. With over 200 installations worldwide, the company’s know-how for the sector’s OEMs and distributors relies on a comprehensive range of both standard and customized filtration membranes and modules in order to design reliable and cost-competitive membrane systems.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- MRC has launched a new analytical report, ScanPlast on polycarbonate (PC) market in Russia, MRC analysts said.

The report provides detailed information on the production and consumption of PC in Russia by product types. For the purposes of this analysis products were divided into the following types: PC granules (virgin), PC/ABS, PC/GF, PC compounds. Top grades, producers, exporting countries, and delivery terms are analysed for each type of product. Also, based on the data on the volume of the national PC production, we are able to estimate the market demand for the material and quantify its volume. In addition, there are general price reviews in the local PC market.

"Polycarbonate is a high-tech polymer, and we are confident that it has a great future in the global and domestic market. Our PC market is still young. Nevertheless, demand for PC and number of applications are growing, new importers are coming on board, the market is becoming more complex and varied. We published our first ScanPlast report on PC market for our clients on 21 February 2014. For those market players who need to understand the broader picture of supply and demand, this report will be an excellent addition to our DataScope, which is an in-depth insight into import and export flows in the PC market in Russia" - said Ekaterina Trubaeva, the production analyst at MRC on the launch of the new report.

MRC is an information and analytical company specialising in reporting on the polymers markets of Russia, Ukraine and CIS countries. ScanPlast and DataScope reports belong to the range of its supply and demand analytical products.

ScanPlast - is a monthly report of a given polymer market, summarising vital data over the past month, such as total estimated consumption by type of polymer, production by plants, export and import by polymer processing technologies, end consumption with consideration of stocks, schedule of shutdowns, top-5 grades and producers by sales.

DataScope - is a comprehensive operational analysis of trade flows, detailing imports and exports by polymer processing sectors, producers, countries and regions. This review also rates top producers of the given polymer in several processing technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia exported 34,700 tonnes of polyamide (PA) to foreign markets from January to April 2014, up by 23% year on year, according to MRC DataScope.

PA 6 of Kuibyshevazot, the only Russian PA 6 producer, accounted for almost all exports from Russia. The plant's annual production capacity is 110,000 tonnes per year.

China with almost 40% of the total exports, India (20%), Turkey (15%) and Germany (9%) are the main export markets for Russian PA 6. The exported PA 6 is mainly used for yarns and fibers production (about 60% of all export quantities).

As reported earlier, the PA 6 segment of the Russian polyamide market is export-oriented, as domestic demand is weak.

Polyamide fibers and yarns made from PA 6 differ from others because of their resistance to abrasion. They are widely used for the production of hosiery and knitwear, sewing thread and clothing accessories (lace, braids, ribbons), ropes, fishing nets, conveyer belts, cords, fabrics for industrial purposes, as well as for the production of various fabrics for domestic purposes (alone or in mixture with other fibers).

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As expected, the Russian low density polyethylene (LDPE) market stabilized in the second half of May. Supplies of polyethylene (PE) by some producers have remained limited so far, however, prices stopped rising, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Traditionally, seasonally stronger demand and a scheduled outage at Kazanorgsintez are drivers of higher LDPE prices in the Russian market in spring. This year was no exception, but prices rose to record levels. The LDPE market had stabilized by mid-May, despite still tight PE supply from some producers. Prices stopped their upward trend.

Record-high LDPE prices and serious restrictions of current assets of most converters restrain current purchasing. Some market participants said they expect lower prices in the near future on the back of Kazanorgsintez's increased shipments.

The price spread was wide enough in the market last week. Offer pricess of 158 grade LDPE were in the range of Rb69,000-72,500/tonne FCA, including VAT, in the spot market. Shrinkable film grade PE was offered at an average of Rb72,500-74,000/tonne FCA, including VAT. A shortage remained in the 108 grade PE market, prices started from Rb71,000/tonne FCA, including VAT. Angarsk Polymer Plant's LDPE was offered at an average of Rb63,000/tonne FCA Angarsk, including VAT, but many companies still refused to ship the material because of long delivery.

Kazanorgsintez, Russia's second LDPE producer, began a gradual restart of production at the end of last week, after a one-month turnaround for maintenance. Shrinkable film grade PE (153 grade LDPE) was available in the market at the beginning of the week, 158 grade PE is expected to be shipped at the beginning of this week. The launch of 108 grade PE production was postponed until mid-June.

The partial restart of production at Kazanorgsintez will be a stabilizing factor in the Russian market, but PE prices are unlikely to drop to the March level. Besides, another period of scheduled outages is expected in July and August. Three producers - Gazprom neftekhim Salavat, Tomskneftekhim and Ufaorgsintez will shut down their production within the two-month period.
MRC