TPC explosion may cut exports to oversupplied Asian butadiene market

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The oversupply condition in the Asian butadiene market is likely to be offset by a possible export cut from the US after a fire hit the TPC Group's Port Neches butadiene and raffinate petrochemical plant east of Houston, Texas, reported S&P Global with reference to industry sources' statement Thursday.

The United States is a key butadiene supplier to Asia, mainly to South Korea. According to the United States International Trade Commission, or USITC, the US exported 7,433 mt of butadiene in August, while no exports were registered in September.

Around 5,000 mt of butadiene from the US is due to arrive in Asia in January, said market sources.

"Some end-users in Asia may start looking for spot butadiene cargoes in a bid to cover supply shortfall from the US," a Japanese trader said.

Some market sources said the latest sell tender from Taiwan - due to close later Thursday - would likely attract buyers' interests. Taiwan's Formosa is offering around 2,000 mt spot cargo for December loading.

On the other hand, market sources said Asian butadiene market would unlikely see a spike in price as spot butadiene cargoes remains available elsewhere in the region, such as Japan.

Japan's butadiene supplies are currently strong, due to lower synthetic rubber plant operations amid weak margins. Japan's butadiene exports in October stood at 23,433 mt, up 9.1% from a month earlier, according to the customs data. Of the total, exports to Korea rose 11.8% to 18,413 mt during the same period.

Trading sources in Asia said some end-users in the US are looking for spot butadiene cargoes in Europe after the explosion.

However, some others said that such demand would be short lived, considering unused butadiene capacity in the US. A trader pointed out that the butadiene production in the US is estimated around 1.4 million mt/year in 2019, compared to a total capacity of 2.5 million mt/year.

"As long as other butadiene plants in the US can get crude C-4 supplies, they can increase butadiene production," said a trader, adding that there may be some distribution restrictions on moving crude C-4 in the domestic US market.

Located adjacent to the Sabine Neches River, a part of the Sabine Neches Waterway, TPC's Port Neches plant can produce more than 900 million lb (426,000 mt) of butadiene and raffinate a year, according to the company's website. A source familiar with company's operations said the site has two butadiene lines with capacities of 166,000 mt/year and 260,000 mt/year.

Butadiene is one of the feedstocks for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Asia, the falling prices of feedstocks for ABS production have been pushing prices of material down in the Russian market. LG Chem's import prices for November quantities were as follows for Russian buyers: natural ABS - at USD1,400-1,420/tonne FOB Korea, black ABS - at USD1,610-1,630/tonne FOB Korea, white ABS - at USD1,640-1,660/tonne FOB Korea. December prices may drop by another USD30-50/tonn.
Natural grades of Korean ABS went down to Rb138,000-143,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, in the domestic market in mid-November, whereas black ABS was offered at Rb156,000-160,000/tonne and white ABS - at Rb158,000-163,000/tonne CPT Moscow , including VAT.

Headquartered in Houston, TPC was acquired in 2012 by private equity groups First Reserve and SK Capital.
MRC

SK Advanced restarted PDH plant following emergency shutdown

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SK Advanced Co Ltd restarted its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Ulsan, South Korea on 20 November 2019 following an emergency shutdown four days ago, according to CommoPlast.

Thus, this unit was taken off-stream on 16 November, 2019.

Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a propylene production capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

The company last conducted maintenance works at this unit from 20 November to mid-December 2017.

As MRC informed earlier, Advanced Petrochemical Company was running its 500,000 mt/year PDH unit and a polypropylene (PP) unit of 450,000 mt/year, at its Jubail complex at 40% capacity, due to the Saudi oil attack that happened on 14 September, 2019, which reduced the company's supply of feedstock.

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.

SK Advanced Co Ltd is a joint venture between South Korea's largest LPG supplier - SK Gas and Saudi Arabia's Advanced Petrochemical Company (APC).
MRC

PP production in Russia up by 1.3% in January-October 2019

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total production of polypropylene (PP) in Russia increased to about 1,163,200 tonnes in the first ten months of 2018, up 1.3% compared to the same period of 2018. Three producers out of seven reduced the capacity utilisation, according to MRC ScanPlast.

October PP production in the country increased to 103,850 tonnes, compared with 85,700 tonnes in September. Four manufacturers stopped their capacities in September at once, in October there were shutdowns at two plants. Russia's overall PP production reached 1,163,200 tonnes in January-October 2019, compared to 1,148,700 tonnes a year earlier. Poliom, Stavrolen and Nizhnekamskneftekhim reduced their capacity utilisation.

The structure of production by enterprises for the period under review is as follows.

SIBUR Tobolsk increased its capacity utilisation in October, its total production grew to 31,600 tonnes from 26,600 tonnes a month earlier.
The Tobolsk plant's total PP production reached 378,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 1% year on year.

Omsk Poliom (Titan) in October produced about 18,000 tonnes compared to 10,100 tonnes a month earlier; the plant shut PP production capacities 10 days turnaround in September. Total PP production at the plant over the reported period was about 174,700 tonnes, down 2% year on year.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim produced 13,600 tonnes of propylene polymers in October versus 18,000 tonnes a month earlier, the decrease in production was a result of a short turnaround. The Nizhnekamsk plant's overall output of polymer exceeded 174,900 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, compared to 179,500 tonnes a year earlier.

