Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Zeon Corporation and Mitsui & Company, both Japan-based, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the development of an integrated butadiene extraction and elastomer complex in Ras Laffan. The MoU was signed by HE the Minister for Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada; Yoshimasa Fushimi, Zeon Corporation director and executive corporate officer and Seiichi Tanaka, Mitsui & Company representative director and executive vice president, in Doha yesterday.
Under the agreement, the partners will be undertaking a detailed feasibility study to evaluate the technical, commercial and economic aspects of the integrated world-scale butadiene and synthetic rubber/elastomer project.
The feedstock will come from the planned Al-Sejeel Petrochemicals Complex and the Al-Karaana Petrochemicals Complex, both of which are currently under development, as well as from the existing plant of Ras Laffan Olefins Company (RLOC).
Butadiene will be extracted from feedstock and then converted into high-value elastomers like styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and polybutadiene rubber (PBR) using Zeon’s state-of-the-art technology.
Al-Sada expressed his pleasure at the signing of the MoU, describing it as “an important step that adds value to Qatar’s natural resources, and creates future value chain opportunities.”
He said: “The elastomers from this project will create new opportunities to develop small and medium scale enterprises and private industries in the downstream sector, as well as other automobile related industries.”
“I am confident that, together with our Japanese partners, we would be able to meet the highest industrial standards, enhance value for feedstock streams, and successfully complete the study for developing the project.”
Fushimi said, “Zeon hopes and believes that the introduction of a synthetic rubber industry using our technology will contribute to Qatar’s development of related downstream industry and lead to the further strengthening of the great partnership between Qatar and Japan. After this ceremony, Zeon will make our maximum effort jointly with Mohamed Nasser al-Hajri, director, QP Downstream Ventures and his team for the feasibility study toward the success of the project.”
Tanaka said, “Ever since our equity participation in the Qatargas 1 LNG project back in 1989, Mitsui has been enjoying an excellent relationship with QP as partners in the Qatargas 3 LNG project in 2005, the Laffan Refinery and its latest expansion, as well as the Ras Laffan C IWPP project. Mitsui will continue to contribute further to the strong relationship with the State of Qatar and undertake its best performance in its contribution to the study. This butadiene and synthetic rubber project has the strong potential to be the first business opportunity in Qatar’s petrochemical sector and will enhance the value of your esteemed country’s natural gas resources.”
Al-Hajri said, “We at Qatar Petroleum look forward to closely working with our Japanese partners to further evaluate this business opportunity and develop the project as part of our sustained efforts to optimally enhance Qatar’s downstream business and product portfolio.”
SOURCE Mist News
In the space of a month, two major producers this year made announcements that set the scene for half of Europe’s vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) capacity to be removed from the market. However, the response from consumers has so far been surprisingly muted.
On 4 October, INEOS Enterprises announced that it would close its 300,000 tonne/year VAM plant in Hull, the UK, with immediate effect.
“Low cost imports and a hostile trading environment made closure inevitable”, the company said in a press release, noting that imports from Saudi Arabia and the US benefit from low-cost raw materials.
On 4 November, Celanese said it would launch a consultation on the potential closure of its 200,000 tonne/year VAM facility in Tarragona, Spain, after failing to find a buyer for the site.
Celanese had announced on 22 May that it was seeking buyers for the facility, prompted by a decision to focus on “integrated production sites that provide critical economies of scale.”
The combined 500,000 tonnes/year of nameplate capacity for these two sites represents half of Europe’s approximately 1 million tonnes/year of VAM production capacity, according to ICIS data.
The majority of buyers have shown little concern at the lost capacity, saying that they do not expect the increased dependence on imports to reduce availability, and do not anticipate any difficulty in finding alternative suppliers.
Consumers pointed out that the INEOS plant was operating at well below its total capacity, and Europe has long been structurally dependent on VAM imports.
In late December 2012, INEOS declared force majeure on VAM supplies from its Hull plant, with customers being placed on supply allocation.
The force majeure was lifted on 7 February, having had only a marginal market impact on account of the prevailing good supply.
VAM availability has remained good throughout 2013, aided by lacklustre performance in key downstream applications.
Many of these applications are linked to the construction or automotive industries, which have suffered on account of the poor macroeconomic environment in Europe.
Nevertheless, a sharp rise in imports recorded at the beginning of the year was sustained throughout the first three quarters of 2013.
