Borouge to build its fifth PP plant in Ruwais to raise the production capacity by 25%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borouge PP Plant EPCBorouge has signed the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract with Maire Tecnimont Group for building its fifth polypropylene (PP) plant with a capacity of 480,000 t/y in Ruwais to increase production capacity of PP by 25% to 2.24 million tonnes t/y, as per PasticsInsight.

This opens up new opportunities to integrate with the local industries. The new PP5 plant will be added to the existing Borouge 3 plants in Ruwais scheduled to be commissioned in Q3 2021.

Borouge’s PP5 plant, based on Borealis’ proprietary Borstar technology, will significantly contribute to helping ADNOC’s downstream strategy declared in the recent Downstream Investment Forum, held in May 2018. The aim of the addition of the PP5 plant at Ruwais is to expand its refining and petrochemical operations to create the world’s largest integrated refining and petrochemicals complex in Ruwais and obtain highly targeted overseas investments to secure greater market access.

In addition, it will also help in increasing ADNOC’s, and its subsidiaries’ range and volume of high-value downstream products.

Borouge has made an ambitious growth plan for increasing the polymers production capacity by 11% to reach 5 million tonnes per year with the installation of the PP5 plant, which is effectively linked to the growth ambitions of both ADNOC and Borealis to grow polymers production capacity.

The partnership between ADNOC and Borealis will ensure global supply of creative polypropylene products with the help of PP5 plant, which becomes the tenth Borstar plant in Ruwais. The Ruwais-based plant will offer solutions to its customers across the globe, especially in the packaging industry.

As MRC informed before, in March 2017, Austrian chemical company Borealis started carrying out feasibility studies for a PP unit and a mixed-feed steam cracker at Borouge, the petrochemicals complex it owns jointly with Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc in Ruwais, UAE.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC

LDPE prices continued to rise in the Russian market in September

MOSCOW (Market Report) -- A slight shortage and a rise in prices of low density polyethylene (LDPE) began in the Russian market back in August. Prices continued their upward trend in early September, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The Russian LDPE market was excessive in the first half of 2018, the market balance has begun to change since July due to shutdowns for maintenance at a number of plants. Despite weak demand, prices of some LDPE grades increased in August. In September, the growth in LDPE prices continued, the shutdowns for tunrarounds at two large producers - Ufaorgsintez and Kazanorgsintez - will put pressure on prices.

Ufaorgsintez took off-stream some of its LDPE production capacities (108 grade) for a 30-day maintenance on 1 September, the second part of the capacities (158 and 153 grades) will be shut down for a one-month turnaround on 19 September. Kazanorgsintez will take off-stream some of its production capacities for long maintenance in the third decade of September, meanwhile, the plant has already reduced its capacity utilisation and, consequently, LDPE shipments to the domestic and foreign markets because of a shortage of ethylene.

Demand for LDPE was weak in August, however, this factor did not curb the increase in prices of 108 grade LDPE.
The price growth of this polyethylene (PE) grade continued in early September, in some cases, deals reached Rb93,000/tonne FCA, including VAT, and higher. Prices of other LDPE grades also began to go up.

Buying activity was low in the LDPE market in early autumn, converters were slow to replenish inventories, despite lower supply of polymer in the market.
MRC

Russian watchdog seeks to equalize export tax for LPG, naphtha

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia’s antimonopoly watchdog is proposing to change the export duty for liquefied petroleum gas, a product used in the petrochemical industry and as a substitute for gasoline, making it equal to naphtha’s export duty, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service is seeking to stabilize prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which have risen by a third so far this year as companies preferred to export LPG given a low - or in some months zero - export duty.

Russia returned to an export duty on LPG from Aug. 1 after prices rose on world markets, to which domestic LPG taxation is linked. The export duty was zero for more than three years from early 2015.

Russia taxes LPG exports in two ways: propane-butane blend LPG-EXPDTY-RU is facing a tax of $8.6 per tonne in September while LPG clean fractions BUT-EXPDTY-RU are taxed at USD3.4 per tonne this month.

Export duty for naphtha NPTH-EXPDTY-RU, a feedstock to produce ethylene and some other petrochemicals, among other types of its usage, is set at USD71.5 per tonne in September.

Dmitry Makhonin, head of regulation department at the Federal Antimonopoly Service, did not say when the changes could take place, if at all.

