HDPE production in Russia decreased by 16% from January to July 2014

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) in Russia decreased by 16% over the first seven months of 2014, according to MRC ScanPlast.

July HDPE production fell to 68,300 tonnes over the first seven months of the year because of scheduled outages for maintenance at Gazprom neftekhim Salavat. Overall, Russian producers reduced their HDPE output to 510,300 tonnes from January to July 2014 versus 608,500 tonnes a year earlier. Increased polyethylene (PE) production at Kazanorgsintez and Gazprom neftekhim Salavat could not offset the forced outage at Stavrolen and a slight decrease in production of Nizhnekamskneftekhim.

The structure of HDPE production by plants looks the following way over the stated period.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat (Gazprom) has significantly increased its capacity utilisation and HDPE production this year because the plant had resolved an issue with feedstock (ethylene) supplies. The plant shut down its production for a one-month turnaround on 15 July. The plant's HDPE output was 3,400 tonnes for the incomplete month. Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's HDPE production rose to 55,000 tonnes over the first seven months of 2014, up by 33% year on year.

Kazanorgsintez (part of TAIF), Russia's largest PE producer, increased its capacity utilisation by 4% in July compared with the June's level. Thus, the plant's July output of HDPE totalled 45,800 tonnes. The overall HDPE production exceeded 308,500 tonnes in the first half of the year, an increase of 9% year on year.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim (part of TAIF), Russia's third largest HDPE producer, also increased capacity utilisation last month, the plant's July output reached 19,100 tonnes. The Nizhnekamsk plant produced about 99,000 tonnes of HDPE from January to July 2014, down by 4% year on year. The reduction in the plant's HDPE production was caused by the increased production of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE).

As noted earlier, Stavrolen (part of LUKOIL), Russia's second largest HDPE producer, shut down its production on 26 February because of an accident at its ethylene unit. The plant's annual production capacity is 300,000 tonnes of HDPE. As Stavrolen's officials reported repeatedly, the resumption of HDPE production is scheduled for January 2015.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Belarus decreased by 20% in the first half of 2014 and totalled 17,700 tonnes, reported MRC analysts.

June PVC imports to Belarus fell to 3,000 tonnes from 4,400 tonnes in May. May's drop in sales of finished products made local converters to adjust June purchasing of PVC. Overall, Demand for PVC from the local converters subsided to 17,700 tonnes in the first half of the year versus 22,100 tonnes a year earlier.

Such a serious decline in demand for resin was caused by weaker demand for finished products from PVC in the domestic market. Sales also dropped to foreign markets, but the fall did not exceed 10%.

Germain producers are the PVC main suppliers to the local market, their share exceeds 50% in the total imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An explosion shook BP Plc's Whiting, Indiana refinery, its largest in the United States, on Wednesday night but a resulting fire had been contained as of 9:30 pm local time (0230 GMT Thursday), as per Reuters with reference to a report by WFLD-TV.

Local officials did not know which unit was involved and a BP spokesman said the company was preparing a statement.

There were reports from local media that at least one person was taken to an area hospital. Other reports said no injuries had been reported in the blaze.

Whiting city firefighters were asked by BP to be ready to assist the refinery's firefighting force in battling the blaze, but were not called in to the plant, a fire department spokesman said.

The 413,500 barrels-per-day (bpd) Whiting refinery is BP's largest in the United States and is the centerpiece of the company's shift over the past two years to emphasize using cheaper, heavy crude oil from Canada's tar sands fields in Alberta.

In November, BP completed a USDillion revamp of the Whiting refinery to boost its intake of Canadian crude oil from 85,000 bpd to 350,000 bpd.

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items. BP Plc reported that its profit before taxation for Q2 2014 increased to USD5.15 billion from USD4.12 billion in the year ago quarter.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CB&I has been awarded a contract by Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group Co. for the license and engineering design of a grassroots petrochemicals complex to be built in Lingwu, China, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to the company's announcement.

The complex will use CB&I's proprietary Olefins Conversion Technology (OCT) to produce 196,000 tpy of polymer-grade propylene and its Comonomer Production Technology (CPT) to produce and recover 20,000 tpy of comonomer-grade 1-butene.

The complex at Shenhua Ningxia will also use the latest CDHydro selective hydrogenation technology from CB&I, which allows the incorporation of different feed from the adjoining steam cracker into the downstream OCT unit.

Additionally, CDIsis technology from CB&I will provide the conversion of isobutene into normal butenes, which increases the potential polymer-grade propylene available from the steam cracker C4s.

As MRC wrote earlier, CB&I announced Thursday it had been awarded a contract by Poland's PKN for the license and engineering design of a new on-purpose propylene production unit to be located in Plock, Poland. The unit will use CB&I's proprietary Olefins Conversion Technology (OCT) to produce 100,000 tpy of propylene to be used internally.

Besides, also in July 2014, CB&I and Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, announced that their new Ziegler-Natta (ZN) polypropylene catalyst plant in Louisville, Kentucky, is on schedule to begin production in 2015.
The plant is part of a long-term strategic partnership between Clariant’s catalysts business and CB&I’s Lummus Novolen Technology business. Based at Clariant’s largest US production hub, the new facility will combine innovative catalysts jointly developed by both companies with high-capacity output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Consumer electronics giant Sony Corp. is getting into a sideline of selling recycled resins, as per Plasticsnews.

The Tokyo firm says it will start selling Sorplas recycled polycarbonate to outside customers in October 2014. It foresees the resin will appeal to a range of manufacturers inside and outside Japan.

Sony recycles PC from discarded optical discs and light-diffusing films used in LCD televisions. The plastic is flame retarded with a proprietary, sulfur-based chemical to give a durable, heat-resistance material that can contain up to 99 percent recycled content.

Sony began in-house use of Sorplas in 2011 in some of its LCD televisions and has since incorporated it into a variety of Sony products. It soon will offer Sorplas to outside companies "with the objective of contributing to society by promoting the reuse of resources and reducing environmental impact."

Sony claims its flame retardant is effective at concentrations of less than 1 percent, a fraction of the usual flame retardant dose of 15 percent. This low flame-retardant loading allows Sorplas to retain the desirable properties of PC resin without adding high amounts of virgin PC to boost the recycled resin’s properties.

Sony says it will offer Sorplas at approximately the same price as conventional flame-retarded PC plastic. Three initial grades address high moldability, high impact and thin molding with high flame retardance.
MRC