PE production in Belarus down 47% in the first eight months of 2017

According to the National Statistics Committee of Belarus, Polymir, the local LDPE manufacturer, maintained the July level of capacity utilisation and produced 5,200 tonnes of LDPE. Thus, Polymir's total LDPE output was 38,900 tonnes in January-August 2017 versus 73,000 tonnes a year earlier.

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

It is also worth noting that the plant's clients said Polimir intends to shut down some of its production capacities for maintenance in October. According to preliminary data, the outage will last for about a month.

Polymir (part of Naftan) is Belarus' largest petrochemical company, producing 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. The producer uses 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 plant's annual production capacity is 130,000 tonnes.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - September contract price of propylene in Europe was agreed up EUR40/tonne below the level of the August. European producers, in their turn, announced the increase in export PP prices for CIS markets proportionally to the increase in prices of propylene, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Negotiations over September prices of European PP began this week, many market participants said European producers increased their export PP prices because of the price rise of the monomer in the region.

There are no export restrictions of some of the European producers, a few producers still have restrictions due to production shutdowns. Demand for PP was also strong from some CIS countries.

Deals for homopolymer PP are discussed a range of EUR1,040-1,100/tonne FCA, on average up by EUR40/tonne from the level in August.

Deals for copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) are discussed in the range of EUR1,140 -1,200/tonne FCA.

Negotiations over September shipments of PP random copolymers are held in the range of EUR1,200-1,260/tonne FCA.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell opened its first gas station in Mexico on Tuesday, adding to a growing list of foreign-branded pumps in a market still dominated by the green-colored outlets of state-owned company Pemex, said Reuters.

Following a 2013 constitutional energy overhaul that ended Pemex' decades-long monopoly, private companies can now brand gas stations and sell non-Pemex brand gasoline and diesel, as well as import fuels.

The opportunities are huge for the private sector in the fuel market of Latin America's second-biggest economy, with Mexico now one of the world's biggest gasoline consumers and the top foreign importer of US gasoline.

Shell said in a statement it plans to open an unspecified number of additional service stations and that investment in Mexico's fuel sector could reach about USD1 B over the next decade "if current market conditions are maintained."

The company's inaugural gas station, which also features a convenience store, is located in a northwestern suburb of the sprawling Mexican capital.

Shell, which in June won a shallow water exploration and production contract along with France's Total, operates more than 43,000 gas stations in some 80 countries worldwide.

Mexico boasts some 11,400 gas stations, the vast majority of which remain Pemex franchises.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — A worker has died due to injuries from a fire on Monday at HollyFrontier's El Dorado, Kansas refinery, a local hospital confirmed Reuters.

A fire was reported at the 150,000-bpd refinery on Monday and a worker in the immediate area was hurt, the company confirmed via email on Monday.

The worker died overnight, according to Via Christi Hospital St. Francis without providing any additional details.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and colleague. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends," said George Damiris, CEO and president of HollyFrontier Cos, in a statement.

The fire started after a furnace associated with the plant's reformer unit blew, a source familiar with the plant's operations told Reuters on Monday.

The 22,000-bpd reformer unit was shut down, but the rest of the refinery remains in operations, the source said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesia's Pertamina has received a license from the government to export gasoil for the first time, reported Reuters with reference to three sources close to the matter, although the state oil company is planning to prioritize domestic sales if possible.

Pertamina is typically an importer of gasoil, as diesel is called in most Asian markets, but inbound shipments have declined over the years as it ramped up refining output and demand from the mining sector slowed.

With other gasoil sellers - such as Royal Dutch Shell , Exxon Mobil Corp and Solaris Prima Energy - crowding into the retail market, and an increased biodiesel mandate in 2016 reducing conventional consumption, Pertamina's supply of the fuel has also outperformed demand, said Toharso, director of refineries at Pertamina, who goes by one name.

If Pertamina exports its surplus fuel, it would help ease supply tightness in Asia caused by Tropical Storm Harvey, which drove up the Asian gasoil margins to a one-and-a-half month high, traders said.

The company, though, is also taking steps to sell more gasoil into its domestic market by asking the government to grant it a monopoly on diesel imports, which would force the other retailers to buy from Pertamina.

The state oil company received the gasoil export license two to three weeks ago, and it is developing a standard operating procedure on how to export the cargoes, the sources said.

Still, "we will try our best to sell in the domestic market," Toto Nugroho, senior vice president at Pertamina for integrated supply chain, told Reuters.

But if market competition means storage inventories build up, "the last resort is to export," he said.

Pertamina declined to give details on possible export volumes or a timeline of shipments.

As MRC wrote previously, in May 2016, 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.

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).
MRC