DATE : 2014-04-10
The butadiene (BD) force majeure declared by SABIC as a result of technical problems at its Geleen, Netherlands unit, has been lifted, a company spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday.
“We resumed our supplies as of 1 April, meaning that the FM was ended as well,” the spokesperson said.
The unit, which has the capacity to produce 130,000 tonnes/year of BD, experienced technical issues over the 8-9 March weekend which led to the production of off-spec BD.
The unit was then shut down from 23 March for a few days to resolve the problem.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-04-10
China Petrochemical Development Corp (CPDC) is likely to shut an acrylonitrile (ACN) plant for maintenance.
A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the plant is likely to be shut in late April 2014.
It is likely to stay off-stream till early May.Located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 240,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
DATE : 2014-04-09
BASF and Sinopec inaugurated two new plants for acrylic acid and superabsorbent polymers (SAP) at their state-of-the-art Verbund site, BASF-YPC Co., Ltd, a 50-50 joint venture in Nanjing, China.
- New superabsorbent polymers, acrylic acid and butyl acrylate plants serve growing demand in China market;
- Integrated production enables resource efficiency and energy conservation.
Additionally, a new butyl acrylate plant will begin production later this year.
The new plants will further strengthen the C3 (propylene) value chain and serve the growing downstream demand. With an annual capacity of 60,000 metric tons, the new SAP plant will serve growing demand in China for baby diapers, adult incontinence products and feminine care products.
“BASF is investing in Asia Pacific to produce 75% of our Asia Pacific sales locally, in order to ensure faster, more energy-efficient, more reliable supply. With the start-up of these projects, we continue to build on the success of our strong partnership with Sinopec, and reinforce our commitment to serving the hygiene industry in China and Asia as well as around the world,” said Albert Heuser, President, Greater China and Functions Asia Pacific, BASF.
“The start-up of these projects will continuously improve the company’s ability to meet the demands of our customers. It will create new opportunities for sustainability and will make a positive contribution to clean production. It will also enhance industrial development,” said Chang Zhenyong, Vice Chief Engineer, Director of Chemical Department, Sinopec Corporation.
BASF’s “Verbund” system creates efficient value chains that extend from basic chemicals right through to high-value-added products. In addition, the by-products of one plant can be used as the starting materials of another. At the BASF-YPC Verbund site in Nanjing, SAP, butyl acrylate and acrylic acid production will be backward integrated into the manufacturing of C3. This ensures greater supply reliability, energy efficiency, and cost effectiveness, while minimizing energy use and environmental impact.
About BASF-YPC
BASF-YPC Co., Ltd. is a 50-50 joint venture between BASF and Sinopec, founded in 2000, with a total investment of $4.5 billion. The integrated petrochemical site produces 3 million tons of high-quality chemicals and polymers for the Chinese market annually. The products serve the rapid-growing demand in multiple industries including agriculture, construction, electronics, pharmaceutical, automotive and chemical manufacturing.
BASF-YPC Co., Ltd. successfully started commercial production at the first phase of the integrated petrochemical site in 2005 and inaugurated the second phase creating an extended value chain and increasing the production of fine chemicals in January 2012. BASF-YPC further expands its acrylic acid value chain with additional acrylic acid and butyl acrylate plants. Together with the superabsorbent polymer plant, which was put on stream in December 2013, BASF-YPC will enhance its support to home care and hygiene industries as well as coatings, textiles, and construction industries. These plants are interconnected in order to use products, by-products and energy in the most efficient way, to save cost and minimize environmental impact. The site also has a gas-fired power plant and an international port on a tributary of the Yangtze River to ensure optimum energy supply and logistics. BASF-YPC Co., Ltd. posted sales of €2.84 billion in 2013 and employed 1,993 people as of the end of that year.
SOURCE : Newswire Today
DATE : 2014-04-08
Evonik Industries will be presenting its new line of Visiomer Terra products at the American Coatings Show in Atlanta, Georgia. On March 1, 2014, the Acrylic Monomers Business Line began bundling methacrylate monomers based to a significant degree on renewable resources under the product family Visiomer Terra.
Visiomer Terra showcases the partially bio-based products that are already part of the Acrylic Monomers portfolio and is expected to continue growing in the future. "Thanks to Visiomer Terra, we can already offer our customers products that combine outstanding properties for end-use applications with a source of bio-based raw materials. Developing new products based on renewable resources is a fixed component of our development work. We also continuously evaluate potential options for manufacturing existing products from bio-based raw materials," explains Hans-Peter Hauck, head of the Acrylic Monomers Business Line.
