PET production in Russia decreased by 2% in January-August 2014

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's polyethylene terephthalate (PET) production decreased by 2% compared to the same time a year earlier, according to a ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Despite 90,000 tonnes/year expansion of PET production at Polief, SIBUR group, total volumes of PET production in the country has decreased. The increase of PET production at Polief was offset by the weaker output at Alco-Naphtha, based in Kaliningrad.

August PET production in Russia increased by 9% compared to July. Alco-Naphtha resumed PET production in August, which led to the increase in the production in the country.

At the same time Senege, based in Solnechnogorsk, shut PET production for scheduled maintenance works in the second half of August.
Producer's PET production in August was 2,800 tonnes, down 4,900 tonnes in July.

August PET production at SIBUR-PET remained practically steady, compared with the July level.

Buying activity was sluggish in the Russian PET market in September. Producers and converters reported a significant carryovers of PET chips and finished products at their warehouses.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India’s petrochemical industry is working with the government to prepare a "negative" list of duty-free imports of finished plastic goods that are weighing on the profit margins of domestic producers, as per Plastemart.

The domestic market is not able to compete with these imported finished products as the raw materials they use to make similar goods have import duties imposed on them and this has eroded their margins, according to the official from the department of petrochemicals under the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers. The government is now studying duty-free imports of several plastic product categories from countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia that India has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with the aim of drawing up the negative list of products to end this situation, the official said.

The review of the existing FTAs and framing a negative list of plastic product imports is also critical for the domestic industry because India is working towards a similar trade agreement with six countries of Gulf Co-operation Council(GCC), one of the largest base of petrochemical majors. It was important to remove such issues involving the import duties before FTA was signed with the GCC, which has larger petrochemical producers, the sources added.

As MRC wrote before, new anti-dumping duties on homopolymer suspension grade PVC imports from Taiwan, Korea, China, the US, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have officially taken effect starting June 13, said the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry's statement. According to an official notice issued by the government, new anti-dumping charges levied will stay effective for a period of five years, from 2014 to 2018, unless otherwise stated by the government.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nizhnekamskneftekhim (part of TAIF) has resumed production of its high density polyethylene (HDPE) after a scheduled outage for maintenance, reported MRC analysts.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim, Russia's largest polymers producer, restarted its HDPE production on 28 September after a one-week turnaround. The plant's annual production capacity is 210,000 tonnes. The overall polyethylene production of Nizhnekamskneftekhim totalled 133,900 tonnes over the first eight months of 2014.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim is one of the largest Russian petrochemical companies and is a leader in the production of synthetic rubbers and plastics in Russia. The company's range of products includes more than 100 items, among which are synthetic rubbers of general and special purposes; polystyrene, polypropylene and polyethylene; monomers, which are feedstock for the production of rubbers and plastics.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Egypt plans to invest USD14.5bn in developing its refining and petrochemicals sectors over the next five years, said Thepeninsulaqatar.

It is also considering floating stakes in some state-owned oil companies on the Egyptian stock exchange. Sherif Ismail said in an interview that Egypt was trying to boost its output of refined oil products by 5-10% each year, hoping to reduce its dependence on costly imports. "Total investments that will be implemented over the next five years will be around USD14.5bn and include USD12.5bn in the refining sector and USD1.9 billion in the ETHYDCO project," Ismail said, referring to a new complex that will produce ethylene and other petrochemicals.

Most of the planned investments will be implemented by state-owned companies and be self-financed or part-financed by local banks, he said. The oil ministry was also working with local investment banks to look at the potential for offering stakes in state oil companies on the Egyptian stock exchange as part of an effort to overhaul them and improve their finances, Ismail said.

He declined to give the names of the companies or of the banks involved but said the ministry could begin with about five companies, with the first being listed in 2015.

Among the largest projects in progress is ETHYDCO, which is set to produce 460,000 tonnes a year of ethylene and 400,000 tonnes of polyethylene when it comes online at the end of 2015.

The complex in Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast will be the largest producer of ethylene and polyethylene in Egypt and will save the country more than USD500m a year that it currently spends on imports.

Ethylene and polyethylene are used in the production of plastics and chemicals.

Egypt is also expanding the Midor refinery, boosting its capacity from 100,000 bpd to 160.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell has announced that Chief Executive Officer James L. Gallogly will retire from the company in early 2015, reported the company in its press release.

Gallogly will continue to serve as CEO and chairman of the LyondellBasell management board in the interim to ensure an orderly transition pending the selection of his replacement. The LyondellBasell supervisory board of directors has formed a committee to choose Gallogly's successor.

In May 2014, shareholders approved the expansion of the company's management board, chaired by Gallogly, to include Craig B. Glidden, executive vice president and chief legal officer, Karyn F. Ovelmen, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Bhavesh (Bob) V. Patel, executive vice president – Olefins & Polyolefins - EAI and Technology, Timothy D. Roberts, executive vice president – Olefins & Polyolefins – Americas, and Patrick D. Quarles, senior vice president – Intermediates and Derivatives. The management board members were elected to four-year terms to ensure continued strong leadership and executive continuity at the company.

"The entire management board has demonstrated exceptional business leadership and I am confident the transition will be seamless," Gallogly said.

"Under Jim's leadership, LyondellBasell successfully emerged from bankruptcy in record time and today is an industry leader with a very strong balance sheet and strategically positioned manufacturing facilities," said Robert G. Gwin, chairman of the LyondellBasell supervisory board. "The supervisory board is grateful to Jim for his exceptional contributions to the company. As the company moves forward, we will build on the solid foundation Jim created by continuing to focus on safety, cost control, taking maximum advantage of market opportunities and by investing in technology-driven growth," he added.

As MRC informed previously, LyondellBasell is evaluating a further expansion project at its petrochemical plant in Channelview, Texas, that would potentially add up to 550 million lb/year (250,000 tpy) of ethylene capacity. Preliminary engineering work is already underway to assess expansion feasibility. If the project proceeds, the anticipated time frame for completion would be 2017.

LyondellBasell Industries NV is a manufacturing company. The company produces chemicals, fuels, and polymers used for packaging, clean fuels, durable textiles, medical applications, construction materials, and automotive parts. LyondellBasell Industries operates globally and is headquartered in the Netherlands. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC