Russian DOP will go up in value in May

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In April, the planned outage for maintenance at Salavat plant and a growing seasonal demand led to a serious increase in prices of DOP plasticizer in the Russian market, according to MRC Price report.

In early April, the increasing cost of 2-ethylhexanol resulted in rise in prices of DOP plasticizer in the Russian spot market by Rb3,000/tonne to the level of Rb70,000-72,000/tonne, including VAT and delivery.

Since 20 April, Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat has shut its DOP production for a monthly turnaround. As a result, in the last week of April, the plasticizer prices reached the level of Rb72,000-75,000/tonne, including VAT and delivery, in the spot market.

Russian producers do not exclude further increases of DOP prices in May on a continuing rise in feedstock prices and limited supply. Price offers for June shipments of South Korean DOP were voiced in the range of USD77,000-79,000/tonne, including VAT and delivery.

In their turn, end-users of DOP report that, even taking into account the April price level of Russian DOP, it will be more profitable to import plasticizer, particularly, from South Korea. Thus, consumers hope that imports will limit the price rise.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - In 2012, the investments in processing of PVC made USD74.3 mln, down 21% from 2011, when investments rose sharply after two-years fall in investments, as per MRC Annual Report on the Russian PVC market.

Investments in PVC processing in 2008 was 2.5 times higher than in 2012. In 2012 there were installed 436 production lines with total capacity of PVC processing about 450,000 tonnes/year, down almost 21% from 2011.

The investments in the largest sector of PVC processing - extrusion profile-moulding products (PMP), which in 2004-2012 made more than 50% of the total investment in the processing of PVC, gradually slow down compared to to the pre-crisis period with average annual growth of investments about 30%, is now being close to saturation.

The capacities of PMP production in 2012 amounted to 147,000 tonnes, down 19% compared to 2011, while in 2008 this figure was 435,000 tonnes.

Total investments in equipment for the production of PMP made USD36 mln, down 19% from 2011 and more than two times less than in the record 2008.

The largest share of investments in the sector PMP (more than USD20 mln) was provided by the sector of window profiles.
At the same time, growth in PVC processing by cable extrusion almost doubled - to 41,000 tonnes (74 production lines), which is more than twice less than the capacities of imported lines in 2008.

In 2012 such converters of PVC expanded their capacities:
Tarkett (production of linoleum), Narodnuy Plastic , Rehau, Terna Polymer, SP Vitrazh, they are all -PMP producers.
Converters spent about USD2 million on equipment for the production of soft PVC compounds with total capacity of 25,000 tonne/year (primarily Bashplast, Uralkhimplast Smolensk Korund).

The growth rate of PMP market is not expected to exceed 4-5% in the nearest years.
Therefore, investments in PVC processing are most likely to slowdown, although in some sectors the investments can grow faster - cable extrusion, coating, extrusion (seals).


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- OAO Gazprom and Petrovietnam are considering signing a contract for the supply and purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG), reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Russian state-controlled company continues its efforts to increase sales to Asia.

"The possibility of concluding a long-term LNG sale-and-purchase agreement is being considered," Gazprom said in a statement, after a meeting between its CEO, Alexei Miller, and the chairman of Petrovietnam's board, Phung Dinh Thuc.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, Petrovietnam, state-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, has been told by the government to scrap plans to expand capacity at its Dung Quat refinery. However, the 130,000-bpd refinery will be upgraded.

Gazprom, the world's largest extractor of natural gas, plans to lift sales to Asia to help offset a drop in demand and regulatory troubles in its most lucrative market, Europe. It is planning to build a gas liquefaction plant in Vladivostok on Russia's Pacific coast.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian petrochemicals group Nizhnekamskneftekhim, one of Russia’s largest petrochemical producers, has formally commissioned its EUR100m 60,000 tpa ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) polymer plant in Nizhnekamsk, as per the company's press release.

To date, Nizhnekamskneftekhim has mastered the production of seven out of nine ABS brands under the unit’s Versalis licence agreement after trials since its start up last November. Overall, it has manufactured 7,285 tonnes of extrusion and injection moulding grades for applications ranging from refrigeration, automotive and plumbing to toys and packaging.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim is the largest petrochemical company, a leader in the production of synthetic rubber and plastics in the Russian Federation. The range of products includes more than 120 items. Major commodities are: synthetic general and special-purpose rubber, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE).

Nizhnekamskneftekhim reported that its output of PS in 2012 amounted to more than 190,00 tonnes of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) and general-purpose polystyrene (GPPS), which is more than 3,000 tonsbe higher than in the previous year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Billionaire Brazilian businessman Eike Batista is in talks to sell a 40% stake in oil producer OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA to Russia's Lukoil, reported The Wall Street Journal with reference to the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.

The deal would beef up finances at the entrepreneur's troubled flagship company ahead of an important auction of oil and natural-gas concessions next month. The Russian firm is conducting due diligence of the company, and the deal could be announced in early May, the newspaper reported.

OGX is also in talks to sell a 40% stake in the company's Tubarao Martelo field to Malaysian state-run oil and gas firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd., or Petronas, the newspaper said. Tubarao Martelo is expected to start producing crude oil by the end of 2013. OGX could also operate fields for Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras, the newspaper reported.

OGX has fallen far short of its crude-oil production goals since the Tubarao Azul field first started output in early 2012. The field was expected to reach output of 40,000 barrels per day by end-2012, but those expectations were slashed by nearly half last year.

In March, technical issues at Tubarao Azul caused production to plummet. The company is carrying out repairs on two of the field's three production wells, with full output not expected to return before June. The field produced 8,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day in March.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, OAO Lukoil Holdings, Russia's No. 2 oil producer, will invest USD1 billion in the oil firm Samara-Nafta to increase production. Lukoil acquired Samara-Nafta from Hess Corp. this month for USD2 billion as part of a strategy to stabilize and increase oil production. Lukoil has for years fought declining output at its main, Soviet-era fields in Western Siberia.

OAO Lukoil Holdings is one of the leading vertically integrated oil companies in Russia. The main activities of the company include exploration and development of oil and gas, manufacturing and marketing of petroleum products.
MRC