Visiomer Terra IBOMA allows manufacturers to formulate environmentally safe coatings while keeping VOC content low. Visiomer Terra C17.4-MA and Visiomer Terra C13-MA increase hydrophobicity in resin systems, thereby improving resistance to water and solvents. In addition to the broad portfolio of specialty methacrylates that Evonik Industries produces and markets throughout the world
under the Visiomer name, the brand also includes MMA, GMAA, n- and i-BMA, and hydroxy methacrylates.
SOURCE Plastech
Date 2014-04-09
Germany-based BASF is in talks with TODA KOGYO, a Japan-based cathode materials manufacturer, to establish a joint-venture (JV) for cathode active materials (CAM).
The proposed JV, which will be based in Japan, will produce and sell a wide range of cathode materials, including nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA), lithium manganese oxide (LMO) and nickel cobalt manganese (NCM), which are used in lithium-ion batteries.
It would bring together the CAM businesses of TODA KOGYO and BASF, as well as intellectual property and production sites in Japan, to provide an extensive portfolio of cathode materials.
BASF will own a majority stake in the proposed JV.
BASF catalysts division president Kenneth Lane said: "This proposed JV with TODA KOGYO reinforces BASF's commitment to explore a broad range of opportunities to accelerate growth and expansion in the global battery materials market.
"We look forward to working with TODA KOGYO to establish a mutually rewarding partnership, allowing us to combine our manufacturing and innovation expertise to best support our global growth ambitions."
"BASF will own a majority stake in the proposed JV."
TODA KOGYO president Tadashi Kubota said: "Product development, quality, productivity and supply capacity are vital factors to drive growth in the lithium-ion battery market.
"Synergies from the JV between BASF and TODA KOGYO will greatly strengthen these four key factors, and we will be the ideal partners to meet the demands of such a high-growth market."
Lithium-ion batteries are primarily used in the automotive, consumer electronics and stationary storage sectors.
Source: Chemicals Technology
DATE : 2014-04-06
In recent years more lightweight raw materials have been used to produce ethylene, and China’s capacity to make synthetic rubber has increased rapidly, so butadiene has come to be in short supply here. Butadiene is normally produced in two ways: extraction distillation, which uses C4 as feedstock, and catalytic dehydrogenation of n-butylene. In China, C4-related resources are mainly owned by Sinopec and PetroChina, and most private companies and Sino-foreign JVs are using the catalytic dehydrogenation process.
Domestic capacity increased
The many large ethylene units built in recent years now yield large quantities of C4 chemicals for China’s butadiene industry. Meanwhile, the industries that consume butadiene have also grown continuously, both in number and in scale. As of the end of 2013, China’s butadiene capacity reached 3.419 million t/a (see Table 1), of which Sinopec owns 1.738 million t/a, accounting for 50.8%; PetroChina, 886 kt/a, 25.9%; CNOOC, 155 kt/a, 4.5%. Many Chinese butadiene producers consume their own output. For example, PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Co., Ltd. has SBR and ABS units; Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical Co., Ltd. has SBR and polybutadiene units; PetroChina Dushanzi Co., Ltd. has SSBR and SBS units; PetroChina Fushun Petrochemical Co., Ltd. has a SBR unit; Zibo Qixiangtengda Chemical Co., Ltd., Shandong Yuhuang Chemical (Group) Co., Ltd. and Shandong Tianhong Chemical Co., Ltd. have cis-polybutadiene rubber units.
From 2014 to 2017, many new butadiene units will be built in China. New units of Sinopec and PetroChina will use C4 extraction methods, while most units of other companies will use catalytic dehydrogenation processes. If all these projects are put into operation according to schedule, China’s butadiene capacity will reach 4.95 million t/a in 2017, within which the combined capacity of units that use C4 will increase from 14.04% in 2013 to 29.9%, and combined capacity of units owned by China’s three oil giants, Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC, will decrease from 81.2% in 2013 to 66.8%.
