Kuwait Ethylene 2 Plant resumes operations after last weeks shutdown

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kuwait's Ethylene 2 Plant has resumed operation following a brief shutdown for technical considerations last week, according to Plastemart.

"Operations at our EU2 have resumed normally in record time following repairs. Both the Ethylene Glycol and Polyethylene plants in Kuwait have returned to the usual production levels as they were impacted by the temporary shutdown of EU2," the Kuwait News Agency, KUNA, quoted EQUATE Group’s President and CEO Mohammad Husain as saying.

The EU2 has a production capacity of 850,000 metric tons annually and is owned by The Kuwait Olefins Company, TKOC, part of the EQUATE Group.

As MRC informed before, Kuwait-based Equate Petrochemical Company continued its global growth through its wholly owned subsidiary MEGlobal with the launch of work on a new world-scale ethylene glycol (EG) manufacturing facility in Freeport, Texas, US, in August 2016. With this plant, Equate is the first Kuwaiti petrochemical company to invest in the US. The new facility, to be completed during 2019, will increase Equate’s monoethylene glycol (MEG) capacity by 750,000 metric tonnes annually and will enhance the company’s global presence to meet customer needs.

Equate is the world’s second largest EG producer with 12% of the global market share.

Equate Petrochemical Company K.S.C.C., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes petrochemical products. The company produces ethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, styrene monomer, paraxylene, heavy aromatics, and benzene; polyethylene for various applications, including flexible and food packaging, industrial packaging, agricultural films, HIC, and others; and monoethylene and diethylene glycol that are used in polyester fiber for fabrics, water-based adhesive materials, shoe polish, and printer inks, as well as automotive anti-freeze and coolants. The company sells its products in Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, North America, Asia, Europe, and internationally. Equate Petrochemical Company K.S.C.C. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Safat, Kuwait.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lotte Chemical has restarted its polypropylene (PP) plant following an unplanned outage, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the company has brought on-stream its plant early this week. The plant was shut on July 10, 2017 on account of fire.

Located at Yeosu, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, in May 2016, Lotte Chemical Corp. has finalized the takeover of Samsung Group’s chemical units.The company said that it paid for money to acquire Samsung SDI Chemical on Apr. 29 and completed the acquisition of Samsung Group’s chemical businesses in about six months after the announcement of "Big Deal" in October 2015. Samsung Fine Chemicals, which was completely taken over by Lotte in Feb., changed its name to Lotte Fine Chemical, while SDI Chemical, which completed the acquisition process on the 29th, changed its name to Lotte Advanced Materials through the general meeting of stockholders.

Established in 1976, Lotte Chemical has been solidifyng its position by localizing cutting-edge petrochemical technologies. Among the high-quality products produced by Lotte Chemical through its efficient processes are ethylene, HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PP, functional resin, EG, SM, PIA, PET, etc. Lotte Chemical’s products are being distributed to 152 countries around the world. With the acquisition of Pakistan’s PTA in 2009, Artenius in the UK in 2010 and Titan Chemical Corp., Lotte Chemical is now able to efficiently supply excellent products to an increasing number of countries. The company is further accelerating its efforts to strengthen its global competitiveness by establishing overseas branches in Hong Kong, Russia, and USA, along with the sales corporation in China for active sales activities both in domestic and abroad.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian oil Corp Ltd (IOCL) has started maintenance at its polypropylene (PP) plant at Panipat refinery in northern India, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that the company has undertaken a planned shutdown at its plant last weekend. The plant is expected to remain under maintenance until mid-August 2017.

As per earlier plans, the plant was supposed to shut in early-July 2017.

Located at Panipat in the northern Indian state of Haryana, the PP plant comprising two units has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year each.

As MRC wrote before, Indian Oil Corporation's Rs 34,555-crore 15 million tonnes per annum Paradip Refinery was commissioned in phases from March 2015 onwards. Indian Oil Corporation was conducting feasibility studies to set up a petrochemical complex at Paradip in Odisha for Rs 20,000 crore. The petrochemical complex will be built in the vicinity of the company’s to-be-commissioned 15-mln tpa greenfield refinery at Paradip. The petrochemical complex will be in addition to the already announced Rs 3,150-crore polypropylene project at the same location, the foundation stone for which was laid by MOS for petroleum and natural gas.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's output of products from polymers continued to increase in June under the pressure of seasonal factors, the increase was 4.5% from May. Thus, this figure grew by 4.9% year on year in January-June 2017, reported MRC analysts.

According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, June production of of plastic pipes, hoses and fittings rose to 52,200 tonnes from 44,400 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of these products totalled 237,400 tonnes in the first half of 2017, down by 1.9% year on year.

Last month's production of unreinforced and non-combined films was 94,000 tonnes, compared to 96,200 tonnes in May. Output of films products grew in January-June 2017 by 8.2% year on year to 504,600 tonnes.

Last month's production of porous boards, sheets and polymer films was 24,300 tonnes, whereas this figure was 23,000 tonnes a months earlier. Overall output of these polymer products fell in the first half of 2017 by 0.1% year on year to 121,500 tonnes.

June production of plastic windows and window sills, and door blocks increased to 2.1 million square metres and 96,800 square metres, respectively, versus 1.8 million square metres and 74,700 square metres a month earlier. Output of these products was 8.7 million square metres in the first six months of the year (up by 2.5% year on year) and 416,500 square metres (down by 3.9% year on year), respectively.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall output of chemicals increased in the first six months of 2017 by 7.4%, despite lower production in May and June, according to Rosstat.

According to the Federal Service of State Statistics, last month's production of basic chemicals dropped by 1.4% from May 2017. This reduction was 1.5% a month earlier. However, production of basic chemicals grew by 7.4% year on year.

June output of ethylene was 257,000 tonnes, compared to 260,000 tonnes a month earlier, lower production in April was caused by a scheduled shutdown for maintenance at Angarsk Polymers Plant. Overall, over 1.5 m tonnes of this olefin were manufactured in the first six month of 2017, up by 10.2% year on year.

Last month's production of benzene dropped to 106,000 tonnes from 114,000 tonnes in May, which was also caused by the outage at Angarsk Polymers Plant. Overall output of this product exceeded 703,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 11.5% year on year.

June production of xylenes was 35,300 tonnes, compared to 51,400 tonnes a month earlier. 276,900 tonnes of xylenes were produced in the first six months of 2017, down by 7.8% year on year.

June production of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) was 103,000 tonnes (100% of the basic substance), down by 5.2% month on month. Overall output of caustic soda grew to 617,800 tonnes in January-June 2017, up by 12.3% year on year.

Last month's production of mineral fertilizers was 1.93 mln tonnes (in terms of 100% nutrients) versus 1.91 mln tonnes in May. Nevertheless, Russian plants produced about 11 mln tonnes of fertilizers in January-June 2017, up by 11.3% year on year. Production of all types of fertilizers increased, with potash fertilizers, the output of which grew by 18%, accounted for the greatest increase.
MRC