Sabic to start commercial production of bimodal HDPE at its plant in Germany

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC, Saudi Arabia's petrochemical major, has been preparing facilities at its plant in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, for the launch of commercial production of bimodal high density polyethylene (HDPE), reported the company in its press release.

The start of the production of the new grades for blow moulded bottles for household, industrial chemicals and personal care is scheduled for the second quarter of the current year, with grades suitable for containers up to 5L. The same grades, as well as grades intended for jerry cans, drums and other large containers, will also be produced at one of the company’s plants in Saudi Arabia; production there will start in the third quarter of 2013.

SABIC has been accelerating grade development in recent months, and will be fine-tuning the new grades during the first quarter prior to their formal launch. It is already talking with potential customers to ensure that the new grades fulfill their requirements.

Initially, the Gelsenkirchen plant will supply two grades. Bimodal HDPE (which exhibits two peaks in its molecular weight distribution) has an excellent environmental stress crack resistance (ESCR) and has low die swell. In some cases the new grades can also provide customers productivity advantage such as a faster cycle time or weight-out.

As MRC informed earlier, last September SABIC developed a new grade of high density polyethylene (HDPE) - SABIC HDPE PCG4906 - for large containers used in healthcare applications in close cooperation with Mauser, a well-known supplier of blow moulded industrial packaging solutions.

Sabic is a diversified manufacturing company, active in chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia. Sabic is currently the second largest global ethylene glycol producer, the third largest polyethylene manufacturer, the fourth largest polyolefins manufacturer and the fourth largest polypropylene manufacturer. According to MRC data, Sabic is the second largerst importer of HDPE to Russia. In 2012, the company accounts for 14% of the total imports. Since 2009, Sabic's share in the total HDPE imports increased by 13 times. Main PE grades marketed in Russia are pipe HDPE P6006 and Vestolen A6060R, as well as film grade HDPE FI1157.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In January 2013, imports of titanium dioxide to the Russian domestic market increased by 1,800 tonnes, which is equivalent to 44% increase from January 2012, according to MRC DataScope.

This January, imports of titanium dioxide made about 5,700 tonnes. With the general increase in imports, import volumes of Ukrainian titanium dioxide remained at the level of January, 2012, and made 1,600 tonnes.

The increase in purchases of TiO2 by Russian consumers accounted for American, Chinese, and German grades. The growth of purchases of the material from these countries made 74%, 43% and 116%, respectively, year-on-year.

As it was reported previously, in 2012, imports of titanium dioxide to Russia amounted to 66,000 tonnes, down 15,000 tonnes compared to 2011. According to market players, over stocks of the material from the previous year caused the fall of imports, which affected the poor performance of deliveries in the first two quarters, as well as the general decline in demand from the key consumers of the material in Russia.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US-based TPC Group is going to move to the next phase of engineering to produce on-purpose butadiene and expand production capacity to meet market demand, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to the company's announcement.

The company is able to start a new phase of engineering due to successful completion of the project's preliminary engineering study to produce butadiene from a variety of sources.

The US shale gas revolution offers an abundance of natural gas liquids for feedstocks to produce butadiene, according to the company. It has also had an impact on by-product butadiene production, creating a shortage of butadiene to meet customer needs.

TPC Group anticipates that its engineering design optimization will be complete by the end of the third quarter of 2013.

TPC Group said it aims to address the structural shortage of supply due to the shift from heavier to lighter feedslates by ethylene producers. The need for a capacity expansion is driven by the growing demand for butadiene and the reduced by-product of crude butadiene available as North American ethylene producers utilize more ethane as a primary feedstock.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, TPC Group Inc. had commenced engineering to expand production capacity of polyisobutylene (PIB). The need for a capacity expansion is driven by the growing demand for HR-PIB due to upcoming changes in the technical standards for lubricating oils that favor use of HR-PIB based dispersants, as well as an increasing demand for the wide variety of other end uses, including automotive sealants and industrial lubricants. TPC has commenced engineering to expand the Company's existing capacity to meet this growing need.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, TPC Group is a leader in providing highly specialized lines of chemical products. The Company sells its products into a wide range of performance, specialty and intermediate markets, including synthetic rubber, fuels, lubricant additives, plastics and surfactants.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SAHARA Petrochemicals announces the annual consolidated financial results for the period ended 31 Dec 2012, said the company in its statemanent.

Net profit amounted to SR 204.45 million compared to SR 411.58 million for the previous year with a decrease of 50%.

Earnings per share (EPS) during 2012 amounted to SR.47, based on that total share count 438.8 million, compared to SR 1.35 for the period of the previous year, where average shares counted 305.8 million, as the current shares number has increased compared with the previous year due to capital increase that took place in the 4th quarter of the previous year.

Gross profit amounted to SR 53.31 million compared to 240.29 million for the previous year with a decrease of 78%.

Operating loss amounted to SR 27.80 million compared to a profit of SR 166.96 million for the last year.

The decrease of the net and gross profit of 2012 compared to 2011 is attributed mainly to the decrease of the products prices and the decrease of sales, and due to the turnaround of Al Waha plant during the 2nd quarter and a part of the 3rd quarter of 2012 as announced earlier on 12/07/1433 H corresponding 02/06/2012 G, in addition to that the profits from Saharas investment in the Saudi Ethylene and Polyethylene Company (SEPC) , an affiliate of Saharas, were negatively affected in December 2012 because of the refinancing which was announced earlier on 17/02/1434 H corresponding 30/12/2012 G.

Some items of the financial statements were reclassified this year in a different way comparing to the previous year.

As MRC wrote earlier, SAHARA Petrochemicals’ net profit surged 1,187 % to SR64.49 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to SR5.01 million for the same quarter last year, and an increase of 48% from SR43.71 million from the preceding quarter.

"SAHARA Petrochemicals" performs participation and supervises foundation and establishing several limited liability companies in Al Jubail Industrial City with the participation of Saudi and foreign companies that have the modern skills and technologies; to produce and market its chemical and petrochemical products such as propylene, polypropylene, ethylene and polyethylene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrochemicals and metals company Industries Qatar (IQ) posted a 5.9% rise in fourth-quarter net profit yesterday, said Gulf-daily-news.

The Gulf's second-largest chemical producer by market value behind Saudi Basic Industries, made a net profit of 1.8 billion riyals (USD494.4 million) for the fourth quarter, it said in a statement, compared with 1.7bn riyals a year earlier.

Petrochemical prices have strengthened in recent years, but worries persist over the impact of a global slowdown on industry earnings in the world's top oil exporting region.

IQ made a full-year net profit of 8.4bn riyals, compared with 7.9bn riyals in 2011, the statement said. The company's board proposed a cash dividend of 8.5 riyals a share, the statement added.

The country has also plans to spend an additional USD1bn for a transport corridor in its capital, Doha.

As MRC informed earlier, Qatar's petrochemical output will get a further boost with the formal inauguration of Qapco"s QR2.3 billion low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plant at Mesaieed on 20 November 2012. Qapco"s LDPE production will thus exceed 700,000 tpy with the company"s two existing production lines - LDPE 1 and 2 - already accounting for more than 400,000 tpy. Products from LPDE 3 will be sold under the brand name "Lotrene" through Qapco"s global marketing network.

Qatar Petroleum is a state owned petroleum company in Qatar.
The Qatar Petrochemical Company produces ethylene, low density polyethylene, and sulfur. Its facilities consist of an ethylene plant producing 525,000 tonnes per annum (tpa), two low density polyethylene (LDPE) plants with 360,000 tpa and a sulphur plant with 70,000 tpa.

MRC