Production of PET chips in Russia grew by 13% in January and February 2015

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The overall production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) chips in Russia rose in January and February 2015 by 13% year on year and totalled 79,300 tonnes, according MRC ScanPlast report.

Polief and Alco-Naphtha increased their output in January and February. Polief's increased production over the stated period was caused by the launch of a new line in February 2014. In January 2014, Bashkir Polief produced 13,300 tonnes of PET chips, whereas the plant's output was almost 19,000 tonnes in January 2015.

In its turn, the increase production at Alco-Naphtha (in January-February 2015 compared to the same period of 2014) was caused by the outage of the plant in February 2014.
Traditionally, production decreases in February compared to January mainly because of fewer days in the month. This year was no exception. The February PET production in Russia totalled 37,500 tonnes, down by 10% from January. The average capacity utilisation of the industry was almost 74%. At the same time, Kaliningrad plant Alco-Naphtha and Solnechnogorskiy plant - Senezh - remained with underutilized capacities.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company and a global leader in vinyl acetate ethylene (EVA) emulsions, has increased the price of vinyl acetate-based emulsions sold in Asia, said the producer on its site.

EVA emulsions will increase by Yuan 200/tonne for China and USD30/tonne for the rest of Asia effective March 20, 2015, or as contracts allow.

This price increase affects all applications including, but not limited to, adhesives, paints and coatings, waterproofing, building and construction, glass fiber, carpet and paper.

This increase is attributed to the continued pressures on raw materials, notably ethylene and vinyl acetate monomer (VAM).

As MRC reported earlier, in May 2014, Celanese Corporation announced its intent to construct a EVA emulsions production unit in Southeast Asia. The unit is expected to begin production by mid-2016.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Texas, Celanese employs approximately 7,500 employees worldwide and had 2014 net sales of USD6.8 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The shortage of low density polyethylene (LDPE) is felt in the Russian market in the late March.
Spot market practically froze because of the tight supply polyethylene (PE), according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Back in February, the low demand from local converters made Russian producers significantly increase in the volume LDPE exports to balance the domestic market. The demand for LDPE has strengthened in tune with the seasonal factor in March. The demand has also increased because of the desire of some market participants to build up additional stock inventories for April. At the same time, Russian producers have kept exports at a high level.

All these factors have led to a shortage of LDPE in the spot market, the deals in the last week of the month were not actually done. Most Russian producers have completed all their March LDPE deals last week. This week the producers have been completing debts on their contractual obligations, and they will begin discussions for April contract prices from next Monday, with a high probability of serious price rise.

Many traders suspended their sales of LDPE in the spot market at the end of last week; there was only available 108 PE in the spot market. In most cases, this resulted from the lack of stock inventories of PE. This week the market froze almost completely on the back of the lack of any material offer.

The situation in the domestic LDPE market was aggravated by two factors: traditional restictions of truck movement in most regions in April (from 1, April restrictions were introduced in Bashkortostan, from 15, April in Tatarstan), which can lead to higher prices for logistics and scheduled maintenance works at Kazanorgsintez (the company plans the shutdown of its capacities for almost four weeks from 15, April). There was no alternative offer for LDPE in the local market. The Russian LDPE market is a pure net exporter (exports exceeds imports).

Partly the demand is met by supplies from Belarus, but exports quotas were seriously cut. There were only 700 tonnes of 158 LDPE offered for export trades on 24, March for the delivery eliveries in the first half of April, deals were done at the level of Rb70,300/tonne FCA Novopolotsk.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia is feeling more than a pinch from economic sanctions and the weak rouble, according to the latest data out of Germany, said Financial Times.

Exports of German goods to Russia fell by a staggering 35 per cent in January, according to a breakdown of statistics released by the Federal Statistical Office on Monday.

The data analysed by Reuters showed the value of exports fell to EUR1.44bn from EUR2.2bn a year earlier, the biggest fall since October 2009.

In 2014, Russia was Germany's 13th largest export market worth EUR29.3bn, down from EUR35.8bn the previous year.

In value terms, Germany is Russia's second biggest source of imports after China, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

The latest German data suggests sanctions over Ukraine and Russia's weak currency are having a bigger-than-expected impact.

Germany's Chambers of Commerce had forecast exports to Russia to fall by as much as 15 percent this year, after dropping almost 20 percent in 2014.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) trade group presented the platinum version of its Distinguished Safety Award on Monday to ExxonMobil Chemical’s polyolefins plant at its complex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

David L. Lamp, chairman of the AFPM board, handed off the award to Bruce March, senior vice president of global operations at ExxonMobil Chemical. "A facility must be exceptional just to be eligible, and once it is selected, it is among the industry elite," said Lamp, who made the presentation during Monday morning’s general session at the AFPM Annual Meeting in San Antonio.

It’s now the ninth time in 12 years that the Baton Rouge facility has won the award, Lamp said. "This is an unprecedented achievement," Lamp said in giving out the plaque to March. "This award is an honor backed by years of quality service and commitment to countless employees to ensure their plant is a beacon of safety performance," he added.

AFPM also honored LyondellBasell for winning the gold version of the Distinguished Safety Award for its plants in Clinton, Iowa, and Matagorda, Texas.

Meanwhile, 10 plants were selected for the silver Distinguished Safety Award, with company winners including BP, Calumet Specialty Lubricants, Chevron, ExxonMobil Chemical, LyondellBasell and Shell.

As MRC informed before, ExxonMobil has asked the Russian government to reimburse taxes worth "several billion roubles" it says it overpaid on a project in the far east of Russia.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.MRC