PE imports to Belarus dropped by 5% in Jan-June 2018

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of polyethylene (PE) into Belarus decreased by 5% year on year in the first six months of 2018, reaching 58,800 tonnes. At the same time, local companies reduced purchasing of exclusively linear polyethylene (LLDPE), according to MRC's DataScope report.


According to the National Bureau of Statistics of Belarus, imports to Belarus dropped to 9,100 tonnes in June 2018 from 9,600 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies reduced their purchasing of high density polyethylene (HDPE). Overall PE imports totalled 58,800 tonnes in the first six months of 2018, compared to 61,900 tonnes a year earlier. Demand for HDPE and low and high pressure polyethylene (LDPE) increased, whereas demand for LLDPE subsided significantly.

The structure of PE imports to Belarus by grades looked the following way over the stated period.


June total LDPE imports fell to 3,700 tonnes from 3,900 tonnes a month earlier. Overall imports of this PE grade into Belarus totalled about 18,700 tonnes in January-June 2018, compared to 18,400 tonnes a year earlier.

June LLDPE imports were about 1,200 tonnes, which virtually corresponded to the figure a month earlier. Thus, overall LLDPE imports reached 10,900 tonnes over the stated period, whereas this figure was about 21,000 tonnes a year earlier.

June HDPE imports decreased to 4,200 tonnes from 4,500 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies increased their purchasing of PE from the Ukrainian producer. Thus, overall HDPE imports totalled 28,200 tonnes in the first six months of 2018, up by 27.4% year on year.

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Petrobras says fire controlled at Replan refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A "serious" fire at Petrobras' largest refinery early on Monday has been controlled and should not disrupt fuel supplies, executives at the Brazilian state-run oil company said on Monday.

The fire, at the Replan refinery in Sao Paulo state, caused no injuries but prompted Petrobras to halt production, the company said,without providing a forecast for a restart of operations.

However, Gustavo Marsaioli, the regional leader for oil workers, said normalization of operations should take more than a week.

"It was a serious accident of big proportions," he said.

Jorge Celestino Ramos, the company's refining and natural gas director, described the incident as "serious" but said fuel supplies were guaranteed for at least two weeks.

"There is no need to worry about supply for some 15 days, because we can calibrate inventories and other refineries," he said in an interview.

Marsaioli confirmed that stocks at Paulinia, where the refinery is located, were high and that other refineries, in Santos Maua and Sao Jose dos Campos, were operating at about 70 percent capacity.

Brazil's oil regulator, ANP, said it has sent out a team to monitor the progress of a Petrobras group investigating the cause of the accident.

Replan accounts for about 20 percent of Petrobras' refining capacity, processing the equivalent of 434,000 barrels of oil per day, according to the company's website.

The fire occurred just months after a truckers' strike over rising fuel prices in May paralyzed Brazil's economy, cutting off fuel supplies and causing goods shortages across large swathes of the country.

As MRC wrote earlier, in March 2018, Petrobras said that it would invest 137 million reais (USD42 million) this year in the Presidente Bernardes refinery in the industrial hub of Cubatao, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of metropolitan Sao Paulo.

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.
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Chevron awards EPC contract to WorleyParsons

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron (China) Chemicals Co., Ltd has awarded WorleyParsons the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the China Manufacturing Plant Project in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China, said WorleyParsons on its site.

Under the contract, WorleyParsons will provide services including engineering, procurement, construction and pre-commissioning. The services will be executed by WorleyParsons China.

Chevron (China) Chemicals Co., Ltd plans to build a wholly-owned plant manufacturing Oronite additives in Ningbo, China, a seaport city in northeast Zhejiang province.

"We are pleased that Chevron (China) Chemicals Co., Ltd has chosen WorleyParsons to work on this important project and we look forward to continuing our strong relationship with Chevron," said Andrew Wood, Chief Executive Officer.

