Lubrizol enables preparation for spec upgrades

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lubrizol Corporation has enhanced its blending plant operations in Deer Park, Texas, as pending heavy-duty diesel, passenger car and marine diesel specification upgrades drive demand for higher-performing engine oils, as per the company's press release.

The USD28 million expansion will improve blending efficiency and increase capacity to ensure supply reliability as the market shifts and grows.

In addition to responding to market specifications, Lubrizol is also committed to improving service to its customers by investing in materials handling operations. An additional USD37 million will provide infrastructure improvements to railcar loading and unloading operations and enhance tank truck and isotainer handling.

The expansion strengthens Deer Park's position as an efficient, high-volume finished product supplier. It includes installation of new component storage tanks, state-of-the-art automated piggable component manifolds, new automated unloading locations and additional capability in the company's automated inline blending technology. The project also reduces manual labor and improves flexibility and customer response time.

"We are in a unique position to be nimble and highly responsive to the needs of our customers," says Fries. The upgrades at Deer Park are a great example of our underlying commitment to investing in our people, processes and products to help our customers succeed around the world."

As MRC wrote before, in June 2014, Lubrizol Corp. received all necessary regulatory approvals to proceed with its previously announced chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) joint venture with Sekisui Chemical Co. in Thailand. Lubrizol said the partners will invest about USD50-million to build a 30,000-t/y CPVC resin plant in the first phase. This phase, for which a specific location was not given, is expected to be fully operational by late 2014 or early 2015. A second phase will double capacity to 60,000 t/y with a further USD50-million investment and is scheduled to begin production by the end of 2016.

The Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is an innovative specialty chemical company that apart from its production develops and supplies technologies to customers in the global transportation, industrial and consumer markets. Lubrizol's advanced polymer technology delivers exceptional performance for the plumbing, fire sprinkler, industrial and other building and construction related applications. Lubrizol is providing innovative solutions for its customers high-performance application needs and remains committed to ongoing investment in its CPVC capabilities that support future growth.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC) is likely to shut its No 1 cracker for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A source in Taiwan informed that the plant is likely to be shut in June 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located at Mailiao in Taiwan, the cracker has a production capacity of 700,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, the producer shut this cracker before in the late September 2014.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia's Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co (Yansab), a subsidiary of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), has announced it will be shutting its ethylene glycol plant in April 2015 for between 35 and 60 days for planned maintenance, reported Reuters.

The financial impact on the company from the maintenance work was estimated to be around 450 million riyals (USD119.9 million), which would be recorded in its second-quarter financials, it said in a bourse filing. (USD1 US dollar = 3.7530 Saudi riyal).

As MRC informed previously, Yansab reported a net profit of SAR2.64 billion in full-year profit for 2013 versus SAR2.45 billion in 2012, citing higher prices for its products and lower financing costs.

The objectives of Yansab, a subsidiary of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), are to engage in manufacturing of petrochemical products (ethylene, ethylene glycol, high density polyethylene, low linear density polyethylene, polypropylene, butene 1, butene 2, MTBE and BTX) in accordance with its Articles of Association, and other applicable regulations in the Kingdom. The Company commenced its Commercial operations on 1 March 2010.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea's Hanwha Chemical is no longer considering buying parts of Dow Chemical's chloro-alkali business, reported Reuters with a reference to a spokesman for Hanwha Group.

South Korea's Hanwha Chemical had picked Credit Suisse to advise on possible purchases from Dow Chemical's chloro-alkali business but its interest is still in the early stages, Hanwha said earlier this year.

Hanwha Chemical and two group affiliates said in late November 2014 that it will buy stakes in Samsung Group's four chemical and defence firms for 1.9 trillion won (USD1.72 billion).

The Hanwha spokesman said the stake purchases in Samsung firms are expected to boost its petrochemical business, no longer making it necessary to consider Dow Chemical's businesses.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. As of 2007, it is the second-largest chemical manufacturer in the world by revenue (after BASF) and as of February 2009, the third-largest chemical company in the world by market capitalization (after BASF and DuPont). Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.

Hanwha Group is one of the largest business conglomerate in South Korea. Founded in 1952 as Korea Explosives Inc., the group has grown into a large multi-profile business conglomerate, with diversified holdings stretching from explosives, their original business, to retail to financial services.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- On December 5, in Astana in the framework of the business forum during the official visit of the President of French Republic F.Hollande to the Republic of Kazakhstan, JSC "KazMunaiGaz - refining and marketing" and French company Air Liquide signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a joint project realization, as per Caspian Energy News with reference to the press office of KazMunaiGaz.

According to the Memorandum, the parties will work to agree the terms of the joint project of production and supply of industrial gases for the needs of Kazakhstan refineries. It is planned that the project will include the plants for industrial gases production of all three Kazakhstan oil refineries and measures for improvement of industrial gases production efficiency.

In future, it is planned to establish a joint venture between JSC KazMunaiGaz - refining and marketing and French company Air Liquide.

"We are interested in cooperation with «Air Liquide», to use its expertise and technologies in industrial gases production for refineries. The signed Memorandum of Understanding confirms the readiness of our companies to apply all the efforts to realize the joint project, which carries both technical and economic benefits for our refineries, - emphasized in his speech General Director of JSC "KazMunaiGaz - refining and marketing" (Chairman of the Management Board) Daniyar Tiyessov.

As MRC wrote before, Kazakhstan plans to build a major petrochemical complex by 2016 to produce higher-value products from associated petroleum gas that is currently mainly flared. The complex will be built in the Atyrau region, where one of Kazakhstan's major oil fields, Tengiz, is located and which will become the key source for feedstock to the complex. The first two stages of the complex, to be completed in 2016, will require 7 billion cubic meters/year of gas as feedstock and will see propylene and polypropylene output capacity of 500,000 tpa and 800,000 tpa, respectively. The third stage will envisage butadiene output at 250,000 tpa, with gas from other major fields in Kazakhstan, Karachaganak and Kashagan as feedstock, she said. This stage is currently expected to be built in 2016 as well but it is most likely to be delayed to at least 2018 because of delays in startup of Kashagan.
MRC