Global PP demand to reach USD115 bln by 2022

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The global market for polypropylene (PP) is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5% to reach USD115 bln until 2022, according to Plastemart with reference to Beroe Inc.

The key-driving end-use applications of the PP market are the CPG segment (food/non-food containers, caps-closures, films) and auto components (internal structures, bumpers, dashboard carriers, door panels).

Matured markets such as the U.S. and few European countries have a dominant automotive segment and possess a greater demand for the molding grade of PP. Rise in disposable income, increasing demand from CPG, and the medical industry is likely to drive the growth in emerging markets such as Brazil and Asia.

One of the principal industry drivers for PP is the automobile industry, which has been a major consumer of PP due to its weight properties. Over a third of the plastics utilized in the automotive industry are PP and its alloys. Thus, the demand from the automotive industry is expected to rise globally. However, a major constraint for the PP market is the threat of substitutes. With certain regions concentrating on promoting environment-friendly products in the packaging sector, rPET and PET are attractive options as compared to PP due to their recyclable properties. The market trends in MEA infer that the demand for PP is expected to increase at a steady rate of 4.1 percent until 2022 from the CPG industry. Additionally, the food and beverage industry, followed by the health and hygiene industry, will drive the demand for PP across the African region. Key Findings include:

- Demand from the film and packaging industry is a growth driver for the PP market as almost 50% of PP is used in the packaging segment.
- In the long run, PP supplies are likely to strengthen in the European market after the arrival of new plants by existing manufacturers.
- The raw material is the major cost driver of PP; hence North America and the Middle East have greater control over its pricing due to their self-sufficiency.
- The top 10 suppliers contribute to nearly 50% of the overall PP production in the world. TOTAL Petrochemicals has the largest polypropylene plant across the globe with a capacity of 1.224 mln mtpa.
- Capacity additions of almost 18 mln mtpa in the PP market are expected to be supplemented by 2022, primarily from Asia, the Middle East, and Russia.
- A hybrid sourcing strategy is being adopted by companies to capitalize on the advantages of both regional and global sourcing strategies, which is ideal for the procurement of PP resins.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Export deliveries of injection moulded PET chips from Belarus in January-July increased by 28% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 9,940 tonnes against 7,760 tonnes year on year, according to MRC DataScope.
At the same time, export of injection moulded PET from the country in in July almost doubled - from 1,010 tonnes to 1,840 tonnes. In July of the previous year, exports shipments of PET chips were 710 tonnes.

Deliveries to Russia in January-July amounted to 41% (4,010 tonnes) of total exports against a share of 67% (5,170 tonnes) in the same period last year.

The share of exports to Russia from Belarus in July significantly decreased and amounted to 28% against 94% in July last year and 50% in June 2019.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Energy companies Total of France and Italy's Eni have teamed up to expand their search for natural gas off southern coast, signing a licensing agreement Wednesday, reported EconomicTimes.

Cypriot Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis said the companies will have an equal share in a new block into which a gas deposit that Eni discovered in an adjacent block last year is believed to extend.

Lakkotrypis said Total also gains a 20-40% share in four of Eni's concessions inside Cyprus' exclusive economic zone. Korea's Kogas is also a partner with a 20% share in three of the four concessions.

With Wednesday's signing, Eni and Total now hold exploration licenses for seven of Cyprus' 13 blocks. ExxonMobil and a partnership between Texas-based Noble Energy, Dutch Shell and Israeli Delek hold licenses for one block each.

The two companies are expected to drill six wells in their blocks over the next two years.

Earlier this year, ExxonMobil and partners Qatar Petroleum announced the discovery of a gas field in their concession estimated to contain 5-8 trillion square feet of gas.

Noble Energy discovered a field of its own estimated to hold 4.1 trillion cubic feet of gas back in 2011.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades told The Associated Press on Tuesday that there are "sufficient quantities" of gas in Cypriot waters for exploitation.

As MRC reported earlier, in February 2018, Eni and Total discovered a promising natural gas field off Cyprus.

ENI is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. It has operations in in 79 countries, and is currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of EUR68 billion (USD 90 billion), as of August 14, 2013. The Italian government owns a 30.3% golden share in the company, 3.93% held through the state Treasury and 26.37% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Another 39.40% of the shares are held by BNP Paribas.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A natural gas project jointly developed by China and Uzbekistan in the southern part of the central Asian nation is ready to start producing, China National Petroleum Corp said Scmp.

Phase one of the Karakul block in southern Bukhara province would be able to pump 1 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year to China though the Central-Asian pipeline grid, the company said, though it did not say when the supply would start.
Natural gas crunch in northern China leaves hospitals, schools out in the cold
The block, which comprises three fields, is being developed by New Silk Road Oil & Gas, a joint venture between CNPC and Uzbek state-run oil and gas firm Uzbekneftegaz.

The Central Asian pipeline network, launched in 2009, runs nearly 2,000km from Turkmenistan through the former Soviet neighbours of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before reaching China’s northwestern Xinjiang region.

Chinese customs data showed China imported 1.84 million tonnes of gas from Uzbekistan in the first 10 months of this year, or about 2.54 bcm.

Turkmenistan remains China’s single largest pipeline gas supplier, with supplies during the same period reaching nearly 29 bcm.

As MRC informed earlier, Uzbekneftegaz and Singapore's Indorama Group have established the UzIndoramaGazChemical joint venture (JV) to build a gas chemical complex (GCC) on a parity basis. Uzbekneftegaz and Indorama signed a memorandum of cooperation, providing for technological and financial participation of Singapore company to establish production of diversified products (polymers and polyethylene) on the basis of the Mubarek Gas Processing Plant. As reported earlier, the project worth USD2.5 bln envisages building the GCC with a capacity of 400,000 tpa of polyethylene.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Corp (XOM.N) began shutting its 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) crude oil refinery in Beaumont, Texas, on Thursday morning because of flooding from Tropical Storm Imelda, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

Exxon earlier on Thursday shut the Beaumont chemical plant, which adjoins the refinery, company spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry said.

The company operates a cracker with a capacity of 830,000 mt of ethylene and 195,000 mt of proplyelen per year, low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant with a capacity of 236,000 mt per year and linear low density polyethylene plant with a capacity of 727,000 tonnes per year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption was 1,081,100 tonnes in the first half of 2019, up by 8% year on year. Deliveries of all PE grades increased. Meanwhile, the estimated consumption of PP in the Russian market totalled 694,210 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 14% year on year. The supply of propylene block copolymers (PP-block) and propylene homopolymers (PP-homo) increased.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC