PTTGC to shut No. 2 HDPE plant in Thailand for maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) is planning to take one of its HDPE lines off-stream for routine maintenance, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The number 2 unit is expected to remain offline from 27 November to 16 December 2019.

The No. 2 HDPE unit has an annual capacity of 300,000 tons.

The other two units with a combined capacity of 500,000 tons/year are not affected by the shutdown.

As MRC wrote previously, PTT started commercial operations at its new 400,000 mt/year metallocene C6 linear low density polyethylene plant at Map Ta Phut, Thailand, in the first quarter of 2018.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,436,390 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades 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.
mrcplast.com

Sasol 2019 earnings decreased 45%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sasol’s earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for its fiscal year 2019 dropped 45%, said the company.

Cost over-runs at the Lake Charles cracker and petrochemicals complex, due to poor weather, worker issues, defective components, contract issues and other problems have seen the forecast cost of the project bloat from USD9bn to USD12.6bn-12.9bn.

Stating that the debacle has “tarnished” the company’s image, Sasol’s board is set to remove Sasol joint CEOs Bongani Nqwababa and Stephen Cornell as of 31 October, to be replaced by chemicals division executive vice president Fleetwood Grobler.

Base chemicals EBIT for fiscal year slipped to a R1.43bn (USD98.2m) loss compared to a USD918m gain during 2018, while performance chemicals earnings plummeted to a R7.04bn loss compared to a positive R7.85bn during the previous year.

Sasol’s gross margin dropped two percentage points as a softer macroeconomic environment impacted on demand, particularly for chemicals, which the company claims is a temporary dip.

Total expenditure amounted to R56bn, with R30bn of that siphoned into the Lake Charles project, raising company gearing to 56.3% as of the end of the fiscal year, significantly above market guidance of 44-49%.

As MRC wrote previously, Sasol's world-scale US ethane cracker reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol’s 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.

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

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

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

PC exports from Belarus almost doubled in Jan-Aug 2019

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

PC imports to Belarus rises by 18% in Jan-Aug 2019

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