September prices of European PE rose for CIS markets

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The September contract price of ethylene was agreed in Europe up by EUR30/tonne from August. However, European polyethylene (PE) producers raised their export PE prices by an average of EUR40/tonne for September shipments to the CIS countries, as per ICIS-MRC's Price report.

Negotiations over export prices of European PE to be shipped to the CIS markets began last week. Many negotiators said most European producers raised their export PE prices more than the amount of the increase of monomer prices. Only in some cases, there was a price increase of EUR30/tonne, whereas in most cases, the rise was EUR40/tonne or higher.

Deals for September shipments of high density polyethylene (HDPE) were discussed in the range of EUR1,000-1,080/tonne FCA, whereas August deals were done in the range of EUR960-1,040/tonne FCA. Deals for black PE 100 were done in the range of EUR1,230-1,260/tonne FCA.

Deals for low density polyethylene (LDPE) were negotiated in the range of EUR1,150-1,210/tonne FCA.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Croatia’s loss-making refinery in the central town of Sisak could be turned into logistics center and a facility to refine biomass, consultants Deloitte have proposed, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The 60,000-bpd refinery is owned by INA, which is in turn owned by the Croatian government and Hungary’s MOL. INA has a bigger refinery with capacity of 100,000 bpd in the Adriatic port of Rijeka.

INA, which published the proposal by Deloitte on Thursday, said the Sisak refinery generated losses worth USD23.53 MM in the first half of 2017.

"INA’s refining capacities considerably surpass demand on the small regional market," INA said in a statement. "It is now necessary to hold talks with all the relevant stakeholders on the future of the Sisak refinery."

Deloitte’s study suggested the Sisak site could be turned into biorefinery within three years, INA said.

Fearing possible closure, a workers union at Sisak has threatened to block oil being transported to Rijeka unless the smaller plant is kept open. The Rijeka plant is due to be modernized.

Zagreb and MOL have for several years been at odds over management rights and INA’s investment strategy. They have been involved in international arbitrations to resolve the row.

Croatia’s government said in August it was hiring an adviser on a possible transaction to buy back MOL’s 49% stake in INA.

As MRC wrote previously, in 2016, the German Bodo Moller Chemie Group opened a subsidiary in Zagreb, Croatia. According to the company, primarily products from the Huntsman Advanced Materials range will be sold through its new site to the Balkan states. These products predominantly include epoxy resins, polyacrylates and polyurethanes for various bonding and sealing applications. The branch is officially affiliated to Bodo Moller Chemie Austria GmbH.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazakhstan is aiming for a standalone deal with leading global oil producers on restraining its crude production due to a need to crank up output at its Kashagan field, reported Reuters with reference to a Kazakh official.

The Central Asian nation increased oil and gas condensate output by 9.9% in January-July to 49.907 MMt, or 1.724 MMbpd, exceeding its quota of 1.7 MMbpd under a global supply pact.

Kazakhstan has said it needs to adjust the terms of the deal as it expects to boost output later this year thanks to the giant Kashagan field.

On Thursday, Deputy Energy Minister Aset Magauov said his country needed to repay the shareholders in Kashagan, where output had been delayed for years before it was relaunched last year.

"I think that talks on Kazakhstan’s commitments will continue separately," Magauov told reporters.

"There is understanding from OPEC that the project (Kashagan) is very large, there have been huge investments and there is a need to return these investments to shareholders."

He said Kashagan, with investments of around USD55 B, was expected to produce 13 MMt next year (260,000 bpd), while other oil projects in the country could see their output reduced.

Kashagan has been developed by a consortium of China National Petroleum Corp, ExxonMobil, Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Inpex and KazMunaiGas.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, including Russia and Kazakhstan, agreed to cut output from January this year until the end of March 2018 to reduce global inventories and support oil prices.

As MRC informed before, in May 2017, Kazakhstan and UAE agreed to prepare a joint project for polyethylene production, reported the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan. The industry is going to be based on the territory of the petrochemical zone in Atyrau region, which provides special legal regime, tax, customs and other preferences.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French chemical firm Arkema SA said an evacuation zone put in place amid fears that more flammable organic pesticides at its flooded plant in Crosby, Texas, would explode was lifted on Monday after the materials were ignited in a controlled burn, said Reuters.

The plant, which makes organic peroxides for the production of plastic resins, polystyrene, paints and other products, was swamped by as much as 6 ft of water due to Hurricane Harvey and had been without electricity since Aug. 27. Starting on Thursday, three of the nine trailers at the facility containing a total about 500,000 pounds of chemicals exploded and caught fire. The company had warned it expected a series of fires as temperatures in the trailers rose without functioning cooling systems.

In a statement on Monday, Arkema's North American unit said the 1.5-mi evacuation zone ordered by Harris County authorities since Tuesday had been lifted. On Sunday, the company said it had safely caused "ignition of the remaining" six containers which had then "largely burned themselves out."

The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said on Sunday fire officials would perform a controlled burn of materials at the facility, located about 25 mi northeast of Houston, to avoid further damage and limit the risk to the surrounding area. The environmental officials said they would continue to monitor air quality around the plant.

The EPA has said its testing methods have not found toxic concentration levels in smoke from the plant in areas away from the evacuated facility since explosions were first reported on Thursday. The plant lost refrigeration when backup generators were flooded, prompting workers to transfer products from warehouses into diesel-powered refrigerated containers. The company said refrigeration of some back-up containers was compromised because of high water levels.

Last week, 15 Harris County Sheriff's deputies were briefly taken to a hospital after inhaling smoke from fires at the Arkema plant but were released soon afterward. The Federal Aviation Administration last week temporarily barred flights near the plant because of the risk of fire or explosions.

The company said it is opening an assistance center at Crosby to provide financial assistance to people who were affected by the evacuation order near the plant.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a USD604 MM engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) fixed price contract for part of a USD1.85 B methanol plant being developed by Yuhuang Chemical Inc (YCI), a US-based subsidiary of China's Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Company Co. Ltd., said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The first phase of the project, which includes the construction of a 1.8 MMtpy methanol plant, is being built at YCI's 1,300-acre site in St. James Parish, Louisiana.

The contract follows the completion of an earlier phase of work at the plant awarded to Amec Foster Wheeler in 2015, covering engineering, project management, procurement and early construction services. The Power & Process business has executed USD3 B of lump sum EPC work in the last 3 yr.

In this latest contract award, Amec Foster Wheeler will carry out specific infrastructure and utilities engineering work, the procurement of bulk items and selected tagged equipment, and the construction of the methanol plant.

In line with the full notice to proceed, USD604 MM will be added to the Company's order book in the second half of the year.

As MRC informed earlier, in June 2017, Amec Foster Wheeler was awarded an engineering contract by ISAB Srl, a Lukoil Group Co., as part of a major turnaround at their refinery in Priolo, Sicily, Italy.
MRC