In the first nine months of 2013, imports totalled 283,716 tonnes. This represents a rise in the average monthly import volume of almost 10,000 tonnes.
On 3 October, US VAM producer LyondellBasell announced that it had signed a ten-year agreement with Oiltanking Stolthaven Antwerp for the storage and handling in Antwerp of VAM and its principal feedstock, acetic acid.
As part of the agreement, Oiltanking Stolthaven will invest in new stainless steel storage capacity and rail loading infrastructure.
"[Glacial acetic acid] and VAM are industrial chemicals that are in high demand. Europe has an increased need for these imports. This agreement allows us to solidify our commitment to the European acetyls market," said Justin Hommes, LyondellBasell's marketing manager for acetyls in Europe.
LyondellBasell produces acetic acid and VAM at its highly integrated LaPorte facility in Texas, US, where it has access to ethylene derived from shale gas. The VAM unit has a nameplate capacity of 317,500 tonnes/year, while the acetic acid plant has a capacity of 544,000 tonnes/year, according to ICIS data.
Other major sources for VAM imports include Saudi Arabia’s International Vinyl Acetate Co (IVC), which has a nameplate capacity of 330,000 tonnes/year, and Dairen Chemical Corporation’s new 350,000 tonne/year plant on Jurong Island, Singapore.
Dairen began commercial production at its Singapore plant in May 2013, and counts Europe among its target export markets. The Singapore plant was built for export and the company operates two other VAM plants in Mailiao, Taiwan, with a combined production capacity of 650,000 tonnes/year.
The structural shift in favour of VAM imports has been paralleled by similar developments in the acetic acid market, with captive producers choosing to idle their plants and buy imports instead.
Currently, the only large-scale acetic acid plant operating in Europe is BP’s 532,000 tonne/year facility in Hull, which formerly supplied INEOS’s VAM plant at the same site.
The BP plant comprises two acetic acid units, one of which is a swing unit that can also produce acetic anhydride.
Speaking in early November, Nick Elmslie, chief executive of BP’s petrochemicals business, said that returns for acetic acid at Hull should be acceptable for the next three years.
Market sources said that acetic acid supplies in Europe have not increased noticeably since the closure of the INEOS VAM plant.
While there is no immediate prospect of VAM import volumes exceeding domestic production, as in the case of acetic acid, Europe’s inability to compete with cheap and plentiful overseas material means that the market’s dependence on imports will continue to increase next year.
SOURCE Icis News
Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co is in plans to shut a styrene monomer (SM) plant.
A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is likely to be shut in May 2014. It is planned to remain off-stream for around 50 days.
Located at Zhenhai in Zhejiang porvince, China, the plant has a production capacity of 620,000 mt/year.
SOURCE : PolymerUpdate
South Korea’s Lotte Chemical will not conduct maintenance at its 580,000 tonne/year styrene monomer (SM) plant in Daesan next year, a company source said on Friday.
The facility had a maintenance this year, the source said.
Other SM producers in South Korea include LG Chem, Samsung Total Petrochemical and Yeochun NCC.
SOURCE : Icis News
South Korea’s LG Chem plans to shut its 160,000 tonne/year styrene monomer (SM) unit at Daesan in March next year for maintenance, a company source said.
The planned turnaround is expected to last about two weeks and could extend into April next year, the source said.
The company operates another 200,000 tonne/year and 300,000 tonne/year SM facilities in Yeosu. These units are not slated for maintenance in 2014.
SOURCE : Icis News
According to the Korean press agency Yonhap and the journal Chemical Week, S Korean company SK Global Chemical is planning the construction of a 160,000 tonnes/y acrylic acid unit in Ulsan.
The company may also build a downstream superabsorbent polymers unit.
The acrylic acid unit is reportedly scheduled to enter service in 2016 and SK will form an alliance with Japanese group Mitsubishi Chemical recovering the distribution of future production.
SOURCE : Chimie Pharma Hebdo
Methyl acrylate (methyl-A) prices in east China are likely to fall in the near term, as the tight supply that drove up prices last week should ease soon as major facilities resume production, industry sources said on Wednesday.
Demand may also weaken and weigh on the market, they said.
On 3 December, methyl-A prices were assessed at yuan (CNY) 17,000-17,500/tonne ($2,791-2,874/tonne) DEL (delivered) east China, representing a 7.8% increase from 22 November, according to Chemease, an ICIS service in China.
From early November, prices spiked by around 22% on the back of tight supply, according to the data.
