DATE : 2014-10-14
South Korea's producer LG MMA earlier this week restarted it’s No 3 methyl methacrylate (MMA) lines at Yeosu after a short turnaround, a company source said on Friday.
The line was shut in mid-October for a turnaround, the source said.
Meanwhile, the No 1 MMA line at the same site is scheduled to be shut for a turnaround next week for around 40 days, the source added.
LG MMA’s No 2 line at the same site was restarted in late September following regular maintenance.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-10-01
BASF of Ludwigshafen, Germany, has started-up a new butadiene extraction plant at its site in Antwerp. Belgium.
The plant has an annual production capacity of 155 kt, and is BASF's second butadiene extraction plant in Europe. The company's butadiene extraction plant at its site in Ludwigshafen has an annual production capacity of 105 kt. With the plant in Antwerp, BASF is more than doubling its production capacity for butadiene in Europe.
The Head of BASF's Basic Petrochemicals Europe business unit, Uwe Kirchgassner, says: "This plant secures our internal supply of butadiene at competitive costs. In addition, it enables us to take advantage of opportunities on the external market and strengthens our market position in Europe."
The butadiene will be extracted from crude C4, a product from the steam cracker at the Antwerp site. Butadiene is a raw material that can be used to produce synthetic rubber, among other applications. The tyre industry is one of the main consumers of butadiene. Other applications for butadiene include plastics production and paper chemicals.
BASF announced its decision to build the plant in 2012, stating that it had been driven by the increasingly tight supplies of butadiene on global markets. In recent years, the volumes of butadiene available on the market have declined sharply. At the same time, demand from the tyre and other industries has been rising. This has led to a considerable increase in prices.
SOURCE High Performance Plastics
Date : Oct 2014,15
Please find the analysis of Solvay Polyamide (Vincent Bordereau and his team) for Butadiene end 2014 (extract of a more complete documant available on solvay Engage)
BD Demand
Demand continues to be low, and unexpectedly weak with China back from Golden Week
holidays. While USA remains at a low level (turnaround from Invista). European consumers
are also slightly on the down side, with inventory target for year-end already there.
Supply: A force majeure from Shell reduced the CC4 availability in Europe. This FM should be
there until 2014 year end. But BASF started successfully their new BD extractor in Antwerp,
adding new molecule on the market.
Market balance: Long. Despite Europe supply reduction, the balance appears still long. US
remain well covered. Asia slightly long. And should remain as such in the coming weeks
Price: for our 2-month outlook, we foresee a significant price decrease on the contracts, both
in Europe and USA. Additionally, Naphtha price drop (in line with Brent) is an additional support for price decrease
Source: Solvay Engage-Petrochemicals Market
CLARIANT INAUGURATES REGIONAL INNOVATION CENTER IN INDIA
- Clariant Regional Innovation Center (RIC) India, Mumbai, to focus on innovation tailored to regional market needs
- RIC leverages the expertise of the entire global Clariant Innovation network
- New facility will accelerate speed to market with unique product solutions
Muttenz, October 15, 2014 – Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has inaugurated its first Regional Innovation Center in India (RIC India). Located in Navi Mumbai, the new facility will host approximately 100 technical employees in Chemical Research and Application Development in the near future. Research efforts will focus on the areas of Surfactants, Specialty Polymers and Functional Chemicals.
The RIC bundles research, application development and analytical laboratories, business functions and technical marketing under one roof. This will foster close collaboration with the local and regional customers, suppliers and scientific partners to identify the most relevant and attractive business opportunities.
“Innovation to meet the challenges and trends of regional and global markets is at the core of Clariant’s strategy. With its close proximity to local and regional customers, the RIC India will facilitate cross fertilization of ideas and accelerate Clariant’s innovation efforts toward delivering fast and tailor made solutions,”comments Christian Kohlpaintner, Member of Clariant Executive Committee”.
To mark the inauguration, Clariant welcomed guests from industry, academic and research institutions to the new state-of-the art facility. Martin Vollmer, Chief Technology Officer of Clariant, gave an insight into the Technology & Innovation activities at Clariant, followed by a well-attended interactive session focusing on the Emerging Trends and Needs of the Indian Market, under the Clariant motto – what is precious to you!
“The RIC India reinforces the direction Clariant is taking as it moves into the future, providing a catalyst to unleash innovation and customized solutions for hyper growth in the region,” said Deepak Parikh, Region Head for Clariant in India.
The RIC India in Mumbai will be well integrated in Clariant’s global innovation network managed by Clariant in Switzerland which will ensure getting leverage of Clariant’s four Technology Platforms Chemistry & Materials, Biotechnology, Catalysis, and Process Technology.
Source: Clariant web site
DATE : 2014-10-14
State-owned Mexican petrochemical major Pemex is in plans to shut an acrylonitrile (ACN) plant for maintenance turnaround. A Polymerupdate source in Mexico informed that the plant is planned to be shut in end-October 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for three weeks.
