Petkim says operations continue after reports of police operations

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Turkey's biggest petrochemicals company, Petkim, said Tuesday that police launched operations at its main facility in Aliaga have not affected operations, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In a stock-exchange filing, Petkim, owned by Azerbaijan's Socar, did not confirm the reports, which said counter-terrorism police had raided the Aliaga complex on the Aegean coast as part of an investigation into a religious movement accused of staging a July 15 military coup.

A spokeswoman was not available to comment. The company confirmed last week it had appointed a new CEO after state media said its chief executive was detained in connection with the failed coup.

As MRC reported before, in late July 2016, Petkim petrochemical complex declared force majeure on ethylene and propylene supply. A cracker in Aliagha district had to be shutdown due to technical failure on July 17. The cracker was closed until late July. Cracker capacity is pegged at 588,000 tpa of ethylene and 271,000 tpa of propylene.
The cracker’s closing led to disruptions in the supply of raw materials for the production of derivatives, including acrylonitrile and ethylene glycol.

Petkim is a sole manufacturer of plastic packages, fabrics, detergents, and other petrochemical products in Turkey. By the end of 2015 Petkim’s assets increased by 44% as compared to 2014. Its net profit stood at 639.2 million liras in 2015.

SOCAR Polymer is a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). The entity was formed at the end of 2013 to run investments at the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park, a production park which intends to become a chemical hub in central Asia.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) market is estimated to be over USD20 bln by 2023 from level of 4.19 mln tons in 2015 as per Plastemart with reference to a report by Global Market Insights, Inc.

Increasing application scope in medical, automotive, and consumer goods industry owing to favorable regulatory compliance are potential stimulating factors to drive industry growth. Superior physical and chemical properties compared to thermosets in structural applications should positively influence TPE consumption in industrial applications. TPE processing allows compounds to be reheated, reshaped or frozen repeatedly, eliminating waste and promoting recyclability. These diverse characteristics are promoting TPE to be utilized in numerous applications across several field.

SBC Market size dominated the demand and was valued at 6.22 billion in 2015. Medical equipment, packaging and consumer goods were the major applications. Recyclability and enhanced product benefits are few major driving features. TPV market is set to attain highest gains, growing at 5.8% CAGR up to 2023. Growing demand from industries including automotive, consumer goods, and medical owing to rising sustainable products demand and increased consumer per capita income.

Automotive industry expansion accompanied by rising trend to reduce vehicle weight to attain high fuel efficiency are expected factors to positively influence TPE market size. Government efforts to control GHG and carbon emission is persuading government to reduce dependency on PVC and imposing stringent regulations which may fuel TPE market size growth. Packaging and covering electrical circuits in construction and infrastructure industries are other key applications. Growing flexible electronic components demand and global consumer electronics industry expansion should enhance industry growth. Major raw materials including ionomers and styrenic copolymers are largely dependent on petrochemicals, volatility in petrochemical prices may affect thermoplastic elastomer market price trend. Key insights from the report include:

- Global TPE market size is estimated to reach 6 mln tons by 2023, with estimated gains at 4.6% CAGR. Growing environmental consciousness accompanied by rise in middle class disposable income has led to end-use industry expansion, hence fuelling TPE demand.

- APAC, led by Japan and China thermoplastic elastomers market size, was dominated the regional industry and generated USD5 bln in 2015, favorable government policies and monetary framework encouraging private investments are expected factors influencing regional demand.

- China TPU market size may observe 6.3% CAGR and register over USD515 mln by 2023. Automotive OEM’s preference to shift manufacturing base to China and India owing low capital investment, skilled labor, and economical raw material availability are potential reasons driving regional industry growth.

- North America thermoplastic elastomers market size accounted for over 27% of the overall demand and is mainly driven by EPA regulations to promote eco friendly products and increasing consumption in vehicle manufacturing.

- MEA, led by Saudi Arabia and UAE, may grow significantly, growing at 4.9% CAGR up to 2023. Increase in construction spending, rising electronic goods demand accompanied by raw material availability are potential factors to foster regional demand.

TPE market share is fairly consolidated, major industry players catered to around40% of the global demand in 2015. Dow, LyondellBasell, BASF, and Kraton Polymers are among notable industry participants.