Last month Tomskneftekhim produced about 13,000 tonnes of propylene polymers versus 9,500 tonnes in September, the decline in production was a result of a short scheduled turnaround. Total PP production by the producer increased to 121,800 tonnes in January-October 2019, up 5% year on year.

Ufaorgsintez last month increased its capacity utilisation afters the scheduled maintenance works in September; total polypropylene production grew to 10,500 tonnes against 6,300 tonnes in September. The Ufa plant's overall output of polymer reached 106,700 tonnes in January-October 2019, up 9% year on year.


NPP Neftekhimiya (Kapotnya) produced about 12,700 tonnes last month, compared to 12,400 tonnes in September. The plant's overall PP output reached 121,300 tonnes over the stated period, up by 9% year on year.

Stavrolen (LUKOIL) shut its capacities for 39 days scheduled maintenance works on 6 September; total polypropylene production was 4,200 tonnes in October against 2,700 tonnes in September. The Budenovsk plant's overall output of propylene polymers increased in the ten months of 2019 to 85,700 tonnes from 92,300 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

U.S. recycled less plastic

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The U.S. plastics recycling rate fell to its lowest level in half a decade, new figures from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) show, said Canplastics.

The plastics recycling rate decreased from 9.0% in 2015 to 8.4% in 2017, the EPA said – the 2017 figure covers plastics used in both durable and nondurable products. The last time it was this low was in 2011, EPA said, when the recycling rate was 8.3%.

In terms of plastic packaging, a category of nondurables, the rate decreased from 14.6% in 2015 to 13.0% in 2017. The data showed relative strength in the recycling rate for PET and HDPE natural containers but a significant drop in the rates for “other plastics containers” and films.

Overall, the U.S. used and discarded more plastic but recycled less of it in 2017, the figures show. The weight of plastic generated was 35.4 million tons in 2017, an increase of 2.6% over 2015. The weight recycled in 2017 totaled 3.0 million tons, down 5.1% from 2015. The weight burned for energy recovery in 2017 was 5.6 million tons, up 4.9% from 2015. The weight landfilled was 26.8 million tons, up 3% over 2015.

Across all municipal solid waste (MSW), the U.S. national recycling and composting rate increased from 34.7% in 2015 to 35.2% in 2017, EPA said.

Total weight recycled increased from 91.0 million tons in 2015 to 94.2 million tons in 2017, EPA said, which was up 3.5%. Weight burned for energy recovery increased from 33.6 million tons in 2015 to 34.0 million tons in 2017, up 1.4%. Weight landfilled increased from 137.6 million tons in 2015 to 139.6 million tons, up 1.4%.

In a statement responding to the EPA’s latest figures, The American Chemistry Council (ACC) blamed the recent decline, in part, on the widespread impacts of China’s “National Sword” policy, which has curtailed Asian markets for U.S. recyclers. “At the same time, we’re heartened that one consequence of China’s policy has been a wave of new announcements and investments in domestic recycling here in the United States,” Steve Russell, vice president of ACC’s Plastics Division, added in the statement. “These announcements are coming from across the value chain, from plastics makers and consumer brand companies, to traditional and advanced recyclers, which are adapting quickly and decisively to the new landscape. Data show that domestic markets for recycled plastics are increasing, and we expect this trend to accelerate."

We remind that, Russia's output of chemical products rose in October 2019 by 5.4% month on month.
However, production of basic chemicals increased by 3.9% in the first ten months of 2019. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, the largest increase in production volumes on an annualized basis accounted for mineral fertilizers and polymers in primary form. Thus, 210 ,000 tonnes of ethylene were produced in October, compared to 200,000 tonnes a month earlier. Limited production was a result of scheduled shutdowns of several large producers in September-October.
MRC

Implico acquires Dutch cloud specialist Brainum

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The international software and consulting company for the oil and gas sector, Implico, further expands its position in the tank storage market, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Implico acquires the Dutch IT solutions provider Brainum. The merger brings together the innovation programs of both companies, especially in the future-looking areas of cloud and digitization.

The acquisition of Utrecht-based Brainum marks a big step in the global growth strategy of Implico. Henceforth, both partners will bundle their competencies.

With OpenTAS, Implico offers a particularly feature-rich automation software for tank farms and refineries. In addition, Implico develops the SAP downstream solutions. With QINO, Brainum has a powerful cloud-based terminal management system in its portfolio.

After the merger, Brainum will continue to operate autonomously. The acquisition will give Implico better access to the important Benelux market, especially the Netherlands, where numerous oil and gas companies are located.

"The two firms complement each other perfectly," says Tim Hoffmeister, CEO of Implico. "Together with our Dutch colleagues, we will further extend our position as thought leader of digital transformation in downstream. Implico has unique expertise in data communications and web services. Brainum has exceptional knowledge of cloud technologies and tank terminal management. The fusion of this know-how allows for new, future-looking solutions and services."

Martin Keulemans, Managing Director of Brainum, adds: "With Implico as a strong partner by our side, we will proceed on our innovation course. The interest in Brainum is a sign of great appreciation for our team and our work. We are proud and happy to be part of the international Implico family now."
MRC