Taiwan orders CPC to partially halt Talin refinery after fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan's government has ordered state-run refiner CPC Corp to partially suspend operations at a refinery in the southern city of Kaohsiung, a government official told Reuters on Monday, after a fire injured three workers, reported Reuters.

CPC's Talin refinery in Kaohsiung was hit by an explosion on Saturday and part of its production will be suspended until further review, said Chung Mon Pi, chief secretary of the city's Labour Affairs Bureau.

The incident will affect daily production of about 35,000 barrels of reformate, but there will be no shortfall in domestic supply thanks to abundant inventory, CPC Vice President Ann Bih told Reuters by telephone.

However, the company will "adjust its supply" to overseas markets, she said but did not elaborate.

CPC is aiming to resume its full production at the plant by end-March after a review by the government, she said.

"The company has to address our concerns and improve safety before it's allowed to resume full production," said Pi.

The injured workers remained in intensive care unit, the government said.

The company said total damage and the exact reason for the fire were still under investigation. It was fined TD300,000 (USD10,253) by authorities in Kaohsiung after the incident.

CPC's diesel output was hit in January after an explosion at a refinery in the northwestern city of Taoyuan.

Bih said it will still "take some time" for the company to fully resume the production at the plant.

As MRC wrote before, in early December 2017, CPC Corporation resumed operations at its residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) unit in Dalin following a turnaround. The unit was shut for maintenance in mid-September 2017. Located at Dalin in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the RFCC has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

CPC Corporation, Taiwan, is engaged in the exploration, production, refining, procurement, transportation, storage, and marketing of oil and gas. The company provides fuel oil, including automotive unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel, low-sulfur fuel oil, marine distillate fuels, marine residual fuels, and aviation fuel; petrochemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, para-xylene, and ortho-xylene; liquefied petroleum gas products comprising liquefied petroleum gas, propane, butane, and a propane/butane mixture; lubricants, motor oil, industrial oil, grease, and marilube oil; SNC products, including petroleum ether, naphtha, toluene, xylene, crude octene, methyl alcohol, normal paraffin, viscosity-graded asphalt cement, and sulfur; and natural gas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shin-Etsu is likely to start maintenance at its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in Kashima, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the company has schedule to shut the plant for turnaround in April 2018 for a period of around six weeks. The exact date of the shutdown could not be ascertained.

Located at Kashima in Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 550,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, in May 2016, Shin-Etsu shut its PVC plant in Kashima for a four-week maintenance turnaround.

We remind that in 2015, Shintech Inc., added almost 700 million pounds of PVC capacity as part of a USD500 million expansion of its plants in Louisiana. Shintech's parent firm - Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd. of Tokyo - said in a June 19 news release that the firm will addd 660 million pounds of PVC capacity in Louisiana by 2015. Houston-based Shintech makes PVC in Plaquemine and Addis, La. The project also includes 660 million pounds of new capacity for PVC feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and 440 million pounds of new capacity for caustic soda.

Shin-Etsu is the world and US' largest PVC producer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sumitomo and PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture company for a planned butadiene derivatives project in Hemaraj Eastern Industrial Estate, Rayong Province, Thailand, according to Apic-online.

The project involves a new facility with the capacity to produce 13,000 t/y of high-heat resistant polyamide 9T and 16,000 t/y of hydrogenated styrenic block copolymers products.

The joint venture company will be owned 53.3% by Kuraray, 33.4% by PTTGC and 13.3% by Sumitomo. The companies earlier said they expected to form the company by the beginning of this year.

Kuraray said it will announce a Final Investment Decision on the project, as well as further relevant de-tails, once determined.

"This investment will play a key role in further developing Thailand's chemical sector and make an important contribution to the country's economic growth, increasing competitiveness and reinforcing the government's drive to become Thailand 4.0," said Supattanapong Punmeechaow, president and chief executive of PTTGC, in an earlier press release.

