PP imports to Belarus grew by 8% in January-April 2018

April PP imports into Belarus were 9,200 tonnes versus 8,100 tonnes a month earlier, propylene copolymers accounted for the main increase in shipments. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 32,100 tonnes in January-April 2018, compared to 29,700 tonnes a year earlier.

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

April imports of homopolymers of propylene (homopolymer PP) to the Belarusian market grew to 5,700 tonnes from 5,500 tonnes a month earlier, local companies increased their purchasing of injection moulding PP in Russia. Thus, overall homopolymer PP imports reached 21,500 tonnes in the first four months of 2018, up by 6.8% year on year. Russian producers with the share of about 86% of the total shipments were the key suppliers.

April imports of propylene copolymers to Belarus were 3,500 tonnes, compared to 2,600 tonnes a month earlier, local companies reduced their procurement of injection moulding block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) in Russia and the Middle East. Thus, overall imports of propylene copolymers reached 10,700 tonnes in January-April 2018, whereas this figure was 9,600 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Total import of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to Belarus increased by 27.4% compared to the same period of 2017 and amounted to about 10,900 tonnes in the first four months of this year, according to MRC DateScope Report.

According to the statistical committee of the Republic of Belarus, local converters significantly reduced the volume of PVC purchases in April of this year due to large stocks left since March and weak demand for finished products. Total imports into the country were about 2,100 tonnes against 3,100 tonnes a month earlier.
Thus, imports of unmixed PVC rose to 10,900 tonnes in the first four months of the year against 8,600 tonnes a year earlier, the main increase in demand accounted for local window profile producers.

The key suppliers of PVC in the Republic of Belarus for the period under consideration were producers from Russia, their share in the Belarusian market was about 90%. The second and third place in the volume of supplies were taken by producers from Germany and Ukraine.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ahead of a meeting with Saudi Arabia and other producers, Russia already plans to increase oil exports, its July-September schedule shows, which coupled with increasing refinery runs suggests Moscow is gearing up to raise production, reported Reuters.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers are scheduled to meet on June 22-23 in Vienna to discuss a possible increase in output after more than a year and a half of coordinated cuts which have taken 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) out of the market.

Those cuts, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, having helped slash global oversupply and raised prices by almost $20 a barrel, but there are now calls, from Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak and others, that the deal be re-examined.

Crude exports and transit from Russia is expected to rise to 63.34 million tonnes in the July-September quarter from 62.45 million planned for April-June, Russia's export schedule shows.

That works out to an increase of around 20,000 bpd - not significant in itself - but comes alongside plans by Russian refiners to raise third-quarter throughput by 2.2 million tonnes versus the second quarter, energy ministry forecasts show.

Raising both would typically require a production increase.

Under the deal among OPEC and non-OPEC producers, Russia agreed to cut production by 300,000 bpd compared to its output in October 2016.

It has exceeded its production quota for the last three months, however, pumping an average 10.97 million bpd in May - or around 20,000 bpd more than agreed, ministry data showed.

Russia could quickly add back at least 300,000 bpd of production, the ministry has said.

Top producer Rosneft could increase output by 70,000 bpd in just two days, according to analysts who have recently visited the company.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The Chinese city of Tianjin will use gasoline with added ethanol in most vehicles by the end of September, according to a document published on the city government's website, as Beijing pushes for adoption of the biofuel nationwide, as per Reuters.

The central government said last year that it plans to roll out the use of gasoline blended with 10 percent added ethanol nationally by 2020, to cut corn stocks and clean up choking smog.

The move by Tianjin, a port city of around 15 million people in northern China, was the first official plan by a provincial government to implement the national policy since it was announced.

Tianjin is expected to use 260,000 tonnes of fuel ethanol each year if that goal is realized, the city government said.

That would mean consumption of 780,000 tonnes of corn, as three tonnes of corn would be used to make one tonne of ethanol.

China is currently sitting on huge stocks of corn estimated to be at about 200 million tonnes, following a now discontinued government stockpiling scheme to support farmers.

China currently produces less than 2.5 million tonnes of ethanol a year, but the new policy could increase demand to 15 million tonnes a year by 2020, according to a Reuters estimate.

Domestic producers were ramping up output, on cheaper corn and government subsidies, hoping to get a share in the potentially booming market.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has recently inaugurated its new EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Application center for Plastic Additives in Kaisten, Switzerland, said the producer on its site.

The new facility, located in the existing BASF production site, includes a state of the art compounding extruder, stretch film and tape lines as well as an injection molding unit capable of simulating the polymer production and processing technology. The facility can combine intelligent process automation and expertise that will increase the quality of plastics produced.

The new application center serves as the regional technical support base for customers for applications such as polymer production, master batch and leading players in the converting industry but is also the global competency center for the automotive as well as the film and tape industry. The state of the art facility is equipped with specialized equipment that can precisely simulate commercial production processes. The test laboratory can expertly evaluate processing stabilization, light stabilization, long term stabilization or effect performance of additives. With the combination of this new innovative technical facility and the global experience of the dedicated teams, BASF is significantly better positioned to support the business success of its customers.

"The housing of existing innovation units and intelligent laboratories on one dedicated site will lead to both shorter development cycles and help our customers by reducing complexity. Supported by the latest digital technologies, we will continue to strengthen our development capabilities to not only to meet with customer needs but also to drive innovation that addresses the future market needs," said Alberto Giovanzana, Head of Plastic Additives Europe, Africa and Middle East, BASF.

The existing BASF site located in Kaisten is well known for the production of plastic additives such as antioxidants which are added to plastics and lubricating oils to protect against ageing. The site already houses a development lab for the form giving of additives and with the new investment, the site is now the European competence center for Plastic Additives in addition to the regional technical centers in Pontecchio Marconi, Italy and Ludwigshafen, Germany. By combining the current application technology labs together with the Marketing and Product Management functions all on one site, it will enhance automation and deliver faster results to its customers.

The BASF Plastic Additives business has 5 labs globally: the global competence center as well as the regional technical center in Kaisten, and the regional technical centers in Pontecchio Marconi, Ludwigshafen, Shanghai (China) and Tarrytown (U.S.).

As MRC wrote before, in December 2017, BASF’s Coatings division inaugurated a new automotive coatings plant at its Bangpoo manufacturing site, Samutprakarn province, Thailand. The new plant is the first BASF automotive coatings manufacturing facility in ASEAN, and will produce solventborne and waterborne automotive coatings to meet growing market demand in the region.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of EUR64.5 billion in 2017.
MRC