Idemitsu shut down its steam cracker in Japan for maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Idemitsu Kosan has shut a naphtha cracker for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the cracker was shut on September 9, 2014. It is likely to be restarted in November 2014.

Located at Tokuyama in Japan, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 623,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, Idemitsu SM Malaysia, an affiliate of Idemitsu Kosan, restarted its styrene monomer (SM) plant on September 15, 2014. It was shut for maintenance turnaround. Located at Pasir Gudang in Malaysia, the plant has a production capacity of 240,000 mt/year.

Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese petroleum company. It owns and operates oil platforms, refineries and produces and sells petroleum, oils and petrochemical products. The company runs two petrochemical plants in Chiba and Tokuyama. The two naphtha crackers can produce up to 997,000 tonnes of ethylene per year.
mrpclast.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has been again included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), as per the company's press release.

The company has been especially recognized for its engagement in the areas eco-efficiency, environmental reporting, labor practice and human rights. The DJSI World is one of the most renowned sustainability indices and represents the top 10% of the largest 2,500 companies included in the Dow Jones Global Index.

The BASF share is included in the DJSI World for the 14th consecutive year. The listed companies have to demonstrate continuous improvement every year with regards to sustainability and are assessed by analysts fromasset manager RobecoSAM.

As MRC wrote before, in order to better help its customers align environmental and societal aspects with business success, BASF has recnetly developed a new process for steering its portfolio based on sustainability criteria. The Sustainable Solution Steering method is used to systematically review and evaluate the sustainability aspects of the approximately 50,000 relevant product applications in the company’s portfolio, which represent sales of EUR56 billion.

Besides, in July 2014, BASF Shanghai Coatings Co., Ltd. inaugurated its new automotive coatings plant at the Shanghai Chemicail Industry Park in Shanghai, China. The expansion of its automotive coatings production capacity with an investment of around EUR50 million further strengthens BASF’s presence in China and its position as a leading coatings supplier to the automotive industry.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and BP Singapore (BPS) have reported the conclusion of a sale and purchase agreement for LNG. Under the agreement, Tepco will purchase up to 1.20 MMtpa of LNG over 17 years from BPS, starting in April 2017, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The agreement states that Tepco will receive LNG from BPS, supplied from multiple LNG sources which BP Group holds, and is the first long term contract of its kind for Tepco.

The agreement will enable Tepco's steady purchase of LNG through diversification, since BPS will provide LNG from various supply areas. The supply features the inclusion of lean LNG, of which Tepco intends to increase its share, and also the inclusion of gas link (Henry Hub link) for price indexation, which will contribute to Tepco's aim of purchasing LNG at competitive price.

Tepco has reviewed multiple supply sources, including those of US origin, in its strategy towards the annual purchase of approximately 10 MMtpa of lean LNG (half the amount of LNG purchasing). With this agreement concluded with BPS, a total of approximately 2 MMtpa of lean LNG will be secured.

In addition to introducing multiple supply sources and diversification of price indexation, Tepco will continue to strive towards the steady and economical purchase of fuel through comprehensive business alliances in order to meet its responsibilities as an electricity supplying company.

As MRC wrote before, BP, the UK oil company with the single-biggest foreign investment in Russia, warned that more sanctions against the country could hurt its business. BP, with a 20% stake in OAO Rosneft, stands to lose the most from further sanctions in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The European Union and the US are acting to intensify punitive measures aimed at key sectors of the economy -- finance, defense and energy.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of high density polyethylene (HDPE) in Russia decreased by 11% in the first eight months of this year.
The greatest decrease in imports occurred for PE for the production of films and extrusion coating of large-diameter pipes, according MRC DataScope report.

After the July surge in imports of injection moulding and pipe HDPE (30,600 tonnes), Russia's imports of HDPE decreased to 27,200 tonnes in August. Total imports of HDPE to Russia decreased to 182,500 tonnes in January - August 2014, compared with 205,000 tonnes year on year. The greatest reduction occurred for HDPE for the production of films and extrusion coating of large-diameter pipes, while imports of blow moulding and pipe PE, on the contrary, increased.

Structure of HDPE imports over the reported period looked as follows. August imports of pipe HDPE in Russia decreased to 8,800 tonnes on price rise in the foreign markets, compared with 10,000 tonnes in July. Total imports of pipe PE in Russia were 51,300 tonnes in the first eight months of the year, up 5% year on year.

August imports of HDPE for extrusion coating of large-diameter pipes remained practically at the level of July and were 3,100 tonnes. Total imports of HDPE for extrusion coating of large-diameter pipes in Russia decreased to 38,800 tonnes in the first eight months of the year, down 26% year on year.

August imports of injection moulding HDPE in Russia decreased to 3,000 tonnes, compared with 5,400 tonnes in July on the back of a significant reduction of the supply from South Korea and Uzbekistan. Russia's imports of injection moulding HDPE totalled 32,400 tonnes in the eight months of 2014, down 3% year on year.

August imports of blow moulding HDPE in Russia remained at the level of July at 5,000 tonnes. Russia's imports of blow moulding HDPE totalled 29,400 tonnes in January - August of this year, up 17% year on year.

Russia's imports of film HDPE imports continued to increase gradually. August imports of film HDPE in Russia grew to 6,000 tonnes, compared with 5,700 tonnes in July. Total imports of film HDPE in Russia were 22,000 tonnes in the first eight months of 2014, down 38% year on year.

Russia's imports of HDPE in other sectors (cable extrusion, rotomoulding and etc) decreased to 8,800 tonnes in the first eight months of 2014, compared with 9,600 tonnes year on year.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South African petrochemicals company Sasol reported a 14 percent increase in full-year earnings on Monday, boosted by higher chemical prices and a weaker rand currency, but the result fell short of analysts' expectations, said Reuters.

Diluted headline earnings per share rose to 59.64 cents from 52.53 cents the previous year, below a Reuters forecast of 63.4 cents, based on a poll of 11 analysts.

Sasol said the economic outlook in its domestic South African base "remains challenging as the country is still recovering from a five-month long strike in the platinum sector, with business and consumer confidence levels remaining low."

It also said that rand exchange rate and oil price assumptions, the biggest external factors impacting the company's margins, could be volatile because of increased geopolitical tensions and the likelihood of rising interest rates in the world's top economies.

Sasol said it still expected a solid production performance for the 2015 financial year and forecast capital expenditure of 50 billion rand (USD4.7 billion) for 2015 and 65 billion rand for 2016.

The group also said it had obtained all the air, water and wetlands permits for its mega-projects in the southern U.S. state of Louisiana, an ethane cracker and derivatives plant and an integrated gas-to-liquids and chemicals facility, which are expected to cost around USD16 to USD21 billion to build.

"We are making good progress on the financing," Sasol said. While Sasol's synthetic fuels business remains its revenue driver, the company has increasingly diversified into chemicals and gas and clean-energy projects.

As MRC wrote before, KBR was awarded a contract from INEOS and Sasol to provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for a new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) facility to be located at INEOS's Battleground complex in La Porte, Texas.

Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It develops and commercialises technologies, including synthetic fuels technologies, and produces different liquid fuels, chemicals and electricity.
MRC