Swiss Gurit gets license for PET technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gurit, a worldwide leading developer and manufacturer of advanced composite materials, components and technologies, has announced that it has signed a licensing contract with the Armacell Group, via Armacell License Services S.C.S., Luxembourg, as per the company's press release.

As part of the contract, Gurit will be granted a global license for the patented ArmaFORM PET GR technology from Armacell, a global leader in flexible foam for the equipment insulation market and a leading provider of engineered foams, until the expiry of the patent rights for an undisclosed license fee.

The ArmaFORM PET GR foam core technology enables manufacturing of extruded PET foam from 100% recycled (post-consumer) PET materials. The patented technology is widely recognized and supports customers across industries in their endeavor to increase usage of sustainable advanced composite materials across applications.

"The combination of the PET capacity and technology that we have acquired in Volpiano, Italy, at the end of 2016 paired with Gurit`s existing production and the new licensing contract for the Armacell foam technology represents a major step forward in our offering to our global customer base," said Rudolf Hadorn, CEO of Gurit.

"As the inventors of the ArmaFORM PET GR technology, we have been able to provide a unique product range to customers across the globe. We are happy to see Gurit utilize our technology thereby increasing Armacell's contribution to a greener tomorrow" commented Bart Janssen, Vice President Engineered Foams of Armacell.

As MRC informed previously, in early June 2017, Gurit renewed its distribution agreement with Maricell S.r.l., an Italian producer of closed-cell PVC structural foam. Under the terms of the agreement, Gurit will continue to distribute all Maricell PVC globally until December 31, 2020, with further extension options.

The companies of Gurit Holding AG, Wattwil/Switzerland, (SIX Swiss Exchange: GUR) are specialized on the development and manufacture of advanced composite materials, related technologies and select finished parts and components. The comprehensive product range comprises fiber reinforced prepregs, structural core products, gel coats, adhesives, resins and consumables. Gurit supplies global growth markets with composite materials on the one hand and composite tooling equipment, structural engineering and select finished parts on the other. The global Group has production sites and offices in Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, the U.K., Poland, Canada, the U.S.A., Ecuador, Australia, New Zealand, India and China.

Luxembourg-based Armacell supplies flexible insulation foams for the equipment-insulation market, and it supplies engineered foams.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- thyssenkrupp inaugurated its technology center for the oleochemical industry in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, to deliver engineering solutions to global customers. Representing an investment of more than EUR18 MM, Map Ta Phut will become thyssenkrupp’s global oleochemical competence center for R&D, engineering, project execution and technology development services, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"Thailand is a key market for us in Asia and we are proud of our long heritage here. The investment in the Oleochemicals competence center shows our strong commitment to strengthen the country’s position as one of our global engineering hubs," said Dr. Peter Feldhaus, CEO of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions.

The Map Ta Phut facility provides the full value chain on site, from state-of-the-art engineering and EPC execution capabilities to laboratories and pilot plant facilities that guarantee process performance, and for product development hosting Singapore-based Inventa’s production technologies for alkoxylation, esterification and amination that thyssenkrupp acquired in 2015.

The company recently shipped a large modular plant to Oxiteno, a Brazilian chemical multinational manufacturer. It has been fully engineered, and assembled in Thailand, and after final inspection dismantled for the transport, it is now on its way to the end customer in the United States. The reactor was built using the innovative Jet Reactor system which offers superior performance with better process automation and control, lower residual alkylene oxide levels, and faster reaction cycle times when compared with conventional stirred reactor designs.

More than 100 contracts for major clients in Thailand and South-East Asia have been completed, including Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) projects as well as lifecycle services. Key projects in Thailand include Petrochemical Plants in Rayong, Mining Equipment in Mae Moh and 4 large Cement Plants in Saraburi. Today, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions operates offices in Bangkok and Map Ta Phut and employs over 250 engineers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As of Jan. 1, 2017, US operable atmospheric crude distillation capacity reached 18.6 MMbpcd, 1.6% higher than at the beginning of 2016 according to EIA's recently released annual Refinery Capacity Report, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This increase in operable capacity was the second largest since the 2.9% increase from January 2012 to January 2013, which reflected the restart of East Coast refineries that had closed in 2011. The capacities of secondary units that support heavy crude processing and production of ultra-low sulfur diesel and gasoline, including thermal cracking (coking), catalytic hydrocracking, and hydrotreating/desulfurization also increased. Catalytic hydrocracking and deasphalting units experienced the largest capacity increases over the past year, rising by 4.5% and 6.1%, respectively.

The refinery capacity reported for the start of 2017 includes one new unit, the Magellan Midstream Partners LP 42,500 bpcd condensate splitter in Corpus Christi, Texas. Condensate splitters are distillation units that process condensate, which is lighter than crude oil. Splitter capacity is included as atmospheric distillation units in EIA data. The Magellan Midstream Partners LP unit, which began operating in 2017, was operable but not running at the start of the year, so its capacity was listed as idle in the Refinery Capacity Report.

