November oil imports from India to Iran skid to lowest since February 2016

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's refiners imported nearly half as much crude oil from Iran in November as the month before, ship tracking data showed, cutting purchases to a 21-month low in protest at Tehran's decision to award a giant gas field to a Russian company, reported Reuters.

India, the world's third largest crude oil consumer, received about 266,000 bpd of oil from Iran last month, a decline of 43% from October and 55% from a year ago, according to a review of tanker arrival data from trade sources and numbers available on Thomson Reuters Eikon.

For the fiscal year to March 2018, Indian refiners have opted to order about a quarter less Iranian crude as Tehran decided to award development rights for its huge Farzad B gas field to Russian rivals instead of an Indian consortium that discovered the field.

For April–November, the first eight months of this fiscal year, India shipped in 19% less Iranian oil, at about 427,200 bpd.

But India's oil imports from Iran will likely rise in December, as vessels holding about 4 MMbbl of oil sailed from the Iranian ports in end-November and discharged cargoes in early December.

Iran, facing the potential threat of further US sanctions, has also cut oil prices in efforts to retain Asian customers and boost the appeal of its crude compared with other Middle Eastern supply.

Last month's drop in Iranian crude purchases left the Middle East's slice of India's overall oil imports squeezed to 57% in November from about 69% in October. Iraq continued to be the top oil supplier to India, followed by Saudi Arabia.

India's imports of Iraqi oil surged in November when Basra Light discounts widened to USD0.30–USD0.70/bbl compared with official selling prices.

Meanwhile African oil's share of India's overall imports climbed to about 16% in November from about 10.5% in the previous months, as supplies from the region, mainly Nigeria, improved after a repair to a key pipeline in late October.

Most of the Nigerian cargoes were received by India in the first fortnight of November, indicating that refiners lifted buying in October, a month for which Brent's premium to Dubai narrowed averaged USD1.55/bbl.

Elsewhere, Latin America's share of India's oil imports jumped to about 19% in November from 12% the month before on higher intake of Mexico's Maya crude, the data showed.

Mexico's crude oil exports had already surged in October to 1.35 MMbpd, the highest since September 2016.

Mexico emerged as the third-biggest supplier, replacing Iran, which tumbled to 7th position. Nigeria replaced Venezuela as the fourth-largest supplier.

India's Essar Oil, which used to depend heavily on Iranian oil is gradually diversifying its crude imports under new management led by Russia's Rosneft. The private refiner took two very large crude carrier (VLCCs) shipments of Mexican Maya grade in November, the data showed. Overall India imported 4.7 MMbpd of oil in November, meaning growth of about 12% from a year ago as the country raised its refining capacity.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — SNC-Lavalin and Saudi Aramco today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signaling SNC-Lavalin's continued commitment to creating and accelerating opportunities for local workforces in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The MoU supports Saudi Aramco's In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) program, which applies to Saudi Aramco suppliers and drives the localization of oilfield services and equipment value chain, to strengthen and diversify the Saudi economy; transfer technologies, skill and knowledge through training and development; and create thousands of new jobs for the growing Saudi population.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of polypropylene (PP) into Russia grew in January-November 2017 by 4% year on year to 160,800 tonnes.
Only delivery of propylene copolymers accounted for the increase in shipments, according to a MRC's DataScope report.

November imports of PP into Russia increased to 16,300 tonnes against 20,700 in October, the decrease accounted for homopolymer PP raffia grade and PP block copolymers. In general, imports of PP into Russia totalled 160,800 tonnes in January-November 2017, compared with 154,800 tonnes year on year. A serious reduction in external supplies was seen for homopolymer PP, while the largest increase in imports accounted for PP block copolymers.

Overall, the structure of PP imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

November imports of homopolymer PP decreased to 4,500 tonnes against 7,500 tonnes a month earlier, shipments of homopolymer PP raffia from Central Asia decreased significantly, in particular, from Turkmenistan because of the preventive downtime of the local producer. Overall imports of this PP grade reached 57,200 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2017, compared to 68,400 a year earlier.

November imports of PP block copolymers in Russia decreased to about 3,300 tonnes against 5,200 tonnes in October. Local companies reduced their purchasing of PP block copolymers for non-pressure pipes extrusion and injection moulding in Europe. Imports of PP block copolymers into Russia reached 41,100 tonnes in January-November 2017, compared to 28,800 tonnes a year earlier.

Russia's imports of PP random copolymers in November were about 3,600 tonnes against 3,800 tonnes a month earlier on a seasonal factor local producers of pressure pipes reduced the purchase of PP. Total imports of PP random copolymers in Russia were 30,400 tonnes in January - November 2017, compared with 31,200 tonnes year on year. Imports of other propylene polymers for the reported period increased to about 36,500 tonnes compared with 26,500 tonnes in the same time a year earlier.


MRC

November imports of PC and compounds from the non-CIS countries were 1,210 tonnes versus 1,190 tonnes a month earlier.

Last month's imports of PC granules were 810 tonnes, compared to 770 tonnes in October. PC granules imports were 600 tonnes last November. Last month's imports of Covestro's PC granules were 300 tonnes, whereas Sabic's shipments were 350 tonnes and Lotte's imports - 70 tonnes.

PC granules imports grew by 32% year on year in January-November of 2017, excluding shipments from Belarus: from 7,200 tonnes to 9,500 tonnes. Imports of Covestro's PC granules reached in the first eleven months of 2017 3,900 tonnes, compared to 3,100 tonnes last year, whereas Sabic's shipments were 3,500 tonnes versus 2,000 tonnes.

Injection moulding grades accounted for 66% (6,200 tonnes) of the total PC imports, extrusion grades - for 29% (2,700 tonnes), blow moulding grades - for 5% (500 tonnes).

Shipments of Sabic's material from Belarus rose by 54% to 3,700 tonnes in January-September 2017 from 2,400 tonnes a year earlier.

Overall imports of PC and compounds increased by 30% in the first three quarters of 2017.

MRC

November EPS imports were 1,900 tonnes, compared to 1,700 tonnes a month earlier.

Styrochem's imports rose to 770 tonnes last month from 580 tonnes in October, Loyal's shipments were 490 tonnes versus 480 tonnes a month earlier, whereas BASF's imports were 250 tonnes versus 310 tonnes. Shipments from China reached 590 tonnes in November versus 560 tonnes a month earlier, accounting for 31% of the total EPS imports for the month versus a 33% stake in September.

In the total imports structure by producers, Styrochem's shipments rose by 18% to 6,800 tonnes from 5,700 tonnes a year earlier, which accounted for 35% of the total imports versus a 28% stake in January-November 2016. Loyal's share decreased in the first eleven months of 2017 to 22% (4,300 tonnes) year on year versus 24% (4,900 tonnes) a year earlier, BASF accounted for 14% (2,800 tonnes) versus 13% (2,600 tonnes), LG Chem - for 8% (1,500 tonnes) versus 6% (1,300 tonnes).

Overall imports of Chinese EPS dropped by 10% year on year in the first eleven months of 2017 to 6,300 tonnes from 7,000 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC