PP imports to Ukraine increased by 9% in January-July

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ukraine's polypropylene (PP) imports totalled about 74,000 tonnes in the first seven months of the year, up 9% year on year. Demand for all PP grades increased, as per MRC DataScope.

July PP imports into Ukraine rose to 13,200 tonnes, compared with 10,800 tonnes in June; the main increase accounted for the supply of homopolymer PP. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 74,000 tonnes in January-July 2018, compared to 67,700 tonnes a year earlier. Demand for all PP grades increased, but PP block copolymers accounted for the greatest growth.

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

July imports of homopolymers of propylene to the Belarusian market rose to 10,200 tonnes against 8,000 tonnes a month earlier, local companies increased the volume of purchases of homopolymer PP raffia. Overall shipments of homopolymer PP reached 54,700 tonnes in the first seven months of 2018 versus 51,600 tonnes a year earlier. Last month's imports of block propylene copolymers (PP block copolymers) were 1,300 tonnes, compared to 1,200 tonnes in June. Demand for injection moulding propylene copolymers improved from local companies.

Imports of PP block copolymers into the country were about 7,700 tonnes in January-July, compared with about 7,500 tonnes year on year.
July imports of of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) did not exceed 1,500 tonnes versus 1,300 tonnes a month earlier, demand for PP subsided from film products producers. Overall imports of PP random copolymer exceeded 10,200 tonnes in January-July 2018, whereas this figure was 7,400 tonnes a year earlier.

Overall imports of other propylene copolymers totalled slightly over 1,300 tonnes over the stated period.

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PVC imports to Ukraine fell by 28% in January-July 2018

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Ukraine decreased by 28% in the first seven months of this year, compared to the same period in 2017 and reached about 43,700 tonnes. The main reason is the growth of own production volumes, according to MRC DataScope.

Last month's SPVC imports to the Ukrainian market dropped to 4,900 tonnes from 5,900 tonnes in June, with US resin accounting for the main decrease. Overall SPVC imports totalled 43,700 tonnes in January-July 2018, compared to 60,700 tonnes a year earlier, while the supply of PVC from the US, contrary to the general trend, has grown. The main reason for the drop in imports was the increase in production at Karpatneftekhim.

Structure of PVC imports into Ukraine over the reported period was as follows.
Last month's imports of US SPVC shrank to 2,500 tonnes from 3,500 tonnes in June. Thus, imports of US resin totalled 28,600 tonnes in the first seven months of 2018, compared to 25,100 tonnes a year earlier. February-March accounted for the peak of imports.

July imports of European PVC into Ukraine were 2,400 tonnes, which equalled the June figure. Total imports of European PVC into Ukraine were about 13,800 tonnes in the first seven months of the year, compared with 24,100 tonnes year on year.
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First Tianjin gas stations make switch to ethanol

MOSCOW (MRC) - The Chinese city of Tianjin will replace gasoline with ethanol at 10 gas stations, Xinhua News Agency reported, the first outlets to do so in a wider push to get vehicles in the city to switch to the biofuel, as per Reuters.

Tianjin will later replace ordinary gasoline with ethanol at other stations in October.

The change means all vehicles in the city will be required to use ethanol, except those that need ordinary gasoline for special uses, such as military and industrial purposes, an official from Tianjin economic planner was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

China’s state council this week vowed to promote the use of ethanol in vehicles, its first public statement on its ambitious biofuel policy in almost a year.


MRC

Mitsui resumes ethylene production in Osaka following June fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsui Chemicals has announced it has resumed ethylene production following a 21 June 2018 fire at its Osaka, Japan, site, as per Apic-online.

The fire occurred in a utility plant during a scheduled maintenance, which was expected to be completed in late July, reported Reuters. The 500,000-t/y naphtha cracker was not directly affected."Other production will also be restarted in order," Mitsui noted.

The Osaka site also produces olefins, aromatics, ammonia, urea, phenol, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, ethanolamine, unsaturated polyesters, isopropyl alcohol, melamine and others.

As MRC wrote before, in March 2016, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Hankuk Carbon Co., a company listed on the Korea Exchange, entered into a strategic alliance agreement to engage in collaborative business activities relating to the processing of composite materials.

Mitsui Chemicals is a leading manufacturer and supplier of value added specialty chemicals, plastics and materials for the automotive, healthcare, packaging, agricultural, building, and semiconductor and electronics markets. Mitsui Chemicals is a Japanese Chemicals company, a part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company has a turnover of around 15 billion USD and has business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. The company mainly deals in performance materials, petro and basic chemicals and functional polymeric materials.
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Iran oil exports set to drop in August ahead of U.S. sanctions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iran’s crude oil and condensate exports in August are set to drop below 70 million barrels for the first time since April 2017, well ahead of the Nov. 4 start date for a second round of U.S. economic sanctions, as per Reuters.

The United States has asked buyers of Iranian oil to cut imports to zero starting in November to force Tehran to negotiate a new nuclear agreement and to curb its influence in the Middle East.

The total volume of crude and condensate, an ultra-light oil produced from natural gas fields, to load in Iran this month is estimated at 64 million barrels, or 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd), versus a peak of 92.8 million barrels, or 3.09 million bpd, in April, preliminary trade flows data on Thomson Reuters Eikon showed.

The National Iranian Oil Co has slashed its crude prices to keep buyer interest amid the August export drop. It has set the official selling price (OSP) for Iranian Heavy crude for September loading at the biggest discount since 2004, according to Reuters and trade data.

Iran is currently the third-largest producer among the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and benchmark oil futures traded in London have surged to their highest since June in anticipation of the loss of Iranian supply.

As MRC informed earlier, South Korea’s Hanwha Total Petrochemical Co Ltd has increased imports of condensate from the United States and Australia and is seeking more European cargoes to replace Iranian supplies.
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