PP imports in Russia decreased by 5% in January-September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polypropylene (PP) imports into Russia slumped by 5% year on year to 137,200 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019.
The greatest decrease in imports accounted for homopolymer PP, according to MRC DataScope.

September PP imports into the Russian market decreased to 17,000 tonnes from 18,100 tonnes a month earlier, supply of homopolymer PP from Turkmenistan grew. In general, total PP imports into the country decreased to about 137,200 tonnes in January - September compared with 144,700 tonnes year on year. The volume of external purchases for all grades of polymers of propylene decreased, with the exception of PP block copolymers, with the most noticeably reduced imports of homopolymer PP.

Overall, the structure of PP imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

September imports of homopolymer PP decreased to 5,000 tonnes against 6,600 tonnes a month earlier, shipments of homopolymer PP raffia from Central Asia decreased several times. Thus, overall imports of homopolymer PP to Russia totalled 43,200 tonnes in the nine months of 2019, compared to 51,800 tonnes a year earlier.

September imports of PP block copolymers in Russia were about 6,000 tonnes against 5,300 tonnes in August on decreased demand for injection moulding PP. Imports of PP block copolymers into Russia reached 43,200 tonnes in January-September 2019, compared to 36,000 tonnes a year earlier.

Imports of stat-propylene copolymers (PP-random) exceeded 3,000 tonnes in September against 2,900 tonnes in August. Total imports of PP random copolymers in Russia were 23,900 tonnes in January - September 2019, compared with 26,900 tonnes year on year.


Russia's imports of other polymers of propylene for the period were about 27,000 tonnes in the first nine months of the year, compared with 30,000 tonnes year on year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhong An United Coal Chemical Co has undertaken an unplanned shutdown at its polypropylene (PP) unit, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company halted operations at the unit owing to technical issues on October 6, 2019. The unit is likely to remain off-line for about one week.

Located at Huainan, Anhui province, China, the PP unit has a production capacity of 145,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, Zhong An United Coal Chemical Co restarted its PP unit on August 24, 2019, following an unplanned outage. The plant was shut owing to technical issues on August 10, 2019.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PP consumption was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Zhongan United Coal Industry Chemical Co. Ltd. mines, processes, manufactures, and distributes coal products. The сompany produces brown coal products, bituminous coal products, hard coal products, coking coal products, and other related products. Zhongan United Coal Industry Chemical markets its products throughout China.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. crude stocks rose last week as refineries cut output to the lowest level in nearly two years and production edged higher to a record of 12.6 million barrels per day (bpd), the Energy Information Administration said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Crude inventories rose by 2.9 million barrels in the last week, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 1.4 million barrels. Production climbed by 200,000 bpd to a record of 12.6 million bpd, the data showed.

Refinery crude runs fell by 361,000 barrels per day (bpd), EIA data showed, while refinery utilization rates fell by 0.7 percentage point to the lowest level since October 2017, the data showed. Oil prices were little changed after briefly extending losses after the release of the data.

"Total crude oil production rose which I think is probably the key point in keeping gains at bay here. Despite rig counts being lower, production is being resilient,” said Tony Headrick, energy market analyst at CHS Hedging.

U.S. energy firms reduced the number of oil rigs for a record 10th month in a row through September as producers follow through on plans to cut spending on new drilling this year.

The drop in refining activity has helped contribute to the build-in oil inventories despite the drop in net imports, said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData.

Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 601,000 bpd while gross exports jumped 534,000 bpd to 3.4 million bpd, the highest since June 21, when exports hit a record 3.8 million bpd. “We are in the depths of fall maintenance but both strong exports and weak imports have helped limit the build,” Smith said.

Gasoline stocks fell by 1.2 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 257,000-barrel drop. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.9 million barrels, versus expectations for a 2.1 million barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 941,000 barrels, EIA said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Datang International Power Generation, the listed subsidiary of the nation's second largest power producer, China Datang Group, said yesterday it expects its profits to be helped by lower coal prices again this year, said Scmp.

However, analysts said its earnings outlook was uncertain, given a lack of output growth and weak profits from its non-power businesses.

Datang's vice-chairman, Cao Jingshan, said the company could see its average coal cost per unit of output drop by 3 to 5 per cent this year compared to last year. Some rivals have projected a 5 per cent fall.

Last year Datang saw its cost of coal per unit of output fall 3.6 per cent. The cost of coal took up 69.4 per cent of total operating costs in 2012. Those lower fuel costs helped the company more than double net profit to 4.06 billion yuan for last year, it revealed on Monday. Excluding non-recurring gains, pre-tax profit grew 72 per cent from 2011.

As MRC informed earlier, in September 2019, Datang International Duolun Coal Chemical, subsidiary of Datang International, restarted one PP unit 230,000 tonnes/year, whixh was shut in April 2018. Its another PP line resumed production on 1 October.

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.

Datang International Power Generation Co., Ltd. is a power generation company. The principal activities of the Company are power generation and power plant development in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is also engaged in activities, including the sale of electricity and thermal power, repair and testing of power equipment, power related technical services, coal trading, chemical products manufacturing and selling, coal chemistry, transportation and recycling.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A rebound in profit this year has allowed Gunvor Group to cancel plans to sell its Ingolstadt refinery in Germany and stall the sale of a stake in a Russian products terminal, Chief Executive Torbjorn Tornqvist told Reuters.

The company has posted gross profit of USD800 million for the first three quarters of 2019 thanks to favorable market conditions and the overhaul of the firm that began last year.

"We actually covered all our losses from last year. We spent a lot of time overhauling the business ... We had a generational shift, lots of changes in corporate governance and risk policy. It’s the most fundamental change in the company since I started it," Tornqvist said.

"So we are seeing the fruits of that. I don’t deny that market conditions are better this year but the consistency in our performance is good. We did well in all our key offices in Geneva, London, the U.S. and Singapore, the best profits in years. The U.S. (office) is really ramping up. This year it’s performing up to our expectations and beyond."

Its liquefied natural gas (LNG) business continues to grow with shipments already surpassing the 2018 level of 176. Gunvor is the largest LNG trader and its traded oil and LNG volumes were 3.3 million barrels per day last year.

After suffering a loss of USD330 million in 2018, Geneva-based Gunvor came under pressure from banks and put two key assets up for sale - its 110,000 bpd German refinery at Ingolstadt and a 26% stake in a refined products terminal at Russia’s Baltic port of Ust Luga. But with the recovery, the firm is keen to keep the assets it sees as cash cows.

“At Ingolstadt, we were open to having a partner in this one. We had a process and received binding offers ... but we felt that this refinery is performing so well so we decided to put off the sale,” Tornqvist said, adding it was now looking to invest in more midstream oil assets including biofuels. "Ust Luga generates significant cash so we have slowed down the process."

Gunvor also expects a resolution this year with Swiss prosecutors over their investigation into the company’s dealings in Congo Republic between 2009 and 2011. It had already put aside funds in the event of a significant financial penalty last year.

In August 2019 oil trader Gunvor decided against signing a contract for oil products bought through tenders from Russia’s troubled Antipinsky refinery. SOCAR Energoresource, a joint venture between Russian lender Sberbank and a group of investors, holds an 80% stake in the refinery, which has debt exceeding USD5 billion and has filed for bankruptcy.
MRC