Tomskneftekhim shut PE and PP production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tomskneftekhim (TNKhK), a subsidiary of SIBUR and one of the largest Russian producers of polymers - polypropylene (PP) and low density polyethylene (LDPE), shut down its production capacities for a scheduled maintenance, according to ICS-MRC Price report.

The plant's customers said Tomskneftekhim took off-stream its LDPE and PP production capacities for the scheduled turnarounds on 5 September. The outage will last for two weeks.

It is also worth noting that this is the first shutdown from a series of outages for maintenance at Russian plants in September. Stavrolen shut its PP production on 6 September, and Ufaorgsintez will take off-stream some of its LDPE production capacities on 17 September.

Tomskneftekhim, LLC, was established in July 2003 on the basis of Tomsk enterprises - CJSC "Metanol", OJSC "Plant Benzol", OJSC "Tomsk Petrochemical Plant", OJSC "Tomsk Petrochemical Enterprise". Tomskneftekhim is a subsidiary of SIBUR and one of the largest Russian producers of polymers - PP and LDPE. The capacity for Tomskneftekhim's production of LDPE is 240,000 tonnes/year and production of PP - 140,000 tonnes/year.
MRC

US oil inventories fall across the board, crude for a third week

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US oil inventories fell across the board last week, with crude drawing down for a third consecutive week despite a jump in imports, reported Reuters with reference to the Energy Information Administration's statement.

Crude inventories dropped by 4.8 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 30, nearly double analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 2.5 million barrels.

At 423.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories were at their lowest since October 2018, and at the five-year average for this time of year.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for US futures fell by 230,000 barrels, to their lowest since December, the EIA said.

Crude futures extended gains after the report. US crude was up USD1.25 a barrel at USD57.51 by 11:31 a.m. EDT (1531 GMT). Global benchmark Brent crude was up USD1.43 at USD62.13 a barrel.

"We ripped higher - it’s definitely a bullish report all around," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York. "A big import number would usually be bearish, but it didn’t seem to dent the bullish end to the equation."

Net US crude imports rose last week by 934,000 barrels per day. Imports were at 6.9 million bpd, up from 5.9 million bpd a week earlier. Exports rose 42,000 bpd to 3.1 million bpd, the data showed.

US crude production dropped to 12.4 million bpd from its record at 12.5 million bpd hit the previous week, which contributed to the lower oil stockpiles.

Refining activity also remained high with crude runs edging down by 27,000 bpd to 17.38 million bpd and utilization rates down just 0.4 percentage point to 94.8% of total capacity, EIA data showed.

Gasoline stocks fell by 2.4 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.5 million-barrel drop.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.5 million barrels, versus expectations for a 484,000-barrel increase, the EIA data showed.
MRC

A new PP plant in Atyrau will be launched in mid-2021

MOSCOW (MRC) - A polypropylene (PP) plant within the framework of the integrated gas-chemical complex of Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries (KPI) in Atyrau will be ready by mid-2021, the press service of the Samruk-Kazyna Foundation reports.

The project will allow producing up to 500,000 tonnes/year. The gas-chemical complex is being built in the territory of the special economic zone (SEZ) "National Industrial Petrochemical Technopark".

At the moment, the plant is completing the production of a distillation column for propane / propylene separation.
It is emphasized that to the present it is the only equipment in its volume, which is manufactured in Kazakhstan.
The deadline for the manufacture of the column under the contract is 13 October, 2019.

It was noted earlier that the first integrated gas-chemical complex in Atyrau within the framework of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) "National Industrial Petrochemical Technopark" should consist of a number of enterprises.
This is a plant for the production of PP with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes/year, polyethylene (PE) with a capacity of up to 800,000 tonnes/year, for the production of butadiene and synthetic rubber, as well as a factory for the production of PE film.

The first major petrochemical project on the territory of the SEZ is the production of PP. The project cost is about USD2.6 billion. As part of the second phase of the construction of a gas chemical complex in Atyrau, the construction of a PE plant is planned.

