Neftekhim Ltd shut PP production for unscheduled turnaround

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazakh Neftekhim Ltd, Kazakhstan's sole polypropylene (PP) producer, shut its PP production on 18 November for unscheduled maintenance, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

According to the enterprise’s customers, the shutdown of capacities was unplanned and was caused by the cessation of supplies of raw materials from the local refinery. The dates of resumption of PP production have not been announced yet.

It was earlier reported that the Kazakh producer had fully resumed its PP production by 25 October after the outage, caused by termination of feedstock shipments from the Pavlodar refinery. The local refinery shut some of its production capacities for an emergency turnaround from 30 September to 19 October.

Neftekhim Ltd resumed its PP production after the Pavlodar refinery finished the turnaround.

Neftekhim Ltd was commissioned in 2009. The company produces methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and polypropylene (PP). The plant's PP production with the capacity of 45,000 tonnes/year was launched in 2011; the plant did not have PP granulation unit then, polymer was produced in the form of powder, which limited its field of application.
MRC

Exports of injection moulding PET chips from Belarus increased by 43% in nine months

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exports of injection moulding PET chips from Belarus grew by 43% in January-September compared to the same period last year and reached 12,1000 tonnes compared to 8,400 tonnes year on year, according to MRC DataScope.

September exports of injection moulding PET almost doubled: from 600 tonnes in September 2018 to 1,100 tonnes. In August of this year, material from the country was exported in the amount of 1,000 tonnes.

Supply to Russia amounted to 44% (5,300 tonnes) of total exports in January-September against a share of 66% (5,700 tonnes) for the same period last year.

The share of exports to Russia from Belarus in September decreased to 49% (560 tonnes), in August it amounted to 59% (620 tonnes).


MRC

CPC shut one of the steam crackers for maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CPC Corporation has taken one of its naphtha crackers off-stream on 8 November 2019 for major maintenance work, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The cracker number 4 is expected to remain offline for about 65 days and would resume operation by mid of January 2020.

The No. 4 unit has an annual capacity of 380,000 tons/year of ethylene and 193,000 tons/year of propylene. The shutdown would result in a production loss of 67,671 tons of ethylene and 34,370 tons of propylene.

Sources added that for December 2019 contract, CPC would fulfill only 85% of the volume due to the shutdown.

As MRC informed earllier, CPC Corporation took its No. 4 cracker off-line in mid-November 2017 owing to technical issues and resumed its operations in late January, 2018. Located in Linyuan, Taiwan, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 380,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 193,000 mt/year.

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.

CPC Corporation, Taiwan, is engaged in the exploration, production, refining, procurement, transportation, storage, and marketing of oil and gas. The company provides fuel oil, including automotive unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel, low-sulfur fuel oil, marine distillate fuels, marine residual fuels, and aviation fuel; petrochemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, para-xylene, and ortho-xylene; liquefied petroleum gas products comprising liquefied petroleum gas, propane, butane, and a propane/butane mixture; lubricants, motor oil, industrial oil, grease, and marilube oil; SNC products, including petroleum ether, naphtha, toluene, xylene, crude octene, methyl alcohol, normal paraffin, viscosity-graded asphalt cement, and sulfur; and natural gas.
MRC

US shale oil output to rise 49,000 bpd to record 9.1 Mbpd

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US crude oil output from seven major shale formations is expected to rise about 49,000 barrels per day in December to a record 9.13 million bpd, reported Reuters with reference to the US Energy Information Administration said in a monthly forecast.

Output at the largest formation, the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, is expected to rise 57,000 bpd to 4.73 million bpd, the smallest increase since July this year but offsetting projected declines elsewhere.

Output in North Dakota and Montana's Bakken region is expected to edge higher by 9,000 bpd to a record 1.51 million bpd, the data showed.

Meanwhile, production declines are forecast in the Eagle Ford and Anadarko basins.

Production increases in the Permian and Bakken have been at the forefront of a shale boom that has helped make the United States the biggest oil producer in the world, ahead of Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Still, the rate of growth in the Permian has slowed as independent oil producers cut spending on new drilling and completions and focus more on earnings growth.

Investor dissatisfaction is expected to spur companies to rein in spending for a second year, with capital expenditures among companies that have released budgets set to fall more than 10% in 2020.

Still, majors are ramping up spending, offseting some of the impact this year.

Separately, US natural gas output in the big shale basins was projected to increase to a record 85.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in December.

That would only be up about 0.3 bcfd over the November forecast, its smallest monthly increase since January when production in the big shale basins declined.

Growth was slowing as the number of rigs in each region has declined since the start of the year.

Output in the Appalachia region, the biggest US shale gas formation, was set to rise less than 0.1 bcfd to a record 33.7 bcfd.

EIA said producers drilled 1,148 wells, the least since December 2017, and completed 1,373 in the biggest shale basins in October, leaving total drilled but uncompleted (DUC) wells down 225 to 7,642, the lowest since October 2018.

That was the biggest monthly decline in DUCs on record, according to EIA data going back to December 2013.
MRC

INEOS opens new advanced polymer pilot plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS has opened a new pilot plant in Rosignano, Italy, producing polymers from increasing levels of plastic waste diverted from landfill or incineration, said the producer.

Part of the company’s EUR100m research and development programme, the new plant will manufacture polymers for end markets such as auto parts using waste plastic as a feedstock instead of fossil fuels. “The plant demonstrates INEOS' commitment to develop this technology to full commercial scale," said INEOS Olefins & Polymers South CEO Iain Hogan.

The company has also introduced a new range of polymers melding 50% recycled polymers with virgin material earlier this month. The capacity and investment level were not disclosed.

Franken, chairman of INEOS Olefins & Polymers Europe, and chairman of INEOS Polyolefins Catalyst, said: “This pilot plant will help to use more and more plastic waste for new high-value polymers, which is the very core of the circular economy. It demonstrates INEOS' commitment to develop this technology to full commercial scale."

Dr Iain Hogan, CEO of INEOS Olefins & Polymers South, said: “I would like to thank those that have supported this key R&D project from the beginning, across regional and local authorities. This is an important investment in the Rosignano site and for the whole of INEOS O&P."

Earlier this month, INEOS Olefins & Polymers also announced the introduction of the Recycl-IN polymer range to its portfolio. The range contains up to 50% post-consumer recycled plastic compounded with new highly engineered virgin polymers.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, in September 2019, INEOS Phenol broke ground at its world scale cumene investment in Marl, Germany. The new state-of-the-art 750 000 t unit is scheduled to be completed in 2021. Its location will help optimise the efficiency of the plant by integrating raw materials from the refinery and cracker complex. The site also benefits from the Marl harbour waterway connection.

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.

MRC