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

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhong An United Coal Chemical Co Ltd has unexpectedly shut its polypropylene (PP) plant on 23 October due to technical glitches at its polymerization section, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

Based in Anhui, China, the PP plant has a production capacity of 350,000 tons/year.

It is expected to remain off-stream for about few days, while the restart date could not be ascertained. There are some speculations rumors from the market mentioning the shutdown could reach as long as 6 months, however, after verification by CommoPlast, the rumors appeared to be untrue.

As MRC wrote before, the company has recently shut this plant for an unplanned shutdown. Thus, Zhong An Coal Chemical halted operations at the unit owing to technical issues on October 6, 2019. The unit remained off-line until 15 October 2019. Located at Huainan, Anhui province, China, the PP unit has a production capacity of 145,000 mt/year in 2019 (the designed capacity - 350,000 mt/year).

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.

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