AtyrauNefteMash (former Atyrau Engineering Plant named after G.I. Petrovsky - an enterprise for the production of oilfield and exploration equipment. The factory was founded in 1921 on the basis of the mechanical workshops of the Embaneft trust. Since 1995, the plant has been producing equipment for the oil industry. At present, Atyrau, Pavlodar and Shymkent plants are operating in Kazakhstan. Upon completion of modernization, the oil refining capacity at three plants increased from 13.8 to 16.5 mln tonnes, and the output of all types of light oil products increased. The volume of production of motor gasoline increased by 2.35 mln tonnes, diesel fuel - by 0.9 mln tonnes, jet fuel - by 0.54 mln tonnes.
MRC

PVC production in Russia up by 1% in January-August 2019

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) exceeded 631,100 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 1% year on year. At the same time, not all Russian producers raised their output of PVC, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

August production of unmixed PVC was 77,400 tonnes against 51,200 tonnes a month earlier, last month, Russian producers increased capacity utilisation after July shutdown for the shutdowns of SayanskKhimPlast and the Bashkir Soda Company. Overall PVC production exceeded 631,100 tonnes in January-August 2019, compared to 622,500 tonnes a year earlier. The increase in output from RusVinyl and SayanskKhimPlast did not allow to compensate for the decrease in output from the other two producers.

The structure of PVC production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

RusVinyl (JV of SIBUR and SolVin) produced about 30,100 tonnes of PVC in August, with emulsion polyvinyl chloride (EPVC) accounting for 2,300 tonnes, compared to 29,500 tonnes a month earlier. Overall PVC production at RusVinyl was 226,400 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 6% year on year.

Such a significant increase in production was a result of the absence of long maintenance works.

Last month, SayanskKhimPlast produced 18,700 tonnes of suspension PVC (SPVC), while in July this figure amounted to 3,900 tonnes; the company stopped its facilities for monthly scheduled maintenances from 5 July. The Sayansk plant managed to produce about 184,900 tonnes of resin in January-August, compared to 173,100 tonnes a year earlier.

Bashkir Soda Company in August produced about 21,100 tonnes compared to 10,700 tonnes a month earlier; the plant shut PVC production capacities two-week turnaround from 14 July. Total SPVC production at Baskhir Soda Company increased to 169,100 tonnes in the first eight months of this year, compared to 173,500 tonnes in the same period in 2018.

Kaustik (Volgograd) produced about 7,500 tonnes of SPVC in August, compared with 7,200 tonnes in July. Kaustik's overall production of PVC reached 50,700 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019 versus 62,300 tonnes a year earlier.


MRC

Sasol further delays unveiling final results because of additional works at its US ethane cracker project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South African petrochemicals company Sasol's 2019 finical results will be delayed further after additional work was commissioned under a review at its US ethane cracker project, it said, sending its share price lower, reported Reuters.

Sasol has delayed release of its 2019 financial results to a date some time before the end of next month, spokesman Alex Anderson said.

The world's biggest maker of coal-derived motor fuel had previously postponed release of its results to Sept. 19 from Aug. 19, citing possible "control weaknesses" at its Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP).

"The board has resolved to commission additional work under the independent review and to stipulate for in-depth investigation into certain aspects contemplated under the original scope," Sasol said in a statement on Friday.

Shares in Sasol were down 3.6% at 261.60 rand by 0841 GMT.

The project in Louisiana, which will convert natural gas into plastics ingredient ethylene, was initially expected to cost USD8.9 billion but that 2014 forecast has since been revised to as much as USD12.9 billion.

Sasol said it would make a further announcement on its results as soon as a date has been determined.

As MRC wrote previously, Sasol's world-scale US ethane cracker reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol’s new cracker, the heart of our Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP), is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities to come online and will provide feedstock to our six new derivative units at our Lake Charles multi-asset site.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Sasol is an international integrated chemicals and energy company that leverages technologies and the expertise of our 31 270 people working in 32 countries. The company develops and commercialises technologies, and builds and operates world-scale facilities to produce a range of high-value product stream, including liquid fuels, petrochemicals and low-carbon electricity.
MRC