INEOS announces a new agreement with CONSOL for US ethane

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Europe has announced a new ethane purchase agreement with CONSOL Energy in the United States, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Ethane will be transported through the Mariner East infrastructure and imported by sea for use in INEOS’ European cracker complexes. Supplies will start from 2015.

"This contract adds to our supply portfolio providing for long term sourcing of advantageously priced US ethane for our European crackers. It will allow us to continue to consolidate the competitiveness of INEOS’ ethylene production in Europe. We are excited about our new business relationship with CONSOL Energy and look forward to future opportunities between our companies" commented David Thompson, INEOS Procurement & Supply Chain Director.

INEOS is the first company to establish seaborne intercontinental ethane transportation, having earlier announced the completion of agreements with Sunoco Logistics for capacity in the Mariner East pipeline and terminal system, with Range Resources for the purchase of ethane, with Evergas for the construction of new customised vessels and with TGE Engineering for the construction of a new tank in its Rafnes cracker. INEOS is presently conducting engineering studies for the construction of an ethane terminal in Grangemouth.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In 2013, Braskem's resin sales totaled 3.7 million tons, with market share of 68%, said the producer in its press-release.

The average cracker capacity utilization rate was 90%. PP sales volume at Braskem America grew by 7% in 4Q13 and 3% in 2013, affected by the production growth, the highest since 2011.

Consolidated EBITDA in the last quarter of the year was Real1,175 million. In U.S. dollar, EBITDA was USD521 million, growing approximately 20% from 4Q12 recurring EBITDA.

In 2013, Braskem recorded EBITDA of Real4,813 million. In U.S. dollar, EBITDA was USD2,217 million, increasing by 11% from 2012.

The construction of the Mexico project continued to advance, with the complex's physical completion reaching 58%. In November, the subsidiary Braskem-Idesa withdrew the second installment of the project finance in the amount of USS547 million. In 2013, withdrawals amounted to USD2,031 million.

Braskem announced the expansion of one of its polyethylene production lines and the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Styrolution for the production of styrenics specialties.

Braskem announced that it entered into an agreement with Solvay for the acquisition of the controlling interest in Solvay Indupa, which has 4 plants producing PVC and caustic soda in Brazil and Argentina. With the acquisition, which is still subject to approval by the countries' regulatory agencies.

Braskem is the leading producer of thermoplastic resins in Latin America and the US, following its purchase of polypropylene assets of Dow Chemical. The company serves 70% of Brazilian demand in PP, PE and PVC resins, but foreign resin imports have gained Brazilian market share in recent years. Brazil's annual consumption of PP is estimated at 1.4 million tons this year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The dependence of the Ukrainian polyethylene (PE) market on imports dropped by 8% in 2013. The main reason for weaker demand was the unfavorable economic situation in the country, which led to a fall in demand for finished products, according to MRC Annual report.

PE imports into the Ukrainian market dropped to 306,000 tonnes last year from 331,200 tonnes a year earlier. Demand for low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) slumped in 2013 on the back of reductions of industrial production in Ukraine.

The structure of PE imports by grades looks the following way.

Imports of high density polyethylene (HDPE ) rose to 137,200 tonnes in 2013 from 132,000 tonnes a year earlier. Increased imports were caused by both the outage at the domestic producer (Karpatneftekhim) and stronger demand for finished products in all sectors of consumption, the only exception being a pipe HDPE market (demand dropped by 7%).

LDPE imports fell to 98,500 tonnes last year from 114,300 tonnes a year earlier. The sector of paper lamination (the so-called Tetra Pak packages) accounted for the greatest decline in demand (about 70%) for LLDPE. Demand for LDPE for the production of cable insulation fell by 20%.

LLDPE imports fell by almost a quarter to 57,000 tonnes from 74,200 tonnes. The sectors of cable insulation (approximately 31%) and films (about 26 %) production, including stretch films, showed weaker demand for LLDPE in 2013. At the same time, demand for LLDPE grew in the injection moulding sector (about 25%) and in the sector of rotational moulding of large items (about 6%).

Imports of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) rose in 2013 to 9,200 tonnes from 6,500 tonnes because of stronger demand in the injection moulding sector (shoe soles).

Import of other ethylene copolymers dropped to 4,100 tonnes last year from 4,400 tonnes in 2012.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plastik (Uzlovaya), one of the producers of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and expandable polystyrene (EPS) in Russia, raised its prices for shipments in February, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant announced a price increase for its products in January, following higher prices of styrene monomer, ABS prices in Europe and the devaluation of the national currency. Traders said ABS prices (FCA the plant's warehouse) rose by Rb5,000-6,000/tonne, excluding VAT.

Earlier, Plastik was a part of SIBUR, but in December 2013 the plant was sold to a group of private investors, which names were not disclosed. The deal amounted to Rb575 million.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Abiplast, the Brazilian association of plastics companies, has said that the Brazilian government's protectionist measures have canceled out any benefits from tax cuts it awarded the sector in 2012, said Bnamericas.

The association singled out the government's decision to increase the import duty on polyethylene (PE), which is widely used by producers of packaging, from 14% to 20% for most of 2013. Abiplast said this led on average to a 3% increase in raw material costs for the industry, wiping out the effects of the government's decision to reduce payroll taxes in the plastics sector, which Abiplast said cut the cost of labor by 0.5%.

"The possible benefits and reductions in the costs of plastic converters as a result of the cut to payroll taxes have been absorbed by the increase in the price of one of the main raw materials for the sector," Abiplast president Jose Ricardo Roriz Coelho said in a statement.

Raw materials such as polyethylene represent 50% of the sector's production costs, and polyethylene represents 39% of the consumption of thermoplastic resins in Brazil. In recent years, the government has increased import tariffs on resins such as polypropylene and polyethylene, most recently applying anti-dumping duties to imports of polypropylene from South Africa, South Korea and India. These measures have protected local monopoly producer Braskem, and kept resin prices in Brazil at higher levels than in other markets, making it hard for domestic producers of finished plastic items to compete with imports from lower cost countries.

As MRC wrote before, Brazilian national plastics industry association Abiplast said the decision to raise import tariffs on plastic resins was a surprise and would lead to higher raw material costs for the industry.

According to Abiplast, despite the reduction in payroll taxes the sector's output in Brazil increased by under 2% in 2013. It expects a similar performance in 2014.

MRC