The downstream rundown: In case you missed it
In case you missed any downstream news, this piece will give you a summary of some of the top stories from last week.
Neste introduces electric charging service for logistics companies
Neste will introduce its first dedicated charging service for logistics companies in the Finnish market in February 2022. Neste ran a service pilot in 2021 together with Finland's leading moving and logistics company Niemi Services Ltd. The pilot was a success, and the Neste charging service will be widely available for the transport industry to support companies in achieving their climate goals. By using the Neste charging service to charge their electric vehicles, logistics companies can reduce their GHG emissions by 85% on average. This figure is based on a five-year average of the electricity used in Finland’s national grid as well as European regulations.
ABB renames its turbocharging division
ABB announced that its turbocharging division, a global leader in heavy duty turbocharging for diesel and gas engines, has unveiled its new brand name “Accelleron”, a compound word of: Access – Accelerate – Excel – on and on. The new brand is part of ABB’s portfolio management strategy to operationally separate the turbocharging division before a final decision is made between a sale or a spin-off of the business towards the end of the first quarter. Whichever path is chosen by ABB to separate the business, should be completed in the first half of 2022.
TotalEnergies, Honeywell ink advanced plastic recycling deal
TotalEnergies and Honeywell announced an agreement to promote the development of advanced plastic recycling. Under this agreement, Honeywell will supply TotalEnergies with recycled polymer feedstock (RPF) using Honeywell’s UpCycle process technology at the recently announced Honeywell and Sacyr advanced recycling plant, intended to be built in Andalucía, Spain. TotalEnergies will purchase and convert this raw material into virgin-quality polymers, which could be used for food-grade packaging and other high demanding applications.
India cuts tax on crude palm oil imports to help consumers, refiners
India has cut its tax on crude palm oil (CPO) imports to 5% from 7.5%, the government said in a notification, as the world's biggest edible oil importer tries to rein in local prices of the commodity and help domestic refiners and consumers. The reduction in the tax, known as the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess, will widen the gap between the CPO and refined palm oil import duties, effectively making it cheaper for Indian refiners to import CPO.
Louis Dreyfus reports fire at largest U.S. biodiesel plant
Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) said on Wednesday a fire had broken out at its Claypool, Indiana, soybean processing and biodiesel plant on Tuesday and the affected systems had been suspended. No employees were injured, and the fire was put out by 9:15 p.m. central time on Tuesday, LDC said in a statement. Smoke had been detected in a baghouse, used for filtering dust, at approximately 8 p.m., LDC said.
Lummus' CDAlky technology to be used in new alkylation unit
Lummus Technology announced that Shandong Yulong Petrochemical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China's Nanshan Group, has selected its CDAlky technology for use in a new 400 KTA alkylation unit. The unit will be part of Shandong Yulong's 20,000 KTA refining and petrochemical integrated project, a mega complex in Shandong Province, China. Lummus' scope for this award includes the technology license, basic engineering, technical services and proprietary equipment supply.
Thailand approves tax cut on diesel to ease high prices
Thailand's cabinet on Tuesday agreed to cut the excise tax on diesel by 3 baht ($0.0928) per liter for three months, from 5.99 baht currently, to help mitigate the impact of high energy prices. The tax cut will reduce revenue by 17 B baht ($526 MM), but that should be partially offset by a rise in other tax revenue as the economy is recovering, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith told a news conference.
Alvega completes the basic design of slurry alkylation unit
Alvega LLC as subsidiary of Alvega Technologies Inc. completes the basic design of the world's first 3,500 bpd slurry alkylation unit. The company has developed a solid catalyst without noble metals that allows processing any C2-C4 olefin feedstocks, and 100% isobutylene (which is important in connection with the rejection of MTBE) into a high-octane alkylate with RON up to 100. Estimated CAPEX will be approximately 1.5-3 times lower than existing processes on the market (acids, solids, ionic liquids).
BASF replaces plant for 2-mercaptoethanol
A new BASF production plant for the intermediate 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) at the Ludwigshafen Verbund site started regular operations in the fourth quarter of 2021. After a trial run of several months, it replaces the previous plant at the Ludwigshafen site, which is being closed after more than 40 years of operation.
Technip Energies to design commercial unit for Encina to produce circular chemicals from plastic waste
Technip Energies announced it has signed an agreement with Encina Development Group, LLC to deliver the Front-End Engineering Design of the fluidized bed catalytic pyrolysis reaction section for Encina’s commercial plastic fluid catalytic cracking (PFCC) unit to produce circular chemicals from plastic waste in North America. Encina utilizes a proprietary process to convert post-consumer scrap plastic to valuable circular chemical products. The process, called PFCC, converts mixed hard-to-recycle plastics into petrochemical feedstock such as light olefins and BTX aromatics. These circular feedstock chemicals can be seamlessly dropped into the fabrication process of new consumer products, reducing the need for virgin materials, and significantly reducing waste plastics.
Exxon makes new contract offer to locked-out Texas refinery workers
ExxonMobil said on Friday it made a new contract offer to union workers at its Beaumont, Texas, refinery who have been locked out since May. The new offer follows meetings this week aiming to bring back more than 600 refinery workers represented by the United Steelworkers union to a plant that produces motor fuels and Mobil 1 motor oil. Production has continued using managers and temporary workers.
Neste, ITOCHU expand partnership to grow the availability of SAF in Japan
Neste and ITOCHU Corporation have expanded their partnership to grow the availability of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Japan. In the expanded partnership, ITOCHU acts as the branded distributor of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel in Japan making Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel available first at the two largest Japanese international airports; Tokyo Haneda and Narita.
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