Gazprom neftekhim Salavat shut PE production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gazprom neftekhim Salavat, one of Russia's largest production complexes for oil refining and petrochemicals, has shut down its high density polyethylene (HDPE) production for a scheduled turnaround, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

The plant's clients said the maintenance at Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's HDPE production began on 1 July. The outage is scheduled to last for one month.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's low density polyethylene (LDPE) and HDPE production capacities are 45,000 and 120,000 tonnes per year, respectively. As noted earlier, Angarsk Polymers Plant had shut its production for a monthly scheduled maintenance from 22 June.

It is also worth noting that the next series of scheduled shutdowns to repair Russian polyethylene producers will begin in September. Three producers will simultaneously shut down their production capacities for maintenance works; Stavrolen, Kazanorgsintez and Tomskneftekhim.

OAO "Gazprom neftekhim Salavat" (formerly OAO "Salavatnefteorgsintez") is one of the leading petrochemical companies in Russia, carrying out a full cycle of processing hydrocarbon material. The list of products manufactured by the plant includes more than 140 items, including 76 grades of the main products: gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, fuel oil, toluene, solvent, liquefied gases, benzene, styrene, ethylbenzene, butyl alcohols, phthalic anhydride and plasticizers, polyethylene, polystyrenes, silica gels and zeolite catalysts, corrosion inhibitors, elemental sulfur, ammonia and urea, glycols and amines, a wide range of household products made of plastics, surfactants and much more.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The board of heavily indebted Mexican state oil company Pemex has unanimously approved a merger of four of its subsidiaries into two units, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The merger of subsidiaries Pemex Exploration and Production with PPS and Pemex Industrial Transformation with Etileno is effective from July 1, the statement said.

The merger aims to consolidate “austerity measures” with the goal of strengthening the company, the statement said.

The government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has repeatedly pledged to revive Petroleos Mexicanos, the formal name for Pemex. The world’s most indebted oil company, Pemex has seen oil output decline for 14 consecutive years.

As MRC informed earlier, Petroleos Mexicanos disclosed the results of the bidding process for the rehabilitation and commissioning works to be carried out on the H-Oil Plant located in the Miguel Hidalgo refinery in Tula, in the state of Hidalgo.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices increased as OPEC and its allies looked on track to extend supply cuts until at least the end of 2019 at their meeting in Vienna this week, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Brent crude futures for September delivery rose as high as $66.75 a barrel and were up USD1.89 at $66.63 a barrel by 0957 GMT. The August delivery contract closed at USD66.55 a barrel on Friday. U.S. crude futures for August climbed USD1.67 to USD60.14 a barrel, after earlier hitting their highest in over five weeks at USD60.28.

Iran - under U.S. sanctions alongside OPEC ally Venezuela - on Monday joined top producers Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Russia in supporting a policy aimed at propping up the price of crude amid a weakening global economy. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, an alliance known as OPEC+, meet on Monday and Tuesday to discuss supply cuts amid surging U.S. output.

“Clearly, the producer group is more than willing to sacrifice market share for a balanced market. The prize of this sacrifice is there for everyone to see: the two main crude oil futures contracts are up more than USD1.50 a barrel this morning,” PVM analyst Tamas Varga said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday he had agreed with Saudi Arabia to extend existing output cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by six to nine months.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the deal would most likely be extended by nine months and no deeper reductions were needed.

"If Russia, Saudi Arabia and the other key OPEC members keep production at the levels they produced in H1-19 they will ensure that the global oil market is not flowing over. They will only have to pay a small restraint while reaping a nice oil price of $60-70 a barrel,” said SEB’s Bjarne Schieldrop.

“OPEC as a whole is losing market share. But this burden is not evenly distributed as it is Venezuela and Iran who are taking almost all the pain.”

Oil prices have come under renewed pressure in recent months from rising U.S. supplies and a slowing global economy.

U.S. crude oil output in April rose to a fresh monthly record of 12.16 million bpd, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, even though shale production growth likely peaked last year.

Meanwhile, financial markets were buoyed by a thawing of U.S.-China relations after leaders of the world’s two largest economies agreed on Saturday to restart trade talks.

