PE imports into Belarus decreased by 3% in January-April

MOSCOW (MRC) - Total volume of imports of polyethylene (PE) to Belarus decreased by 3% in the first four months of this year compared to a year earlier and reached 40,100 tonnes. At the same time, local companies reduced only the volume of purchases of linear polyethylene, according to MRC DataScope.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of Belarus, imports of polyethylene in the Republic of Belarus decreased to 8,800 tonnes in April 2018 against 11,100 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies have reduced the volume of purchases of all types of polyethylene. In general, total imports of PE reached 40,100 tonnes in the first four months of this year against 41,300 tonnes a year earlier. Demand for high density polyethylene (HDPE) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) has risen, while the demand for linear polyethylene has seriously declined.

The structure of imports of PE to Belarus for the period under review was as follows.
April imports of LDPE decreased to 3,000 tonnes against 3,300 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies reduced the volume of polyethylene purchases in Russia, while supplies from Azerbaijan grew. Total imports of LDPE in Belarus amounted to about 12,100 tonnes in January-April against 11,100 tonnes year on year.

April import of LLDPE amounted to about 1,500 tonnes against 2,600 tonnes in March, local companies significantly reduced the volume of purchases of Middle Eastern butene polyethylene. Thus, during the period under review, the total imports of linear polyethylene reached the level of 8,500 tonnes, while a year earlier this figure was about 14,600 tonnes.


April imports of HDPE decreased to 4,200 tonnes against 5,200 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies have reduced the volume of polyethylene purchases from Ukrainian and Russian producers. Thus, imports of HDPE amounted to about 19,500 tonnes in the first four months, up 24.4% year on year.


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INEOS Styrolution invests in Wingles site to meet growing demand for ABS

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, announces plans for a significant investment into its Wingles, France, site to attend the market growth for ABS in Europe, as per the company's press release.

The site focused on polystyrene production so far. It will now add production of ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) to its portfolio.

The changes reflect increased demand for ABS solutions from INEOS Styrolution’s focus industries (Automotive, Household, Electronics, Healthcare, Construction and Packaging) in Europe.

The new production line for ABS will make use of the existing production infrastructure in Wingles: One of the existing three polystyrene production lines will be converted into a production line for ABS with a planned capacity of about 50,000 tonnes per year. The ABS production site in Wingles is planned to be operational in Q1’2020.

Rob Buntinx, President EMEA, comments: "Three ABS production sites in Europe – Wingles, Antwerp and Cologne – with an increased ABS production capacity give us increased flexibility and allow us to grow with our customers. Our customers can focus on their businesses while relying on our production capacities being able to meet their growing demand across our broad ABS portfolio."

"These plans are at the heart of our focus on higher-value specialties and ABS Standard grades and prove our commitment to our customers and to our long-term growth strategy as outlined in our Triple Shift Strategy", adds Kevin McQuade, CEO at INEOS Styrolution.

INEOS Styrolution is the leading, global styrenics supplier with a focus on styrene monomer, polystyrene, ABS Standard and styrenic specialties. With world-class production facilities and more than 85 years of experience, INEOS Styrolution helps its customers succeed by offering the best possible solution, designed to give them a competitive edge in their markets. The company provides styrenic applications for many everyday products across a broad range of industries, including Automotive, Electronics, Household, Construction, Healthcare, Packaging and Toys/ Sports/ Leisure. In 2017, sales were at 5.3 billion euros. INEOS Styrolution employs approximately 3,300 people and operates 16 production sites in nine countries.
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Chinese tariffs on US oil would disrupt USD1 billion monthly business

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's threat to impose duties on U.S. oil imports will hit a business that has soared in the last two years, and which is now worth almost USD1 billion per month, reported Reuters.

In an escalating spat over the United States' trade deficit with most of its major trading partners, including China, U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he was pushing ahead with hefty tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports, starting on July 6.

China said Friday it would retaliate by slapping duties on several American commodities, including oil.

Investors expect the spat to come at the expense of U.S. oil firms, pulling down the share prices of ExxonMobil and Chevron by 1 to 2 percent since Friday, while U.S. crude oil prices fell by around 5 percent.

"This escalation of the trade war is dangerous for oil prices," said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia/Pacific at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore.

