PVC imports to Belarus fell by 36.4% from January to May 2015

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The overall imports of unblended polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Belarus slumped by 36.4% over the first five months of 2015 and totalled 9,300 tonnes, according to MRC DataScope report.

May PVC imports to Belarus dropped to 1,600 tonnes, despite seasonal factors, from 1,900 tonnes a month earlier. Weak demand for finished products and large stocks of April purchases made some local converters reduce their purchasing of resin in May. In general, according to the National Statistics Committee of Belarus, demand for PVC from local converters subsided to 9,300 tonnes from January to May 2015 versus 14,700 tonnes a year earlier.

Weaker demand for unmixed PVC from local converters was caused by both a fall in sales of finished products in the domestic market - over 30% and by a decrease in export sales - about 36% (only the sales of shaped and linear articles fell to 5,000 tonnes from 7,800 tonnes a year earlier).

Russian producers put a significant competitive pressure on their European colleagues in the Belarusian PVC market in the first five months of the year. PVC imports from Russia totalled 6,700 tonnes over the stated period versus 1,000 tonnes a year earlier. The Polish producer was the second largest supplier with a total of 1,900 tonnes of resin.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Versalis Pacific Trading (Shanghai), a 100% subsidiary of Versalis (Eni), a major producer in the polymers and elastomers industry, announced to have signed an Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) Sales Agreement with Reliance Industries Ltd, an Indian based corporation, to commercialize the rubber produced by Reliance in the new Indian plant, said the producer in its press release.

The SBR Sales Agreement follows the license agreement that the two partners entered into in 2011 when Versalis seized Reliance plan to expand its activities in the market of synthetic rubber by offering technology license and know-how for the construction of 140 kt/y Emulsion Styrene Butadiene Rubber (ESBR) production unit at Reliance plant at Hazira in India, targeting in particular the tire market segment. The new plant is up and running and part of its production will be distributed by Versalis in China, where the automotive and tire industries are developing rapidly and represent a massive potential for rubber producers.

Versalis has been placing strong effort on its elastomers business development to keep a global leading position on the marketplace. To this purpose, a very active licencing strategy is one of the tools used to tap synergies and expand the industrial footprint in Asia. The company established two regional subsidiaries, Versalis Pacific Trading in Shanghai (China) and Versalis Pacific India in Mumbai (India), with the aim of speeding up sales of its products in Asia, interacting with local partners more easily to guarantee prompt technical and logistical assistance through its several warehouses located in Eastern China. Asia has also been the background for strategic and factual joint ventures – with Lotte Chemical in South Korea, with Petronas in Malaysia – , while new negotiations with other major international market leaders are also being finalized.

As MRC informed earlier, Versalis has established a 50-50 joint venture with South Korean petrochemical company Lotte Chemical to target the Asian elastomers market. The joint venture is called Lotte Versalis Elastomers Co., and will be headquartered in Yeosu, South Korea.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil's state-run oil firm Petrobras confirmed on Tuesday it had found irregularities in the approval of a 2009 contract to provide naphtha to petrochemical company Braskem SA and had reported the issue to public prosecutors, said Reuters.

Petrobras, or Petroleo Brasileiro SA, said in a securities filing that it began investigating the contract based on plea deal testimony from former executive Paulo Roberto Costa and money changer Alberto Youssef in a sweeping graft probe.

On Saturday, TV Globo reported that the two revealed a bribe paid by Braskem for a deal allowing it to pay below-market rates for naphtha, causing losses to Petrobras.

Braskem denied in a statement that it had gotten an unfair advantage in that naphtha contract, citing an excerpt from an internal Petrobras report that said "it was not possible ... to identify a financial loss caused to Petrobras."

The company said it has always carried out transparent negotiations following the best corporate governance practices. Braskem is a joint venture between Petrobras, which holds 47 percent of voting shares, and engineering conglomerate Odebrecht SA, which holds 50.1 percent of voting shares.

Odebrecht is currently under investigation for its role in an alleged cartel of Petrobras suppliers accused of overcharging the oil company billions in return for bribes to executives and political parties.

Braskem's offices were searched by federal police as part of that investigation in June. A shareholder in New York sued the company this month, seeking class action status for the lawsuit.

As MRC informed before, Braskem plans to build a new polyethylene (PE) plant at its existing complex in La Porte, Texas. The new plant will manufacture ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), making it the first time for Braskem to produce UHMWPE outside of its home base in Brazil. Construction on the plant began in the third quarter of 2014, with completion expected in the first half of 2016.

Braskem is Brazilian main producer of polyethylene and polypropylene. In addition with ongoing plants located in both petrochemical complexes, in April 2008 Braskem opened a 300,000 metric ton polypropylene plant in the city of Paulinia (Sao Paulo).

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's largest producer of polypropylene - Tobolsk-Polymer shut its capacity for maintenance work, according to the company's customers.

The producer of polypropylene shut its PP production for a month long scheduled maintenance works from 21, July, as per company's customers. The production capacities of two lines at Tobolsk-Polymer is 500,000 tonnes/year.

Tobolsk-Polymer produced about 215,000 tonnes of PP in the first six months of the year, while PP output over the whole 2104 was 263,200 tonnes.

OOO "Tobolsk-Polymer" - a subsidiary of SIBUR, Russia's largest modern production site for polypropylene production. It is located in the industrial zone in Tobolsk, in the territory of "Tobolsk-Neftekhim".

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Production of polypropylene (PP) in Russia increased to 668,200 tonne in first six months of this year, up 34% year on year, compared to the same period of 2014. Increase in production volumes showed all Russian companies, except Neftekhimia, as per MRC ScanPlast.

June PP production in Russia decreased to 104,300 tonnes, compared with 115,800 tonnes in May on the back of reduced capacity utilisation at all production sites. Total PP production in Russia reached 668,200 tonnes in the first six months of the year, compared with 498,800 tonnes in the same period of 2014. All producers increased their capacity utilisation in the first half of the year, the exception was Neftekhimiya (Kapotnya), and the largest increase in production figures traditionally showed Tobolsk-Polymer and Stavrolen.

Structure of PP production over the reported period looked as follows.

The largest producer of PP in Russia - Tobolsk-Polymer (SIBUR) in June continued to decrease its capacity utilisation further, having produced about 31,500 tonnes against 34,800 tonnes a month earlier. Tobolsk-Polymer's PP production reached 215,000 tonnes in the first six months of the year, compared with 97,800 tonnes year on year.
Poliom (Titan Group) last month, has produced about 16,600 tonnes of polypropylene, compared with 17,000 tonnes in May. Total PP production at the plant over the reported period was 98,900 tonnes, compared with 86,300 tonnes year on year.

Stavrolen (LUKOIL) in early June had to reduce its capacity utilisation as a result, production volumes reduced to 7,000 tonnes against 10,500 tonnes in May. PP production at Stavrolen was 54,500 tonnes in the first six months of the year, compared with 18,100 tonnes in the same time a year earlier (in 2014 the producer worked from March to October).
Nizhnekamskneftekhim (TAIF) and Tomskneftekhim (SIBUR) in June produced 18,000 tonnes and 11,000 tonnes, respectively, compared to 18,800 tonnes and 11,700 tonnes in May. Total PP production in January - June 2015 at these plants was 108,500 tonnes and 69,800 tonnes respectively, up 2% and 4%, compared with the same time a year earlier.

Ufaorgsintez for the reported period increased its PP production only by 1% over the reported period, reaching just a little more than 65,000 tones, while Neftekhimia (Kapotnya) reduced output by 4% to 56,600 tonnes.

MRC