Sinopec Hainan refinery delivers first low-sulphur bunker fuel cargo

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Corp’s subsidiary refinery in the southern island province of Hainan delivered its first shipment of low-sulfur bunker fuel that meets the new International Maritime Organization (IMO) emission rules, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to state media reports.

A vessel carrying 2,200 tonnes of the fuel left the Hainan refinery in late February heading to Ningbo on the east coast. The fuel will be put to pilot use at a maritime institution in Shanghai, China Securities Journal reported

The Hainan plant is the second refinery under Sinopec to produce the low-sulfur marine fuel that meets IMO standards.

In January, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Corp shipped 6,000 tonnes of the fuel.

IMO will ban ships from using fuel oil with a sulfur content above 0.5 percent, compared with 3.5 percent now, unless they are equipped with exhaust “scrubbers” to clean up sulphur emissions, starting 2020.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2018, Sinopec Corp joined a group planning to build an oil refinery in Alberta, an enterprise that would strengthen demand for the Canadian province's heavily discounted crude. State-owned Sinopec, formally known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, along with an Alberta indigenous group, China State Construction Engineering Corp and Alberta management company Teedrum, plan to build a refinery to process 167,000 barrels per day of crude into gasoline and other products, the project's consulting firm Stantec Inc said in its statement.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its principal business includes: exploring, developing, producing and trading crude oil and natural gas; producing, storing, transporting and distributing and marketing petroleum products, petrochemical products, synthetic fiber, fertilizer and other chemical products. Its refining capacity and ethylene capacity rank No.2 and No.4 globally. Sinopec listed in Hong Kong, New York, London and Shanghai in August 2001. Sinopec Group, the parent company of Sinopec Corp., is ranked the 5th in Fortune Global 500 in 2012.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, today announces the expansion of its Pibiflex and Riteflex TPC (thermoplastic co-polyester) production unit at the Donegani facility in Ferrara, Italy to support the continued growth of its global engineered materials business, said Businesswire.

Celanese continues to exhibit its leadership position in the manufacture and compounding of highly engineered materials, such as thermoplastic co-polyesters, by adding this capacity to support growth in sophisticated, functionalized polymers. The company will continue to partner with its customers to deliver innovative solutions to meet ever-increasing consumer and industrial needs and respond to the changing complexity in high-performance polymers.

Celanese recently added one more solid-state polymerization unit at the Donegani facility, which started up successfully in September 2018. Celanese expects to expand the production capacity of the unit further by adding another polymerization line to be completed in the next 15 to 18 months.

The expansion of this thermoplastic co-polyester unit further demonstrates the company’s ability to respond to global customer demand using the knowledge and expertise of world-class engineering capabilities which enable these types of projects and expansions.

Thermoplastic co-polyester (TPCs) are block co-polymers that combine favorable characteristics of vulcanized rubber with the easy processability of thermoplastics for toughness, tear and flex fatigue resistance over a wide temperature range. Besides thermoplastic co-polyesters, Celanese also offers a broad range of other thermoplastic elastomers like thermoplastic vulcanizate (Forprene TPV), thermoplastic olefines (Forflex TPO), thermoplastic elastomers based on SBC (Laprene and Sofprene TPS), and thermoplastic elastomer solutions for special markets like artificial turf infill (Holo, Forgrin, Terra XPS granules) and footwear (Sofprene TPR, Sofpur TPU) for a broad range of customer-oriented solutions, including functionalization and color.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Our businesses use the full breadth of Celanese's global chemistry, technology and commercial expertise to create value for our customers, employees, shareholders and the corporation.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Weak seasonal demand and oversupply continued to affect significantly low density polyethylene (LDPE) prices in the Russian market. Price reduction for March deliveries for some items reached Rb3,000/tonne, reported in the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

The same situation repeated in the Russian LDPE market again from year to year, the excess supply amid low demand made sellers cut prices. The current year was no exception, since the beginning of the year LDPE prices constantly become cheaper.

Some sellers announced a further price reduction for March deliveries last week. The most decrease will account for 108 LDPE, the price reduction for some suppliers was Rb3,000/tonne.

In order to balance the domestic market, some producers have increased export volumes in the past few months.

Angarsk Polymer Plant planned to reduce the capacity utilisation in 2019. However, all these factors did not help to balance the domestic market.

Some sellers still hope that in the second half of March, the situation with demand will improve and price rise will stop.
Restrictions of truck movement will be introduced in April, which can lead to a increase in the cost of delivery.

Kazanorgsintez plans to shut down some of its LDPE production capacities for almost a one-month maintenance from 12 April. In the meantime, sellers had to cut their prices.

March price offers for 108 LDPE in the late last week reached Rb81,800-83,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.
The price range was quite wide this week with prices heard at Rb88,800-94,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazakhstan plans to cut its oil exports by around 2% this year to 71 million tons, its energy ministry told Reuters, mainly at the expense of China, amid a production decline, reported Reuters.

This is down from 72.5 million tonnes Kazakhstan exported overseas in 2018.

Kazakhstan plans to reduce its own output to 89.5 million tonnes in 2019 from 90.3 million tonnes last year, due in part to planned maintenance shutdowns at its three largest oil fields.

Its key exporting route is the Caspian Pipeline from western Kazakhstan to the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk. Supplies via that route are set to remain broadly unchanged this year.

Kazakhstan will slash its exports to China via the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline to 0.5 million tonnes from 1.38 million tonnes in 2018, the energy ministry said.

It will also completely halt supplying Russia’s Orenburg refinery. Last year oil supplies there from Kazakhstan stood at almost 0.5 million tons.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hexion Inc. has announced it has named Brenntag North America, Inc., part of the Brenntag Group as its national distribution partner for its Epoxy Specialty and Base Epoxy Resins and Intermediates businesses in the United States and Canada, according to BusinessWire.

"We are pleased to expand our relationship with Brenntag as a distribution partner because of their commitment to strong customer service throughout the sales process," said Ann Frederix, Senior Vice President, Epoxy Specialties. "As a global market leader in chemical distribution, Brenntag has extensive experience as a distributor for a variety of resins and epoxy products, as well as a strong technical sales team."

"We are excited to be aligned with Hexion, an industry leading supplier of epoxy resins," said Ted Davlantes, Vice President, Coatings and Construction, Brenntag North America. "These products will provide us with a robust spectrum of epoxy solutions for our customers."

Hexion is a leading producer of epoxy specialty resins, modifiers and curing agents in Europe and the United States with a global reach to its end markets. Epoxy resins are the fundamental component of many types of materials and are often used in the automotive, construction, wind energy, aerospace and electronics industries due to their superior adhesion, strength and chemical resistance. Epoxy specialty resins are also used for a variety of high-end coating applications. Epoxy-based surface coatings are among the most widely used industrial coatings due to their long service life and broad application functionality combined with overall economic efficiency. Hexion also leverages its resin and additives position to supply custom resins to specialty coatings formulators. Hexion is also one of the world’s largest suppliers of basic epoxy resins, such as solid epoxy resin (SER) and liquid epoxy resin (LER), used in a wide variety of industrial coatings applications.

As MRC wrote previously, Brenntag, the global market leader in chemical distribution, announced that from February 1, 2014 the company would distribute the cellulosic additive and latex powder portfolio of Dow Construction Chemicals in Germany and Austria.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, Hexion Inc. (formerly known as Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc.) is a global leader in thermoset resins. Hexion Inc. serves the global wood and industrial markets through a broad range of thermoset technologies, specialty products and technical support for customers in a diverse range of applications and industries. Hexion Inc. is controlled by investment funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management, LLC.

Brenntag, the global market leader in chemical distribution, covers all major markets with its extensive product and service portfolio. Headquartered in Essen, Germany, the company operates a global network with more than 530 locations in 73 countries and a workforce of more than 16,000 employees. In 2017, the company generated sales of EUR 11.7 billion (USD 13.3 billion). Brenntag connects chemical manufacturers and chemical users. The company supports its customers and suppliers with tailor-made distribution solutions for industrial and specialty chemicals. With over 10,000 products and a world-class supplier base, Brenntag offers one-stop-shop solutions to around 185,000 customers.
MRC