HDPE production in Russia dropped 0.3% in Q1 2018

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) was about 237,700 tonnes in January-March 2018, down 0.3% year on year, according to MRC ScanPlast.

March production of HDPE in Russia increased to 83,100 tonnes, whereas a month earlier this figure did not exceed 73,500 tonnes; Kazanorgsintez and Stavrolen increased capacity utilisation. Overall HDPE production reached 237,700 tonnes in the first three months of 2018, compared to 238,400 tonnes a year earlier. The growth in production volumes at Gazprom neftekhim Salavat and Stavrolen failed to compensate for the significant reduction in output from Nizhnekamskneftekhim.

The structure of HDPE production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.
Russia's March HDPE production at Kazanorgsintez increased to 46,900 tonnes from 41,200 tonnes a month earlier. The Kazan plant's overall HDPE production was 132,900 tonnes in January-March 2018, which practically corresponded to the last year's figure.

Stavrolen also increased output of HDPE last month, the final figure exceeded 27,000 tonnes against 23,300 tonnes in February. The plant's HDPE output reached 76,300 tonnes in January-March 2018, up 4% year on year.
Gazprom neftekhim Salavat cut capacity utilisation and March HDPE production at the plant reached about 8,700 tonnes, compared with 9,000 tonnes in February. Total HDPE production at the plant reached 28,000 tonnes in January-March 2018, up 28% year on year.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim in the beginning of November last year, switched to the production of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and only on the last day of March began production of HDPE. Thus, the production of this polyethylene in the first three months was not actually carried out.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rehau Americas, a molder of plastic products for the construction, automotive and industry sectors, will close its manufacturing plant in Winnipeg, Manitoba by the end of 2018, as per Canplastics.

"The decision to cease operations at our window profile extrusion plant in Winnipeg was difficult but necessary,” Christian Fabian, CEO of Rehau Americas, said in a statement. “There is no realistic prospect for profitability, and therefore we have reached the unfortunate but inevitable decision to close this facility."

The Winnipeg plant employs approximately 75 workers, and produces rigid PVC profiles for residential and commercial window manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada.

"We have a compelling business need to better align our assets with marketplace trends and customer requirements,” Fabian said. “To that end, we are setting up our manufacturing network to service innovative production lines – in strategic geographic areas – to better meet current and future production needs and the evolving needs of our customers."

Fabian also said that customer orders will be completed and the inventory sold off during the transition to a North American focus on technologically advanced, sustainable profile designs.

In its statement, Rehau Americas also said that optimizing its global manufacturing network is a key part of the company’s group strategy, which involves focusing on core markets, increasing growth in developing and emerging markets such as Central and South America, and driving increased value-added innovation.

Headquartered in Leesburg, Va., Rehau Americas is a subsidiary of Rehau AG + Co., which employs approximately 20,000 workers at more than 170 locations around the world.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- 2017 saw Perstorp reach a milestone with the delivery of a volume-based sales growth of 10 percent and sales amounting to SEK 13,592 million, as per Coatingsworld.

EBITDA excluding non-recurring items increased by 20 percent to record high SEK 2,133 million. A successful refinancing of the balance sheet in the third quarter last year, amounting to €230 million, also gave the company lower interest rates on the floating rate notes. ?The demand was solid and harmonious across all three main regions; America, Europe and Asia, despite some geopolitical uncertainty. Perstorp’s continued focus on proactive pricing also enabled margin improvement. ?Perstorp is a world leader in specialty chemistry and for over 135 years, this expertise has been used to pioneer the development of highly innovative products that advance everyday life across the globe.
In 2017, the company saw the launch of a number of developments: ?

Voxtar, Evyron and Neeture, the world’s first portfolio of polyols based on renewable raw materials according to a mass balance system; ?
New methods of formulating Pevalen, a non-phthalate plasticizer;
ProPhorce Valerins, a new organic acid to improve animal gut health without the need for antibiotics; ?
Developments for Synthetic lubricants for measuring exact fire and pour points ?;
New generation filaments in partnership with 3D4Makers ?

Perstorp has also made significant strides in its sustainability ambitions. In November in Shanghai, the company announced its ambition to become Finite Material Neutral, by switching to renewable resources and reusing finite resource in continuous loops. As a chemical company, Perstorp consumes significant amounts of electricity in production processes and with this in mind, the company committed in 2017 to only use renewable electricity across all their domestic production plants.

"Perstorp’s growth and exceptional EBITDA results were a major milestone for the company," President and CEO Jan Secher said. “The result is particularly encouraging as all areas of the business contributed to this incredible success. We continue to make significant progress based not only on our innovation and sustainability efforts, but also through customer centricity, strong leadership values and a company culture whereby all employees can reach their full potential."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA is considering selling 60 percent stakes in two regional blocks comprising four refineries, and keeping full ownership of nine other units, it said in a securities filing on Thursday, reported Reuters.

Petrobras, as the company is known, is considering the sale of a 60 percent stake in two blocks of refineries in the Northeastern and Southern regions. Each block would have two refineries and logistical assets, and Petrobras would keep a minority stake.

The company plans to keep full ownership of nine other refining units in Brazil?s richest region, the Southeast, according to a presentation the company will show to investors at an event on Thursday.

This partnership model, including the 60 percent stake sale in four refineries and keeping the other nine refineries, will leave Petrobras with a 75 percent market share of refining in Brazil, according to the presentation.

The northeastern block would include refineries, pipelines and terminals in the states of Pernambuco and Bahia, while the southern block includes two units in the states of Parana and Rio Grande do Sul.

The partnership model to be presented is the result of internal discussions but no final decision has been made, and the company hopes to discuss it with private investors, the filing said.

As MRC informed earlier, Petrobras’s minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica were excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree published in Brazil’s Official Gazette in the second half of October 2017. The decree prevents Petrobras from immediately selling its minority stake in Braskem, which had been announced last year. A new decree will be required to release the stock sale.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos Styrolution has announced that it will commission an engineering study to build a world-scale styrene monomer plant on the US Gulf Coast, as per GV.

According to the company, the plant will benefit from access to low cost feedstock and energy from shale gas as well as a good infrastructure. A specific location is yet to be defined, said Ineos.

Steve Harrington, President Global Styrene Monomer and Asia-Pacific, commented: "This new plant will complement our existing SM production facilities and provide a sustained competitive advantage to enable us to supply the global market."

“This plan supports our ‘Triple Shift’ growth strategy and maintains our leading position as a global styrenics supplier to our key customers and industries”, added Kevin McQuade, CEO at Ineos Styrolution.

As MRC informed before, in March 2016, Ineos Group Ltd. unveiled plans of expansion of its plants in USA to take advantage of low-cost natural-gas liquids as feedstock for ethylene production. The company is likely to add 250 mln-1 bln lbs of annual ethylene production at its Chocolate Bayou site south of Houston, Dennis Seith, chief executive officer of the company’s U.S. olefins and polymers unit, said then. Additional polypropylene and alpha-olefins capacity may be added at the site.
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