PDVSA at risk of losing Bonaire terminal over maintenance delay

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Venezuela’s PDVSA could lose its license to operate an oil storage terminal it owns on the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire if it does not soon fulfill maintenance demands by regulators, a government spokeswoman said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"We’ve given them an ultimatum to come up with a solid plan to ensure ... more secure and safe" operations by January 5, Danielle Rebel, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment in the Netherlands, said on Tuesday.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of polypropylene (PP) into the Ukrainian market increased in the first eleven months of 2017 by 3% year on year to 112,400 tonne, as per MRC's DataScope report.

November PP imports into Ukraine rose to 11,900 tonnes, compared with 11,100 tonnes in October; the main increase accounted for the supply of homopolymer PP. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 112,400 tonnes in January-November 2017, compared to 108,600 tonnes a year earlier. Demand for all PP grades increased, but PP block copolymers accounted for the greatest growth.

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

Last month's imports of homopolymer PP to the Ukrainian market grew to 9,200 tonnes from 8,600 tonnes in October. The main increase occurred for the supply of homopolymer PP raffia grade from Saudi Arabia. Imports of homopolymer PP into the country over the eleven months reached 85,800 tonnes, up 3% year on year.

November imports of PP block copolymers into the country were about 1,100 tonnes, which practically the same as in October. Local companies kept their demand for injection moulding and pipe propylene copolymers at high level.

Imports of PP block copolymers into the country were about 11,900 tonnes in January-November, compared with a little more than 11,200 tonnes. Local pipes producers accounted for the greatest increase in demand.

November imports of PP random copolymers into Ukraine grew to 1,500 tonnes against 1,100 tonnes in October, with increase in purchases provided by local producers of pipes and injection moulding products. Overall imports of PP random copolymers reached 12,800 tonnes in January-November 2017, whereas this figure was 11,900 tonnes a year earlier.

Total imports of other propylene copolymers over the reporting period were about 1,900 tonnes, compared with 2,200 tonnes in the same time a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft on Monday said it had stopped pumping oil products such as diesel through one of its lines after discovering signs of an oil spill, as per Reuters.

The company said the spill had occurred due to "criminal tapping into a major oil product pipeline which pumps diesel fuel."

Signs of the spill were discovered on the Novki-Ryazan pipeline, some 200 km southeast of Moscow. The company did not say how large the spill was or when pumping would resume.

Transneft said it would fulfil its obligations to clients and ship diesel volumes in full.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, has confirmed the successful start-up of its new Magnum acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) production line at its manufacturing facility in Zhangjiagang, China, reported GV.

The new ABS unit is based on mass polymerization technology, which delivers greater product stability and advanced properties. Trinseo will begin selling ABS from the plant during this quarter.

"Production of Magnum ABS in China is an important milestone for Trinseo and the Asia Pacific market," noted Tim Stedman, senior vice president and business president of Basic Plastics & Feedstocks. "We are delivering on our promise at Trinseo of providing our customers with a differentiated ABS product compared to other competitive resins produced in China today."

As MRC informed before, Trinseo and its affiliate companies in Europe have raised prices for all polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) grades. Effective December 1, 2017, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below increased as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) - by EUR95 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR95 per metric ton;
- CALIBRE Polycarbonate Resins - by EUR200 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR60 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR85 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.7 billion in net sales in 2016, with 15 manufacturing sites around the world, and nearly 2,200 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR has launched a terephthalic acid production upgrade at the POLIEF Blagoveshchensk site to expand its annual capacity to 350,000 tonnes. The project seeks to improve the site’s production efficiency and environmental safety, as per SIBUR's press-release.

Terephthalic acid is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a basic material for the production of modern polymer packaging for mineral water, dairy products, juices, sunflower oil, and products of the textile, medical and other industries. The Russian terephthalic acid market is undersupplied and the production upgrade at SIBUR’s Blagoveshchensk site will help to substitute a major part of imports. The project is scheduled for completion in 2019.

Design documents were approved by the General Board of State Expert Review (Glavgosexpertiza). The general designer is GSE-Giprokauchuk, a Russian design institute. Russian contractors will be engaged for construction and commissioning works.

Eleven existing production facilities will be upgraded. The project is designed to renovate 150 units of core production equipment, and most of the ancillary equipment, thus enhancing its industrial safety, reliability and efficiency. The site’s atmospheric emissions are expected to shrink twofold thanks to the construction of a modern gas catalytic oxidiser and the upgrade of all gas emissions treatment systems. Transition to rotary pressure filters will translate into 1.5 times lower industrial wastewater discharges from the terephthalic acid production. In addition, the production upgrade will virtually prevent excessive evaporation into the atmosphere resulting from a significant release of heat during terephthalic acid synthesis. After the reconstruction, vapour will go through cooling systems to return to the process flow, improving the site’s energy efficiency multifold.

"The investment project at the Blagoveshchensk site seeks to meet the increasing demand from the food industry. It is also an important step of our production upgrade strategy intended to maximise energy efficiency and environmental safety of our facilities, said Dmitry Konov, Chairman of SIBUR's Management Board.
MRC