JGC awarded high-performance synthetic resin production plant project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- JGC Corporation has announced that it has been awarded the contract for the construction of chemical plants that will be the foundation of a high-performance synthetic resin manufacturing and sales undertaking in Thailand involving Kuraray Co., Ltd., PTT Global Chemical Public Company ( PTTGC) and Sumitomo Corporation, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project aims to create a globally competitive high-performance synthetic resin manufacturing and sales business that employs butadiene and isobutylene produced at a petro-chemical complex in the Hemaraj Eastern industrial estate by PTTGC, one of the partner companies undertaking the project. The derivatives of butadiene and isobutylene will be used in the production of a wide range of items including electrical and electronic components, automotive parts, daily necessities and medical equipment.

As well as having constructed a Hydrogenated Styrenic Block Copolymers hydrogenated styrene thermoplastic elastomer- HSBC production plant in the United States for Kuraray in the early 2000s, JGC is also carrying out the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for this project. The reason for selection of JGC as the contractor for this project is seen as a result of the client’s overall positive evaluation of this proven performance, the company’s highly-developed engineering skills and project management ability together with its bid estimate and schedule.

In light of the growth in the world demand for chemical products, in recent years Japanese chemical manufacturers have undertaken plans to build up production capacity in areas where petroleum and chemical products are price competitive. JGC intends to leverage its wide experience in plant construction to obtain orders from Japanese chemical product makers as they undertake the construction of various types of plants overseas.

As MRC reported previously, in December 2017, JGC Corporation, in partnership with JGC Indonesia, a subsidiary of JGC Corporation, and PT Rekayasa Industri of Indonesia, received an order for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work for the construction of a gas processing plant in Bojonegoro, East Java Province, Indonesia.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF’s global business unit Fuel and Lubricant Solutions is investing in Mexico and China to increase production of antioxidants for lubricants, said the company.

The capacity expansions address growing demand for antioxidants from the increasing number of vehicles in Asia and the increasing global demand for long-life lubricant additives.

In Mexico, BASF expanded the production capabilities of its site in Puebla. In China, the expansion is through a technology licensing and manufacturing agreement with Feiya Chemical Co. Feiya has recently built a new site in Rudong, Jiangsu Province, which is fully operational and producing on-spec products.

"We continue to address the regional and global needs of our customers through investments and product innovation,” said Marius Vaarkamp, Global Marketing Director, Lubricant Oil Additives, BASF. “Expanding our global production capacity of antioxidants for lubricants shows our commitment to meeting the increasing needs of an evolving market."

“We value BASF as our partner, and we are committed to meeting the expectations of BASF and its customers,” said Hong Seng Cao, Chairman and General Manager, Feiya Chemical Co.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Algeria will conclude its deal with Exxon Mobil Corp and set up a trade joint venture with an international company before the first half of 2019, reported Reuters with reference to Sonatrach’s CEO.

"We are very optimistic and things are moving in the right direction so we will conclude with Exxon and have our trade JV," Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour told reporters.

He gave no further details. Sonatrach has previously said it wanted a shale gas cooperation with the US major.

The state energy firm had also said before it was in talks with 14 international companies over a joint venture to trade oil and gas products after agreeing to buy its first overseas refinery.

As MRC wrote earlier, in October 2017, ExxonMobil Chemical Company commenced production on the first of two new 650,000 tons-per-year high-performance polyethylene (PE) lines at its plastics plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas. The full project, part of the company’s multi-billion dollar expansion project in the Baytown area and ExxonMobil’s broader Growing the Gulf expansion initiative, will increase the plant’s polyethylene capacity by approximately 1.3 million tons per year. The Mont Belvieu plant capacity will total more than 2.5 million tons per year, making it one of the largest polyethylene plants in the world.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - January contract price of propylene in Europe was agreed down EUR35/tonne below the level of the December. European producers announced an decrease in January export prices of polypropylene (PP) for the CIS countries but not proportionally to the growth of the price of monomer, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Negotiations over January prices of European PP began last week. All market participants reported the desire of producers to limit the decline in export prices of propylene polymers to a value less than the decline in monomer prices. In fact, we are talking about lowering prices by only EUR20-30/tonne.

January deals for homopolymer PP were agreed in the range of EUR1,100-1,160/tonne FCA, down on average by EUR20-25/tonne from December. Some producers still had significant restrictions on this month's shipments.

Deals for block propylene copolymers (PP block copolymers) were done in the range of EUR1,180-1,240/tonne FCA, while in December deals were done in the range of EUR1,210-1,270/tonne FCA.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The January contract price of ethylene was agreed in Europe down by EUR40/tonne from December. However, European producers did not cut proportionally to the monomer reduction their prices of some polyethylene (PE) grades for this month's shipments to the CIS markets, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Negotiations over January PE shipments from Europe to the CIS countries began last Tuesday. A reduction of EUR40/tonne in the contract price of ethylene in the region suggests a similar decrease in PE production costs. European producers reduced their prices of some PE grades by a greater amount than the reduction in the price of monomer. But the price reduction for other PE grades was less than the monomer price decrease. In general, European PE fell by EUR30-50/tonne, depending on the grade.

Thus, deals for January shipments of high density polyethylene (HDPE) were done in the range of EUR1,050-1,075/tonne FCA, for blow moulding and injection moulding PE, down by an average of EUR30/tonne from December. Prices of injection moulding HDPE dropped to EUR1,000-1,030/tonne FCA.

Prices of black pipe grade HDPE of PE 100 grade were in the range of EUR1,220-1,260/tonne FCA, down by an average of EUR30/tonne from December.

Deals for January shipments of European low density polyethylene (LDPE) were done in the range EUR930-985/tonne FCA, whereas last month's deals were done in the range of EUR980-1,035/tonne FCA.
MRC