Poland expects to remove tainted Russian oil by July 2020

MOSOCW (MRC) -- Poland’s pipeline operator PERN expects that its system will be completely cleared of contaminated Russian oil by July 2020, reported Reuters with reference to its Chief Executive Igor Wasilewski's statement.

Buyers including Polish state-run refiners PKN Orlen and Lotos discovered in April that supplies of Russian crude had been contaminated with organic chloride, a chemical used in oil recovery that can damage refining equipment.

PERN halted Russian oil imports via the Druzhba pipeline after the contamination was detected. Flows were partially restarted in June.

"A few weeks ago I was an optimist and I thought that removing the chlorided oil from the system would take half a year," Wasilewski told reporters.

"Now I know that PKN Orlen and Lotos are checking how their refineries behave and carefully blending the Russian oil. I think that we will finally get rid of this oil from PERN’s stores in July 2020 at the earliest."

As MRC wrote previously, in September 2019, Honeywell announced that PKN ORLEN licensed the UOP MaxEne™ process, which can increase production of ethylene and aromatics and improve the flexibility of gasoline production. The project, for the PKN ORLEN facility in Plock, Poland, currently is in the basic engineering stage. Honeywell UOP, a leading provider of technologies for the oil and gas industry, first commercialized the UOP MaxEne process in 2013. The process enables refiners and petrochemical producers to direct molecules within the naphtha feed to the processes that deliver the greatest value and improve yields of fuels and petrochemicals.

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.

PKN Orlen is a major Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer. The company is a significant European publicly traded firm with major operations in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, and the Baltic States. It currently (2015) ranks 353, with a revenue of over USD33.8 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema has successfully brought on stream a new production line for ultra-high performance polyamide 12 powders at the Mont plant in France, according to the company's press release.

The Group thus increases its global capacity by over 50% to support the increase in demand for fast-growing niche industrial applications, in particular in the coatings, personal care, composites and 3D printing markets.

This investment of some EUR20 million in specialty polyamide powders at Mont in France will contribute to the Group’s strategy to accelerate its development in advanced materials.

Arkema’s specialty polyamide 12 powders are marketed under the brand name Orgasol.

They are known for their exceptionally narrow particle size distribution and their outstanding toughness.
They are often used in high performance formulations for the coatings and personal care markets, as well as in advanced composite materials for the aerospace market.

Thanks to their stability and recyclability, they are also extensively used in the fast-growing 3D printing market.

"The Mont site has a long, proven legacy in the production of specialty powders. With this new production capacity, we continue to actively support our customers’ continued growth in cutting edge applications, notably in high performance coatings, composites and 3D printing," - said Erwoan Pezron, Global President, Technical Polymers Business Line.

As MRC reported before, in late January 2017, Arkema announced a project for the sale to INEOS of its 50% stake in Oxochimie. Arkema produced oxo alcohols on the Lavera site (France) in a 50/50 manufacturing joint venture with INEOS. These products were used in part for the production of the group’s acrylic esters in Europe. And in early March 2017, Arkema completed the sale to INEOS of its 50% stake in Oxochimie, their oxo alcohols manufacturing joint venture, and of the associated business.

Arkema is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Plant of New Polymers Senege, one of the Russian producers of PET chips, shut production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for scheduled repairs on 1 October, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

According to a source in the company, the shutdown will take about a month. The exact date of the completion of the turnaround was not reported.

Senege cut the spot prices to the level of Rb87,000-89,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT this week. Spot prices of PET from the producer in September were at the level of Rb87,000-89,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

Senege (part of the Europlast group) is one of four Russian food PET plants. The total capacity of the plant is 100,000 tonnes/year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Russia totalled about 142,100 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 48% year on year. Imports increased by 211% year on year to 43,100 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

Last month's exports of Russian suspension (excluding shipments to the countries of the Customs Union ) were 9,000 tonnes, compared to 5,100 tonnes in August. Some producers increased their exports after planned maintenance works. Thus, overall exports of PVC to Russia totalled about 142,100 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, compared to 96,200 tonnes a year earlier. Indian buyers were the main foreign importers of Russian resin this year.

Overall sales of PVC were about 81,300 tonnes over the stated period. Belarusian and Polish producers with shipments of 19,600 tonnes and 11,700 tonnes, respectively, occupied the second and third positions. The increase in capacity utilisation by two Russian producers in September was the main reason for the decline in imports.

September SPVC imports were about 6,100 tonnes versus 10,100 tonnes a month earlier, with Chinese producers accounting for the main decreased in shipments (648 tonnes versus 6,600 tonnes in August). Overall imports totalled about 43,100 tonnes over the stated period versus 13,800 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Data collected and tabulated by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) show that global chemicals production fell by 0.4 percent in August, more than offsetting the 0.1 percent gain in July, said Americanchemistry.

During August, chemical production increased in Latin America and Africa and the Middle East. Production fell in other regions. Headline global production was up only 1.6 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis and stood at 118.0 percent of its average 2012 levels.

During August, global capacity rose by 0.2 percent and was up 3.6 percent Y/Y. As a result, capacity utilization in the global chemical industry fell 0.5 points to 82.5 percent. This is down from 84.1 percent last August and below the long-term (1987-2017) average of 86.4 percent.

Among chemical industry segments, August results were mixed, with consumer products, synthetic rubber, manufactured fibers and coatings showing gains. Considering year-earlier comparisons, growth was strongest in manufactured fibers, followed by synthetic rubber, other specialties, coatings and inorganic chemicals.

ACC’s Global CPRI measures the production volume of the chemical industry for 33 key nations, sub-regions, and regions, all aggregated to the world total. The index is comparable to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) production indices and features a similar base year where 2012=100. This index is developed from government industrial production indices for chemicals from over 65 nations accounting for about 98 percent of the total global chemical industry. This data are the only timely source of market trends for the global chemical industry and are comparable to the US CPRI data, a timely source of U.S. regional chemical production.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia"s output of products from polymers rose in August by only 0.5% year on year. And this figure increased by 1.2% year on year in the first eight months of 2019. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, August production of unreinforced and non-combined films was slightly over 110,000 tonnes, compared to 112,000 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in January-August 2019 by 8.5% year on year to 718,900 tonnes.
MRC