EPS imports to Kazakhstan rise by 5% in Jan-Sept 2019

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of expandable polystyrene (EPS) to Kazakhstan grew in the first three quarters of 2019 by 5% year on year to 5,400 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

Russia and China were the main importing countries of EPS to Kazakhstan.

Thus, imports of Russian material to the Kazakh market fell in the first nine months of 2019 by 24% year on year: from 4,700 tonnes in January-September 2018 to 3,600 tonnes. The share of EPS imports from Russia in the total shipments to the country slumped in January-September 2019 by 66% from 91% a year earlier.

And shipments of Chinese material quadrupled in the first three quarters of 2019: from 400 tonnes to 1,800 tonnes. The share of Chinese companies in the overall imports to the country grew sharply in the first ten months of 2019 to 33% from 8% a year earlier.

September EPS imports into Kazakhstan rose by 41% from August to 800 tonnes from 600 tonnes. Imports of material into the country were 600 tonnes in September 2018.

At the same time, deliveries of Russian EPS to Kazakhstan were 506 tonnes in September versus 488 tonnes in August, whereas imports of material were 591 tonnes in September 2018.

EPS shipments into the country from China totalled 326 tonnes over the stated month versus 103 tonnes in August, meanwhile, Chinese material was not imported into the country in September 2018.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA reported a fire that resulted in above-normal gas emissions over the weekend at its refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, reported MorningStar.

"A hole in a line released hydrogen that resulted in a fire at the Continuous Catalyst Reformer Unit," the refinery said in a statement to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. "The fire was extinguished. The unit is being evaluated."

It said the emissions, including some 5,001 pounds of carbon monoxide, began Saturday and lasted more than two hours.

The 225,000-barrel-a-day Port Arthur refinery is located 95 miles east of Houston.

As MRC informed earlier, in June 2018, Bayport Polymers LLC (Bay-Pol), a joint venture of Total and Novealis Holdings LLC - a joint venture of Borealis AG and NOVA Chemicals Inc. - held the official groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a new ethane cracker at the Total Port Arthur Refinery. The new USD1.7-billion ethane cracker is the first project under construction by the recently-formed Bay-Pol joint venture. The new 1 Mt/y ethane cracker is being built alongside Total's Port Arthur Refinery and the existing Total/BASF steam cracker and is expected to start up in 2020.

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) -- 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

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

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