Shintech to expand PVC capacity by over 10% at Plaquemine and Addis sites

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shintech, one of the major polyvinyl chlorice (PVC) producer in the US, will spend USD500 mln to expand plant capacity by 10% in Plaquemine and Addis, as per Plastemart.

Shin-Etsu said its Plaquemine plant is running at capacity and expansion is needed to meet growing worldwide demand for PVC. The expansion will eliminate production bottlenecks. Shin-Etsu will pay for the project using its own money, planning completion in 2015.

Upon completion of expansion, Shintech will increase its polyvinyl chloride capacity by 300,000 tpa, its vinyl chloride monomer capacity by 300,000 tpa and its caustic soda capacity by 200,000 tpa. About 75-80% of the work will take place at the larger Plaquemine plant and 20-25% will be done at Addis.

As MRC informed previously, last autumn another major PVC producer Westlake Chemical announced an expansion of its existing PVC plant in Calvert City, Kentucky, and the plans to convert the feedstock for its Calvert City ethylene plant from propane to ethane along with increasing ethylene capacity from 450 million pounds per year to 630 million pounds per year. The ethylene expansion and feedstock conversion project is targeted for start-up in the second quarter of 2014 and the PVC expansion is projected to start up in late 2014.

Shintech was founded in 1974 to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin. The catalyst for its current success came in 1976 when it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. Since then Shintech has completed a series of production capacity expansions that combined aggressive domestic and export business plans with careful analysis of market conditions and customer needs. Currently, Shintech Inc. is the largest producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in the United States.
MRC

PET output in Russia dropped by 2.5% in January-May

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In January-May 2013, the ouput of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Russia decreased by 2.5% to 189,300 tonnes, according to MRC ScanPlast.

Over the same period a year earlier, Russia produced about 194,000 tonnes of granulate. This year, the decline in PET production was due to underutilized capacity at Kaliningrad plant Alco-Naphtha.

In May, PET production in Russia remained stable. Despite the decreased output of the Tver plant SIBUR-PETF, the overall amount of May PET granulate production in Russia remained at April's level and reached 38,500 tonnes.

In May, the Tver PET plant was shut down for the annual maintenance works, which had a negative impact on the production volumes.

Meantime, the Kaliningrad plant Alco-Naphtha and Polief (Bashkiria) increased their capacity utilization. Due to this, the overall output of granulate in the country remained at the same level.

The reduction of PET production in Russia is expected in July-August, in the case of an outage at Polief. The exact dates of the shutdown have not been heard yet.

As announced previously, the company intends to stop production because of the capacity expansion and the commissioning of a new polycondensation reactor.
MRC

Imports of titanium dioxide to Russia rose by 38% in January-May 2013

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of titanium dioxide (TiO2) to Russia in January-May 2013 grew by 38% (an increase of 10,800 tonnes) year on year and totalled about 39,000 tonnes, according to MRC DataScope.

In May, imports of titanium dioxide to Russia increased by 43% year on year to 8,875 tonnes. Market players believe the main reason for this rapid growth in supplies is the depletion of traders' stocks and, especially, the increased production of coatings and PVC windows.

In the structure of May imports, Ukrainian TiO2 accounted for about 22% of the total supplies. The share of American, Chinese and Belgian titanium dioxide made 15%, 12% and 11%, respectively.

Coatings sector is the largest consumer of titanium dioxide. 6,400 tonnes of TiO2 were supplied for the needs of this sector in May, whereas 2,370 tonnes of material were imported for the production of PVC window profiles.
MRC

Hubei Chemical Fertilizer to launch production at new MEG plant in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hubei Chemical Fertilizer is likely to start a new monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is likely to start commercial production in late 2013.

Located in Hubei, China, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, in May spot prices of MEG and terephthalic acid (PTA) showed an upward trend in the Asian region on good buying activity from producers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Thus, MEG prices rose by USD18-20/tonne at the Chinese port to USD997-1,006/tonne, CFR China.
MRC

Final Decision was made on investment for Nghi Son refinery and petrochemical complex in Vietnam

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsui Chemicals, Idemitsu Kosan, Kuwait Petroleum International, and Petro Vietnam have announced the final decision to invest a total USD9 billion in their refinery and petrochemical complex construction project at Nghi Son economic zone, Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, according to Mitsui Chemicals' press release.

Following this decision, Nghi Son Refinery & Petrochemical Limited Liability Company, the project's joint venture company, concluded a financing agreement with a public financial institution and private banks in a total of USD5 billion.

The financing agreement consists of approximately USD2.3 billion from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea and approximately USD2.7 billion in loans from domestic and overseas private banks which are insured or guaranteed by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) and foreign export credit agencies.

It is noted that the project has received a USD1.65 billion loan from JBIC and a USD1.3 billion overseas investment insurance coverage by NEXI.

This final decision on project investment and financing agreements will allow construction to start in July. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2016 and commercial operation is targeted for 2017.

This project, which has at its base the stable supply of crude oil from Kuwait, will capture rapidly growing demand for petroleum products in Vietnam while also responding to forecasted expanding aromatic (paraxylene and benezene) markets and export sales of polypropylene products. The large-scaled project is expected to yield high returns.

In addition to securing a stable source for aromatics, which are raw materials of phenols and PTA, under competitive conditions thereby strengthening Mitsui Chemicals' business operations, the company will also provide licenses for polypropylene production.

As reported previously, Vietnam is likely to become the world's third biggest rubber producer in the future, thus, surpassing Malaysia, according to a recent report by the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries. The association estimated that Vietnam would produce 955,000 tonnes of natural rubber this year, up 17% year-on-year.
MRC