PP production in Russia in the first seven months of 2016 remained the same year on year

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's overall production of polypropylene (PP) virtually remained in the first seven months of the year at the level of 2015, totalling slightly over 772,000 tonnes. The increased production at Tobolsk-Polymer, Polyom and Neftekhimia could not compensate for the decline in the other producers' output, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

July total PP production in Russia decreased to 82,600 tonnes from 87,200 tonnes a month earlier. Last month, three producers - Stavrolen, Tobolsk-Polymer and Tomskneftekhim - simultaneously shut down their production capacities for maintenance. Russia's overall PP output reached 772,000 tonnes in January-July 2016, which equalled the same figure of 2015.

The production structure by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

Tobolsk-Polymer, Russia's largest PP manufacturer, produced about 13,000 tonnes last month, compared to 14,100 tonnes in June. The Tobolsk plant shut down its production in the first half of June, the plant's PP production had been resumed by the third decade of July. Overall PP output at the Tobolsk plant reached 244,700 tonnes in the first seven months of the year, compared to 240,500 tonnes a year earlier.

The Omsk plant Poliom (part of Titan) produced over 18,100 tonbes in July, compared to 17,900 tonnes a month earlier. The PP output at the Omsk plant was 120,400 tonnes in January-July 2016, compared to 117,100 tonnes a year earlier.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim reduced its output to 17,100 tonnes of PP last month from 18,100 tonnes in June, lower production was caused by a scheduled outage for maintenance at its ethylene and propylene unit. PP production at the Nizhnekamsk plant exceeded 126,500 tonnes in January-July 2016, whereas a year earlier, this figure was 127,200 tonnes.

Tomskneftekhim produced slightly over 4,400 tonnes of PP in July, whereas the June figure was slightly more than 9,000 tonnes. A one-month shutdown for maintenance was the main reason for low production in these two months. Overall output of this polymer at the plant exceeded 71,000 tonnes in the first seven months of the year, down by 14% year on year.

Stavrolen (part of Lukoil) took off-stream its production capacities for a one-week turnaround last month, as a consequence, the final PP output fell to 8,800 tonnes from 10,000 tonnes in June. Overall production of propylene polymers at the Budenovsk plant totalled 66,400 tonnes in January-July 2016 versus 64,800 tonnes a year earlier.

"Neftekhimia" (Kapotnya) produced 10,600 tonnes of PP in July, compared to 11,000 tonnes a month earlier. Total production reached 74,500 tonnes in the first seven months of the year, up by 12% year on year.

Ufaorgsintez produced 10,500 tonnes in July, compared to 6,300 tonnes in June (the company shut down its production for a 10-day maintenance). Overall PP output at the Ufa plant decreased to 68,600 tonnes in January-July 2016 from 72,900 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PolymaxTPE has added two new styrenic TPE grades for gasket and seals applications to its portfolio, reported GV.

The grades, P32-010 and P32-011, can replace TPV elastomers in a variety of applications that include gaskets, seals, valves, home appliance, and food packaging requiring high resilience for seal integrity.

PolymaxTPE says that the grades stand out for their low compression set at elevated temperatures. According to the company, measurements show that the compression set of the P32-011 TPE (60 Shore A) has 16% at RT, 26% at 70 C and 38% at 100 C for 22 h. P31-010 (40 Shore A) has 20% compression set at RT, 27% at 70 C and 48% at 100 C.

Further advantages of the new grades are their good tear strength, cold temperature flexibility, low odour, stability at high temperature, and weather resistance. The raw materials used to manufacture these two grades are compliant with food contact regulations. These materials can be used in stand-alone injection moulding and extrusion applications, or bonded with polypropylene substrates.

"The development of new TPEs with low compression set for the seal industry reflects the focus of PolymaxTPE on R+D and its strategy of working proactively with customers", noted Dr. Martin Lu, CTO of PolymaxTPE.

"Thanks to their improved tear strength and easy processability, our recent commercialization successes of 35 and 45 shore A hardness TPE, D6935 & D6945, with low compression set has been well received by our customers in replacing TPV in weatherseals. The new addition of P32-010 and P32-011 will continue to provide a low-cost alternative to TPV in gaskets, stoppers, flexible connectors, and sealing for food, beverage caps + closures requiring durable sealing performance," added Tom Castile, VP sales of PolymaxTPE.

