HDPE production in Russia increased by 5% in January-April 2018

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) was about 327,900 tonnes in January-April 2018, up 5% year on year. Not all producers increased production volumes over the reported period, according to MRC ScanPlast.

April production of HDPE in Russia increased to 92,500 tonnes, whereas a month earlier this figure did not exceed 80,800 tonnes. The increase in production volumes was a result of the resumption of HDPE production at Nizhnekamskneftekhim. Overall HDPE output reached 327,900 tonnes in the first four months of 2018, compared to 312,300 tonnes a year earlier.

Structure of PE production over the reported period looked as follows.
Russia's April HDPE production at Kazanorgsintez decreased to 40,900 tonnes from 44,600 tonnes a month earlier. The Kazan plant's overall HDPE production was 171,500 tonnes in January-April 2018, up by 4% year on year.

Stavrolen also reduced output of HDPE last month, the final figure was 25,800 tonnes against 27,000 tonnes in March. The plant's HDPE output reached 102,100 tonnes in January-April 2018, up 12% year on year.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat increased capacity utilisation in April after a short scheduled shutdown in March, with about 11,100 tonnes produced in April, compared with 8,700 tonnes in March. Total HDPE production at the plant reached 39,100 tonnes in January-April 2018, up 25% year on year.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim switched to linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) production in the early November 2017, and continued to produce it until early April. Total HDPE production at Nizhnekamskneftekhim was 15,200 tonnes in January-April 2018 against 10,700 tonnes year on year.


MRC

Braskem begins operation in Boston to strengthen its renewable chemicals strategy

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem, the largest thermoplastics resins producer in the Americas and the worldwide leader in bio-polymers, has announced its has expanded focus on the research, development and commercialization of chemicals and materials sourced from renewable feedstocks, as per the company's press release.

Braskem started a new operation in Boston focused on leveraging groundbreaking developments in biotechnology and advanced materials. The activities will include biotechnology and material science R&D, business and market development as well as technology scouting for key strategic partnerships.

Gustavo Sergi, Braskem Renewable Chemicals Business Director, stated, "Renewable chemistry will lead the next wave of development in chemicals and polymers. Our announcement today reinforces Braskem's position at the forefront of this movement. As we look forward, by developing and leading the next wave of renewable chemicals and polymers, we are bringing our customers new and innovative choices."

"The operation in Boston will complement the metabolic engineering capabilities that we have in our Renewable Chemistry Research Center in Campinas (Brazil) as well as our material science competencies present in our R&D centers in Triunfo (Brazil) and Pittsburgh (USA). In addition, this location positions Braskem in a strategic ecosystem that will enable us to leverage key partnerships for research and market development," explains Mateus Schreiner Garcez Lopes, Braskem Head of Innovation in Renewable Technologies.

To lead the R&D initiatives in Boston the company has appointed Dr. Daniel P. MacEachran as new Head of Metabolic Engineering. Dr. MacEachran joins Braskem from Greenlight Biosciences, Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company focused on the sustainable production of chemicals, having most recently served as Director of Applications Research & Development. He also served as a Visiting Scientist and Post-Doctoral Researcher to the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As MRC wrote previously, in October 2017, Petrobras’s (Rio de Janeiro) minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica were excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree. 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.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Braskem exports to clients in approximately 100 countries and operates 41 industrial units, which are located in Brazil, United States, Germany and Mexico, the latter in partnership with the Mexican company Idesa.
MRC

Shell Lubricants unveils the 'Power of Partnerships' campaign

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell Lubricants, the global market leader in finished lubricants, launched 'Power of Partnerships' in Mumbai, to encourage industry collaboration and harness relationships to achieve operational efficiency together, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The campaign is an extension of 'Together, Anything is Possible' (TAIP), the first global brand positioning for Shell B2B Lubricants, introduced last year. Moving forward from TAIP, which first introduced the concept of reducing 'Total Cost of Ownership' (TCO), 'Power of Partnerships' aims to demonstrate the significance of powerful collaborations in advancing industries and helping companies overcome their challenges now and in the future.

Highlighting the message of forging strong alliances, Shell launched 'The Bat Doctor' video, featuring Mr. Ram Bhandari, a celebrity bat doctor, who has made bats for cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, to name a few. The video demonstrates the importance of striking the right partnerships across situations to brew a solution for success; just as the cricketers' bats were instrumental to their own.

As part of its renewed focus on building greater collaboration with customers, Shell Lubricants undertook a study to understand lubrication practices in the manufacturing and construction sectors in India. Findings reveal that India'smanufacturers are engaged and optimistic about Industry 4.0 technologies, with 46% of those surveyed anticipating that the resulting savings could exceed INR 33 million. India's construction companies on the other hand recognise the benefits of a proactive maintenance approach but are not necessarily succeeding in its implementation. 86% of those surveyed believe that effective equipment maintenance can lead to cost savings, but 82% still feel that maintenance is often deprioritised until there is a breakdown. An absence of senior management engagement in the importance of maintenance has come to light as one barrier to effective preventative action.