Gross inputs to refineries, also referred to as refinery runs, averaged 16.5 MMbpd in 2016, the highest level ever, 84,000 bpd above the 2015 level and 1.1 MMbpd higher than in 2012. US crude oil production decreased by 0.5 MMbpd in 2016 compared with 2015, the first decline since 2008. To offset the decline in production, net imports of crude oil increased by a similar amount. Despite the increase in refinery runs, capacity increased even more, lowering refinery utilization in 2016 compared with 2015.

The US average regular gasoline retail price fell three cents from the previous week to USD2.26/gal on July 3, down three cents from the same time last year. The Gulf Coast price fell nearly five cents to USD2.01 per gallon, the Rocky Mountain price fell four cents to USD2.35/gal, the Midwest price fell three cents to USD2.14/gal, the East Coast price fell over two cents to USD2.20/gal, and the West Coast price fell one cent to USD2.82/gal.

The US average diesel fuel price rose nearly one cent, remaining at USD2.47/gal on July 3, five cents higher than a year ago. The Midwest price rose nearly two cents to $2.40/gal, the East Coast price rose nearly one cent, remaining at USD2.52/gal, and the West Coast and Gulf Coast prices remained rose less than one cent, remaining at USD2.76/gal and USD2.31/gal, respectively. The Rocky Mountain price fell nearly one cent, remaining at USD2.59/gal.

US propane stocks increased by 2.1 MMbbl last week to 60.6 MMbbl as of June 30, 24.2 MMbbl (28.6%) lower than a year ago. Gulf Coast and Midwest inventories increased by 1.4 MMbbl and 0.7 MMbbl, respectively, while East Coast and Rocky Mountain/West Coast inventories remained essentially unchanged, with a marginal increase and decrease, respectively. Propylene non-fuel-use inventories represented 4.8% of total propane inventories.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan said on Friday that it was preparing to raise the crude oil storage capacity that it lends for free to Saudi Aramco by 30% from this summer, said Reuters.

The extra storage will help Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, as it battles to keep customers in northern Asia amid a global glut and relatively low prices.

In return for providing free storage, Japan gets a priority claim on the stockpiles in case of emergency.

Japan is Saudi Arabia's biggest market for crude, but oil stored at the site on the southern islands of Okinawa has also been supplied to South Korea and China.

Storage available to Saudi Arabia will be increased by 1.9 MMbbl to 8.2 MMbbl as part of an agreement last October to extend the storage to 2019, a Japanese trade ministry official said.

Work is underway to have additional tanks ready this summer at a storage facility in Uruma City in Okinawa, the official added. State-owned Saudi Aramco has stored crude in Okinawa since February 2011 at no cost.

Japan has a similar deal with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), under which ADNOC can store up to 6.29 MMbbl at Kiire oil terminal in southern Japan's Kagoshima.

As Japan gas a priority claim on the stockpiles, it treats the crude oil stored by Aramco and ADNOC as quasi-government oil reserves, counting half of the barrels as national crude reserves.

Aramco and ADNOC need to fill at least half of the storage space at all times. Japan has extended the storage deals with Aramco and ADNOC to the end of December 2019.

Aramco and ADNOC stored a total 10.5 MMbbl at the end of April, trade ministry data showed, which is equal to about 83.5% of space that Japan lends to them, according to Reuters calculations.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — AEG Power Solutions, a global provider of power electronic conversion systems and solutions for industrial power supplies and renewable energy applications, today announced that it has been selected to provide AC and DC UPS to secure the power supply for a Polyethylene plant (HDPE/LLDPE) and a Polypropylene plant (PP) owned by Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company SAOC - Orpic, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

One of the primary engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors for this petrochemical complex in Oman is Tecnimont S.p.A., the main subsidiary of Maire Tecnimont Group, industrial leader in the Oil, Gas and Petrochemical industry, headquartered in Milan. Tecnimont has chosen AEG Power Solutions to provide the complete power supply solution for one package belonging to Orpic’s Liwa Plastic Industries Complex (LPIC) project, consisting of both AC and DC UPS redundant systems.

Tecnimont selected a combination of AEG Power Solutions' Protect 8 UPS and Protect RCS rectifier (specified as TPRe three-phase rectifier model) which have proven track records in securing power for critical industrial applications. AEG Power Solutions has also provided customized by-pass panels, as well as Ni-Cd batteries and molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) boxes for battery protection. AEG Power Solutions provided its power supply expertise to Tecnimont during the technical project analysis and clarification, helping to finalize the project and to propose possible solutions.

"Having started to build a relationship with AEG Power Solutions during the procurement process, we could see that they had the technical excellence and experience required – as well as the best product range" says Paolo Mondo, Maire Tecnimont Group Procurement VP. "We were confident that AEG Power Solutions was the right choice to provide these mission-critical UPS systems".

Global project scope includes engineering services, equipment and material supplies as well as construction activities up to testing, start-up and test performance of a polyethylene production system with a capacity of 880,000 tons per year, a polypropylene (PP) plant with a capacity of 300,000 tons per year. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
MRC