As MRC reported earlier, in March 2016, Sumitomo Chemical and Sekisui Chemical (Tokyo) said that they were combining their respective polyolefin films business under a new joint venture, which was due to start operations in July 2016. The new joint venture, Sumika Sekisui Holdings, is owned 35% each by Sumitomo and Sekisui and 30% by the private-public partnership Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ; Tokyo). Sumitomo is contributing its Thermo subsidiary and Sekisui its Sekisui Film unit, which reported 2015 sales of Yen8.44 billion (USD74.4 million) .

Sumitomo Chemical is a Japanese based manufacturer of a diverse range of products, including basic chemicals, petrochemicals and plastics, fine chemicals, agricultural chemicals, IT-related chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Vietnam has revoked the investment license for a foreign-owned USD3.2-billion oil refinery project in the country's central province of Phu Yen, a local government official told Reuters, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The 160 Mbpd facility was due to be built through investments from UK-based Technostar Management Ltd and Russia's Telloil Group to produce liquefied petroleum gas, jet fuel, gasoline and diesel, according to state media.

"The refinery was scheduled to become operational this year, but construction hadn't started yet," said Tran Thien Kim, deputy director of the province's planning and investment department.

The investor failed to deliver on investment pledges as stated in the license, said Kim, who added that the province had informed the companies of the decision.

"They are happy with the decision because it's in line with their plan to scrap the project due to unfavourable market conditions," he said.

It is not uncommon for large-scale projects in Vietnam to have investment licenses revoked, often because of strict regulations and requirements from the authorities related to the speed of construction and the environment.

Vietnam has one operational oil refinery which meets around one-third of the country's demand for fuels. A second oil refinery will start commercial production from next month.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik is planning to build a new production complex for the high-performance polymer polyamide 12 (PA 12), as per the company's press release.

The Group intends to increase its overall PA 12 capacity by more than 50 percent. Polyamide 12 is required in attractive growth markets such as the automotive industry, oil and gas pipelines, and in 3D printing.

After successful basic engineering, Evonik plans to invest approximately €400 million in the PA 12 complex at its largest site, Marl Chemical Park in North Rhine-Westphalia. The existing PA 12 production is to be supplemented with additional manufacturing facilities for the polymer and its precursors. The complex is expected to become operational in early 2021. The investment will make a substantial contribution to reaching Evonik’s margin goal and will generate an annual cash flow in a three-digit million euro amount over the long term. The project is to be implemented over the course of four years as part of the annual budget for growth investments.

"We are planning Evonik’s largest investment in Germany," says Christian Kullmann, Chairman of the Evonik Executive Board. “This investment is a perfect fit to our strategy of consistent focus on specialty chemicals since polyamide 12, as a high-performance polymer for specialty applications, is an important part of our strategic Growth Engine Smart Materials." Kullmann considers Germany an attractive and competitive industrial location: “Our workforce in Marl is highly qualified, and our investment will create about 150 jobs. Moreover, we can make optimal use of synergies with our existing infrastructure. That creates highly favorable conditions to sell our specialty products on a global scale."

The PA 12 market is posting annual growth rates exceeding 5 percent worldwide, significantly outpacing the global gross domestic product. In the specialty application of 3D printing, growth rates even reach double digits. "The demand for polyamide 12 is showing steady, dynamic growth," says Claus Rettig, Chairman of the Board of Management of Evonik Resource Efficiency GmbH. "The planned capacity expansion will further strengthen our leading market position for polyamide 12. For our customers worldwide, our commitment translates into long-term availability and reliability of supply for their existing and future applications."

Thanks to its outstanding properties, such as high stability paired with flexibility, high temperature resistance and low weight, the high-performance polymer is used in many demanding applications as a replacement for steel: in automotive and lightweight design as well as in oil and gas pipelines. In addition to current applications in the automotive sector, Evonik is also very well positioned for the future production of hybrid and electric vehicles. Furthermore, the material is used in the medical sector and in 3D printing.
MRC