PE production in Belarus fell by 52% in January-April 2017

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Belarus's overall production of low density polyethylene (LDPE) was about 20,800 tonnes in the first four months of 2017, down by 52% year on year, according to MRC's DataScope Report.

According to the National Statistics Committee of Belarus, April LDPE production by the local producer Polymir was slightly more than 5,000 tonnes against 5,300 tonnes a month earlier. Thus, Polymir's overall LDPE output totalled 20,800 tonnes in January-April 2017 versus 43,200 tonnes a year earlier.

The fire at one of the ethylene units in last June, which led to a two-fold reduction in the olefin production, was the main reason for a major fall in the output in 2016.

The company's customers said Polymir planned to shut its LDPE capacity for scheduled maintenance works from 3 June. The preventive shutdown will take about a month, but some of the capacities will still be launched two weeks after the shutdown.

As reported earlier, an outbreak of gas-air mixture with the further flare combustion of outgoing products happened at workshop No. 104 on 18 June 2016. The fire damaged technological equipment in the production of ethylene, and some of the capacity has been idle since that.
According to the representatives of the company, this year the capacity for the production of ethylene will not be fully rebuilt.

Plant Polymir ("Naftan") is the largest petrochemical company in Belarus, produces a wide range of chemical products, such as low density polyethylene (LDPE), acrylic fibers, products of organic synthesis, hydrocarbon fractions, etc. Polymir was founded in 1968. Technologies of the largest foreign companies from Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy (Courtaulds, Asahi Chemical Co. Ltd, Kanematsu Gosho, SNIA BPD, etc.), As well as the development of scientific research institutes and design institutes of the CIS countries. The LDPE production's annual capacity is 130,000 tonnes.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rosneft and Eni S.p.A. have entered into a Cooperation extension agreement in the areas of upstream, refining, marketing and trading during the visit of an Italian delegation to Russia, as per Rosneft's press release.

The document was signed by Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

The Agreement provides for the development of cooperation between Rosneft and Eni in Russia and abroad in the following areas: exploration and production of hydrocarbons, refining, trading, logistics, marketing and sales, petrochemicals, technology and innovation.

The document reinforces the previous agreements between the two companies, specifically in offshore to drill exploration wells as part of joint projects in the Black and Barents seas.

In addition, the parties will consider further expanding their international cooperation, including the Zohr project offshore Egypt, as well as the potential for joint supplies of refined products to the country.

Rosneft and Eni agreed to assess the potential for cooperation in refining at German refineries where both companies are shareholders, including the optimization of feedstock supplies. The parties also intend to consider using Eni technologies to refine heavy oil residues at Rosneft refineries.

In 2012, Rosneft and Eni signed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement, which provides for joint development of areas in the Black and Barents Sea in Russia, and for Rosneft to participate in Eni's international projects.

In December 2016, Rosneft signed a deal with ENI to acquire a 30% stake in the Concession for the Zohr gas field (with an option to acquire a further 5%), and a 15% stake in the Project Operator. The field is located in Egyptian offshore and is the largest gas discovery of the recent years. Rosneft is therefore becoming a participant in a project to develop Egypt's largest hydrocarbon field, and stands alongside with its global partners: Eni and BP. Once the deals between Rosneft, Eni and BP are completed, the ownership of the Concession Agreement can be structured as follows: Eni – 50%, Rosneft – up to 35%1, BP – up to 15%.

As MRC informed before, in December 2016, Rosneft said it had enough oil to fulfill new contracts with Swiss trader Glencore as markets gear up for a fierce battle between some of the world's largest merchants for supplies from the Russian company. Moscow said then that a consortium of Glencore and Qatar would buy a 19.5% stake in Rosneft for over 10 billion euros in one of the biggest energy deals of 2016.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- German Wacker Chemie AG posted sales of EUR1,218.8 million (USD1,328 million) in the reporting quarter (Q1 2016: EUR1,133.1 million), said the company on its website.

This is an increase of around 8 percent, mainly due to higher volumes of silicones and polymer products. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were EUR229.3 million (USD250 million). That was 12 percent higher than a year ago (EUR205.3 million). Net income in the reporting quarter was strongly influenced by the deconsolidation of Siltronic as a Wacker Group segment and amounted to EUR665.9 million (USD726 million) compared to Q1 2016 (EUR16.1 million).

According to Wacker’s CEO Rudolf Staudigl, demand for silicones and polymers remains strong. Market conditions for polysilicon business were more difficult. Spot-market prices for solar silicon have declined significantly. Generally, though, we anticipate further growth in the global photovoltaic market this year, which will have a positive impact on polysilicon demand.

Wacker polysilicon generated total sales of EUR268.1 million (USD292 million) in the reporting quarter, 2 percent lower than a year ago (EUR273.1 million) and 10 percent less than in the preceding quarter (EUR297.2 million).

According to the company, the slight year-over-year decline was prompted mainly by somewhat lower volumes in the solar business. On the other hand, higher solar-silicon prices – both year over year and quarter over quarter – supported sales. Volumes fell substantially compared with Q4 2016.

The division made use of this situation to increase its inventory levels in Asia and thus considerably shorten delivery times to its customers in the region.

EBITDA amounted to EUR70.5 million, up 79 percent versus a year ago (EUR39.4 million). This strong increase was primarily due to the costs incurred last year to commission the new polysilicon plant in Charleston, Tennessee (USA). In Q1 2016, these costs had lowered the division’s EBITDA by around EUR30 million. Relative to a quarter ago (EUR86.5 million), EBITDA was down by almost 19 percent.

Group sales in 2017 are still expected to increase by a mid-single-digit percentage relative to last year (EUR4,634.2 million).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lotte Chemical plans to more than double the production of metaxylene and polycarbonate (PC) at its plants in Ulsan and Yeosu, South Korea, by the second half of 2019, as part of a 370 billion won (USD326.39 million) investment plan, Reuters reported.

Under the expansion plan, Lotte Chemical will raise its meta-xylene production at its Ulsan plant by 200,000 tonnes to 360,000 tonnes per year (tpy), and polycarbonate production at its Yeosu plant by 110,000 tonnes to 210,000 tpy by the second half of 2019.

As MRC informed before, in December 2016, Lotte Chemical announced its plans to invest about USD215 million to increase the ethylene production capacity at its Yeosu plant by 2018. Thus, Lotte Chemical will increase ethylene capacity by 200,000 t/y to 1.2-million t/y. Through the project, propylene production will also increase to 620,000 t/y from 520,000 t/y currently. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2017, with commercial production planned at the end of 2018.

Meta-xylene is typically used as feedstock for purified isophathalic acid (PIA) to produce plastic bottles, and polycarbonate is an engineering plastic.

South Korean Lotte Chemical is a global petrochemical company, established in 1976. It produces low density polyethylene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), polypropylene (PP), functional resins, styrene monomer (SM), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), etc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Poland's biggest oil refiner, state-run PKN Orlen recognised an impairment charge of 517 million zlotys (USD133.88 million) in its unconsolidated first-quarter financial results, related to the share value of unit ORLEN Lietuva, PKN said.

The impairment will not have an impact on PKN's consolidated results that will be published on April 27, the company said.

"The reason to conduct impairment tests of ORLEN Lietuva shares, which result in the abovementioned impairment, is the pay-out of dividend by ORLEN Lietuva to PKN ORLEN in the amount of around 591 million zlotys in the first quarter," the company said in a statement.

PKN is expected to report a 466 percent year-on-year rise in first quarter net profit.

As MRC informed earlier, PKN ORLEN signed a contract with Saudi Aramco for the supply of ca. 200 thousand tonnes of crude oil monthly to its refineries.

PKN Orlen is a major Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer. The company is a significant European publicly traded firm with major operations in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, and the Baltic States. It currently (2015) ranks 353, with a revenue of over USD33.8 billion.
MRC