Located at the company’s Morelos petrochemical complex, the plant has a production capacity of 60,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
Please find a summary of key trends for the agro markets that could impact our businesss in 2015
(In attachment the full Analysis provided by Solvay Strategic Marketing in Purchasing)
Fertilizers and Agrochemicals general demand drivers:
Key Agro commodity prices should significantly decline in 2015 due to abundant supply and current confortable stocks level. As the consumption of intrants in agriculture are usually stimulated by high revenue expectation resulting of high crop prices, this down price trend could possibly soften the general agrochemicals demand in 2015.
Factors that could impact the carbofuran demand
- Lower sugar production expected in Brazil in 2015 but global ample supply due to the production offset in other countries.
- Sugar stocks remain at a high level
- World Sugar price 2015 is forecasted to decline -26% versus 2014
Biodiesel trends
Global production is planned to icnrease + 8,5 %/year for the coming 3 years boosted by production in Brazil and Argentina (from soybean oil), in Indonesia (from palm oil)
and in Europe (from rapaseed oil).
Attachment(s)
DATE : 2014-10-09
Shell has declared force majeure on styrene following an incident at the company's Moerdijk, Netherlands steam cracker last week. "On 2 October, an unforeseen breakdown in the utilities systems at the manufacturing plant at Moerdijk took place," the company says. "All units have been shut down. Our current expectation is it will take a few weeks to complete the assessment on the duration of the impact. However, it is currently expected that most units will not be back in operation before the end of 2014." Market sources report that a force majeure letter was issued to Shell styrene customers yesterday and say they understand that a product allocation rate of 100% will be reviewed in November.
The propylene oxide-styrene monomer unit of Shell's Ellba joint venture with BASF at Moerdijk had already been offstream since an explosion in June but an initial spike in spot prices at that time was not sustained because a combination of imports and length within the European system prevented a severe tightening in supply.
SOURCE Chemweek's Daily Business
DATE : 2010-10-13
China’s Wan Chio (BVI) Company plans to shut down its 80,000 tonne/year butyl acrylate (butyl-A) unit at Nantong in Jiangsu province on 14 October, citing weak market sentiment, a company source said on Monday.
Meanwhile, the company also has taken off line its 80,000 tonne/year acrylic acid unit at the same site on 11 October, the source said. The restart dates have yet to be confirmed, the source added.
The company has been facing persistent low prices and poor market sentiment, the company source said.
Recently, acrylic acid prices in the Chinese domestic market have been very low, and the weak demand led to suppliers fs=acing squeezed margins, market sources said.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-10-13
South Korea’s LG Chem plans to reduce the operating rates at both its Yeosu-based styrene monomer (SM) facilities in end October to 85% for 10 days on the back of planned turnarounds at upstream units, a company source said on Monday.
The two units, a 200,000 tonnes/year facility and another 300,000 tonnes/year plant, are currently running at full capacity.
The cuts in their run rates follows the turnaround at an upstream 1m tonne/year naphtha cracker which will be shut on 20 october for debottlenecking for around 35 days, the source added.
Meanwhile, the firm’s 240,000 tonne/year benzene unit will be shut from 18 october for 40 days of scheduled maintenance, he said.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-10-09
Jilin Petrochemical has shut its No 4 acrylonitrile (ACN) plant for maintenance turnaround. A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant shut on October 8 for maintenance turnaround. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.Located in Jilin, China, the plant has a production capacity of 120,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
DATE : 2014-10-08
Idemitsu Kosan has shut a styrene monomer (plant) owing to the advent of a typhoon. A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the plant was shut on October 6, 2014 as typhoon Phanfone made a landfall in the area. The plant reportedly suffered some damage owing to the impact of the typhoon. Repairs have been initiated at the plant and it is expected to restart in 2-3 weeks.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
DATE : 2014-10-09
China’s Jilin Petrochemical has shut down its 120,000 tonne/year No 3 and 120,000 tonne/year No 4 acrylonitrile (ACN) plant in Jilin province on 8 October for maintenance, a company source said on Wednesday.
The shutdown will likely last for half a month, according to the source.
Jilin Chemical Fiber, a major buyer of ACN from Jilin Petrochemical, plans to shut its two acrylic fibre (AF) units, with a combined capacity of 236,000 tonnes/year, for maintenance from 15 to 22 October, the company source said.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-10-09
Japan’s Mitsubishi Rayon Co (MRC) early this restarted its 60,000 tonne/year polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) plant in China's Jiangsu province month after a turnaround, a company source said on Thursday.
The unit was taken offline earlier in September for maintenance, the source said.
Other PMMA manufacturers in Asia include South Korea’s LG MMA, Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical, France’s Arkema and Taiwan’s Chi Mei.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-10-02
Ineos is in plans to restart one of two lines at an acrylonitrile (ACN) unit following maintenance turnaround. A Polymerupdate source in Germany informed that the unit is planned to be restarted over this weekend. It is under a five-week shutdown.
Located in Cologne, Germany, the plant has a production capacity of 210,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
DATE : 2014-10-02
The planned turnaround at one of Momentive Specialty Chemicals's two lines at its plant in Sokolov, Czech Republic, is imminent, a source from the company confirmed late on Wednesday.
The maintenance will last three to four weeks, the source said, adding that there should be no impact on the market as its inventory is under control.
The plant is expected to run at approximately 50 % of capacity during the turnaround. Momentive has the capacity to produce around 55,000 tonnes/year of acrylic acid.
SOURCE Icis News