Jacobs to design Indonesia chlorine dioxide plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jacobs Engineering Group was awarded a contract by P.T. OKI Pulp and Paper Mills for the design and supply of an integrated chlorine dioxide plant for its pulp mill project in South Sumatra, Indonesia, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Officials did not disclose the contract value, but noted that when completed, the plant is anticipated to produce 172 tpd of chlorine dioxide, making it the largest chlorine dioxide plant ever built.

The plant is scheduled to be commissioned in 2016.

Under the terms of the contract, Jacobs is designing and engineering the plant, supplying key equipment and materials including Jacobs’ proprietary Chemetics equipment, and providing technical services for plant erection, operator training, commissioning and testing.

"We are pleased to build upon our successes in supplying several chlorine dioxide plants to clients in Indonesia since the 1980s, and look forward to providing quality and value to P.T. OKI on this significant project," said Jacobs vice president Terry Hagen.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, Jacobs Engineering Group has recently received a contract from Borealis to provide engineering, procurement, project management and construction management services for a project to increase cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) capacity at its manufacturing site in Stenungsund, Sweden.

Besides, Jacobs has just received a five-year frame agreement for work at three Borealis facilities in Belgium. Company officials did not disclose the contract value, but noted that the three facilities covered under the contract are Borealis Polymers N.V., Borealis Kallo N.V. and Borealis Antwerpen Compounding N.V.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the world's petrochemical major, has announced the launch of commercial production of LFP (lithium iron phosphate) cathode materials in Weimar, Germany, as per the company's press release.

BASF is operating a 3,000 metric ton (MT) per year plant in Weimar, leveraging LFP precursors produced at the BASF headquarters site in Ludwigshafen, Germany. IBU-Tec, a specialist in rotary kiln technology and systems, is carrying out operations at the Weimar manufacturing plant under the supervision and full operational control of BASF.

BASF’s innovative LFP materials are used in the production of advanced lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) for various applications, providing advanced power and safety characteristics. LFP is a valuable extension of BASF’s LiB cathode materials portfolio which includes NCM (Nickel Cobalt Manganese), produced at a BASF manufacturing plant in Elyria, Ohio.

BASF’s HED LFP is produced using a proprietary process developed by BASF to ensure superior performance of the product as well as superior batch-to-batch consistency.

As MRC reported earlier, BASF is the first European manufacturer to have completely switched a production plant for XPS (extruded polystyrene rigid foam) to a new polymeric flame retardant (PolyFR). Styrodur insulating panels produced at BASF’s plant in Tudela, Spain, are now made exclusively with the polymeric flame retardant, which has a superior environmental profile while offering the same flame retardancy. BASF’s other Styrodur production plants in Ludwigshafen and Schwarzheide, Germany, and Bibbiano, Italy, will all be switched to the new flame retardant by the end of 2014.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kentz has won a lucrative contract to supply support services to several petrochemical plants under construction in Saudi Arabia. The Sadara Chemical Company is constructing a series of petrochemical plants near the industrial city of Jubail, as per Plastemart.

Kentz said it has been hired to supply manpower, management and skilled labour. The company will also support construction, commissioning and start-up activities.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, last June, Dow Chemical, an American multinational chemical corporation, announced the signing of the main financing for the Sadara project. Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara), Dow's joint venture with Saudi Aramco, entered into definitive agreements with certain export credit agencies, commercial banks and the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for approximately USD10.5 billion of additional project financing.

The financing supplements the USD2 billion raised through a Sukuk Islamic bond issuance in April, 2013, bringing the total Sadara project financing raised to approximately USD12.5 billion, which will be used to fund the construction and start-up of the joint venture.

