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

Chevron Phillips reports flaring at Cedar Bayou cracker

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical's Cedar Bayou, Texas, cracker experienced flaring Wednesday in its Ethylene Unit EU-1594, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's statement in a state regulatory filing Wednesday evening.

Two acetylene reactors were shut down due to instrumentation issues, which resulted in the reactors being cleared to flare, the company said in a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The flare lasted for 6 hours, until Wednesday evening.

Chevron Phillips said they do not make public comments about plant operations, but said its "completed venting and cooling of reactors and re-established flow to normal operation," in its filing with the TCEQ.

Trade sources said they are not seeing a significant impact on the market because the ethylene unit has already restarted.

We remind that in March 2018, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP successfully introduced feedstock and commenced operations of a new ethane cracker at its Cedar Bayou facility in Baytown, Texas. At peak production, the unit will produce 1.5 million metric tons/3.3 billion lbs. per year.

As MRC wrote before, US-based Phillips 66 remains open to developing another ethane cracker for its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) joint venture, the refiner's CEO said in March 2018.

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.

Headquartered in San Ramon, California, Chevron Corporation is the the second-largest integrated energy company in the United States and among the largest corporations in the world. Chevron is involved in upstream activities including exploration and production, downstream activities including refining, marketing and transportation, and advanced energy technology. Chevron is also invested in power generation and gasification processes.

Phillips 66 is a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company with a portfolio of integrated businesses: Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties. The company processes, transports, stores and markets fuels and products globally. Phillips 66 Partners, its master limited partnership, is an integral part of the portfolio.
MRC

Constantia Flexibles opens 100% sustainable flexible packaging plant in India

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Austria-based Constantia Flexibles, one of the world’s largest producers of flexible packaging, is opening what it calls the "world’s first plant designed to produce more sustainable and recyclable flexible packaging only", in India, as per Canplastics.

Production focus at the plant lies on the more environmentally-friendly packaging family EcoLam. The official opening will take place on November 20 in Ahmedabad.

After a construction time of more than two years, Constantia Ecoflex Ahmedabad started test runs in September 2019. The plant has an area of 24,500 square meters (263,716 square feet), and currently employs 50 workers – a number that’s expected to triple by the second quarter of 2020.

"The decision to open a plant in India was relatively straightforward,” Constantia Flexibles said in a statement. “Amongst others, the new ‘Plastic Waste Management Rules’ show, that Indian government can exert pressure on the recycling economy and that it supports initiatives and companies which advocate for less waste."

The solutions produced at the new plant all belong to the product family EcoLam, which is part of Constantia Flexibles’ Ecolutions product line. The company describes EcoLam as a lightweight mono-polyethylene laminate suitable for a wide variety of packaging applications. Due to its mono-material structure, it is fully recyclable and offers a carbon footprint that’s approximately 32 per cent lower than that of comparable products.

"The EcoLam family comes in different barrier grades (EcoLam, EcoLamPlus, EcoLamHighPlus) to deliver the barrier needs for a diverse range of products," the firm said.
MRC