"Let's hope cooler heads prevail, but I'm not overly optimistic," he added.

The dispute between the United States and China comes at a pivotal time for oil markets.

Following a year and a half of voluntary supply cuts led by the Middle East-dominated Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as well as the non-OPEC producer Russia, oil markets have tightened, pushing up prices.

The potential drop-off in American oil exports to China would benefit other producers, especially from OPEC and Russia.

The OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and Russia indicated on Friday they would loosen their supply restraint and were starting to raise exports.

A cut in Chinese purchases of U.S. oil may also benefit Iran's sales, which Washington is trying to curb with new sanctions it announced in May.

"The Chinese may just replace some of the American oil with Iranian crude," said John Driscoll, director of consultancy JTD Energy Services.

"China isn't intimidated by the threat of U.S. sanctions. They haven't been in the past. So in this diplomatic spat, they might just replace U.S. crude with Iranian oil. That would obviously infuriate Trump," he said.

China's aggressive riposte to Trump took some in the industry by surprise.

U.S. crude exports to China have been rising sharply, thanks to a production surge in the past three years that was a welcome alternative to make up for the cut in supplies from OPEC and Russia.

"We're caught by surprise that crude oil is on the list," said an official with a Chinese state oil major, asking not to be named as he was not authorized to speak to media.

"We were actually preparing to raise imports according to an earlier government line," he added, referring to a Beijing policy enacted earlier this year to help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China.

U.S. oil exports, which have been surging thanks to a sharp increase in production in the past three years, were seen as a viable alternative to make up for the cut in supplies from OPEC and Russia.

Shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon shows that U.S. crude oil shipments to China have soared in value recently, jumping from just USD100 million per month in early 2017 to almost USD1 billion per month currently.

The threatened tariff would make U.S. oil more expensive versus supplies from other regions, including the Middle East and Russia, and likely disrupt a business that has soared recently.

"With Trump's politics, we're in a world of re-aligning alliances. China will not just swallow U.S. tariffs," said Driscoll.

"This is tit-for-tat petroleum diplomacy," he added. "The OPEC/non-OPEC cartel is the big beneficiary of all this oil diplomacy, as it will squeeze global spare oil capacity and likely push up crude prices."
MRC

KBR awarded FEED plus EPC option contract from Arkema

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR, Inc. has announced it has been working on the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) to double the sulfur derivatives production capacities at Arkema's Beaumont, Texas site, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

KBR has been leading the FEED from its Houston Operations Center and the on-going effort is expected to be completed in Q3 2018 with Final Investment Decision expected in Q4 2018. KBR will then have the opportunity to provide detailed engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the facility.

"This significant award demonstrates KBR's integrated engineering, procurement and construction offerings, from the front end loading, through detailed design, to full construction services for the entire project," said Farhan Mujib, President, Hydrocarbons Services Americas. "I am delighted for this opportunity to further KBR's new and growing partnership with Arkema, and look forward to further supporting Arkema on this important project."

For more than 40 years, KBR has designed, constructed and maintained hundreds of chemical plants across the globe.

As MRC wrote before, in March 2017, Arkema completed the sale to INEOS of its 50% stake in Oxochimie, their oxo alcohols manufacturing joint venture, and of the associated business. The impact of this divestment on the group’s annual sales represented some EUR40 million. With this operation, Arkema continues to implement its divestment program.

Arkema is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc.
MRC

INEOS Oxide announces an expansion of Dipropylene Glycol (DPG) capacity

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Oxide announces that it is progressing plans to expand Dipropylene Glycol (DPG) capacity at its site in Koln Germany, as per the company's press release.

The company confirmed that it has started the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) and expects to complete the engineering studies during the course of 2018.

Currently construction of the plant is expected to start in 2019 with start-up planned for early 2020.

"This is an important project for INEOS’ propylene oxide and glycol business", said Santiago Ciruelos, Business Manager for Propylene Oxide/Propylene Gylcols. "We have seen significant increased demand for DPG from our customers and we are excited to find opportunities to support their growth."

Dipropylene glycol is used as a solvent and scent carrier in the fragrance and laundry industries, as well as a component of speciality plasticisers and unsaturated polyester resins. INEOS manufacture DPG today as part of its propylene oxide and glycol portfolio.
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