Sinopec Maoming eyes maintenance at No. 2 PP unit in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Maoming has planned to take off-stream its No. 2 PP unit for a maintenance turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company is likely to halt operations at the PP unit over the priod of May-June 2020. The unit is expected to remain off-line from May 5 to June 13, 2020.

Located in Guangdong, China, the No. 2 PP unit has a capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, tThe 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 Maoming Petrochemical Company (Maoming Company) - a subsidiary of Sinopec- is located in Maoming, Guangdong and was founded in May 1955. The company now has a crude oil processing capacity of 13.5 million t/a and an ethylene production capacity of 1 million t/a. Maoming Company has turned out to be a large-scale integrated refining and chemical enterprise with refining as the leading business and petrochemical sector as the mainstay.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec Limited is a Chinese oil and gas company based in Beijing, China. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York . Sinopec is the worlds fifth biggest company by revenue.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Linde plc, the world’s largest supplier of industrial gases raised its annual earnings per share (EPS) growth forecast for the third time this year to 17-18%, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The supplier of gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen to factories and hospitals expects adjusted pro forma EPS growth of between USD7.25 and USD7.30, up from previous guidance of USD6.95 to USD7.18.

Analysts expect growth of nearly 15% or USD7.12, I/B/E/S Refinitiv data shows.

Linde’s third-quarter adjusted pro forma EPS of USD1.94 beat expectations while sales of USD7.00 billion were slightly below expectations of USD7.12 billion.

As MRC wrote previously, German chemical company BASF and The Linde Group’s Engineering Division are collaborating to serve natural gas processing applications using BASF’s absorbent technology and Linde’s adsorption and membrane technology. With the combined capabilities of materials expertise from BASF and engineering expertise from Linde, the two companies are well positioned to expand their global leadership position in natural gas applications. The collaboration is a strong signal to the natural gas industry and will open access to previously inaccessible gas compositions for treatment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Synthos SA, Poland's largest petrochemical producer, has reduced its November offer prices of general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) for the Ukrainian market, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Thus, this month' GPPS shipments to Ukrainian buyers will be done at EUR1,080-1,100/tonne FCA Oswiecim, excluding VAT, whereas Polish producer's HIPS quantities will be sold in the region at EUR1,170-1,190/tonne, FCA Oswiecim, excluding VAT, in November.

As reported earlier, Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNH, part of the TAIF group) significantly reduced its HIPS and GPPS shipments to the Ukrainian market in November. Thus, some market participants said the plant would not ship HIPS and GPPS to Ukrainian traders. Moreover, a major increase in available quantities for Ukrainian buyers are not expected in December either.

Synthos SA is one of the largest producers of petrochemical products in Poland and is the largest producer of emulsion rubbers in Europe. Besides, it is the third largest European EPS producer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of PC granules to the Ukrainian market rose in the first ten months of 2019 by 13% year on year to 3,300 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was 2,900 tonnes in January-October 2018.

Last month's imports of material to the Ukrainian market fell by 17% to 341 tonnes from 410 tonnes in September, with German and Dutch material accounting for the main decrease in shipments.

In terms of technology, the share of injection moulding PC grades decreased to 52% (1,700 tonnes) in January-October 2019 from 63% (1,800 tonnes) a year earlier. The share of extrusion grade PC grew significantly: from 15% (425 tonnes) of the total imports to 30% (980 tonnes), with the share of blow moulding grades decreasing by 3% to 19% and totalling 620 tonnes.

Covestro and Sabic with the share of about 84% of the total imports were the key suppliers of resin to the Ukrainian market in the first ten months of 2019.

Thus, imports of Covestro's PC to the Ukrainian market increased over the ten months of 2019 by 48% year on year: from 1,600 tonnes in January-October 2018 to 2,300 tonnes. Covestro's material accounted for 71% of the total PC imports to the country in the first ten months of 2019 versus 54% a year earlier. The company's shipments of material to Ukraine were 280 tonnes last month, compared to 230 tonnes in October 2018.

At the same time, Sabic's deliveries material fell in January-October 2019 by 37% year on year: from 690 tonnes to 440 tonnes. Sabic's PC granules accounted for 13% of the total imports to the country in the first ten months of 2019 versus 24% a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Kazakhstan rose in the first nine months of 2019 by 31% year on year to 45,200 tonnes, reported MRC analysts.

Demand for PVC subsided from local companies in September, with imports of unmixed PVC remaining atypically high and totalling 4,600 tonnes in September versus 8,200 tonnes in August. Thus, overall imports of resin reached 45,200 tonnes in January-September 2019, compared to 32,300 tonnes a year earlier. At the same time, it is worth noting that such a substantial increase in imports was caused by the further resale of resin to Russia in the period of an acute shortage in July-September.

Due to the geographical position, Chinese producers with the share of about 94% of the local market over the stated period were the main PVC suppliers to Kazakhstan. Russia was the second largest PVC supplier, shipments of Russian resin reached 2,900 tonnes over the stated period.

MRC