PTTGC is likely to resume operations at its No.2 aromatics plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) is likely to resume operations at its No.2 aromatics plant, said Apic-online.

A source in Thailand informed that the plant is planned to be restarted in end-September or early October 2014. The plant was shut on September 15, 2014. The company is also expected to end a force majeure on supplies of benzene and paraxylene from the plant coinciding with its restart. The FM was declared on September 19, 2014.

Located at Rayong in Thailand, the plant has a PX capacity of 655,000 mt/year, benzene capacity of 355,000 mt/year and toluene capacity of 60,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, PTT Global Chemical awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to SK Engineering and Construction and PTT Maintenance and Engineering for a debottlenecking project that will increase aromatics capacity by 16% to about 1.2-million t/y at its Aromatics II complex in Rayong, Thailand. The approximately USD128.8-million project will increase paraxylene capacity to 770,000 t/y from 655,000 t/y, benzene capacity to 390,000 t/y from 355,000 t/y and will add 20,000 t/y of orthoxylene capacity.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year. PTTGC is 49% owned by state-controlled parent PTT Pcl, and uses ethane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the gas plant as feedstock for its I4-2 olefins plant.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco is now rapidly leveraging its feedstock cost advantages and a favourable geographical portfolio to become a growing global competitor in chemical production, said Energyglobal.

The company’s portfolio ranges from oil and gas exploration, development and production, to refining and chemicals. Headquartered in Dhahran, in the kingdom’s eastern province, the company employs more than 57 000 employees in 77 countries.

Similar to the chemicals businesses of other oil and gas majors, Saudi Aramco’s product focus is comparatively narrow. The company produces commodity chemicals and polymers, including olefins and derivatives and aromatics. At present, Saudi Aramco’s chemical business accounts for approximately 10% of the corporation’s revenues and earnings, and is managed by the company.

Sanjay Sharma, vice president, Middle East and India at IHS Chemical said that despite their newness to the space, the company has driven continuous improvements in its domestic and international projects, mainly China, South Korea, Japan and the US.

According to a recent IHS report, Saudi Aramco has a number of other joint ventures, both in the region and elsewhere, including in South Korea, China, Japan, and the US where it holds a 50% share in Motiva Enterprises LLC. Motiva has three US locations – two in Louisiana, and one in Texas.

Saudi Aramco’s strategic projects located mainly in the Middle East and Northeast Asia cover the most demand thirsty markets in the world. Most of the plants, which are co-owned by Saudi Aramco, are new so there are almost no facilities that need to be revamped.

As MRC wrote before, Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical will transfer ownership of a planned 32 billion riyal (USD8.5 bln) petrochemical facility to their joint venture PetroRabigh. The new facility, known as Rabigh II, is to be built as an expansion of PetroRabigh's existing petrochemical plant, increasing output and introducing higher-margin products. Rabigh II will produce ethylene propylene rubber, thermoplastic polyolefin, methyl methacrylate monomer and polymethyl methacrylate among other products.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco's value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world's most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sasol is eyeing potential expansion into Angola, Ghana and Tanzania but Mozambique remains its immediate focus in Africa, said Moneyweb, citing the South African petrochemicals company's chief executive.

Sasol reported a 14% increase in full-year earnings, boosted by higher chemical prices and a weaker rand but still short of analysts' expectations. CEO David Constable said in the results presentation that nine of the 17 largest gas discoveries in the last five years were in sub-Saharan Africa and Sasol saw huge hydrocarbon potential in the region.
Sasol is conducting a study to build a gas-to-liquid (GTL) plant in northern Mozambique with Italian oil and gas group Eni and Mozambique's national oil company, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos.

"Our first priority is Mozambique," Constable told Reuters in an interview. Asked what countries Sasol would consider expanding into where it is currently not operating, he replied: "Angola, Ghana onshore and Tanzania, those types of countries is where we'll take a run."

Tanzania has made big natural gas discoveries off its southern coast and hopes to use its deposits to end chronic energy shortages. As of April, the government said Tanzania's natural gas discoveries stood at 46.7 trillion cubic feet.

Constable said Sasol could go into producing assets, into existing blocks as a non-operator, or take part in oil or gas exploration in these countries. 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."

On the ethane cracker, which is expected to cost USD5 to USD7 billion, Sasol said it expects to make a final investment decision this calendar year on the project.

A cracker takes ethane, a component of natural gas, and turns it into ethylene, which is used in the manufacture of plastic products.

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. The new facility is designed to produce 470,000 tpy of bimodal HDPE using Innovene S process technology licensed from INEOS Technologies. The new, single-train facility will include new polymerization, pelletization, and railcar load-out facilities, plus upgrades to existing utilities and infrastructure.

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) -- Demand for expandable polystyrene (EPS) in Ukraine rose in the second half of September on the back of a shortage of import quantities and seasonal activity in the finished products market, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Traders and converters reported strong demand for EPS in the domestic market in the second half of September. The slump in consumer activity in late August and early September was replaced by stable demand and a shortage of materials, added sellers.

Importers said the polystyrene (PS) stocks at the companies' warehouses have already been allocated as per the customers' needs. Demand is stong, despite a sharp rise in prices. The price range remains very high in the domestic market because of the exchange rate instability.

A trader said that EPS prices had already exceeded UAH40,000/tonne CPT Kiev, including VAT, in the domestic market.

In its turn, SIBUR, the largest EPS supplier to Ukraine, is still unable to meet all the demand from Ukrainian consumers. High buying activity in the Russian domestic market makes the plant (SIBUR-Khimprom) to increase shipments to the domestic market.

August EPS imports to Ukraine fell by 36% from July and were 2,900 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis, a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers, has announces the refinancing of its EUR one billion Syndicated Revolving Credit Facility, as per the company's press release.

The new facility replaces the existing 2012 financing and extends the maturity to 2019 with an additional extension option of up to two years.

The facility benefits from improved funding conditions as well as attractive margins for strong corporate credits.

"This refinancing underpins once more the strong support of Borealis' core relationship bank group", says Daniel Shook, Borealis Chief Financial Officer, "which consists of a diversified group of financial institutions with coverage in all of Borealis' home markets."

"The new syndicated facility seamlessly fits into the successful financing strategy that Borealis pursued since 2008, states Jan-Martin Nufer, Borealis Director Treasury & Funding. "It will continue to provide Borealis with strong liquidity headroom."

As MRC wrote before, this September, Borealis signed an agreement for technology, engineering and project management company Neste Jacobs to deliver EPCM services for the upgrade of the process section part of Borealis' steam cracker to enable increased ethane cracking in Stenungsund, Sweden. The steam cracker is one of the most feedstock-flexible in Europe and in addition to ethane, it can also crack naphtha, propane and butane.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. The only polyethylene (PE) producer in Sweden, Borealis’ Stenungsund facilities include a PE plant, a cracker for ethylene and propylene production, and an innovation center focused on research and development for infrastructure markets.
MRC