Sasol to start up LDPE plant in USA this year

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sasol is planning to start up its low density polyethylene (LDPE) new plant before end of 2019, according to CommoPlast.

Based in Lake Charles, United States, the plant has a production capacity of 420,000 tons/year. The start up has been delayed since beginning of the year due to technical issues.

As MRC reported earlier, Sasol's world-scale US ethane cracker reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Its new cracker, the heart of our Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP), is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities to come online and will provide feedstock to our six new derivative units at our Lake Charles multi-asset site.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated LDPE consumption totalled 381,710 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Some producers reduced their LDPE exports, whereas imports increased. Oversupply of LDPE vanished in the Russian market in September because of the outages simultaneously at two plants. However, this factor did not lead to a price rise.

Sasol is an international integrated chemicals and energy company that leverages technologies and the expertise of our 31 270 people working in 32 countries. The company develops and commercialises technologies, and builds and operates world-scale facilities to produce a range of high-value product stream, including liquid fuels, petrochemicals and low-carbon electricity.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exports of polycarbonate (PC) from Belarus grew over the first eight months of 2019 to 4,300 tonnes, up by 86% year on year, according to MRC's DataScope report.

Shipments to Russia accounted for 91% (4,700 tonnes) in January-August 2019 versus the share of 85% (2,000 tonnes) a year earlier.

PC exports from Belarus were 234 tonnes in August, up by 21%
year on year, but down by 36% from July 2019.

The share of exports to Russia from Belarus slightly decreased in August to 79% from 100% in August 2018. The remaining PC quantities were shipped to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Lotte and Sabic's PC is exported from Belarus.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of polycarbonate (PC) granules into Belarus grew in the first eight months of 2019 by 18% year on year to 8,400 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was 7,500 tonnes in January-August 2018.

Spain (33%), the Netherlands (25%) and Lithuania (16%) are the main countries-importers of PC into Belarus. Including exports of material of 4,300 tonnes from Belarus over the stated period, overall capacity of the domestic market totalled 4,500 tonnes of PC in January-August 2019.

August PC imports to Belarus fell by 43% year on year to 700 tonnes. This figure was at 1,200 tonnes in August 2018, whereas imports of material into the country were 900 tonnes in July 2019.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazakh Neftekhim Ltd, Kazakhstan's sole polypropylene (PP) producer, has resumed its PP production after the forced maintenance, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant’s customers said the Kazakh producer had fully resumed its PP production by 25 October after the outage, caused by termination of feedstock shipments from the Pavlodar refinery. The local refinery shut some of its production capacities for an emergency turnaround from 30 September to 19 October. Neftekhim Ltd resumed its PP production after the Pavlodar refinery finished the turnaround.

Neftekhim Ltd was commissioned in 2009. The company produces methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and polypropylene (PP). The plant's PP production with the capacity of 45,000 tonnes/year was launched in 2011; the plant did not have PP granulation unit then, polymer was produced in the form of powder, which limited its field of application.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Thailand’s IRPC, a PTT Plc subsidiary, has unexpectedly shut down its upstream propylene unit this morning due to an unspecified technical issue, as per CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

As a result, the company might have to lower the operation rate at the downstream polypropylene (PP) plants in the coming days.

The company owns two PP lines, with a combined capacity of 775,000 tons/year. At the time of this report, there is no confirmation on the duration of the shutdown.

In fact, in an email to its customers, the company has informed the possibility of trimming run rates at PP plant, which could affect supply for November shipment.

As MRC informed before, IRPC shut its PP plant for a two- week maintenance turnaround in H2 January 2016. Located in Rayong province of Thailand, the PP plant has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

Propylene is a feedstock for the production of PP.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC