Russian PVC producers kept a high level of capacity utilization in January

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Despite a serious slump in demand, Russian PVC producers kept a high level of capacity utilization in January. Producers are forming additional stocks in anticipation of a seasonal increase in demand and decrease in imports, according to MRC ScanPlast.

January is the lowest month of the year in terms of demand. However, Russian producers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) kept high operational rates. Last month the total output of unblended PVC (suspension and emulsion) in Russia made 58,500 tonnes. The high level of capacity utilization has remained since October 2012. In winter months (the period of low demand) high operational rates account for the desire of Russian producers to form additional PVC inventories in anticipation of a seasonal increase in demand, reduction of imports and shutdown of PVC production at Sibur-Neftekhim.

Last month, the output of PVC made 56,600 tonnes. All Russian producers actually retained indices of the resin output at the level of December. Sayanskkhimplast produced more than 26,000 tonnes, Kaustik (Sterlitamak) - about 19,200 tonnes, Kaustik (Volgograd) and Sibur-Neftekhim produced 8,000 tonnes and 3,100 tonnes, respectively. In 2013, the further increase in PVC production is expected at Sayanskkhimplast (it plans to raise production up to 280,000 tonnes this year) and at Kaustik (Sterlitamak) - in 2012 the company increased its output up to 220,000 tpa).

Meantime, Sibur-Neftekhim (Sibur group) plans to completely stop the production of PVC in April 2013. Back in July 2012, the management company SIBUR announced a phased shutdown of chlorine production at a former plant Caprolactam. The annual capacity of PVC production at Sibur-Neftekhim makes 42,000 tonnes. In the first quarter of 2014, the launch of PVC production is expected at PVC complex RusVinyl (the joint venture of Sibur and Belgium's Solvay) with the capacity of 300,000 tpa.

In September 2012, PVC production was shut at Karpatneftehim (Lukoil group) in Ukraine. The nominal capacity of the plant allowed to produce up to 300,000 tpa of suspension PVC. Last year, imports of the Ukrainian resin made 67,600 tonnes. This year PVC producers from the U.S. and China are unlikely to be able to fully compensate for the lack of Ukrainian resins in the Russian market.

Also, this year, Russian companies have had limited export quotas of PVC from the U.S. Limited quotas in January-February were due to scheduled outages for maintenance at Formosa and Georgia Gulf's facilities. But it is possible that the quotas for the Russian market will be also limited after the planned shutdowns. The domestic PVC market in the United States began to recover, and local producers reduced their exports share in the production from 38.4% in 2011 to 37.2% in 2012. In 2012, the total volumes of import of PVC from the U.S. to Russia amounted to 192,000 tonnes, down 20% year-on-year.

Though PVC makers from the north of China increased their production capacity last year, there is still a bottleneck in the supply of acetylene PVC - limited rolling-stock. Many Russian companies report that they have not been shipped the resin as per December contracts yet.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Company Kronos Worldwide, one of the largest importers of titanium dioxide (TiO2) to the Russian market, announced increase in export prices effective from 1, March 2013, said the maker in the press release.

On 1, March 2013 global producer of TiO2 - company Kronos Worldwide will increase the price of export shipments of at least by USD250/tonne. This price growth will affect mainly such regions as Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Kronos is also one of the largest suppliers of TiO2 to the Russian market. In 2012, Kronos took the fourth place in exports of titanium dioxide to Russia, with 8,760 tonnes.

Russian converters' most popular grade is Kronos 2220, which is used in the production of rigid compounds.

In general, consumption of titanium dioxide in Russia the share Kronos production makes 13,25%.

Kronos Worldwide, Inc (Kronos) is one of the largest producers of titanium dioxide pigment (TiO2). The company produces more than 40 grades of TiO2. The company deliveres TiO2 to more than 100 countries in the world, but most of them are supplied to Europe and North America.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant has officially opened its new AMPS polymers plant for production of specialty polysulfonates at its facility in Tarragona, Spain, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new plant is the result of a two-year investment totaling around EUR16 million, brought about through Clariant’s recently-completed global optimization project.

Production start-up and customer approvals have been taking place since early last year, leading up to the official opening of the plant on February 22.

Two separate lines will make a range of polymers for the industrial and consumer specialties business unit as well as the oil and mining services unit.

As MRC wrote previously, Clariant planed to increase the production capacity of the dehydrogenation catalysts in the U.S. by expanding its petrochemical complex in Louisville (Kentucky, USA). The company had already made ?? significant investments in the project, which is scheduled to start in September 2013.

Besides, the company has strengthened its position in the Asian market by entering into strategic agreements with DKSH and Wacker. The company also showed good progress in portfolio management and the integration of Sud-Chemie.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The largest refiner in Kazakhstan has selected technology from Honeywell's UOP for the modernization of its facility, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Pavlodar Oil Chemical Refinery (POCR) of KazMunaiGas will use a range of UOP processes and services to upgrade its facility in Northeast Kazakhstan Province, allowing it to meet Euro-5 standards aimed at reducing motor vehicle pollution.

Established in 1978, POCR is one of Kazakhstan’s three oil refineries, and it is the country’s largest oil processing enterprise. It processed about 100,000 bpd in 2010, accounting for 30% of refined product output in the country.

After Russia, Kazakhstan has the largest oil reserves and the largest oil production in the former Soviet Union, according to the Energy Information Administration. The country is expected to produce 1.6 million bpd of oil this year.

Since 1998, Honeywell has been expanding its presence in Kazakhstan’s oil and gas, aviation, and construction sectors in support of the country’s growing energy needs, according to the company.

Besides,as MRC informed earlier, last summer Honeywell's UOP has been selected by Russias Lukoil to provide technology to produce high-quality gasoline blending components, propylene and other petrochemicals at its facility in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. The suite of Honeywell's UOP technology will be used in a new integrated fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) complex, the second such complex to be licensed by Lukoil at the Nizhny Novgorod facility.The new units, expected to start up in 2015, will produce more than 1 million tpy of gasoline blending components and more than 170,000 tpy of propylene.

We also remind that South Korean petrochemical company LG Chem is planning to build an ethylene production plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. The project is going to be constacted in collaboration with two other Kazakh firms. The production is expected to begin in late 2016.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A federal jury has ordered Dow Chemical Co to pay USD400 million in a price-fixing case involving chemicals used to make foam products in cars, furniture and packaging, according Reuters with reference to court documents.

Dow was one of several chemical company defendants named in a class action lawsuit alleging a conspiracy to fix urethane chemical prices, but it was the only defendant not to settle.

Last month, it went to trial in a federal court in Kansas City. The plaintiffs, purchasers of urethane chemicals, had sought more than USD1 billion in damages from Dow.

If the USD400 million verdict is approved by the judge overseeing the case, it could be tripled under federal antitrust law.

David Bernick, an attorney for Dow, said that the company would seek to dismiss the lawsuit in a post-trial motion.

Separately, Dow said in a statement late on Wednesday that it was disappointed the jury found price fixing conduct during part of the time frame at issue, and that it continues to deny those allegations. The plaintiffs had sought damages for a five-year conspiracy, but the jury did not find Dow liable for the full five years, he said.

Other defendants in the case have settled. In 2006 Bayer AG agreed to pay USD55 million. In 2011 Huntsman International LLC agreed to pay USD33 million and BASF Corp agreed to pay USD51 million. In settling, none of the companies admitted any wrongdoing.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. As of 2007, it is the second-largest chemical manufacturer in the world by revenue (after BASF) and as of February 2009, the third-largest chemical company in the world by market capitalization (after BASF and DuPont). Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC