US oil output to cross 13 million b/d in November, but growth slows into 2020

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US crude oil output will average a record 13.03 million b/d this month, crossing the 13 million b/d threshold a month earlier than expected as domestic production climbs to 13.41 million by November 2020, reported S&P Global with reference to the US Energy Information Administration's statement Wednesday.

"The US remains on course to set new crude oil production records this year and next," EIA Administrator Linda Capuano said in a statement.

In its Short-Term Energy Outlook, EIA said it expects US crude oil production to grow faster than forecast a month earlier, but overall production growth will be slow compared to recent years.

For example, EIA forecasts US oil output to increase by 380,000 b/d over the next year, compared to 1.03 million b/d of growth from November 2018 to November 2019 and 1.93 million b/d of growth from November 2017 to November 2018.

Overall, EIA forecasts crude oil production to average 12.29 million b/d this year, up from 10.99 million in 2018 and 30,000 b/d more than the agency forecast last month for 2019. EIA forecasts US crude output to average 13.29 million b/d in 2020, up 120,000 b/d from last month's forecast for 2020.

EIA's crude oil price forecasts remained relatively unchanged from last month.
MRC

Sika opened new Ethiopia mortar plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sika is starting the operations of a new mortar plant at its existing site in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, thus expanding its portfolio of locally manufactured products, said the producer.

After building a production facility for concrete admixtures in 2016, this is a further step in extending the presence in the promising Ethiopian construction market.

Ivo Schadler, EMEA Regional Manager: "With the new plant in Ethiopia we are pursuing the implementation of our Africa strategy. Thanks to the new facility we will provide the market with locally manufactured technical mortars and our tile adhesives range to serve the need for more sophisticated and technically advanced building materials. With our strong local presence we can adapt products to meet the specific customer requirements, and make products available with shorter delivery times. We are thus creating the ideal conditions for participating in the country's dynamic construction market."

Investment projects sponsored by the Ethiopian government and aimed at rapidly developing the country’s infrastructure are making a major contribution to the dynamic development of this country. According to estimates, the construction industry in Ethiopia is set to grow by 12 % in 2019 and by 8 to 9 % on average between 2019 and 2028.

As MRC informed in May 2019, Sika started operations at a plant in Doha, Qatar, for the production of concrete admixtures. The country on the east coast of the Arabian peninsula is an attractive market thanks to large-scale infrastructure investment and a number of mega projects, both ongoing and planned.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia;s output of chemical products dropped in September 2019 by 2.4% month on month. However, production of basic chemicals increased by 3.6% in the first nine months of 2019, according to Rosstat"s data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, the largest increase in production volumes on an annualized basis accounted for mineral fertilizers and polymers in primary form. Thus, 200 ,000 tonnes of ethylene were produced in September, compared to 255,000 tonnes a month earlier. Kazanorgsintez and Stavrolen capacities were shut for maintenances in September. Thus, 2,256,000 tonnes of this olefin were produced in January-September 2019, up by 0.7% year on year.

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 200 factories. Its more than 20,000 employees generated annual sales of CHF 7.09 billion in 2018.
MRC

AkzoNobel wraps up Mapaero deal to strengthen aerospace coatings business

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel N.V. completed the acquisition of French aerospace coatings manufacturer Mapaero, which was first announced in July, said the company.

The deal will strengthen AkzoNobel’s global position in aerospace coatings, notably in the structural and cabin coating sub-segments. Combining the world class product ranges from both companies will also enable AkzoNobel to provide customers with a much wider portfolio of innovative and sustainable solutions – as well as contributing directly to its Winning together: 15 by 20 strategy.

As it was written before, AkzoNobel finalized the acquisition of BASF’s global Industrial Coatings business, which supplies a range of products for industries including construction, domestic appliances, wind energy and commercial transport, strengthening its position as the global number one supplier in coil coatings.

As MRC informed earlier, BASF would expand the capacity of ethylene oxide and ethylene oxide derivatives at its Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The total investment adds about 400 000 tpy to BASF’s production capacity for the corresponding products with an expected investment amount exceeding EUR500 million.

Ethylene is a feedstock for producing polyethylene (PE).

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.

Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people.

Established in 1992 and specializing in sustainable water-based and advanced eco-friendly products, Mapaero operates a production facility in France and has around 140 employees.
MRC

PP unit brought on-stream by Sinopec Zhenhai Refining

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Zhenhai Refining and Chemical (ZRCC, part of Sinopec) has restarted its Polypropylene (PP) unit following an unplanned outage, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has resumed operations at the unit on November 10, 2019. The unit was shut owing to technical issues on November 7, 2019.

Located at Ningbo, China, the PP unit has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, LyondellBasell (LBI), one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, has recently announced that China Petrochemical International Co., Ltd (Sinopec International) has selected LyondellBasell’s world-leading polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) technologies for a new facility. The plants will be built at the ZRCC complex in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, P. R. China. The complex will comprise of a 300 KTA polypropylene plant that will utilize LyondellBasell’s Spherizone PP process technology and a 300 KTA high-density polyethylene plant which will utilize LyondellBasell’s Hostalen ACP process technology.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 976,790 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its principal business includes: exploring, developing, producing and trading crude oil and natural gas; producing, storing, transporting and distributing and marketing petroleum products, petrochemical products, synthetic fiber, fertilizer and other chemical products. Its refining capacity and ethylene capacity rank No.2 and No.4 globally. Sinopec listed in Hong Kong, New York, London and Shanghai in August 2001. Sinopec Group, the parent company of Sinopec Corp., is ranked the 5th in Fortune Global 500 in 2012.
MRC

PC imports to Russia up almost by 2 times in Jan-Oct 2019

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of PC granules to Russia (excluding shipments from Belarus) rose in the first ten months of 2019 almost by 2 times year on year to 16,200 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

Imports of material into the country were 8,900 tonnes in January-October 2018.

At the same time, imports of material, excluding Belarusian deliveries were 2,000 tonnes last month versus 1,500 tonnes in October 2018. Imports of material into the country reached 2,800 tonnes in September 2019. Extrusion grade PC accounted for 60% (9,700 tonnes) of the total shipments to the Russian Federation.
Covestro (with the share of 58%) and Sabic Innovative Plastics (31%) were the main import suppliers of PC granules. Both producers significantly increased their shipments in the first ten months of 2019. Thus, imports of Covestro's material grew more that two-fold: from 4,200 tonnes (47% of the total imports) in January-October 2018 to 9,400 tonnes (58% of the total imports). Sabic's shipments also rose significantly to 5,000 tonnes from 2,140 tonnes (excluding Belarusian imports) a year earlier.

MRC