HDPE imports to Russia fell by 27% in January-April 2014

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The outage at Stavrolen has not yet had a major impact on the balance of the Russian high density polyethylene (HDPE) market. Imports fell by 27% over the first four months of 2014, according to MRC DataScope.

The February accident at Stavrolen and a subsequent long outage at the plant's HDPE production have not led to higher imports. Conversely, imports of polyethylene (PE) dropped because of higher prices and seasonal factors. HDPE imports into Russia fell to 76,100 tonnes from 103,500 tonnes year on year from January to April 2014. However, imports will start to grow from May on the back of seasonally stronger demand and upcoming shutdowns for maintenance at Russian HDPE plants.

Film grade PE accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. The overall imports of film grade HDPE totalled over the stated period about 6,000 tonnes, down by 68% year on year.

Quite large dependence in imported material remained from producers of steel pipes for oil and gas pipelines. Imports of extrusion grade PE for coating of large-diameter steel pipes virtually remained from January to April at the last year's level and totalled about 23,200 tonnes.

Imports of pipe grade HDPE slumped by 44% over the said period and totalled about 16,000 tonnes. However, a major increase of imports of this PE grade should be expected starting from May because of insufficient supply from Russian producers.

Imports of blow moulding HDPE dropped to 11,000 tonnes over the first four months of the year, down by 18% year on year.

Injection moulding HDPE was the only material, imports of which increased from January to April 2014. Its overall imports reached almost 16,000 tonnes, up by 6% year on year.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lanxess, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of synthetic rubber, has undertaken a complete rebranding of its butyl rubber products, reported the company on its site.

A package encompassing a global ability to deliver products anywhere, anytime, extensive technical expertise, a focus on innovative solutions and customer demands - all this is what the new LANXESS X_Butyl brand stands for.

The new brand family is called X_Butyl.

All existing product grades have been renamed, for example Regular Butyl 301 is now called LANXESS X_Butyl RB 301. Bromobutyl 2030 has become LANXESS X_Butyl BB 2030. And Chlorobutyl 1240 has been renamed to LANXESS X_Butyl CB 1240.

LANXESS X_Butyl RB: Regular butyl is a copolymer made of isobutene and small amounts of isoprene and is distinguished by its high impermeability to gas and good resistance to heat, weather and ozone. In addition, it is very resistant to chemicals and demonstrates a high capacity to absorb energy. Alongside its application in tubes, the copolymer is therefore also used in the inner linings of tanks and in conveyor belts.

LANXESS X_Butyl CB: This synthetic rubber is created by the chlorination of X_Butyl and, compared to regular butyl, is characterized by faster vulcanization times and improved adhesion to other unsaturated polymers. The heat and ozone resistance of the vulcanizates is generally better than those made from regular butyl. Chlorobutyl vulcanizates also demonstrate a stronger resistance to fatigue cracking and a better compression set.

LANXESS X_Butyl BB: The properties of vulcanizates made from brominated X_Butyl are largely identical to those produced from chlorinated X_Butyl. However, vulcanization takes place even more quickly and it is possible to further increase the adhesion to other unsaturated rubbers.

As MRC wrote previously, last summer, German specialty chemicals company Lanxess celebrated the opening of its first production facility in Russia. In the new plant at the Lipetsk site, Lanxess subsidiary Rhein Chemie manufactures polymer-bound rubber additives for the markets in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), primarily for the automotive and tire industries. A production facility for the bladders used in tire production is to be added in 2016. The overall investment volume in euros amounts to a seven-digit figure and 40 new jobs will be created at the new plant in the medium term.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.3 billion in 2013 and roughly 17,000 employees in 31 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jiangsu Leasty is in plans to start a new styrene monomer (SM) plant in H2 2016, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the construction of the plant is planned to be started in Q3, 2014.

To be located in Jiangsu province of China, the plant will have a production capacity of 500,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, Styrindo Mono Indonesia (SMI) is in plans to shut its No.1 styrene monomer (SM) plant for maintenance turnaround in H2 November 2014. The plant is slated to be shut for around one month.
Located in Merak, Indonesia, the plant has a production capacity of 100,000 mt/year.

