Zhejiang Petrochemical started up cracker; Phase I downstream plants might face delay

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zhejiang Petrochemical Co Ltd (ZPC) has started up its No. 1 cracker in Zhoushan, China earlier this month, though it is reported that the company is still working to stabilize the operation rate, reported CommoPlast.

The cracker has an annual capacity of 1.4 million tons/year of ethylene and 900,000 tons/year of propylene.

As reported earlier, the company is also aiming to bring its Phase I downstream PP and PE plants online within 2019. However, the startup schedule is very much depending on the operation of the No. 1 cracker.

The Phase I facility houses a 300,000 tons/year HDPE unit, 450,000 tons/year LLDPE line and a 900,000 tons/year PP plant. Market players are speculating that these units might only come online in Q1-2020 given the large scale of both upstream and downstream production the company is managing.

As MRC informed earlier, China's greenfield Zhejiang Petrochemical will use a range of process technology from Honeywell UOP for the second phase of its integrated refining and petrochemical complex in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, according to a document, quoting a senior Honeywell official. "This second phase of the complex by itself will process 20 million tons per year of crude oil and produce another six million tons per year of aromatics when completed," Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager, Process Technology and Equipment, at Honeywell UOP, stated in the document as of January 2019.

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

Braskem PP resin expansion nears completion in US

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem is only a few months away from completing a major polypropylene (PP) resin expansion in North America, reported PlasticsNewsEurope.

The addition of just over 1 billion pounds of annual PP production in La Porte, Texas, is expected to start production in the second quarter of 2020, North America Executive Vice President Mark Nikolich said Oct. 16 at K 2019 in Dusseldorf.

"We're really pleased with the performance of our team," he added. "We've got 1,300 contractors on-site, and mechanical completion should be done by the end of January. We're on plan and on budget."

The primary target of PP made by the new line is the U.S. market, although Nikolich said the new capacity will also support Sao Paulo-based Braskem's efforts in Brazil and Europe.

"We built in the US because the US has been structurally short on polypropylene," he explained. "North American converters want to grow, but they can't because the market's been constrained."

And Nikolich is unconcerned by a slow 2019 growth year in North America, where sales have fallen short of the 2.5 percent average that the firm expects in the current market.

"There's been a shortfall in North America, but in the last four years we've had years of 1 percent growth and 7 percent growth," he said. "This year, it's the same thing that we've seen in base chemicals. Growth has been affected by a lot of different factors, but we're still seeing demand growth in North America."

The presence of low-priced shale gas and oil feedstocks give North America an advantage as well, according to Nikolich.

Also at K 2019, Braskem formally launched its new I'm Green-brand recycled PP resin in the United States. Officials said that the rollout is one of the first new offerings under the expanded I'm Green portfolio.

Braskem, with US headquarters in Philadelphia, is expanding the brand to encompass the firm's full range of circular economy products. Officials said that Braskem did so as part of its commitment to help transform the plastics chain from a linear economy into a circular economy.

The I'm Green brand now includes Braskem's product developments in bio-based resins, post-consumer resins, as well as mixed bio-based and post-consumer solutions.

Feedstock for the new I'm Green recycled PP is derived from PP twine typically used for agricultural hay bales, which would otherwise be directed to landfills after use. Twine offers a circular source of feedstock with consistent material characteristics.

The twine is reprocessed, dyed black for product color uniformity, and then tested for purity and quality. Officials said the resulting homopolymer PP pellets are well suited for use in compounding, packaging, in automotive, housewares and consumer goods.

Nikolich said that the new recycled PP "isn't just a flash in the pan or a trial."

"The vast majority of our application development work centers around sustainability," he explained. "We're figuring out how to make newer resins that are more recyclable and more compatible with other resins."

Braskem's Braskem Idesa petrochemicals complex in Mexico is also undergoing some expansion work to increase its ability to access ethane feedstock. Ethane supply limits have reduced the site's operating rate.

A modest ethane project will be completed by the end of the year, with a larger one to take place in the next 24 months. PE production at the site also will grow by at least 200 million pounds in the next 24 months through a debottlenecking.

Braskem ranks as one of the largest polyolefin makers in the Americas. The firm employs 8,000 and posted sales of USD15.8 billion in 2018.

As MRC informed before, Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

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.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
MRC

Saudi September crude oil exports fall 3% after attacks

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in September fell by 3% to 6.67 million barrels per day (bpd) from 6.88 million bpd in August, reported Reuters with reference to official data.

Drone and missile attacks on Sept. 14 on two plants at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry - Abqaiq and Khurais - temporarily knocked out more than half the Kingdom’s output.

The United States said Iran sponsored the attacks, a claim which Tehran denied.

September crude output fell by 660,000 bpd to 9.129 million bpd, figures from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative showed.

Crude stocks fell by 20.27 million bpd to 152.48 million bpd while domestic refinery crude throughput rose by 10,000 bpd to 2.584 million bpd, the data showed.

Following the attacks the kingdom managed to maintain supplies to customers partly by drawing from its huge oil inventories.

Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries provide monthly export figures to the JODI which publishes them on its website.

As MRC reported before, a number of Saudi Arabia's companies, such as Tasnee, Sadara, Advanced Petrochemical and Saudi Kayan, announced a curtailment of feedstock to their petrochemical plants, including polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) facilities, by an average of 30-50% due to the attacks on key Saudi Aramco facilities on Saturday.

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

PE imports to Ukraine increased by 12% in January-October 2019

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of polyethylene (PE) into Ukraine increased to about 224,200 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up 12% compared to the same period of 2018. The greatest increase in demand occurred for high density polyethylene (HDPE), according to MRC DataScope.

Last month's PE imports increased to 23,300 tonnes from 22,500 tons in September, local companies increased their purchasing of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE). Overall PE imports reached 224,200 tonnes in January-October 2019, compared to 200,200 tonnes a year earlier. The highest supply of HDPE increased most, while imports of ethylene copolymers declined.

The supply structure by PE grades looked the following way over the stated period.

October imports of high density polyethylene decreased to 6,900 tonnes compared with 8,700 tonnes in September. Ukranian companies decreased their imports of blow moulding and pipe grade HDPE. Overall HDPE imports reached 79,400 tonnes last year, compared to 63,000 tonnes a year earlier, PE shipments to all consumption sectors increased.

October imports of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) increased to 8,000 tonnes against 6,000 tonnes a month earlier, some companies reduced purchases of LDPE in Russia. Overall LDPE imports reached 66,200 tonnes over the stated period, up by 6% year on year.

October imports of LLDPE into the country increased to 7,300 tonnes, compared with 6,800 tonnes in September. on a stronger purchases from producers in Saudi Arabia. In general, January - October LLDPE imports into Ukraine increased to 68,000 tonnes compared with 61,700 tonnes year on year.

Imports of other PE grades, including ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA), totalled 10,500 tonnes over the stated period, compared to 12,900 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

PolySol opens vinyl plastisol plant in Scotland

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PolySol, which has headquarters in Desloge, Missouri, has opened a 2,780m2 (30,000 sq ft) facility in West Lothian, Scotland, for production of vinyl plastisol for the UK and European markets, as per Plasticsnewseurope.

Major customers in the UK, Spain and Turkey had asked PolySol to support them with an overseas operation, co-owner Jason Marler said.

"You've got to jump when the opportunity presents itself," Marler said in a phone interview with PRW parent publication Plastics News. "We've been fortunate after kicking a lot of stones over and working with a lot of customers."

Marler, an engineer who once was a plastisol buyer, owns the four-year-old company together with Joe Mueller, a chemist.

Following a near USD1m renovation project, the Scottish facility can process up to 2.7m kilograms of plastisol annually. The facility has five employees. The plant in Missouri can process about 9m kg per year. The first products were shipped from West Lothian in October.

Made from PVC resin, a plasticizer and a stabilizer, plastisol looks a lot like paint at room temperature. The mixture can take on a wide range of properties, while it is also UV resistant, flame retardant and also suitable for medical applications. It can also be coloured, clear, or even glow-in-the-dark.

Plastisol is applied to products in a variety of ways, such as dip coating for tool handles and outdoor furniture; dip moulding of caps, closures and seals; lamination of curtains, tents and artificial leather; rotational moulding of boat fenders and squeeze toys; and cast moulding of anti-fatigue mats.

Brexit has caused Marler some concern about deliveries from the UK to the EU, but he is optimistic that there will be a positive outcome.

"They keep postponing it. I wish they'd do something because the postponement is more of a detriment," Marler said. "If it happens and the UK breaks away, there will be some sort of duties to ship into the EU. The number that has been kicked around is like 6%."

"On one hand, you add 6% to cost, but on the other hand there's also a question of what happens to the British pound," he continued. "If it goes up 6%, then it's a wash. I don't think it will be the end of the world either way and we're going to make it work either way."

He added: “It's still better to ship from Scotland than the US to get into the European market."

VCM is a feedstock for the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PVC production 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.
MRC