Sadara is building a world-scale, fully integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City 2, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The complex will be comprised of 26 manufacturing units, will possess flexible cracking capabilities and is expected to produce more than 3 million metric tons of high-value performance plastics and specialty chemical products. The first production units are expected to come on-line in the second half of 2015, with full production starting in mid-2016. As MRC wrote previously, last March petrochemical company Sadara contracted Intertec to protect around 1,000 field-based process analysers at its new complex in Saudi Arabia.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) is nearing completion of preliminary studies for the construction of a new oil-to-chemicals (OTC) plant in Saudi Arabia, according to the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council (SABC), reported GV.

The facility, expected to be operational by the end of 2020, will process about 200,000 b/d of crude oil to produce downstream petrochemicals. The complex, for which an exact location was not disclosed, is expected to create about 100,000 new jobs.

"The OTC complex will set a new competitive standard and establish Saudi Arabia as a technology leader in the petrochemical industry," reported SABC quoting Sabic Chief Executive and Vice Chairman Mohamed Al-Mady.

"OTC technology allows for the conversion of crude oil to petrochemical products at the highest ever achieved conversion rate in a competitive and sustainable way," Al- Mady added.

The project will allow Sabic to develop advanced specialty chemicals in line with their 2025 strategic plan, the SABC added.

As MRC informed earlier, Sabic Innovative Plastics will invest in a production line for Stamax-brand long glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene (PP) resin at its manufacturing site in Shanghai. Investment or production capacity numbers were not revealed, but the new line is expected to come on stream in H2-2015. This will be Sabic's third Stamax plant, joining existing facilities in Genk, Belgium, and Bay St. Louis, Miss.

Sabic is a diversified manufacturing company, active in chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia and the largest company in the Middle East. Sabic is currently the second largest global ethylene glycol producer and is expected to become number one after the introduction of these new projects. Sabic is the third largest polyethylene manufacturer, the fourth largest polyolefins manufacturer and the fourth largest polypropylene manufacturer. It is also the world's largest producer of mono-ethylene glycol, MTBE, granular urea, polyphenylene and polyether imide.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ethylene vinyl acetate & (EVA) is estimated to generate global value of USD12,131.4 million by 2018, reported Plastemart with reference to Marketsandmarket.

The Asia-Pacific region is the world’s largest market of ethylene vinyl acetate, with around half of its total demand in 2012. China is the key consumer of ethylene vinyl acetate in the Asia-Pacific. Injection molding, film,compounding and wire & cable are the application segments, driving the demand for ethylene vinyl acetate products, which in turn is pushing the demand for ethylene vinyl acetate within the region. The growing industrial expansions in the region have also led to increased consumption of ethylene vinyl acetate.

The market is also growing due to high penetration of this material in industries such as film and other extrusion which have further helped the ethylene vinyl acetate market to emerge in the region. Various innovations, developments, and expansions in different industries have in turn made the region a potential growth market for ethylene vinyl acetate.

High density ethylene vinyl acetate is manufactured by the copolymerization of ethylene and vinyl acetate. It contains around 25%-45% of vinyl acetate content. High density ethylene vinyl acetate is consumed in applications such as hot melt adhesives and injection molding. It is the fastest growing ethylene vinyl acetate form with a CAGR of 6.50% to 2018.

The important growth driver for ethylene vinyl acetate is the huge economic progress of the Asia-Pacific countries, increase in end use applications, and easy availability of cheaper raw materials in North America and the Asia-Pacific. Compounding and wire & cable application market for ethylene vinyl acetate has a wide scope for its expansion, which in turn would help in increasing the consumption for high density ethylene vinyl acetate and medium density ethylene vinyl acetate.

Medium density ethylene vinyl acetate remains the dominant type and is estimated to grow with a healthy CAGR in the coming future. Film is the biggest application of ethylene vinyl acetate and is anticipated to be worth USD4,741.1 million by 2018.

ExxonMobil Corporation (U.S), LyondellBasell Industries NV (The Netherlands), E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (U.S.), ENI S.p.A (Italy) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (China) are some of the key manufacturers of ethylene vinyl acetate.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) said it completed the construction works of its ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) plant in April 2014, expecting the experimental operation to commence in Q2-14.
MRC