PolymaxTPE has a full-service facility in Waukegan, near Chicago, IL, USA. Sister company, Nantong Polymax, is one of the leading TPE manufacturers in China. The company’s products are marketed under the PolymaxTPE and Maxelast brands.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, in December 2015, Teknor Apex expanded its "polymer-neutral" product by developing styrenic TPEs with alternative cost and performance profiles to those of TPVs in automotive exterior application. The Sarlink ME-2200 series exhibit higher flow than comparable TPVs, enabling molders of exterior components such as gaskets, seals, and trim to process complex, intricate designs while shortening cycles through reduced packing and cooling time. In applications where TPV compounds are over-engineered, these compounds can provide a cost savings while still meeting the performance requirements of the part. Like TPVs, the compounds are less dense than EPDM and PVC, yielding weight savings of up to 15 and 23 %, respectively.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Starting January next year, the Selangor state will ban the use of polystyrene (PS) containers and extend the No Plastic Bag Day on Saturdays to seven days a week, as per GV.

Green Technology and Environment committee chairman Elizabeth Wong said all official events and buildings of the Selangor state government would stop using plastic bags and PS by next month (Sept. 2016) to get the ball rolling.

"The current 20sen charge to buy a plastic bag on Saturdays as part of the No Plastic Bag Day campaign will be extended to every day of the week while polystyrene containers will be banned.

"Up until now, many peddlers and traders have had a positive response to the campaign to reduce the use of plastic bags and polystyrene," she said.

As MRC informed before, in January 2015, New York city Mayor Bill announced that all plastic-foam containers and packaging would be banned from New York City as of July 1, 2015. Restaurants, stores and manufacturers will no longer be allowed to possess, sell or offer items made with expanded polystyrene (EPS). The ban on Styrofoam stems from a law passed in December 2013 that gave officials a year to determine whether EPS could be recycled in a safe, environmental effective and economically feasible matter. According to the mayor's office, the Department of Sanitation determined it cannot.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State-led oil company Petrobras reported Q2 2016 profit fell by nearly a third from a year earlier, missing analysts' expectations as oil prices fell, it took charges for layoffs and the impairment of a refinery, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Petrobras said net income fell 30% to USD118 million in the three months ended June 30.

Last year's profit was one of the most anemic quarterly results in the company's recent history. The second-quarter 2016 profit comes after a USD395 M loss in the first quarter of this year.

The average profit estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Reuters was USD570 M. Estimates, though, ranged from a USD1.75 B real profit to a USD395 M real loss, as analysts struggled again with a lack of clear Petrobras guidance.

While total debt has eased 2% since the end of 2015, at USD124 billion it is still the largest in the oil industry.

The USD380 M cost of a voluntary dismissal program and USD350 M impairment charges for the Comperj refinery, whose construction was halted last year after eating up USD13.5 billion of investment, kept costs high even as revenue fell.

As a result, operating profit fell 25% to USD2.27 B. If a scaled back Comperj opens as now planned in 2023, it will be more than a decade late and nearly triple its original USD5.2 B budget.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, a measure of a company's ability to generate cash from operations, was little changed rising 2.8% to USD6.4B, in line with analysts estimates.

As MRC wrote previously, since January 2016, Petrobras has been seeking to sell its 5.8 billion Brazilian real (USD1.4 billion) stake in petrochemical producer Braskem SA. Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) hired Brazilian bank Banco Bradesco SA as a financial adviser and started to pitch the sale to foreign investors. Petrobras owns a 36 percent stake in Braskem, Latin America's largest petrochemical producer. The sale would help Petrobras meet its target of selling USD15.1 billion worth of assets in 2015-16, a key part of its plan to cut debt as oil prices plunge to 12-year lows.

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) -- A technical issue at a carbon monoxide plant owned by Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) and operated by its affiliate, International Gases Co. (IGC), has led to reduced capacity at plants producing acetic acid and ethyl acetate, as per Reuters.

The plants use carbon monoxide as a feedstock for some of their products.

Technical teams are focused on resolving the issue and restoring full operating capacity at the carbon monoxide plant. Initial estimates indicate the issue may continue until the third week of August, 2016.

As MRC informed previously, on July 26, 2014, Sipchem commenced trial runs at a new ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/low density polyethylene (LDPE) swing plant in Saudi Arabia. Located in Jubail, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

Established in 1999, Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) manufactures and markets methanol, butanediol, tetrahydrofuran, acetic acid, acetic anhydride, vinyl acetate monomer. Besides, it launched several down-stream projects to manufacture ethylene vinyl acetate, low density polyethylene, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, cross linkable polyethylene, and semi conductive compound in 2013.
MRC