Borealis holds groundbreaking ceremony for its new world-scale plant in Kallo, Belgium

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis held the groundbreaking ceremony on 9 September for its new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant, said the company.

Located at the existing Borealis production site in Kallo, Belgium, the new facility will have a targeted production capacity of 750,000 metric tonnes per year of propylene, making it one of the largest and most efficient plants of its kind in the world. With a total of around EUR 1 billion invested in the course of the project, the investment is the largest ever made by Borealis in Europe. It underscores the company’s commitment to its operations on the Continent, and to being the supplier of choice to its European customers.

PDH is a vital process step in the production of propylene from propane. As one of the most important building blocks for the entire chemical industry, propylene is the raw material used to produce polypropylene (PP), which in turn is one of the most widely used plastics. PP forms the base of countless industrial applications used in any number of sectors, including automotive, consumer goods, energy, food packaging, healthcare, and many others.

European demand for propylene is growing, yet presently, supply is decreasing due to a confluence of global market developments. The start-up of the new Kallo plant, scheduled for the middle of 2022, means that European customers will soon be able to rely on the secure supply of competitively priced propylene and its derivatives.

Several factors influenced the Borealis decision to invest in the Kallo location. First, the economies of scale offered by the Port of Antwerp in Flanders are significant due to its well-established transportation and logistics infrastructure. Thanks to the adjacency to an existing Borealis production unit on site, Borealis will be able to exploit additional synergistic effects. Crucially, the new PDH plant will employ Honeywell UOP’s Oleflex™ technology, a widely used, reliable and sustainable choice for on-purpose propylene production.

Above and beyond the increase in production capacity, the new plant is helping make Borealis operations become more efficient and sustainable. Using the Oleflex technology makes it possible to consume less energy in production, yet produce higher volumes of the same quality. Less propane will be required, but more own hydrogen will be produced, enabling Borealis to supply not only its own internal needs, but those of third parties as well. Finally, the embedded, multi-fuel cogeneration unit in the new PDH plant will generate a significant part of the steam and electricity required for operations.

Propylene is a feedstock for producing polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's 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.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With its head office in Vienna, Austria, the company currently has more than 6,800 employees and operates in over 120 countries. Borealis generated EUR 8.3 billion in sales revenue and a net profit of EUR 906 million in 2018. Mubadala, through its holding company, owns 64% of the company, with the remaining 36% belonging to Austria-based OMV, an integrated, international oil and gas company. Borealis provides services and products to customers globally, in collaboration with Borouge, a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and with Baystar™, a joint venture with Total and NOVA Chemicals in Texas, USA.
MRC

Lotte Chemical USA starts commercial operations at new ethane cracker and MEG plant in USA

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lotte Chemical Titan Holding (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), an affiliate of Lotte Chemical (Seoul, South Korea), has announced that the group's ethane cracker and ethylene glycol (EG) plant at Lake Charles, Louisiana, commenced commercial operations in August, reported Chemweek.

Lotte Chemical USA, a 40/60 joint venture (JV) between Lotte Chemical Titan and Lotte Chemical, holds the Lotte group's stakes in the plants.

The USD3.1-billion ethane cracker is an 88/12 JV between Lotte Chemical USA and Axiall, a subsidiary of Westlake Chemical. Lotte has invested about USD1.9 billion in the JV. Lotte Chemical USA owns 100% of the EG plant.

The USD1.1-billion EG plant has a production capacity of 700,000 metric tons/year. According to data from IHS Markit, Lotte will also produce diethylene glycol, with a capacity of 65,000 metric tons/year; triethylene glycol, 7,000 metric tons/year; and ethylene oxide (EO), 500,000 metric tons/year, at the 250-acre Lake Charles site. The cracker has capacity for 1 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) of ethylene.

Lotte will offtake approximately 50% of the ethylene for the EG plant and Axiall will take roughly 10%, in line with their shareholdings. Lotte will sell the remaining 40% of the ethylene output to Axiall for that company's use. The Lake Charles EG unit is thought to be the largest in the US.

Lotte says that ethane derived from locally produced shale gas is used as feedstock at the cracker. The company says it intends to reduce its overall dependence on naphtha and increase the use of shale gas through full operation of the Lake Charles plant. This would mitigate the risk from oil-price fluctuations and stabilize cost competitiveness, Lotte says.

Industry analysts say that the US project will likely lift Lotte Chemical's annual sales and operating profit by 1 trillion South Korean won and W200 billion, respectively. The company reported second-quarter net profit down 53.2% year on year (YOY) to W271 billion (USD224.8 million), on sales of W4 trillion, down 6.8% YOY.

Lotte is the first South Korean petrochemical company to enter the ethane-cracking business in North America using shale gas. Lotte Chemical operates naphtha crackers at Yeosu and Daesan, South Korea, and Lotte Chemical Titan operates a cracker at Pasir Gudang, Malaysia. Lotte says that the US cracker increases the group's overall ethylene capacity to 4.5 MMt/y, making it the seventh-biggest producer of ethylene worldwide.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (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.
MRC

Repsol declares FM for products shipped from its cracker in Portugal

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spanish energy group Repsol has issued a force majeure on petrochemicals supplies out of its steam cracker unit in Sines, Portugal, according to S&P Global with reference to a company spokesperson.

"A technical problem has forced us to declare force majeure in all our base petrochemicals. We are currently carrying out all actions to minimize the impact of this situation, hoping to restore production as soon as possible," the spokesperson said.

It was unclear when the force majeure was declared and how long it would remain in place.

The steam cracker produces 410,000 mt/year of ethylene and 215,000 mt/year of propylene. At the site, the company also has a butadiene unit, with total capacity of 45,000 mt/year.

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

Repsol S.A. is an energy company based in Madrid, Spain. It carries out upstream and downstream activities throughout the entire world. It has more than 24,000 employees worldwide. It is vertically integrated and operates in all areas of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

LDPE imports to Ukraine down by 1.5% in Jan-Jul 2019

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of low density polyethylene (LDPE) into the Ukrainian market decreased in the first seven months of 2019 by 1.5% year on year to 45,400 tonne, as per MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was at 46,100 tonnes in January-July 2019.

At the same time, in July 2019, LDPE imports grew by 40.3%, exceeding 8,000 tonnes, compared to 5,700 tonnes a month earlier. Imports jumped during the stated month because of the concerns about the introduction of special duties from 1 August. Thus, some companies significantly increased their shipments from Russia.
MRC

Nizhnekamskneftekhim raises September PS prices by Rb2,000/tonne for Russian market

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nizhnekamskneftekhim (part of the TAIF group) has increased its September selling prices of high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) by Rb2,000/tonne for most Russian buyers, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

However, some market participants reported a roll-over of prices. But all the interviewed largest buyers reported this month's price increase.

Amid the deficit of polystyrene (PS), selling prices of a number of sellers rose by more than Rb2,000/tonne.

Thus, September prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's GPPS for injection moulding and extrusion were in the range of Rb90,500-95,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, and for foaming - at Rb88,500-93,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, whereas HIPS prices were at Rb95,500-100,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

PJSC "Nizhnekamskneftekhim" (NKNK) - one of the largest Russian manufacturers of petrochemical products. The industrial complex of the company includes ten major production plants and ten departments (Railway Transport, Ethylene trunk, etc..). NKNKh produces more than 120 types of chemical products, including synthetic rubber, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, surfactants. Nizhnekamskneftekhim is a member of TAIF Group of Companies.
MRC