Domestic supply of methyl-A in China is tight as most major domestic producers have kept low run rates on scarce availability of feedstock acrylic acid (AA) in recent months, partly on production issues at AA plants, market sources said.
Demand for AA from its main downstream - the super absorbent polymers (SAP) sector - also typically peaks from November to January, market sources said.
In Jiangsu province, Jiangsu Jurong Chemical is running its 40,000 tonne/year methyl-A plant at Yancheng at less than half the unit’s capacity, a source close to the company said.
The company, which is a major producer in China, hiked its methyl-A prices twice in late November by a total of CNY2,500/tonne to CNY17,000/tonne, market sources said.
Another methyl-A major BASF-YPC Co Ltd is operating its 55,000 tonne/year in Nanjing at less than 50%, a source close to the company said.
In Shandong province, Kaitai Petrochemical Co also adjusted up its product prices by CNY1,000/tonne to CNY17,000/tonne DEL on 27 November, market sources said.
But supply conditions are expected to improve in the coming weeks, as major facilities have restarted, while some are planning to ramp up production.
Shandong Kaitai Petrochemical is currently running its 5,000 tonne/year methyl-A plant at 50% of capacity and expects to ramp up production to 80% this week, a company source said.
Its facility resumed operation on 25 November after completing a regular maintenance. The plant’s output is for captive use of Shandong Kaitai’s acrylic fibres production, the source said.
In Zhejiang province, meanwhile, two major methyl-A plants with a combined capacity of 65,000 tonnes/year came back on line in end-November.
Formosa Plastics Corp’s (FPC) 40,000 tonne/year plant at Ningbo and Zhejiang Satellite Petro Chemical’s 25,000 tonne/year facility at Jiaxing are currently running at around 70% and 50% of capacity, respectively, according to sources from the two companies.
These two plants had to shut operations on shortage of feedstock acrylic acid (AA), market sources said.
Meanwhile, some downstream end-users switched to using butyl acrylate (butyl-A) and ethyl acrylate (ethyl-A) as feedstocks instead of methyl-A, which is getting more expensive, market sources said.
Methyl-A has applications in the textile sector.
On 3 December, butyl-A prices at CNY15,400-15,500/tonne DEL east China and ethyl-A at CNY14,500-14,600/tonne DEL east China are 10-16% cheaper than methyl-A, according to Chemease data.
Sufficient supply of these alternative feedstocks are available, as production of butyl-A and ethyl-A require less AA compared with that of methyl-A, market sources said.
Producing a tonne of methyl-A will need 910 kilograms (kg) of AA, while a tonne of ethyl-A requires 720kg of AA, and even less at 610-620kg to make a tonne of butyl-A, industry sources said.
Some downstream end-users had to resort to feedstock substitution because of the shortage of methyl-A in the domestic market.
SOURCE Icis News
Asahi Kasei is in plans to shut its No.2 styrene monomer (SM) plant for maintenance turnaround.
A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the plant is likely to be shut in February 2014.
It is planned to remain off-stream for around one month.Located in Mizushima, Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 320,000 mt/year.
SOURCE : PolymerUpdate
Nippon Shokubai’s 80,000 tonne/year acrylic acid (AA) unit and 90,000 tonne/year superabsorbent polymer (SAP) unit in Cilegon, Indonesia are currently shut for scheduled maintenance, a source close to the company said on Wednesday.
The units were taken off line in the week ended 29 November, the source said.
The plants started up in end-August, but had to shut for checks and inspections before they start commercial operations in January next year, the source said.
SOURCE Icis News
Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat, a chemical unit of Russian natural gas giant Gazprom, has started the construction of a 15 billion ruble complex to produce acrylic acid and acrylates in the republic of Bashkortostan, the unit said Monday in a statement, as cited by RIA Novosti.
The complex will produce raw materials for final products of petrochemistry, super absorbents, acrylic dispersions, and acrylic paints.
The project is being realized with support from Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and trading house Sojitz Corporation.
The facility has a production capacity of 80,000 tonnes of acrylic acid per year, 80,000 tonnes of butyl acrylate per year, and 35,000 tonnes of glacial acrylic acid per year. The complex will reach the projected capacity in October–December 2015.
SOURCE Prime News
Ningxia Younglight Energy Chemical is likely to start commercial operations at a vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant.
A Polymerupdate source in China informed that commercial production at the plant is expected to start in March 2014.
To be located in Yinchuan, Ningxia province, China, the plant will have a production capacity of 450,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate