The Catalyst Review January 2020 - 4

COMMERCIAL NEWS
Sumitomo Chemical Completes
Construction of New Catalyst
Manufacturing Lines...
In order to enhance its licensing business,
Sumitomo Chemical has completed
construction of two catalyst manufacturing
lines in its Chiba Works location (Ichihara,
Chiba, Japan) to meet the demand of
companies licensing its polypropylene (PP)
and propylene oxide (PO) manufacturing
technology. Sumitomo Chemical's PP
production technology has a proven
track record of successful operations at
various locations in the world, such as
the Company's Chiba Works in Japan and
licensee companies overseas, including its
affiliates, namely, The Polyolefin Company
(Singapore) Pte Ltd and Petro Rabigh in
Saudi Arabia. As far as PO is concerned,
the Company's production technology
is based on a PO-only process, in which
PO alone is manufactured without any
accompanying coproducts by recycling
cumene. The cumene method, which
Sumitomo Chemical was the first in the
world to commercialize, has the distinct
advantage of achieving a high PO yield,
when combined with the use of the
Company's proprietary high-performance
epoxidation catalyst, while ensuring
superior stability in plant operation. It was
licensed to S-OIL Corp. of South Korea
and a subsidiary of PTT Global Chemical
Public Company Limited of Thailand, in
addition to the company's affiliate Petro
Rabigh. Furthermore the company signed
a technology licensing agreement with
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
of India in July 2019. Source: Sumitomo
Chemical, 12/24/2019.
Pertamina Teams Up with
Kujang Fertilizer, Tech
Institute to Develop Catalysts
Production Plant in Indonesia...
PT Pertamina (Jakarta) has entered into
a joint venture framework agreement
with PT Pupuk Kujang, a local holding
company active in the fertilizer sector,
and the Bandung Institute of Technology
for the development of a catalysts plant
in Indonesia. The aim is to reduce the
country's hefty catalyst import bill,
currently running at $500 million/year.
Source: Pertamina, 12/13/2019.
4

Axens has Signed an Agreement with PKN ORLEN for Vegan®
Technology License and Process Book Supply...
Axens has signed an agreement with PKN ORLEN for Vegan® Technology License and
process book supply for the production of renewable diesel and jet fuel, through
hydrotreating of vegetable oils in its Płock Refinery in Poland. Based on a flexibility to
operate either on diesel mode or kerosene mode, the new unit would be capable of
producing hydro-treated vegetable oils (HVO) for true drop-in high-quality biofuels
for diesel or jet fuel. Vegan® technology is able to hydro-treat a wide range of lipids
and to produce low-density and high cetane renewable diesel as well as renewable
sulphur-free jet fuel. Backed by fifty years of experience in middle distillates hydrotreatment and hydrocracking/hydro-isomerization, Vegan® technology is using catalysts
manufactured and provided by Axens. Source: Axens, 12/18/2019.
Aramco Acquires 17% of South Korean Hyundai Oilbank...
Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) has completed, through its subsidiary
Aramco Overseas Company B.V. (AOC), the acquisition of 17% of Hyundai Oilbank from
Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, for approximately US$1.2 billion. The completion
follows receipt of all necessary regulatory consents and approvals. The investment in
South Korea's Hyundai Oilbank supports Saudi Aramco's downstream growth strategy of
expanding its global footprint in key markets in profitable integrated refining, chemicals
and marketing businesses which enable Saudi Aramco to place crude oil and leverage its
trading capabilities. Source: Saudi Aramco, 12/17/2019.
Reliance and BP Move Forward with Indian Fuels Partnership...
BP and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) signed a definitive agreement relating to the
formation of their new Indian fuels and mobility joint venture (JV). This follows the
initial heads of agreement signed in August this year. The new venture will include an
India-wide fuels retail service station network and aviation fuel marketing business. The
JV expects to expand from RIL's current fuel retailing network of over 1,400 retail sites
and 30 aviation fuel stations across India to up to 5,500 retail sites and 45 aviation fuel
stations over the next five years to become the most preferred provider of automotive
and aviation fuels. The retail network will operate under the Jio-BP brand, signaling a
new paradigm shift in fuels marketing and mobility solutions. The partners intend to set
up a new JV company, held 51% by RIL and 49% by BP, that will assume ownership of
RIL's existing Indian fuel retail network and access its aviation fuel business. Source: BP,
12/16/2019.
IMO 2020 - a Major Shake-Up for Oil and Shipping...
From January 2020, United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime
Organization (IMO), will ban ships from using fuels with a sulfur content above
0.5%, compared with 3.5% now. Oil majors including BP and Royal Dutch Shell have
announced they are producing very low sulfur fuels that meet the 0.5% requirements.
While major fuel bunkering ports such as Singapore (China), Fujairah (UAE) and
Rotterdam (Netherlands) have compliant-fuel supplies, analysts and shipping firms
are still unclear what will happen at smaller ports given the need for ships to plan
their sailing routes. It remains unclear what impact there will be with mixing very low
sulphur fuels of 0.5% together, which at this stage have not been fully tested on ship
engines. One of the risks is that the level of sediment created could damage engines
at sea. While guidance has been issued on avoiding mixing different fuel batches,
the issue continues to raise worries especially after major problems with bunker fuel
contamination in 2018. Source: Hydrocarbon Processing, 12/13/2019.

The Catalyst Review

January 2020

The Catalyst Review January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Catalyst Review January 2020