MOSCOW (MRC) -- Major producers of petrochemicals in Saudi Arabia, which faced cuts in feedstock supplies following the recent attacks on Saudi Aramco production facilities, are reporting improvements in supplies, reported Chemweek.
Sabic said today that cuts to its supplies of feedstock had improved from 49% to 30% and that the company, together with other producers, expects supplies to reach normal levels by the end of September, as announced by the Ministry of Energy yesterday. Sabic and other producers are continuing to evaluate the final effects, to determine the financial impact.
Saudi Kayan, a Sabic affiliate, says its feedstock supplies have improved and are currently 37% short, up from an original 50% shortfall. Yanbu National Petrochemical Co. (Yansab), a subsidiary of Sabic, says it is now short by 17% on supplies, an improvement from the 30% shortfall the company faced originally. Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co. (Safco), another Sabic subsidiary, says all its factories are already back operating at normal levels, following recent cuts to feedstock supplies.
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. (Petro Rabigh), a joint venture between Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical, said today its supplies of ethane are down 20%. Advanced Petrochemical Co.'s feedstock supplies have improved with cuts currently at the 20% level, up from an original 40% shortfall. Tasnee has also seen an improvement in supplies and is currently 25% down compared with 41% immediately following the attacks.
As MRC reported before, a number of Saudi Arabia's companies, such as Tasnee, Sadara, Advanced Petrochemical and Saudi Kayan, announced a curtailment of feedstock to their petrochemical plants, including polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) facilities, by an average of 30-50% due to the attacks on key Saudi Aramco facilities on Saturday.
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.
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