As MRC reported before, in May 2018, Chevron Products Company, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., and Novvi LLC announced that they had entered into an agreement to jointly develop and bring to market novel renewable base oil technologies. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

WorleyParsons delivers projects, provides expertise in engineering, procurement and construction and offers a wide range of consulting and advisory services. We cover the full lifecycle, from creating new assets to sustaining and enhancing operating assets, in the hydrocarbons, mineral, metals, chemicals and infrastructure sectors.
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EC issues final approval of Tronox proposed Cristal acquisition

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tronox Limited, a global mining and inorganic chemicals company, has announced that it has received final approval from the European Commission to close its proposed acquisition of the titanium dioxide (TiO2) business of The National Titanium Dioxide Company Limited (Cristal), a privately held global chemical and mining company headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as per Tronox's press release.

The final approval was issued following the European Commission’s conclusion that Venator Materials PLC is a suitable purchaser of Tronox’s 8120 paper-laminate product grade currently supplied to European customers from Tronox’s Botlek facility in the Netherlands. Divesture of this product grade was the condition set forth in the conditional approval granted to Tronox by the European Commission on July 4, 2018. Consummation of the divestiture of the 8120 paper-laminate product grade will occur following approval of the overall Cristal acquisition transaction by the US regulatory authorities, which Tronox is vigorously pursuing in the US District Court of the District of Columbia.

"We are pleased to receive the European Commission’s final approval and look forward to consummating this highly synergistic combination designed to increase asset utilization, lower our cost position, unlock incremental product volumes to serve growing global markets, and create significant long-term value for our customers and shareholders," said Jeffry N. Quinn, president and chief executive officer of Tronox. "With the post-trial briefing in the administrative proceeding before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the preliminary injunction hearing in U.S. District Court recently completed, we are focused on securing approval to complete the acquisition and transforming Tronox into the industry’s premier TiO2 company."

In addition to receiving final approval from the European Commission, Australia, China, New Zealand, Turkey, South Korea, Colombia and Saudi Arabia have also approved the proposed acquisition. The United States Federal Trade Commission remains the final regulatory authority reviewing the transaction.

As MRC wrote previously, in March 2017, Saudi Arabia's National Industrialization Co. (Tasnee) announced that its subsidiary, National Titanium Dioxide Company (Cristal) had signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of its TiO2 business, by Tronox Limited in return for USD1.67 billion and a 24% stake in the new entit. The transaction will create the largest TiO2 company in the world, based on titanium chemical sales and nameplate capacity. Upon closing of the deal, current Tronox Limited shareholders will own 76% and Cristal shareholders will own 24% of the combined entity.

Tronox Limited operates three TiO2 pigment plants in the USA, Netherlands and Australia; it operates mines in South Africa and Australia; it has a research and development center in the USA; and it has an electrolyte and specialty chemicals division in the USA. Tronox has approximately 3,400 employees worldwide.

Cristal is one of the largest producers of titanium dioxide and a leading producer of titanium chemicals. Cristal is the world’s leading supplier of ultrafine titanium dioxide products and titanium chemicals and is a fast-growing producer of mineral sands and titanium metal powder. Cristal operates eight manufacturing plants in seven countries on five continents and employs nearly 3,400 people worldwide. Cristal is owned 79% by Tasnee, a listed Saudi joint stock company and 20% by Gulf Investment Corporation, a company equally owned by the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council and headquartered in Kuwait.
MRC

Petrobras sees no fuel supply shortage after Replan fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A director at Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said a fire at the company’s largest refinery Replan, in the state of Sao Paulo, is not expected to compromise fuel supplies in the short run, reported Reuters.

Jorge Celestino Ramos, the company’s refining and natural gas director, said fuel supplies are guaranteed for 15 days as other refineries may compensate any shortfall at Replan, where production remains halted since the early hours of the day.

As MRC wrote previously, in October 2017, Petrobras’ minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica was excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree published in Brazil’s Official Gazette. The decree prevented 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.
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