Intertape Polymer Group completes transaction to acquire Cantech

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Intertape Polymer Group Inc. has announced the completion on July 1 of the previously-announced transaction to acquire substantially all of the assets of Canadian Technical Tape Ltd, a North American supplier of industrial and specialty tapes based in Montreal, as per MarketWired.

The expected aggregate purchase price is approximately USD67 million (as updated from the previously-communicated purchase price of USD63 million due to certain purchase price adjustments), subject to further post-closing adjustments. All amounts in this press release are denominated in US dollars.

The Cantech acquisition will further enhance and extend the company's product offering, and provide additional distribution channels for IPG products in Canada, the US, and Europe. The purchase price was financed with funds available under IPG's revolving USD450 million credit facility.

As MRC wrote before, in early 2016, Intertape Polymer Group Inc. decided to invest in the construction of a greenfield manufacturing facility to increase the company's manufacturing capacity of water-activated tapes.

Intertape makes film- and paper-based pressure sensitive and water-activated tapes, polyethylene and specialized polyolefin films, woven coated fabrics and packaging systems for industrial and retail use. The company has 16 sites, including 11 manufacturing locations in North America and one manufacturing site in Porto, Portugal.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Zhejiang Petrochemical started construction on Monday of the first phase of its oil refining and petrochemical complex on the island of Zhoushan, near Shanghai, in Zhejiang province, the official Xinhua news agency reported, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Xinhua did not give an expected start-up date for the project. Reuters reported last year that the project was likely to be operational by 2020.

Zhejiang Petrochemical's project will consist of two 400,000 bpd oil refineries and two 1.4 MMtpy ethylene plants, according to an environmental evaluation paper from the Zhejiang provincial government dated May 3.

The project is part of Beijing's efforts to bring private investors into the country's state-controlled energy sector. It has also raised concerns of a growing domestic glut in oil products, especially in eastern China where diesel and gasoline demand eased.

Textile maker Rongsheng Holding Group, petrochemical maker Juhua Group and Tongkun Group, are the main financiers of the USD25.44-B project, the environmental document showed. The investors will borrow more than 120 B yuan in bank loans to finance the project, the document said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp this week bought about 60 Mt of naphtha using a pricing formula uncommon in the region, said Reuters.

Formosa, Asia's top naphtha importer, paid a discount of about USD5/t to a formula based 50–50 on prices from S&P Global Platts and Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), a unit of consulting firm IHS Markit, the sources said.

The discount paid for the cargoes, to be delivered in the second-half August to the port of Mailiao, marked the lowest price paid by Formosa since December, as the market struggles with surplus supplies.

"The difference in naphtha prices between those assessed by Platts and OPIS is very marginal," said one of the sources. They both declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media.

They added that Formosa plans to use the new formula in other transactions, saying it was in talks with sellers for some time before the change.

The company operates three naphtha crackers that produce more than 2.9 MMt of ethylene a year. Before this, Formosa, like other end users in eastern Asia, bought naphtha on a formula that was fully priced off Platts assessments.

On the other hand, refiners such as Abu Dhabi National Oil Corp (ADNOC), Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) use prices from Platts and Argus Media.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell has announced that Canada Kuwait Petrochemical Corp. (CKPC) has chosen Honeywell UOP's C3 Oleflex technology to produce 550,000 metric tons per year of polymer-grade propylene at CKPC's proposed facility in Sturgeon County near Edmonton, Alberta, as per JWN.

CKPC is a joint venture of Pembina Pipeline Corporation of Canada and Petrochemical Industries Company K.S.C. of Kuwait.

Honeywell also will provide the process design package, proprietary and non-proprietary equipment, on-site operator training, technical services for startup and continuing operation, and key catalysts and adsorbents for the project. Including this project, Honeywell UOP's Oleflex technology has been selected for 41 out of 51 propane and isobutane dehydrogenation projects globally since 2011.

"Historically, propylene has been produced as a byproduct of making ethylene from petroleum, but with the influx of lighter feedstocks, the amount of propylene from these manufacturing processes is dramatically reduced," said John Gugel, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP's Process Technology and Equipment business. "Honeywell UOP's Oleflex process addresses the growing propylene supply gap by producing on-purpose propylene from propane, which is in abundant supply."

CKPC's proposed new facility is slated to consume 22,000 barrels per day of propane from Pembina Pipeline Corporation's Redwater fractionation complex and other regional facilities, and to produce more than 1.2 billion pounds per year of polypropylene for customers throughout North American and the world.

