Xianglu Petrochemical to test run second PTA plant by end of year (5-12-2013)

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Ukraine increased by 50% in January-November 2013, according to MRC DataScope.

SPVC imports to Ukraine exceeded 130,000 tonnes over eleven months of the year, while in the same period of 2012 this figure was 87,000 tonnes.

Resumption of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production at Karpatneftekhim (part of LUKOIL Group) has not led to lower imports. November SPVC imports totalled about 12,700 tonnes.

US producers remained the key suppliers of SPVC to Ukraine. The overall imports of North American PVC grew to 67,800 tonnes in January-November 2013 from 56,000 tonnes a year earlier. US producers account for more than 50% of total imports this year.

PVC supplies from Europe totalled slightly over 60,000 tonnes in eleven months of the year, while in the same period of 2012 this figure was 53,300 tonnes. The key suppliers of resin are producers from Hungary and Poland.

As reported earlier, Karpatneftekhim resumed its PVC production on 7 November after a long outage. The plant's PVC output exceeded 7,200 tonnes for less than a month. The plant's annual capacity is 300,000 tonnes.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styrolution has announced measures to better serve customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), according to the company's press release.

New initiatives include the optimization of Styrolution's production network in Germany and the opening of a regional specialties logistics center. These measures enable Styrolution to offer customers greater flexibility, long-term and secure supply, and lot-to-lot consistency. They also extend Styrolution's regional reach and further strengthen its leading market position in the region's key focus industries, such as automotive, healthcare and diagnostics, and building and construction.

Thus, Styrolution is optimizing its specialty production platform in EMEA to better serve customers, provide secure sourcing alternatives and spur further growth in styrenic copolymer sales in EMEA. Styrolution will now offer Novodur grades from its production sites in Cologne, Ludwigshafen and Schwarzeide, while Luran S grades are now available from both Ludwigshafen and Schwarzheide.

Additionally, the company will expand compounding capacity in Schwarzheide to enable insourcing of specialty ABS and Novodur GF previously produced by external partners. The Schwarzheide site will become an increasingly important hub for Styrolution in EMEA with the production of compounded specialty styrenic products, such as Novodur GF, Terblend N and S, Zylar, and anti-static polystyrene.

Styrolution plans to complete the majority of this project by the end of 2013.

Styrolution has also opened a new, state-of-the art logistics center for its AMSAN and SAN specialties plants in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

Another step in fulfilling Styrolution's strategy is a launch the company's ‘Triple Shift' growth strategy aimed at strengthening its leading position in styrenics globally in August 2013. The strategy calls for an expansion of Styrolution's global footprint in emerging markets; focusing on higher growth industries; and expanding its market position in styrenic specialties and ABS standard.

As MRC informed previously, in line with this strategey the company announced its two initiatives in October 2013: a planned joint venture with Braskem to produce ABS standard and ABS specialties in South America, and new AMSAN specialty production at Styrolution's plant in Altamira, Mexico.

The Styrolution Group GmbH is a global provider of styrenics , headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. The company is a joint venture between BASF (50%) and INEOS (50%), were merged into the main styrene operations of the two partners. Its main focus is on the production of monomer, polystyrene, styrenic specialties, and ABS. The company offers styrene plastics for a variety of everyday products from different industries, such as automotive, electronics, construction, household, leisure, packaging, medicine and health.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Pechora LNG is reported to be pursuing a tie-up with a state partner in an apparent effort to revive the stalled Russian project following a Kremlin move to liberalise liquefied natural gas exports, said Upstreamonline.

The venture, owned by Moscow-based Alltech, is currently in talks with state-controlled Rosneft and Gazprom, its chief executive Maxim Barsky was quoted as saying by Russian daily Kommersant.

Recent legislative amendments passed by the Russian parliament will allow Rosneft and state-owned Zarubezhneft, as well as privately-owned Novatek, to carry out LNG exports from 1 January to break the current export monopoly of Gazprom, though the latter will still have exclusive control of pipeline gas supplies.

The law allows companies to ship LNG if they hold licences to build an LNG plant or send gas to a liquefaction plant. State-controlled companies may also ship gas by tanker if they produce LNG from offshore fields or from production sharing agreements.

Pechora LNG was expected to produce 2.6 million tonnes per year of LNG from two fields in Timan-Pechora province in the autonomous Nenets region of northern Russia. While the project is relatively cheap and simple to develop, it has been on hold for years as its proponents have been unable to gain government clearance for exports and it still remains outside the revised legislative framework.

A source close to Rosneft told Reuters the company is not interested in Pechora LNG as the project is not presently allowed to ship LNG under the law. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said recently that Moscow might open up LNG exports further in the future but would base any decision on market conditions.

Industry analysts have earlier suggested Gazprom may be interested in acquiring Pechora LNG as it could potentially serve gas fields being developed on the Yamal peninsula by building a pipeline extension to the project from the Bovanenkovo-Ukhta trunkline. Neither Gazprom nor Rosneft would comment to Reuters on the reported discussions.

As MRC wrote before, Russian oil giant Rosneft is to pump nearly USD3 billion into developing a trio of oilfields in East Siberia. The Moscow-based behemoth is to spend 92 billion rubles (USD2.79 billion) on the three fields by 2015. The field developments are set to feed into the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline feeding Asian markets.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The 'Survival Plan' for Grangemouth is necessary to secure GBP300 million investment and the long term future of the site, reported the company in its latest statement.

This will help to provide skilled jobs for many years to come.

Since the announcement of the 'Survival Plan' on 29 September the company has been very clear with its employees and the media about the need for change at the site and introduced a plan for the future.

As part of this plan Ineos said that three old plants had reached the end of their useful life and will be closed: benzene unit at some point next year with the G4 naphtha cracker and butadiene plant later in 2015.

As these old, end of life plants close, it is expected that the expansion of modern efficient plant at the site, made possible by new investment, will generate new long term opportunities.

The new GBP300 million investment into the Grangemouth petrochemicals site secures over 1400 skilled, well paid roles for many years to come. There is no reduction in salaries proposed; operators continue to earn twice the national average in Scotland and have a first class defined contribution pension scheme.

Ineos is currently recruiting employees and expanding its apprenticeship scheme at the Grangemouth site.

As MRC informed previously, Ineos has invested GBP1 billion in the Grangemouth site since 2006, but over the last three years the whole site has been losing around GBP150 million annually and that is forecast to continue. The feedstock gas from the North Sea is declining. Though this is a modern asset, it continues to run at 50% because of the lack of feedstocks. Lack of alternative feedstock to supplement the North Sea supply will result in the petrochemical side of the business not continuing beyond 2017. Thus, the company is looking to source shale gas from the USA to solve this problem and get the cracker operating at 100%.

INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC