AMERICAS
Formosa Plastics to build new PE plant
Formosa Plastics’ new PE plant at Point Comfort, Texas will have the capacity to produce 525 KTA. This will be the second PE unit at the Point Comfort complex. Construction for this unit is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2015 and the plant is expected to start up operations by 2017.
Comments: The United States is currently undergoing massive increases in ethylene capacity with 11 new steam crackers in various stages of planning and construction in addition to debottlenecking and expansion of several existing crackers. Formosa is on track to build its 1,200 KT grassroots ethylene cracker to leverage inexpensive ethane and other natural gas liquids derived from shale gas along with a 625 KT LDPE plant by 2017. Those plants received greenhouse gas permits from the EPA in August 2014. Formosa already runs a 300 KT MEG plant at the site. Initial plans for the new MEG plant involved adding up to 800 KT of capacity.
Lanxess launches new EPDM grades at Texas
Lanxess will be investing USD 27 million at its facility in Orange, Texas. Lanxess will also be producing four new grades of its Keltan range of EPDM products at the same site. The new grades are Keltan 9565Q –which offers strength and resilience similar to natural rubber with superior properties, Keltan 3250Q -suited for inner tubes, conveyor belts, and tire applications, Keltan 5470Q –suited for automotive and industrial applications, Keltan 7470Q DE –suited for automotive applications as well as seals and hoses.
Comments: Lanxess’ investment in upgrading the Orange, Texas plant comes in despite setting up a new EPDM plant in China. Lanxess is currently not a supplier of natural rubber. Their new grade, Keltan 9565Q, is expected to open up opportunities for Lanxess as a replacement for natural rubber that also has additional performance properties. The new grades will be produced only in Texas, but Lanxess sees an opportunity for the new grades in under-hood automotive applications worldwide.
APS Elastomers introduces new TPV
APS Elastomers has introduced a new thermoplastic vulcanizate product –Viprene. Viprene provides rubber-like properties and can be used in conventional injection molding and extrusion equipment.
Comments: APS Elastomers was formed as a merger of thermoplastic distributor Alliance Polymers & Services with rubber compounder APS Compounding. APS Elastomers first started producing and marketing its line of Viprene® TPVs in 2012. The company also manufactures its own Maxelast® TPEs. In addition, the company also markets Huntsman’s TPU products. APS Elastomers supplies these products mainly to automotive OEMs.
Ball Corporation set to take over Rexam
US can maker Ball Corporation is set to take over British-based Rexam plc in a USD 6.9 billion deal. This deal would merge the largest can makers, which would serve as a single supplier to diverse global markets.
Comments: Rising aluminum prices have forced can makers to look for ways to save on storage, marketing, and transportation costs. If the merger is approved, Ball would control more than 50% of the global beverage can supply, including majorities in market share in North America and Europe. The company currently makes cans for beverages, foods, aerosols, paints, and the aerospace industry.
EUROPE
Sibur launches construction of Tobolsk complex
Sibur has started up the construction of its USD 9.5 billion ZapSibNeftekhim petrochemicals complex at its site at Tobolsk. The complex includes a 1,500 KTA steam cracker and is expected to produce 500 KTA propylene and 100 KTA butane–butylene fraction.
Comments: The ZapSibNeftekhim petrochemicals complex would be Russia’s largest and most technically advanced domestic source of olefins. Sibur has recently been reconsidering its investment in the project due to increasingly unfavorable economic conditions and logistical difficulties of working with multiple Western companies caused by Russia’s political situation. Sibur is currently partnering with Linde AG for the steam cracker construction, and licensing of Ineos’ PE and LyondellBasell’s PP processes. The declining value of the Russian ruble relative to the euro has also contributed to the rapid cost escalation of the project. Some of the supporting infrastructure for the plant, however, has already been built and the project appears to be moving forward.
Repsol invests at Puertollano plastics plant
Repsol will be investing about USD 68 million in a plant upgrade and modernization program at its Puertollano Industrial Complex in central southern Spain. The project will increase the output for EVA resins and raise propylene processing at the PP unit.
Comments: Repsol is undertaking a strategic investment to maximize profits from the plant by adjusting the product portfolio and cutting down on energy costs. The olefin’s output will decrease significantly, as nameplate capacity for both ethylene and propylene will be cut by more than 50%. The ethylene will be used to produce value-added EVA and LDPE grades. The HDPE unit has been shut down due to a lack of profitability.
Borealis and Borouge develop new Daplen grade
Borealis and Borouge have developed a new Daplen grade, Daplen EE112AE. The new grade is a 12% mineral-filled elastomer-modified PP compound. This grade was developed for the production of the top-of-range electric sports car BMW i8, as a lightweight bumper material.
Comments: The new Daplen grade, developed in cooperation with BMW, fulfills BMW’s strict paint adhesion quality requirements in the company’s cost-saving primer-less paint systems. It is marketed as having improved processability for low scrap rate during production and reduced density while maintaining a good balance of impact and stiffness. Daplen EE112AE became commercially available in 4Q 2014.
Innovia launches new BOPP film
Innovia Films has launched the production of its first BOPP film which can provide up to one and a half years of protection from mineral oil migration. The new product, Propa film, has properties favorable for use in markets such as snacks, confectionery, dried food, tea, and cereals.
Comments: Several European regulatory agencies have recently determined that mineral oil residues, considered carcinogenic, frequently exceed safe levels in packaged food. These residues are thought to come into contact with food as they migrate from printing inks on the package. Propafilm has been shown in a peer-reviewed study by Innovia researchers to provide an effective barrier to mineral oil migration due to an optimized proprietary acrylic coating. The new film will target packaging for biscuits, bakery, confectionary, dried foods, tea, and cereals—the majority of the polypropylene food packaging market.
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
Borouge 3 starts regular on-spec production of HDPE
Borouge 3 is starting up regular production of on-spec HDPE at its new facility in Ruwais. Borouge 3 includes a 1,500 KTA ethane cracker and derivatives plant, along with an HDPE/LLDPE unit with a capacity of 1,080 KTA, an LDPE unit with a capacity of 350 KTA and two PP units with a combined capacity of 960 KTA.
Comments: Borouge is a joint venture between Austria’s Borealis and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The borough-3 project includes six new petrochemical plants that produce a total of 1,500 KTA of ethylene, 1,430 KTA of PE, and 960 KTA of PP. All polyolefins will be produced using the company’s Borstar technologies. Borouge-3 will more than double the current polyolefins capacity of the company to 4,500 KTA.
CB&I awarded the PP project in Egypt
Carbon Holdings has awarded the contract for the license and engineering design of a PP unit to be built at Ain Sokhna, Egypt. The unit will use CB&I’s Novolen technology to produce 350 KTA polypropylene.
Comments: The Tahrir petrochemical complex that is expected to be operational by 2020 is a huge development for the Egyptian petrochemical industry. The complex will be headlined by the first naphtha cracker in Egypt, which will also be the largest of its kind in the world. CB&I’s Novolene license for the polypropylene unit is the latest world-class technology planned for the complex. The polyethylene unit will use Univation’s UNIPOL™ PE Process line and Tecnicas Reunidas will license the technologies for the nitric acid and ammonium nitrate units.
ASIA PACIFIC
Indian Oil to invest in petchem business
Indian Oil Corp plans to invest about USD 4.5 billion over the next seven years to build specialty petrochemical plants associated with its refineries across the country. The portfolio of products is expected to include high-performance engineering plastics, specialty polymer derivatives, and high-grade synthetic rubber among others.
Comments: IOC currently produced commodity plastics –600 KTA of PP, 300 KTA of HDPE, and 300 KTA of HDPE/LLDPE. The proposal to invest in specialty petrochemical plants is in line with the company’s plans to on capitalize on the growth momentum in the petrochemicals industry in India as well as in the rest of Asia.
Kuo’s synthetic rubber plant in Panjin to start up
Grupo Kuo plans to start operations at its new synthetic rubber facility in Panjin, China in the second quarter. The plant is a 50-50 joint venture between Kuo Chemical’s subsidiary, Dynasol, and China’s Shanxi Northern Xing’an Chemical Industry. The facility is at Xing’an’s existing chemical complex in Liaoning province and will have a capacity of 100 KTA.
Comments: Grupo Kuo producer NBR rubber using technology from INSA, a Grupo Kuo subsidiary. The company plans to market nitrile rubber produced at this plant for tires, footwear, adhesives, sealants, and textile industries. The second plant by Kuo’s subsidiary, Dynasol, strengthens its position in the synthetic rubber market by setting up production in all the major regions of the world –North America, Europe, and Asia. Kuo, through the two plants, plans to focus on the fast-growing, large Chinese market in the construction, healthcare, automotive, and appliances industries.
The coal to Olefins project kicks off
Sinopec Anhui United Coal Industry Chemical Co., Ltd., a 50:50 JV between Sinopec Group and Anhui Wanbei Coal-Electricity Group Co., Ltd., started construction on its coal-to-olefins project. The project, which will be constructed in two phases, will include, a 350 KTA LLDPE line and a 350 KTA PP line.
Comments: China has recently undertaken massive domestic olefins capacity expansions in an attempt to reduce the need for imports. Six methanol-to-olefins projects are already on-stream, with at least 14 more in advanced planning and construction stages. Concerns over water availability (MTO consumes 20-30 tons of water per ton of olefins produced) have led to delays or cancellations of several projects in China’s coal-rich provinces, which are mainly located in the arid northern and western parts of the country. Anhui, on the other hand, is located in the East and has average, although unevenly distributed water reserves. The cash cost differential between coal-based and naphtha-based olefin production has also narrowed dramatically over the past year due to falling oil prices, but integrated coal-to-olefins plants remain the lowest-cost ethylene production source in China for the near future.