Honeywell UOP's C3 Oleflex technology uses catalytic dehydrogenation to convert propane to propylene and is proven to have the lowest cash cost of production and the highest return on investment among competing technologies. Its low energy consumption, low emissions and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system minimizes its impact on the environment. The independent reaction and regeneration sections enable steady-state operations, improved operating flexibility, and a high on-stream factor and reliability.

Honeywell UOP also licenses C4 Oleflex technology, which converts butanes to butylenes, the primary ingredient for making high-octane fuel additives and synthetic rubber. Since the technology was first commercialized in 1990, Honeywell UOP has commissioned 27 Oleflex units for on-purpose propylene and isobutylene production. Global production capacity of propylene from Oleflex technology now stands at approximately 6.8 million metric tons per year.

CKPC is in the front-end engineering design (FEED) phase of developing a world-scale integrated propane dehydrogenation and polypropylene upgrading facility. The project being developed by CKPC remains subject to a positive final investment decision from each partner of the joint venture, as well as regulatory and environmental approvals.

As MRC informed earlier, in February 2017, Honeywell announced that Borealis AG had selected Honeywell UOP's process technology for a proposed plant in Kallo, Belgium, that converts propane into propylene, a primary ingredient for making plastics.

Honeywell UOP is a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, equipment, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. Honeywell UOP is part of Honeywell's Performance Materials and Technologies strategic business group, which also includes Honeywell Process Solutions, a pioneer in automation control, instrumentation and services for the oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, chemical and other industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — ExxonMobil Corp has been fined about USD165,000 by US regulators for safety lapses including inadequate training and equipment maintenance over an explosion that injured four workers at an aging Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery last year, said Reuters.

The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued nine citations, several of which echo previous cautions by federal agencies at two other Exxon plants. The citations, issued in May, were seen by Reuters this month. A separate investigation by the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is ongoing and its report on the incident is due by year-end.

Exxon said it is contesting the OSHA citations and fines. The facility was faulted 5 yr ago by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to address corrosion on pipes and valves and for inadequate shutdown and emergency procedures provided to workers.

The Nov. 22, 2016 explosion on a sulfuric-acid alkylation unit that makes octane-boosting components of gasoline in the sprawling Baton Rouge refinery and chemical plant injured four workers, two of them severely. Two of the affected workers declined to comment; others could not be reached.

A worker on the alkylation unit removed the cover of a malfunctioning valve on an isobutane line and used a wrench to turn the value stem, Exxon reported to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality in a letter. Volatile isobutane is converted in the alkylation unit to a component of gasoline.

As the operator turned the valve stem, portions of the valve fell out, releasing isobutane, according to the Exxon letter, which was ignited by a welding machine 70 feet away.

One worker was knocked off a scaffold next to the alkylation unit and left dangling over the fire, according to two sources. Another worker was burned over most of her body.

Exxon's safety procedures and training for operators on the alkylation unit were lacking, equipment was not properly maintained, and required inspections were not carried out within required time periods, according to a copy of the citations seen by Reuters.

"We cooperated with OSHA's investigation and shared extensive information and records," said Exxon spokeswoman Charlotte Huffaker. "We are contesting the citations and associated penalty." Huffaker said "nothing is more important" to Exxon than maintaining a safe workplace for workers and residents near its facilities.

Eight of the nine citations were listed as serious, each carrying a fine of USD12,675. The ninth, for failing to carry out external visual and ultrasonic inspections of piping, totaled USD63,373.

The latter fine was higher because Exxon was cited in 2016 for violating the same inspection standard at a Baytown, Texas, refining and chemical plant complex, OSHA said in the citation.

In a report issued in May after a two-year investigation of a 2015 explosion at an 86-year-old Torrance, California, refinery then owned by Exxon, the CSB said the company lacked a procedure for operating a fluidic catalytic cracking unit in an idled mode, as was being done when the explosion took place.

Exxon sold the Torrance refinery to PBF Energy Inc in July 2016. In 2012, the EPA inspected the Baton Rouge refinery as part of a risk management prevention program. It found Exxon had not examined in five years more than 1,000 underground pipes, many of which were corroded, according to the agency's report on the inspection. The EPA also said emergency and shutdown procedures failed to provide needed details for operators.

Huffaker said in an email that Exxon contested the violations, and said the EPA withdrew all but two of its findings. She did not specify the two violations but said Exxon resolved those issues.
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