SIBUR-Khimprom rolled over August EPS prices in Russia for September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR-Khimprom rolled over its last month's expandable polystyrene (EPS) for September shipments to the Russian market, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Last month's prices of material were at Rb106,500-111,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

Some major market participants said demand for EPS is currently moderate in the Russian market.

SIBUR-Khimprom (part of SIBUR Holding) specializes in the processing of liquid hydrocarbons and is one of the leading Russian producers of a number of the most important petrochemical products. The company has three main production capacities: production of butyl alcohols and 2-ethylhexanol with a capacity of 160,000 tonnes per year, production of ethylbenzene (220,000 tonnes per year), styrene monomer (SM) production (135,000 tonnes per year) and polystyrene (PS) production (100,000 tonnes per year), ethylene and propylene unit, production of eco-friendly plasticizer DOTF (100,000 tonnes per year).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The production of linear polyethylene on a metallocene catalyst at Kazanorgsintez facilities amounted to 1,500 tonnes in the first half of this year, the manufacturer said in the press-release.

The producer said that the product was sold both in the domestic market of the Russian Federation and in foreign ones. In general, it is planned to produce 5,000 -7,000 tonnes of metallocene linear polyethylene by the end of the year, which will replace about 30-35% of the monthly consumption of imported products in the domestic market of the Russian Federation.

Kazanorgsintez began production of metallocene polyethylene in April of this year and is the only manufacturer of these products in Russia.

Linear low-density metallocene polyethylene (LDL) of grades F2010M and F2030M manufactured by Kazanorgsintez PJSC is used for the production of films of various thicknesses for packaging, storage, transportation of goods (products), manufacturing of bags operating in difficult conditions. Such films are characterized by high tensile strength and high puncture resistance.

According to MRC ScanPlast, Kazanorgsintez suspended the production of LLDPE in July. Production of linear polyethylene in July in Russia decreased to 18,900 tonnes against 31,900 tonnes in June. Russia's LLDPE production in January - July totalled 140,300 tonnes, up 23% year on year.

PJSC "Kazanorgsintez" (part of TAIF Group) is one of Russia's largest plants. Kazanorgsintez produces 40% of overall Russian polyethylene (PE) and is the country's largest exporter. To date, the plant produces PE, polycarbonate (PC), PE pipes, phenol, acetone, bisphenol A. Kazanorgsintez is Russia's only PC producer. It manufactures a total of 170 items of products. Kazanorgsintez's annual output is 1.6 million tonnes. The plant is Russia's largest producer of high density polyethylene (HDPE). The plant's annual HDPE production capacity is 540,000 tonnes and its annual LDPE capacity is 225,000 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total production of caustic soda in Russia reached 743,200 tonnes in the first seven months of the year, down 1% from January-July 2019 (734,500 tonnes), according to MRC ScanPlast.

RusVinyl, a joint venture of SIBUR and Solvay, ranked first in terms of caustic soda production since the beginning of the year, 135,300 tonnes were produced, up 14% more than in 2018 (118,800 tonnes).
Production at the largest caustic soda producer in the Russian Federation, the Kaustik Volgograd, exceeded last year's figure by 3% and amounted to 134,500 tonnes compared to the previous year (130,900 tonnes).

The third place took Bashkir Soda Company, with 118,600 tonnes of caustic soda produced over the period under review, down 8% year on year.

SayanskKhimPlast produced 120,800 tonnes in the first 7 months of this year, which was slightly more than the volumes last year (119,400 tonnes).

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Spot prices of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from Russian producers remained last week at the level of the previous week's offers, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

So, the producer SIBUR offered material in the spot market at the level of Rb86,500-88,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. One mid-size buyer reported a price of Rb87,000/tonne FCA Tver, including VAT.

At the same time, Russian producers of PET Senege and Ecopet kept spot prices higher.

Because of a long-term downtrend, some converters took a wait-and-see position, reduced orders for the purchase of PET-chips and reduced stocks of raw materials.
MRC

MOSOCW (MRC) - Negotiations on European polyvinyl chloride (PVC) prices for September delivery to the CIS markets have begun this week. Raw materials in Europe fell in price, and many local producers reduced PVC export prices proportionally, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

The September contract price of ethylene was agreed down by EUR40/tonne from August, which theoretically should lead to a decrease of EUR20/tonne in PVC production costs. Because of a significant reduction in the cost of the main raw material - ethylene, many European producers intend to cut their export prices for PVC for supplies to the markets of the CIS countries in September, but there are producers who do not plan to adjust their export prices.

The demand for PVC from a number of consumers in the CIS countries is not high in September, many consumers reduce their purchases because they expect further price drop in the coming months. But due to technical problems, some plants have temporary restrictions in export supplies.

Several producers were considering reducing export prices by EUR20-30/tonne compared to August. One of the producers does not plan any price cuts this year.

But in general, deals for September shipments of suspension PVC (SPVC) to the CIS markets were held in the range of EUR710-765/tonne FCA.
MRC