HDPE imports in Russia decreased by 11% in January - August 2014

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Samsung Engineering Co., Ltd, has officially announced that it received a contract from Pemex, for the Pemex Salamanca ULSD project, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project will be executed in two phases. Phase I will include detail engineering and procurement of long-lead items and Phase II will comprise the rest of detail engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning. The USD80 million contract awarded to Samsung Engineering is for Phase I which will be executed on an OBCE (Open Book Cost Estimation) basis.

The project site is located in Salamanca 250 km northwest of Mexico’s capital, Mexico City. Samsung Engineering’s design will include the new HDS (hydrodesulfurization) unit with the capacity of 38,000 bpsd and the revamping of an existing HDS unit with the capacity of 53,000 bpsd. The initial engineering phase of the project is expected to be completed in September of 2015.

Choong Heum Park, President and CEO of Samsung Engineering stated: "This contract is a result of our exceptional project execution capabilities and the trust we built with our client Pemex throughout previous projects. With the understanding of the Mexican market and the successful completion of previous projects, Samsung Engineering hopes to continue a successful long-term partnership with Pemex."

Pemex is expected to release modernization projects for existing refineries in the near future. Samsung Engineering hopes that this award leads to a bright future with Pemex as partner.

As MRC wrote before, Pemex will sell a 7.9% stake in Spanish oil firm Repsol, worth about 2.2 billion euros (USD3.0 billion). The sale ends a long relationship between Pemex and Repsol that had run into trouble in recent years over disagreements on policies ranging from top management to the handling of Repsol's investments in Argentina.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Amyris (AMRS), Braskem (BAK) and Michelin announced that Braskem is joining the ongoing collaboration between Michelin and Amyris, said Finance.

This collaboration was initiated to develop and commercialize renewable isoprene, sourced from various biomass as an additional sustainable pathway to produce isoprene.

Under the terms of the agreement, Braskem, Michelin and Amyris will work together to develop a technology to utilize plant sugars, such as those found in Brazilian sugarcane or cellulosic feedstocks, to produce renewable isoprene. Adding the expertise of Braskem, the largest petrochemical company in the Americas and global leader in the production of biopolymers, Amyris and Michelin will accelerate the industrialization of renewable isoprene.

Amyris will share its rights to commercialize the renewable isoprene technology developed under this collaboration with Braskem. Michelin will maintain certain preferential, but not exclusive, access to the renewable isoprene to be produced by this technology. The companies will not disclose details of the agreement, including the financial contributions of each party.

This joint project, with Amyris and Braskem, will give Michelin an additional sustainable sourcing channel for poly-isoprene for the production of quality tires, providing a high-performance, environmentally responsible material.

Amyris is an integrated renewable products company focused on providing sustainable alternatives to a broad range of petroleum-sourced products.

Braskem is the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in the Americas and the world's leading biopolymers producer, manufacturing green polyethylene from sugarcane-based ethanol. With 36 industrial plants in Brazil, the United States and Germany, the company produces over 35 billion pounds of thermoplastic resins and other petrochemicals per year, creating more environmental-friendly, intelligent and sustainable solutions through chemicals and plastics that improve people's lives.

As MRC wrote before, Braskem announces its plans for the construction of an Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) plant at its site in La Porte, Texas. Braskem's UHMWPE products are produced under the trade name UTEC. Groundbreaking of the new plant in La Porte will start during the third quarter of 2014.

Michelin, the leading tire company, is dedicated to sustainably improving the mobility of goods and people by manufacturing and marketing tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles/motorcycles, earthmovers, farm equipment and trucks.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrochemical complex Nizhnekamskneftekhim (part of TAIF) shut down its ethylene production for a scheduled turnaround at night, from 13 to 14 September 2014, reported MRC analysts.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim traditionally shuts down its ethylene unit in September for an overhaul. This year was no exception, maintenance is scheduled to be conducted during three weeks from 13 September. The plant's annual production is 600,000 tonnes of ethylene.

Company representatives said Nizhnekamskneftekhim intends to shut down its polyethylene and polypropylene production for short maintenance works in late September.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim (part of TAIF group) is one of the largest petrochemical companies in Europe and a leader in the production of synthetic rubber and plastics in the Russian Federation. The main production facilities are located in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan. The company was founded in 1967. The plant's annual production capacity of polyethylene is 230,000 tonnes and that of polypropylene - 210,000 tonnes.
MRC