Shaoxing Reignwood shut PTA plant in China for maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shaoxing Reignwood Petrochemical has taken off-stream a purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant for maintenance, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has halted production at the plant on September 20, 2019. The plant is slated to remain under maintenance for about a week.

Located at Shaoxing in China, the PTA plant has a production capacity of 1.4 mmt/year.

PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.

According to MRC's DataScope report, Chinese bottle grade PET deliveries to Russia increased 34% in the first eight months of 2019 to 95,600 tonnes. China accounted for 90% of the total imports, compared to 85% a year earlier.
August imports of material from China decreased by 41% to 7,600 tonnes from 12,800 tonnes in July. Jiangsu Sanfangxiang, Yisheng, Wankai and Sinopec were the leading Chinese suppliersof material to the Russian market.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- More than 100 public and private partners covering the whole plastics value chain will sign the declaration of the Circular Plastics Alliance, which promotes voluntary actions for a well-functioning EU market in recycled plastics, said Refiningandpetrochemicalsme.

The declaration lays out how the alliance will reach the target of 10 million tonnes of recycled plastic used to make new products every year in Europe, by 2025. This target was set by the European Commission in its 2018 Plastics Strategy, as part of its efforts to boost plastics recycling in Europe.

By efficiently recycling plastics, we will clean up the planet and fight climate change, by substituting fossil fuels with plastic waste in the production cycle.First vice president Frans Timmermans, responsible for sustainable development, said: “I welcome the industry's commitments to rethink the way we produce and use plastics. By efficiently recycling plastics, we will clean up the planet and fight climate change, by substituting fossil fuels with plastic waste in the production cycle."

We have the opportunity to make our industry a world leader in recycled plastics. We should fully seize it to protect the environment, to create new jobs in this sector and remain competitive.Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska, responsible for internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: “We have the opportunity to make our industry a world leader in recycled plastics. We should fully seize it to protect the environment, to create new jobs in this sector and remain competitive."

The declaration, signed by small and medium businesses, large corporations, business associations, standardisers, research organisations, and local and national authorities endorses the 10 million tonnes target and calls for a shift to zero plastic waste in nature and zero landfilling. It lays out concrete actions to reach the target, including: (i) improving the design of plastic products to make them more recyclable and integrate more recycled plastics; (i) identifying untapped potential for more plastic waste collection, sorting and recycling across the EU, as well as the investment gaps; (iii) building a research and development agenda for circular plastics; and (iv) establishing a transparent and reliable monitoring system to track all flows of plastic waste in the EU.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spain’s Repsol has resumed operations at its cracker in Sines, Portugal, according to NCT with reference to market sources.

The news was not directly confirmed by the company while it was not clear as of the time of press whether or not Repsol lifted a force majeure at the site.

The company had declared the force majeure on the output from its cracker due to a technical glitch in early September.

The cracker has a production capacity of 410,000 tons/year of ethylene and 215,000 tons/year of propylene. The company also owns a butadiene unit with a production capacity of 45,000 tons/year at the same site.

As MRC informed previously, in Q1 2016, Repsol completed the construction work of its new metallocene polyethelene plant at its Tarragona site. Repsol started up the plant and began production and marketing of this new product during Q2 2016.

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 integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The state-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) is readying to conduct a planned maintenance at its PP unit in Sohar, Oman during October, reported NCT with reference to sources close to the company.

Maintenance work at 340,000 tons/year PP unit is scheduled to start on 6 October and it will last until the end of November.

The source noted that the producer have already built some stocks to cover their customers’ needs during the turnaround period. The company will divert their cargoes to certain markets as they are not holding large quantities of stock, however.

As MRC informed before, in July 2017, Orpic, the Sultanate’s refining and petrochemicals flagship, announced plans to establish a worldwide network of offices to support the marketing of the huge quantities of polymers that will be produced when its Liwa Plastics mega venture comes on stream in 2020.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

ORPIC (Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company) is one of the leading companies in Oman and has two refineries in that country, in Sohar and Muscat. ORPIC is owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and Oman Oil Company SAOC, the trading company created by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman for managing investments in the energy sector.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Court of the Queen’s Bench in Alberta, Canada, has signed a judgment ordering Nova Chemicals to pay Dow USD1.08bn on 11 October 2019 for damages Dow incurred through 2012 related to the companies’ jointly-owned ethylene asset in Joffre, Alberta, Canada, said Refiningandpetrochemicalsme.

The court, which initially ruled in June 2018, found that Nova Chemicals failed to operate the ethylene asset at full capacity for more than 10 years, and furthermore, that Nova violated several contractual agreements related to Dow receiving its share of the asset’s ethylene production. These actions resulted in reduced productivity and sales for Dow.

The signed judgment relates to damages Dow incurred through 2012. Dow anticipates receiving an additional judgment for damages owed by Nova for the post-2012 period.

Additionally, the ethylene asset is now running at a higher utilisation rate and giving Dow more ethylene from an advantaged feedstock position.

The judgment is subject to appeal. Dow expects to record an accounting gain related to a portion of this judgment in the third quarter of 2019, which the company expects to treat as a significant non-recurring item when calculating non-GAAP financial measures, including operating earnings per share.

Nova Chemical is one of the largest world's petrochemical companies, a manufacturer of polyethylene, styrene polymers, monomers, and many other related products.
MRC