Besides, Idemitsu SM (Malaysia), an affiliate of Idemitsu Kosan, one of Japan’s largest refining and petrochemical companies, is likely to shut down its SM plant for maintenance in August 2014. It is likely to remain shut for around one month. Located at Pasir Gudang in Malaysia, the SM plant has a production capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

We also remind that Taiyo Petrochemical is in plans to shut down its SM plant for maintenance in September 2014. The shutdown is expected to remain in force for around 30 days. The plant is currently operating at full production capacity levels. Located at Ube in Japan, the SM plant has a production capacity of 370,000 mt/year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The expansion of a petrochemicals complex in Saudi Arabia owned by Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical is now expected to cost SR32 billion (USD8.5 billion), higher than previously estimated, the joint-venture said, said Arabnews.

The expansion plan, which aims to increase output from the plant as well as introduce higher-margin products, was originally estimated to cost around USD7 billion. But in a stock exchange filing, PetroRabigh said: "Total investment in the project is around SR32 billion according to current forecasts."

The statement did not give any reason for the change in price, but said the project — situated on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast — was still due to come online during 2016. A company spokesman declined to provide further information.

The joint-venture, known as PetroRabigh, has had a number of setbacks because of maintenance issues in 2013 at its existing facility including power cuts and an outage at its ethane cracker. A new marketing deal with its parent firms in December has helped alleviate the pressure on profits from the maintenance problems. Both Aramco and Sumitomo have also made firm commitments to the expansion project, known as Rabigh II, since giving it the final go-ahead in 2012.

Under the plan, an existing ethane cracker will be expanded and a new aromatics complex built that will make higher-value petrochemical products and have a capacity of 1.72 million tons per year. PetroRabigh’s existing plant can produce an annual 18 million tons of refined products and 2.4 million tons of petrochemical products.

Rabigh II will produce ethylene propylene rubber (EPR), thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO), methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) among other products. To fund construction of Rabigh II, both Sumitomo and Aramco will put in around 100 billion yen, with the rest coming from project financing, Sumitomo Chemical President Masakazu Tokura said in November.

Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical each hold a 37.5% stake in Petro Rabigh, with the remaining 25% owned by the public.MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF now offers high performance Ultramid (polyamide), which is derived from renewable raw materials. BASF uses an innovative approach that replaces up to 100% of the fossil resources used at the beginning of the integrated production process with certified biomass, as per the company's press release.

The resulting Ultramid, which is produced according to the so called mass balance approach, is identical in terms of formulation and quality but associated with lower green house gas emissions and saving of fossil resources . Also , existing plants and technologies along the value chain can continue to be used without changes.

"Consumer demand for products made of renewable raw materials continues to rise," says Joachim Queisser, Senior Vice President of the Polyamides and Precursors Europe regional business unit. "This offering opens excellent possibilities for packaging film manufacturers to market their products accordingly."

With more than 60 years of experience, BASF is the leading supplier of high quality polyamide and polyamide intermediates for the engineering plastics, film, fiber and monofilament industry. The line of products include Ultramid B (polyamide 6), Ultramid C (polyamide 6/6.6 copolymer), Ultramid A (polyamide 6.6) and Ultramid S Balance (Polyamid 6.10).

BASF operates Ultramid polymerization plants in Ludwigshafen, Germany; Antwerp, Belgium; Freeport, Texas and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Another plant is under construction in Shanghai, China. The production of polyamide for film, textile and carpet fiber as well as for engineering plastics applications is integrated into BASF’s global Verbund structure with polyamide intermediates (i.e. adipic acid, anolon, caprolactam), chemical raw materials (i.e. ammonia, cyclohexane, sulfuric acid), energy, by-product recovery, logistics and other services.

As MRC wrote before, BASF is building a new Ultramid polymerization plant with a capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year in Shanghai, China. The new plant is planned to start up in 2015.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN).
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