Trinseo reduces December PS prices in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced a price decrease for all polystyrene (PS) grades in Europe, according to the company's press release.

Effective December 1, 2019, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below went down as follows:

-- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR20 per metric ton;
-- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR20 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo also reduced its prices for all PS grades on 1 November 2019, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS grades - by EUR45 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech HIPS grades - by EUR45 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, last week, Russian market participants were waiting for information from Nizhnekamskneftekhim on next month's prices. Amid lower prices of material in foreign markets, Nizhnekamskneftekhim took a non-traditional approach to this month's pricing. December prices will decrease by Rb3,000/tonne and will roll over for January for those buyers that will contract PS quantities for two months in advance. For those buyers that will contract only December quantities, next month's prices will be reduced by only Rb1,000/tonne.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.6 billion in net sales in 2018, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,500 employees.
MRC

Mogilevkhimvolokno signed a contract for the supply of products to Serbia

MOSCOW (MRC) - The Belarusian petrochemical company Mogilevkhimvolvokno has entered into an agreement with a Serbian partner for USD50 mln, BElTA informs.

In general, Belarusian enterprises entered into contracts for USD120 mln in Serbia.

As per ICS-MRC Price Report, homopolymer PET produced by Mogilevkhimvolokno with delivery in December was offered to Russian customers at Rb72,000-73,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. Test batches of PET copolymer based on dimethyl terephthalate with a lower melting point in comparison with a homopolymer were successfully achieved at the plant in November. Perhaps next year this material will be offered to a wide range of buyers.

It was previously reported that Mogilevkhimvolokno launched a production facility for the production of polyester fiber by direct moulding with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year in January 2019. The launch of a new production is the first phase of the implementation of the large investment project "Polyester Production Complex".

Mogilevkhimvolokno OJSC is the only major producer of dimethyl terephthalate, polyester granulate PET, including food grade, polyester fibers and threads, and the main supplier of raw materials for light industry in the Republic of Belarus. The state share is 90.53%.
MRC

Maintenance work complete at ExxonMobil Singapore chemical plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Corp said that it has completed maintenance work at its Singapore chemical plant, reported Reuters.

A company spokesman declined to provide further details of the affected units, saying that it was not the company’s practice to discuss operational details of its units.

The company said last week that the plant was undergoing maintenance, which had caused flaring at the plant.

ExxonMobil’s petrochemical complex located on Jurong Island is integrated with its refinery there and produces a range of feedstock and products such as polymers and aromatics.

As MRC informed earlier, on 12 November, 2019, Exxon Mobil Corp’s Baytown, Texas, chemical plant returned to normal operations after a malfunction in the polypropylene (PP) production area. Exxon’s adjoining 560,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) Baytown refinery was unaffected by a transformer malfunction in the chemical plant.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

Taiyo Vinyl to shut PVC plant for maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiyo Vinyl is likely to take its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant off-stream for a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the plant is planned to be shut in early-March 2020. The planned maintenance is expected to be remain in force for around two months.

Located in Yokkaichi in Japan, the PVC plant has a production capacity of 310,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, Taiyo Vinyl conducted maintenance turnaround at its PVC plant in Yokkaichi from early-March to end-April, 2018.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of unmixed PVC was 779,900 tonnes in January-October 2019, up by 3% year on year. Emulsion and suspension PVC markets showed an increase in supplies.

Taiyo Vinyl Corporation, a subsidiary of Tosoh Group, is one of Japan's largest manufacturers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The plant in Chiba is one of the company's key assests, which supplies 50% of its products to the domestic market. The company also produces PVC at the plants in Yokkaichi and Osaka with the annual capacity of 310,000 and 150,000 tonnes, respectively.
MRC

TPC chemical plant that caught fire to close for extended period

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A Texas TPC Group petrochemical plant, still burning on Monday after a series of explosions last week that injured three and prompted thousands of evacuations, will be out of operation for an extended period, according to a letter to workers viewed by Reuters.

TPC Group Chief Executive Edward Dineen told the plant’s about 175 workers they would be paid through year-end but the facility which makes chemicals used in synthetic rubber and gasoline, would close "for an extended period," the Friday letter to staff said.

A TPC spokeswoman was not immediately available to discuss Dineen’s message.

The Port Neches, Texas, site has been burning for six days after an explosion that injured three workers and prompted the evacuation of about 60,000 residents over worries storage tanks could ignite and explode. The fire was contained and officials allowed residents to return to their homes on Friday.

By end of the year, "if not sooner, we hope to have a better handle on the situation at (Port Neches), including recovery team needs and potential rebuild team needs," Dineen said in his letter to workers.

Federal and state investigators have began probing the blasts and ensuing blaze.

Dineen wrote the Houston-based company has just begun the process of working with its insurance carriers on claims from the explosions and fire. The cause remains unknown, he wrote.

Records from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state’s pollution regulator, show it began investigations of the plant in September 2014 after the company failed to meet carbon monoxide limits between 2011 and 2013. Those investigations have remained open into this year.

TPC received citations from the commission for failure to meet pollution limits on units, failure to maintain required equipment and maintain proper records between 2014 and 2019.

But the regulator rated the company’s performance at the Port Neches site as "satisfactory," according to a compliance history report provided by the agency on Monday.

The company and fire officials said on Monday there have been no new injuries, air monitoring continues to show no health hazards, and the fire "continues to be contained."

Workers are checking nearby properties for fallout from the fire and TPC insurance representatives are visiting properties damaged by the initial explosion, which could be felt miles away.

In addition to the company’s staff, another 50 people work at the plant, but are employed by other companies who contract with TPC to provide services such as maintenance of equipment.

Located adjacent to the Sabine Neches River, which is 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. The source familiar with company operations said the site has two butadiene lines with capacities of 166,000 mt/year and 260,000 mt/year. The MTBE unit at this site produces up to 400,000 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