However, Citi analysts were sceptical that both sides can reach a deal soon.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema reaches another milestone in its journey of growth in specialties with the planned acquisition of ArrMaz, said the company.

With USD290 million sales, 18% EBITDA margin and around 2.5% of capex to sales, ArrMaz is a US-based leader in specialty surfactants for crop nutrition, mining and infrastructure.

The acquisition of this profitable, resilient and low capital intensive business is fully in line with Arkema’s long-term ambition to achieve over 80% of sales in specialties by 2023. ArrMaz will be integrated in Performance Additives, one of the three strong pillars which will drive growth of the High Performance Materials division, along with Adhesives and Technical Polymers.

ArrMaz offers tailored and sustainable solutions for the specific and ever-changing needs of its customers in a variety of industrial markets. Thanks to its formulation expertise and well-established leadership positions, ArrMaz has forged long-term relationships with major industrial customers, leaders in their own fields, to support their development.

Leader in several attractive niche markets, ArrMaz’s growth is driven by sustainable trends such as limited natural resources, a growing world population, and development of new energy sources.

In the crop nutrition market, ArrMaz offers innovative additives that enhance the efficiency and quality of fertilizer production and distribution while promoting responsible farming.

In the mining market, it offers a wide range of additives to help optimize grade recovery and process performance in mining operations, thereby enabling the most environmentally sound practices.

Moreover, in the infrastructure market, ArrMaz supplies additives that help improve road longevity, quality and recyclability.

ArrMaz has built an extensive commercial presence in North America, South America, Asia and in the fast growing regions of the Middle East and Africa, where it recently opened state-of-the-art facilities. It employs 400 employees and operates 9 manufacturing sites around the world.

Combined with Arkema’s strong expertise in formulation and specialty surfactants, this acquisition will join two organizations that are highly complementary in terms of geography as well as commercial and technological capabilities. Arkema will thus be well positioned to accelerate its growth in legacy markets and to enter new segments (additives for nutrients, lithium extraction and oil & gas process aids), with an expectation of delivering above-GDP growth.

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.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) is teaming up with Alpla Packaging to build a recycling plant for plastic waste in Rayong with an initial budget of 1 billion baht, said Bangkokpost.

The recycling plant is at Rayong's Asia Industrial Estate. Construction has begun and is to be completed in the next 18 months.

President and chief executive Supattanapong Punmeechaow said PTTGC is negotiating investment details with Alpla and the agreement will be announced soon.

Alpla is an Austrian recycling company that runs a local unit for plastic packaging solutions in Prachin Buri.

"The recycling plant will process single-use plastic waste, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene (PE), which are materials used for plastic packaging for bottles, straws and bags," Mr Supattanapong said. The plant will have a production capacity of 50,000 tonnes a year in the first phase. Some 35,000 tonnes will be from recycling PET products and 15,000 tonnes from PE.

Mr Supattanapong said the plant will be the first recycling plant that meets European standards. He said PTTGC is positioning the recycling plant for waste management of plastic waste in food packaging and consumer products, following global trends and international policy geared towards reducing plastic to preserve the environment.

"We will export our recycled products overseas, to countries where recycled products for food, drink and consumer goods are allowed," Mr Supattanapong said. "In Thailand, regulations prevent the use of recycled packages for edible goods. The government should promote this use of recycled products in the near future."

He said Thailand has a great deal of single-use plastic waste in both landfills and offshore areas that are unmanaged and PTTGC wants to deal with the problem.

The company aims to reduce single-use plastic to zero in the next five years and focus on bioplastics to reproduce packaging products. Bernd Wachter, Alpla's managing director, said Thailand is a high-potential country for a new recycling plant because the population is large.

"Alpla expects to expand new cooperation with Thai companies and state authorities in the near future," Mr Wachter said. Alpla will support PTTGC's integrated plastic recycling plant, which will have the capability to produce quality recycled plastic resin.

The recycling plant is a part of the circular economy principle, which has become a priority for state authorities and companies aiming to preserve natural resources and the environment.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC