PVC imports to Kazakhstan grew by 31% in Jan-Sept 2019

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qatar Petroleum said on Wednesday it had signed a 10-year Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply agreement with China’s Wanhua Chemicals, reported Reuters.

The agreement is for the sale of approximately 800,000 metric tons per year of LPG over a period of 10 years, the firm said in a statement on Wednesday.

As it was reported earlier, China’s top petrochemical maker Wanhua Chemical Group aims to increase LPG imports to about 5.5 million mt in 2020 from 4 million mt this year as it procures feedstock from diversified sources ahead of new projects in Yantai and widens trading activities in Asia.

A 1 million mt/year ethylene integration project - phase two of its petrochemical project in northeast Shandong province - will be the first ethylene cracker to use LPG as feedstock globally and is set for commercial production in the second half of 2020. Together with associated downstream units and a nearby feedstock storage rock cavern with a capacity of 1.2 million cubic meters, the project is costing around Yuan 20 billion.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas Chemicals Group (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) has reported a massive drop in third-quarter profits and significantly lower sales, reported Chemweek.

Net profit declined to 558 million Malaysian ringgit (USD134.37 million) from RM1.332 billion in the year-earlier quarter. EBITDA decreased by 44% to RM915 million largely due to compressed margins, and sales were down 24.0% to RM3.67 billion. Commenting on the results, CEO Sazali Hamzah said, “Petrochemical product prices have stabilized but market outlook remains soft due to lower global GDP growth and expected additional capacities coming onstream, resulting in a long market. However, market fundamentals remain strong in the Asia Pacific region."

Sazali said that construction on PCG’s new plants at the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) is nearing completion and the company remains on track to commence commercial operations by the end of the year. "We are now in the process of stabilizing the plants to deliver additional capacity of a new product range to meet our customers’ requirements." Saudi Aramco holds a 50% stake in PCG’s polyolefins complex within PIC and it also has a 50% stake in the upstream steam cracker, a joint venture with PCG’s parent, Petronas.

All PCG’s segments reported lower sales and profits. The olefins and derivatives business recorded net profit of RM232 million compared with RM762 million in the third quarter of 2018. Revenue in the segment was down 28% to RM2.281 billion. Fertilizers and methanol net profit declined from RM427 million to RM315 million, and revenue was 18% lower at RM1.381 billion.

PCG recorded plant utilization rates of 81%, an improvement from 79% in the corresponding quarter of 2018. Production and sales volumes were higher but product prices declined in tandem with declining crude oil price and softer market demand. The olefins and derivatives segment recorded plant utilization rates of 78% compared with 96% in the corresponding quarter, primarily due to higher statutory turnaround activities. Sales volume was lower in line with lower production.

The fertilizers and methanol business recorded an improvement in plant utilization rates to an average of 83%, up from 69% in the corresponding quarter mainly due to better plant performance and lower statutory turnaround activities.

PCG anticipates product prices for olefins and derivatives to stabilize in the fourth quarter on the back of supply limitation following planned regional turnarounds. The company also forecasts stabilization in fertilizers and methanol prices due to limited supply amid soft demand from the end products.

As MRC informed earlier, in early November 2019, Saudi Aramco approached Malaysian state energy company Petronas to participate in Aramco’s IPO, Petronas said, as the Middle Eastern oil giant seeks cornerstone investors for the listing.

Besides, we remind that Saudi Aramco, which temporarily lost half of its oil production following the September 14 attacks on two key oil facilities, is running its local refineries at full capacity and is forging ahead with plans to start up new refineries. The company is also starting up a joint venture refinery in Malaysia next year. According to Aramco's bond prospectus released in April, the refining and petrochemical joint venture with Petronas - the Malaysian national oil company - collectively known as PRefChem, was supposed to start this year.

The PRefChem joint venture includes a 300,000 b/d refinery, an integrated steam cracker with capacity to produce 1.3 million mt of ethylene located in Johor, Malaysia. Aramco was supposed to provide a significant portion of PRefChem's crude supply under a long-term supply agreement. Jazan and PrefChem will help Aramco reach a gross refining capacity of 5.6 million b/d, it said in the prospectus. The company currently owns and has stakes in four refineries abroad with a total refining capacity exceeding 2 million b/d.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. 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.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Plastics Corp. Louisiana, a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Corp. USA, is investing USD332 million to expand its production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin and add production equipment in two other units at the company’s industrial manufacturing site in Baton Rouge, La., on the east bank of the Mississippi River, reported Oil&Gas Journal.

The project will include installation of new machinery and equipment for the expansion of the PVC resin production unit, expected to result in a 20% increase in production capacity and sales; installation of new machinery and equipment for a halogenated acid production unit for internal use in the production of vinyl chloride monomer; and installation of utilities equipment needed for operations, the Louisiana Economic Development (LED) said.

Launch of the new operations is scheduled for late 2021 or early 2022, LED said.

The expansion of the existing PVC unit will result in an additional 300 million lb/year of resin production, said Paul Heurtevant, plant manager of Formosa’s Baton Rouge site.

LED estimates the project will create 15 direct jobs and 66 indirect jobs. Formosa also will retain 230 existing jobs.

The expansion project is slated to create 500 construction jobs beginning in early 2020, LED said.

LED said it began discussing potential expansion plans with Formosa in March, and the company considered a Texas location before committing to Louisiana.

To secure the project, LED offered Formosa a competitive incentive package that includes a performance-based grant of up to USD500,000. The company also will have access to the Louisiana’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs, LED said.

Formosa’s Baton Rouge site currently includes three operating units to produce PVC, a synthetic plastic polymer with a variety of uses in the construction industry, including as insulation on electrical wires, in flooring for buildings needing a sterile environment, and as piping and siding.

As MRC informed before, Formosa Petrochemical Corp reduced its October average run rate at the 540,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Mailiao refinery in October to about 70% from more than 87% last month due to maintenance. Formosa, Asia’s sixth-largest standalone refinery by capacity, took an 80,000-bpd residue desulphurizer down for a planned maintenance.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) reached 809,000 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 3% year on year. At the same time, not all Russian producers raised their output,

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company"s plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US crude oil stockpiles rose last week for the third consecutive week as production hit a record high, while distillate inventories, which include heating oil, fell for the eighth week in a row, reported Reuters with reference to the Energy Information Administration's statement.

Crude inventories rose by 2.2 million barrels in the week to Nov. 8, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.6 million-barrel rise.

"Further drawdowns in ... distillate fuels were supportive, but the rebound in refining utilization works against those data points," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

"Both imports and exports of crude oil were quite low on the week, but the rise in domestic production shows that there is no slowdown in the oil patch, despite the falling rig count."

Crude production rose by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a weekly record of 12.8 million bpd, the data showed.

Commercial crude imports fell 327,000 bpd to about 5.8 million bpd, the lowest level since February 1996. Net US crude imports fell by 589,000 bpd, EIA said.

Oil prices pared gains after the data was released. US crude traded up 14 cents a barrel at USD57.28 by 11:13 a.m. EST (1613 GMT). Brent crude traded up 34 cents a barrel at USD62.72.

Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for US crude futures fell 1.2 million barrels, their first fall after five weeks of builds, the EIA said, after the main artery for Canadian crude imports, the Keystone pipeline, was forced to shut due to an oil spill.

Refinery crude runs rose by 155,000 bpd and utilization rates increased by 1.8 percentage points to 87.8% of total capacity, EIA data showed.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.5 million barrels in the week, versus analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 950,000-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

US gasoline stocks rose after six weeks of drawdowns, building by 1.9 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with expectations for by 1.2 million-barrel drop.
MRC