Sibur, Russia’s top petrochemical producer, said in a statement to Reuters it hoped that changes would be implemented on a step-by-step basis if a decision is taken, with it and other LPG producers involved in the taxation change discussions.
MRC

Maire Tecnimont secures EPCC contracts for new PP and HDPE units

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. has announced that its subsidiary Tecnimont S.p.A., in consortium with its Indian affiliate Tecnimont Private Limited, has been awarded two EPCC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning) Lump Sum contracts by HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL), for the implementation of a new High-Density Polyethylene unit (HDPE) and a new Polypropylene unit (PP), as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The units will be located adjacent to Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Bathinda, Punjab, in northern India.

HMEL is a joint venture formed by Mittal Energy Investments Pte. Limited Singapore and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

The overall value of the EPC Lump Sum contracts is in the range of USD 225 million. The projects’ scope entails Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning activities up to the Performance Guarantees Test Run of the monomer purification sections and the polymerization areas. Once completed, the new HDPE unit will have a capacity of 450,000 tons per year, while the new PP unit will have a capacity of 500,000 tons per year. The time schedule is 25 Months for Mechanical Completion.

Pierroberto Folgiero, Maire Tecnimont Chief Executive Officer, commented: "With this important step in India supporting very prestigious clients such as HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited, we confirm our global leadership in polyolefins and consolidate our technology-driven footprint in Asia, a market with a very promising downstream investment cycle thanks to the availability of natural resources and the growing demand for petrochemical products."

As MRC reported earlier, in March 2018, HMEL received clearance from India’s ministry of environments for the polymer addition project at its Guru Gobind Singh refinery and Petrochemical complex. The proposed units at the petrochemical complex include a 1.2m tonnes/year naphtha cracker, two linear low density polyethylene/high density polyethylene (LLDPE/HDPE) swing plants of 400,000 tonnes/year capacity each. The complex, in Bhatinda region of Punjab province, will also house a 450,000 tonnes/year HDPE unit, a 500,000 tonnes/year polypropylene (PP) plant and a 55,000 tonnes/year butane-1 line. The project will cost Indian rupees (Rs) 196.4 bn (USD3bn) and is expected to be completed by April 2021.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is an Indian state-owned oil and natural gas company with its headquarters at Mumbai, Maharashtra and with Navratna status. HPCL has about 25% marketing share in India among PSUs and a strong marketing infrastructure. The Government of India owns 51.11% shares in HPCL and others are distributed amongst financial institutes, public and other investors.
MRC

DowDuPont announces filing of initial form 10 registration statement for the New Dow

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DowDuPont announced the filing of the initial Form 10 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the separation of its Materials Science Division (to be called Dow), as per Businesswire.

Dow’s initial Form 10 filing includes a business and strategy overview, competitive strengths and end-market information, as well as historical and unaudited pro forma financial information, among other details for the intended company.

"The Form 10 is a significant step towards the creation of the new Dow – the world’s leading materials science company,” said Jim Fitterling, chief operating officer of the Materials Science Division of DowDuPont and chief executive officer of Dow. “The new Dow will be a more focused and agile solutions provider, well-positioned to quickly and effectively innovate and grow with customers in our targeted market verticals to deliver greater shareholder value."

As detailed in the filing, the new Dow will have a portfolio comprised of six global business units, serving three consumer-driven market verticals: consumer care, infrastructure and packaging. Through its deep materials science expertise, value chain intimacy, global reach, scale and competitive capabilities, the new Dow will provide differentiated products and solutions to its customers.

"This initial filing underscores the position of financial and operational strength the new Dow will possess upon separation,” said Howard Ungerleider, chief financial officer of DowDuPont and president and chief financial officer of Dow. “It also emphasizes our focus on driving profitable growth, increasing return on invested capital and enhancing free cash flow."

Consistent with the Form 10 process, the filing will be iterative, with additional information regarding capital structure, dividend policy, governance, initiation of Dow common stock upon separation from DowDuPont and other matters filed in subsequent versions of the document. Dow anticipates the SEC will declare the Form 10 effective in the first quarter of 2019, aligned to the company’s timeline to separate from DowDuPont by April 1, 2019.

As previously communicated, Corteva Agriscience intends to file its Form 10 in October.
MRC