PP imports into Belarus increased by 13.5% in the first quarter of 2016

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of polypropylene (PP) into Belarus slightly exceeded 20,300 tonnes in the first three months of 2015, up 13.5% compared with the same time a year earlier, according to MRC analysts.

According to the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus, March PP imports into Belarus increased to 7,900 tonnes, compared to 7,800 tonnes in February. Local companies increased their purchases of homopolymer PP, whereas demand for propylene copolymers fell. Total imports of homopolymer PP in Belarus slightly exceeded 20,300 tonnes in January - March 2016, compared with 17,900 tonnes year on year. The main increase in demand occurred for propylene copolymers.

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

March imports of homopolymer PP in Belarus increased to 5,900 tonnes, compared with 4,600 tonnes in February, with the main bulk of purchases occurred for the Russian material. The main increase in imports provided the local producers of the films. Total imports of homopolymer PP into the country increased to 14,100 tonnes in January-March 2016, compared with 13,200 tonnes in the same time in 2015. The key suppliers of homopolymer PP were Russian producers, with their share in the total supply around 93%.

March imports of propylene copolymers decreased to 2,000 tonnes, compared with 3,200 tonnes a month earlier, the decline in purchases showed local producers of packing. Total imports of propylene copolymers into Belarus increased to 6,200 tonnes in the first three months of the year, up 31.8% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- TK Chemical Corp., the spandex-making affiliate of South Korea's shipping-to-construction company SM Group, said on Wednesday it will build a spandex plant in Iran to gain a bigger share there and expand across other Middle Eastern markets, said Ccfgroup.

TK Chemical, which already has an operation in Iran, now sees bigger opportunities as the U.N. nuclear agency lifted the years-long economic sanctions against Iran earlier this year, paving the way for multinational firms to rebuild their businesses there.

The country's biggest spandex manufacturer plans to initially inject 80 billion won (USD69 million) to build an 10,000-ton-a-year spandex facility in Iran with an aim to start production in 2019, a company spokesman said. The annual capacity in Iran will be expanded to 30,000 tons in the long term, he said, without giving a timeframe. Domestically, it will have an output capacity of 33,000 tons a year from June this year.

"We will partner with local companies to set up a joint venture in Iran to proceed with the project. The products manufactured in Iran will be sold locally and in other Middle Eastern countries," said the spokesman. "We are currently in talks with the local investors to decide on overall investment size and each ownership stake."

TK Chemical entered the Iranian market in 2001, with its spandex fiber exports to the country jumping to 2,800 tons worth USD17 million in 2015 from 150 tons in the first year, he said.

Under its wing, SM Group has affiliates such as shipping line SM KLC, SPP Shipbuilding and TK Chemical, which claims a share of 81 percent in Iran's USD21 million spandex market.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan's Nan Ya Plastics (part of Formosa Petrochemical) has restarted its monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant following a maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the plant has resumed on May 25, 2016. The plant was shut on April 17, 2016.

Located at Mailiao in Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 720,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, on 3 May 2016, Nan Ya Plastics shut down its No. 1 MEG unit at Mailiao, owing to a technical glitch, and the plant was likely to remain shut for a period of around 15 days. Located in Mailiao, Taiwan, the No. 1 MEG unit has a production capacity of 360,000 mt/year.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's Gazprom plans to export a record 165 Bcm of gas to Europe this year, according to the company's deputy CEO, Alexander Medvedev, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Gazprom generates more than a half of its revenue in Europe, and falling gas prices have made its gas more attractive to European consumers. It has also tweaked long-term deals with European clients, who have become more demanding due to rival sources of fuel, such as seaborne LNG. "We are going for a record," Medvedev said about expected gas supplies to Europe and Turkey this year.

Gazprom supplied about 159 Bcm of gas to Europe in 2015, or about one-third of the region's needs. Medvedev did not give an explanation for the expected record. Last week, a Gazprom executive said it planned to produce 452.5 Bcm of natural gas in 2016, up from 418.5 Bcm last year.

Despite Gazprom's attempts to raise its exposure to the lucrative EU market, some European countries have been trying to wean themselves off of their dependence on energy supplies from Russia. Medvedev said the average gas price for the year was expected to be USD167/Mcm-USD171/Mcm.

That price is broadly in line with average levels at Europe's main freely-traded gas hubs in Britain and the Netherlands, showing how Gazprom has sweetened its sales pitch to encourage consumption by customers, analysts said.

Gazprom's prices have typically been higher than the average level at European hubs. A wave of competing supplies from LNG export plants in the US threatens to undercut Russia's dominant share of European gas markets, which currently stands at 31%.

Gazprom has faced increased competition in Russia from Novatek and Rosneft, with its pricing policy constrained by government-imposed tariffs. Both companies have been actively pushing the government to allow them to export gas to Europe via pipelines.

As MRC informed earlier, Gazprom signed cooperation deals today with Austrian energy group OMV as it tries to secure more lobbying power for its project to expand the Europe-bound undersea gas pipeline.

PAO Gazprom (Russia) is a large Russian company founded in 1989 which carries on the business of extraction, production, transport and sale of natural gas. The company name is a contraction of the Russian words Gazovaya Promyshlennost. The headquarters of Gazprom are in Moscow.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PT Pertamina, Indonesia’s state energy company, and Russia’s Rosneft OAO signed a cooperation agreement that includes a plan to build a new oil refinery in the Southeast Asian nation, the companies said Thursday, reported Bloomberg.

Pertamina, which hasn’t built a new refinery since 1997, will be the majority shareholder in the facility at Tuban, East Java, it said earlier this month. The two companies may invest USD12 billion to USD13 billion in the refinery project which includes a petrochemical unit, Dwi Soetjipto, president director of Pertamina, told a press conference after signing the accord.

Completion of the Tuban refinery is targeted by the end of 2021, the companies said in a statement. Capital expenditure will be based on the feasibility study and on engineering designs, they said. As part of the deal, Rosneft has offered to share proprietary data and exclusive rights to assess partnership opportunities in upstream oil and gas assets in Russia, they said.

Aging refineries and declining domestic production have turned Indonesia, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, into a net oil importer. Expansion of refining capacity, including the construction of new plants, is part of a broader strategy by President Joko Widodo to overhaul the energy industry and reduce costly imports.

The Indonesian company may take a minimum stake of 55 percent in the new refinery project, according to Soetjipto. The refinery will have the capacity to process 300,000 barrels of crude a day, Rahmat Hardadi, Pertamina’s refining director, told the press conference. The plant may produce as much as 35 percent diesel oil, 45 percent gasoline and 15 percent to 20 percent feedstock for petrochemicals, Hardadi said.

Pertamina is hoping to get additional production of 35,000 barrels of oil a day and a reserve of 200 million barrels from acquiring interests in several oil fields in Russia, Soetjipto said. The company is reviewing two assets there and targets an interest of 10 percent to 15 percent in each asset, he said.

As MRC informed earlier, in 2013, Pertamina signed an agreement to purchase petrochemical products from PTT Global Chemical. The agreement serves as a pre-marketing strategy for Pertamina and PTT’s joint Indonesian petrochemical business. Under the agreement, PTT will deliver at least 5,000 tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene products each month to Pertamina for sale in Indonesia.

Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin (established 1961) and Permina (established 1957). Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Rosneft became Russia's largest publicly traded oil company in March 2013 after the USD55 billion takeover of TNK-BP, which was Russia’s third-largest oil producer at the time.
MRC