As MRC reported before, the TPE market is predicted to witness a steady growth at a CAGR of around 8%, in terms of revenue, until 2019, as per Technavio market research.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Egypt's Ministry of Investment will assess eight state-owned petroleum companies for their suitability for a possible listing on the Egyptian Stock Exchange or share issuances, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla told Reuters on Tuesday.

The Egyptian presidency announced in January that Egypt would soon offer shares of "successful" state-owned companies and banks on the local bourse - its first public offering of government-owned firms since 2005, when it offered shares in Telecom Egypt, AMOC, and Sidi Kerir.

"We sent the names of eight petroleum companies to the Ministry of Investment last week to be studied, paving the way to issuing some of their shares on the bourse or increasing their capital," El Molla said in a phone interview with Reuters.

"Among the names we are studying are Middle East Oil Refinery (MIDOR) and the Egyptian Ethylene and Derivatives Company (ETHYDCO), and we are considering a capital increase for companies Alexandria Mineral Oils Co. (AMOC), MIDOR, and Misr Fertilizers Production Company (MOPCO)."

The minister did not disclose the names of the remaining companies or the value and date of any planned initial public offerings.

The Egyptian government owns a large number of operating companies in various industries, including the Arab Contractors, Hassan Allam Holding, Engineering for the Petroleum and Process Industries (ENPPI), MIDOR, and Misr Insurance Company as well as several banks.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in 2015, CB&I was awarded a contract by Carbon Holdings for the license and engineering design of a polypropylene (PP) unit to be built in Ain Sokhna, Egypt. The unit will be aligned to the Tahrir petrochemical complex and use CB&I's Novolen technology to produce 350,000 tpy of PP.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan's Asahi Kasei Mitsubishi Chemical Ethylene Corp, a joint venture between Asahi Kasei Chemicals and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp, has shut a naphtha cracker in late July, as per a spokesperson from Mitsubishi reported by Reuters.

The 567,000 tonnes per year (tpy) naphtha cracker was unexpectedly shut following problems revolving around heat exchanger equipment.

The problem is being investigated but there is no clear timeline for the retart of the cracker, the spokeswoman added.

This shutdown is likely to have a magnified impact on a heavily supplied market, where sellers are already grappling with a persistent glut that has lasted for months and repeatedly driving down spot prices in the last few weeks, traders said.

As MRC informed earlier, on 12 February 2016, Asahi Kasei Chemicals shut down its cracker permanently. The cracker in Mizushima had an ethylene capacity of 504,000 mt/year and a propylene capacity of 300,000 mt/year. Feedstock ethylene for its 390,000 mt/year of styrene monomer (SM) plant now comes from a new 750,000 mt/year steamcracker which is a joint venture between Asahi Kasei and Mitsubishi Chemical. The new unified cracker started up on 1 April 2016.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese resin supplier Mitsui Chemicals plans to expand capacity of Milastomer, a vulcanized thermoplastic elastomer (TPV) by 5000 tpa, as per Plastemart.

Construction is expected to commence in February 2017 at wholly owned subsidiary Sun Alloys Co., Ltd. with commercial operation start-up slated for October 2017.

Currently Sun Alloys has overall compounding capacity of 60,0000 tpa for Milastomer and other Mitsui Chemicals products.

As MRC informed earlier, in late July 2016, Mitsui Chemicals' wholly-owned unit, Osaka Petrochemical Industries Ltd, restarted commercial operations of its 500,000-tonne-per-year naphtha cracker at its Osaka plant in western Japan on Thursday, as scheduled. The cracker had been shut since June 22. The scheduled shutdown was not part of any government-mandated planned maintenance but for cleaning and other production adjustment purposes to coincide with maintenance of some other related units.

Mitsui Chemicals is a leading manufacturer and supplier of value added specialty chemicals, plastics and materials for the automotive, healthcare, packaging, agricultural, building, and semiconductor and electronics markets. Mitsui Chemicals is a Japanese Chemicals company, a part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company has a turnover of around 15 billion USD and has business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. The company mainly deals in performance materials, petro and basic chemicals and functional polymeric materials.
MRC