The findings shed significant light on lack of expertise, third-party support combined with under-resourced teams, hindering the widespread uptake of new technologies and effective lubrication practices. There are also concerns about the implications on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) with majority companies expecting TCO to increase as a result of introducing new technologies.
MRC

Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Chemical to jointly build petrochemical complex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea’s major refiner Hyundai Oilbank Co. and petrochemical firm Lotte Chemical Corp. have joined hands to build a heavy-feed petrochemical complex (HPC) at a combined investment of KRW 2.7 trillion (USD 2.5 billion), as per GV.

Hyundai Oilbank CEO Moon Jong-bak and Lotte Chemical CEO Kim Gyo-hyun signed an agreement on Wednesday (9 May 2018) in Seoul to invest additionally in their joint-venture Hyundai Chemical, to construct an HPC on a 500,000 square-meter site at Hyundai Oilbank’s manufacturing plant in Daesan, South Chungcheong Province. The new facility will produce 750,000 t/y of ethylene, 750,000 t/y of polyethylene and 400,000 t/y of propylene.

The business partnership would help Hyundai Oilbank reinforce the vertical integration of its businesses ranging from refining to manufacturing petrochemical products including aromatics and olefins. Lotte Chemical has been bolstering its business around the world by conducting various projects including ethane cracker construction in the U.S. and Central Asia, naphtha business in Southeast Asia and large-scale residue cracking business in Korea.

"The new HPC would improve profitability by KRW 200 billion a year compared to a naphtha cracking center (NCC)," an official from Hyundai Oilbank said. An HPC significantly reduces manufacturing cost by using oil residue compared to an NCC that uses naphtha to produce petrochemical products like polyethylene or polypropylene. An official from Lotte Chemical said Hyundai Oilbank’s strong raw material business and Lotte Chemical’s technology and marketing capabilities would create a huge synergy effect in the business partnership.

Hyundai Chemical plans to initiate the construction of the HPC in the latter half of this year with an aim to start operation at the end of 2021. The companies said they expect the facility would contribute to increasing the nation’s export by KRW 3.8 trillion a year as they plan to sell most of the products manufactured at the facility to the global market.

As MRC informed before, in January 2018, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co signed a three-year agreement with Lotte Chemical Titan (part of Lotte Chemical), one of the largest polyolefin producers in southeast Asia, to sell the Malaysian firm up to 1 million tonnes of naphtha annually.

Lotte Chemical Titan produces Malaysia's most comprehensive portfolio of olefins and polyolefins which contribute to the enhancement of everyday life. Lotte Chemical Titan's production site in Malaysia consists of eleven process facilities, two co-generation plants and three tank farms. They are located on 2 sites in Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Langsat in the state of Johor. In 2006, Lotte Chemical Titan acquired PT Lotte Chemical Titan Nusantara, Indonesia’s first and largest polyethylene plant in the country. This acquisition boosted the polyolefins capacity by approximately 50%, thus making the company one of the largest producers in South East Asia. Lotte Chemical Titan was acquired by Lotte Chemical Corp., forming part of the Lotte conglomerate of Korea, in 2010. The company thus became one of Lotte Chemical Corp.’s largest overseas subsidiaries.
MRC

JBF Industries to undergo restructuring

MOSCOW (MRC) -- JBF Group has entered into an arrangement with KKR, an existing financial investor with 20% stake in the company, for restructuring of the equity holding and management structure of JBF Global Pte Limited (Singapore), a subsidiary of JBF Industries Limited. Until now, JBF Global Pte Limited held 100% of JBF Petrochemicals Ltd (under which Mangalore purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant is established) and JBF RAK LLC, as per Indiainfoline.

Following are the highlights of the new arrangement
KKR will hold 51% economic interest whereas JBF Industries Limited will have 49% economic interest, in the PTA business.
KKR will arrange for last mile funding to complete the PTA plant, expected to be completed in 4-5 months’ time.
This arrangement will effectively reduce around USD500mn of debt, on a consolidated basis.
The PTA business is expected to produce a sizeable EBITDA in the first full year of operations.
The above is subject to approval of the lenders to JBF Petrochemicals.
In addition, JBF Industries has entered into discussions with its consortium of lenders for a restructuring of its debt of around Rs2,600cr.
The restructuring process is expected to be completed by August 2018.
The above measures are aimed at deleveraging its balance sheet which is currently burdened with a consolidated debt of ~Rs11,000cr.

JBF has spent over US$700-750mn for its Mangalore PTA plant with a capacity of 1.25 million metric tons. Private equity firm KKR had invested US$150-160mn (~Rs490cr) in December 2015 at Rs300per share, to support the completion of the plant. In addition, JBF had raised external commercial borrowings (ECBs) of USD464mn. However, recommissioning of the plant was delayed due to financial constraint. The plant was expected to produce US$85-90EBITDA/ton and likely to contribute Rs500-600cr to the consolidated EBITDA at 100% capacity utilization.

However, minority shareholders may have little to gain as the company has ceded control of the plant to KKR. Also, cash flows generated from the PTA plant will be used to pay off the debt. Nevertheless, if KKR is able to arrange for the funding and commission the PTA plant, it may lead to an up-move in the stock which can be used as an exit point by the investors.
MRC