Import volume grows
According to customs statistics, China imported 111.2 kt of butadiene in 2007; it increased to 297.7 kt in 2009. Since then, the volume has decreased as many new units in China have come on line. It was 183 kt in 2011, down 15.16% year-on-year. In the past two years, the import volume increased dramatically, since many new butadiene rubber and SBR units started operation, increasing the domestic demand for butadiene. In 2013, the import volume was 370.5 kt, up 7.45% year-on-year. Meanwhile, some butadiene products are exported from China each year. The export volume in 2007 was 24.7 kt; it reached a historical high in 2010, 102.3 kt, up 149.5% year-on-year; it was 8.2 kt in 2013, down 79.24% year-on-year.
Consumption increases continually
In recent years, with the rapid development of China's synthetic rubber industry, the apparent consumption of butadiene increased year-by-year. It reached 2.5553 million tons in 2012, up 15.71% year-on-year. In 2013, it was 2.5406 million tons. Meanwhile, as can be seen in Figure 1, the self-sufficiency rate increased from 85.39% in 2009 to 95.09% in 2011; in 2013, it was 88.56%.
In China, butadiene is mainly used to produce rubber, SBS thermoplastic elastomers, ABS resins, etc. It is expected that, by 2017, the demand for butadiene from industries including butadiene rubber, SBR, styrene-butadiene copolymers, nitrile rubber and ABS resin will reach 3.6 million t/a. Adding the consumption in making SBR copolymers, adipic dinitrile and hexamethylene diamine, the total domestic consumption will reach 4.2 million t/a. At that time, the butadiene capacity will reach 4.95 million t/a. In the future, the manufacture of SBR and butadiene rubber will still two largest uses of butadiene, and the consumption of butadiene for the production of nitrile rubber will increase rapidly.
Table 1 Major butadiene producers in China, 2013 (kt/a)
Company Capacity Technical process
Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 210 DMF extraction
Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 135 ACN extraction (1 unit), DMF extraction (1 unit)
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 110 DMF extraction
Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 164 ACN extraction (1 unit), DMF extraction (2 units)
Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 150 DMF extraction
Sinopec Guangzhou Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 34 DMF extraction
Sinopec Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co. 45 ACN extraction
Beijing Eastern Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 30 NMP extraction
Beijing Eastern Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 120 NMP extraction
Beijing Eastern Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 120 DMF extraction
Sinopec Zhenhai Refining and Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 160 ACN extraction
Sinopec-Sabic Tianjin Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 200 ACN extraction
BASF-YPC Co., Ltd. 130 NMP extraction
Sinopec Wuhan Company 130 ACN extraction
Subtotal of Sinopec 1 738
PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 230 ACN extraction
PetroChina Lanzhou Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 135 ACN extraction
PetroChina Daqing Co., Ltd. 171 DMF extraction
PetroChina Dushanzi Co., Ltd. 180 NMP extraction
PetroChina Fushun Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 140 ACN extraction (1 unit), DMF extraction (1 unit)
PetroChina Fushun Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 30 ACN extraction
Subtotal of PetroChina 886
CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Co., Ltd. 155 NMP extraction
Subtotal of CNOOC 155
Bluestar New Materials Company Tianjin Branch 30 NMP extraction
Liaoning jinxing Chemical Plant 30 ACN extraction
Liaoning Huajin Tongda Chemical Co., Ltd. 100 ACN extraction
Zibo Qixiangtengda Chemical Co., Ltd. 150 Catalytic dehydrogenation of n-butylene
Shandong Yuhuang Chemical (Group) Co., Ltd. 180 Catalytic dehydrogenation of n-butylene
Shandong Tianhong Chemical Co., Ltd. 150 Catalytic dehydrogenation of n-butylene
Subtotal of other companies 640
Total 3 419
Price declined amid fluctuations
As shown in Figure 2, in January 2012, the average price of butadiene in China was RMB21 000/t; then it climbed to the highest of the year in February, RMB27 500/t. In the remaining months of 2012, China’s butadiene market was rocked by imports, pushing prices down to around RMB14 600/t in December 2012. In 2013, butadiene prices fluctuated at a relatively low level for the whole year, the highest prices were in February, averaging about RMB15 500/t.
Suggestions
The construction of so much new butadiene capacity will stoke the competition in China’s market over the next few years. Enterprises are advised to accelerate the upgrade of obsolete production processes and decrease the consumption of energy and raw materials through technical innovation. Moreover, domestic industries that need butadiene, like the manufacture of propylene and adipic dinitrile, should be developed.
With more and more butadiene production units built by private companies and foreign-funded companies, more production units will use the n-butylene catalytic dehydrogenation process, which, however, has higher cost and immature processes compared to the traditional C4 extraction method. Moreover, the insufficient supply of butylene, the raw material of the butylene catalytic dehydrogenation process, may drive associated prices up in the near future. Enterprises evaluating the prospect of building new butadiene capacity that employs the butylene catalytic dehydrogenation process should consider that many experts expect a breakthrough in C4 extraction technology soon.
In recent years, the demand for butadiene in the global market has increased. Therefore, Chinese producers should actively develop overseas markets, as China still exports very little butadiene.
SOURCE CCR
DATE : 2014-04-04
Japan’s Showa Denko plans to restart its 175,000 tonne/year vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant at Oita on 22 April following the completion of maintenance, a company official said on Monday.
The VAM plant was shut on 12 March in line with the turnaround schedule of its cracker.
The official added that it will probably export one or two VAM shipments for May but cautioned that the domestic VAM market will remain tight until the end of 2014.
“After our restart, we see (VAM supply) tight balance will be prolonged until end 2014 because Denka will shut in end April so it is not easy to increase VAM export volumes,” he said.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-04-04
China’s Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical is operating its 90,000 tonne/year vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant at Jinshan, Shanghai, at 100% capacity after restarting from a two-month outage, sources close to the company said on Monday.
The plant, which was shut on 20 January on account of firm feedstock ethylene values at that time, was restarted on 20 March, the sources said.
The outage was previously expected to last two to three months, the sources added.
The company’s other 20,000 tonne/year VAM unit at the same site has been idled since 2011 on environmental issues.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE 2014-04-04
Production at Lukoil’s 150,000 tonne/year acrylonitrile (ACN) plant in Saratov, Russia has been suspended for 10 days of maintenance to clean its two reactors, a company source confirmed on Friday.
The outage began on 1 April. The first reactor is expected to come back on line on 8 April, and the second reactor is expected to come online on 10 April, the source added.
The European ACN market has been oversupplied, with spot prices falling $90-180/tonne during March as a result. Spot prices spiked in January and February on the back of global shortages, causing several sellers to overestimate demand levels in March and leading to a surplus of prompt European material.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-04-05
China’s Wuhan Petrochemical will shut down its 120,000 tonne/year butadiene (BD) unit in Hubei province on 8 April for maintenance, market sources said.
The BD unit will be shut for 15 days for maintenance, the market sources said.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-04-04
China’s Jilin Petrochemical plans to conduct maintenance at its 106,000 tonne/year No 2 acrylonitrile (ACN) unit during 20-28 April, a company source said on Friday.
The company will restart its 106,000 tonne/year No 1 ACN unit, which has remained shut since May 2012, when the No 2 ACN unit shuts for maintenance, the source added.
The producer’s No 3 and No 4 ACN plants, which have a capacity of 120,000 tonnes/year each, will undergo maintenance from 5 May to 24 May, the source said, adding that it may result in a production loss of about 5,000 tonnes of ACN.
Currently, the No 2, No 3 and No 4 units are running at full of capacity, the source said.
China’s Jilin Chemical Fiber, a major buyer of ACN from Jilin Petrochemical, may shut its two acrylic fibre (AF) units for maintenance 2-3 days after Jilin Petrochemical begins its plant turnaround, a company source said.
The plants, with a combined capacity of 236,000 tonnes/year, are run by the company’s subsidiaries - Jilin Qifeng Chemical Fiber and Jilin Jimont Acrylic Fiber, and they are currently operating at full rate, the company source added.
However, the ACN plant shutdowns are not expected to weigh much on the ACN spot market given the lacklustre demand, a market player said.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-04-04
Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan has scheduled to restart its 210,000 tonne/year styrene monomer (SM) plant in Chiba at the end of April after shutting it on 27 March for maintenance, a company source said on Friday.
The company also operates two SM units with total capacity of 340,000 tonnes/year in Tokuyama. Both units are currently operating at close to full tilt, according to the source.
The Tokuyama units were restarted in late March after being shut on 14 March following an earthquake off Japan's southern island of Kyushu near the city of Oita.
Other SM producers in Japan include Denka, Asahi Kasei Chemicals and Nihon Oxirane Co.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-04-04
Asahi Kasei’s 200,000 tonne/year acrylonitrile (ACN) plant in Mizushima, Japan is expected to restart in mid-April, a company source said on Friday.
“The plant is going to restart around 15 April,” the source said.
The plant was taken off line on 23 February for an around 15-day turnaround, according to an earlier story from ICIS.
SOURCE Icis News