Linde and Sipchem sign MOU to form industrial gases partnership in Saudi Arabia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sahara International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) and Linde on 3 December signed initial terms to establish a strategic partnership for the supply of industrial gases, to meet growing demand from the refining and chemical industries in Saudi Arabia, reported Chemweek.

The primary focus of the partnership, which is expected to become operational in 2020, will be the connection via pipeline of existing hydrogen and synthesis gas (syngas) plants owned by the two parties at Jubail Industrial City, and the development of new production facilities to supply carbon monoxide, hydrogen, syngas, and associated gases in the industrial clusters in Saudi Arabia. The partnership will leverage the strengths and footprints of both companies. The agreement is valid until the end of March 2020.

"Sipchem is eager to expand its operations to fulfill the growing demand from national refiners and petrochemical plants in the kingdom," said Sipchem CEO Saleh Bahamdan. "This partnership has the potential to blend stable returns with long-term supply commitments, offering us the opportunity to manage the typical cyclicality of the petrochemical industry."

"The combined onsite footprint and operational excellence of the two companies will create a compelling opportunity for us and our customers in Saudi Arabia," said Linde’s executive vice president/EMEA, Eduardo Menezes.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, on 29 December, 2014, Sipchem started a new ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) film plant. Located at Hail in Saudi Arabia, the plant has a production capacity of 4,000 mt/year.

According to MRC's DataScope report, September EVA imports to Russia fell by 22,7% year on year to 3,420 tonnes from 4,430 tonnes in September 2018, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation decreased in January-September 2019 by 18,2% year on year to 29,190 tonnes (35,690 tonnes in the first nine months of 2018).

Established in 1999, Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) manufactures and markets methanol, butanediol, tetrahydrofuran, acetic acid, acetic anhydride, vinyl acetate monomer. Besides, it has launched several down-stream projects to manufacture ethylene vinyl acetate, low density polyethylene, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, cross linkable polyethylene, and semi conductive compound that are scheduled to start in 2013.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PKN Orlen announced that it plans to take over state utility Energa to strengthen its position in the electricity market, said Reuters.

Orlen has announced that it aims to acquire 100% of Energa with a bid that puts the company’s value at around Polish zloty (Zl) 2.9bn (USD749.9m) at Zl 7 per share.

Orlen said that its energy segment, which has 1.9 GWe of installed capacity and is the fourth largest producer of electricity in Poland, already accounts for nearly 15% of its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

Both PKN and Energa have heavy and politically-motivated investment projects in their pipelines. PKN, which has a market capitalization of 37 billion zlotys, also wants to take over smaller rival Lotos, with a market cap of almost 16 billion zlotys, a move encouraged by some prominent members of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Orlen is also in the midst of a bid for the country’s second largest refiner, state-controlled Lotos. In August, the European Commission said it opened an in-depth anti-trust investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Lotos by Orlen.

As MRC reported earlier, in September 2019, Honeywell announced that PKN ORLEN had licensed the UOP MaxEne process, which can increase production of ethylene and aromatics and improve the flexibility of gasoline production.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The most serious nationwide strike to hit France in years caused new weekend travel turmoil on Saturday, with unions warning the walkouts would last well into next week, reported France24.

The challenge thrown to President Emmanuel Macron over his plans for radical pension reform has seen hundreds of thousands take to the streets and key transport services brought to a standstill.

The strikes, which began on Thursday, have recalled the winter of 1995, when three weeks of huge stoppages forced a social policy U-turn by the then-government.

Unions have vowed a second series of mass demonstrations nationwide on Tuesday after big rallies on Thursday and there is expected to be little easing of the transport freezes over the coming days.

The strikes could prove to be the biggest domestic challenge yet for Macron, who came to power in 2017 on the back of promises to radically reform France and has sought a prominent place on the international stage as Europe’s number one statesman.

Macron was widely believed to have ridden out the challenge posed by the "yellow vests" whose weekly Saturday protests against inequality in France had shaken the government over the last year.

With Macron seeking for now to rise above the fray, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe insisted that the government would not abandon the plan even if it was prepared to bring it in more gradually.

He said the government would work with trade unions to introduce a single points-based pension scheme that would require the French to “work a bit longer” and replace dozens of more advantageous plans currently enjoyed by public-sector workers.

But the premier emphasised that the changes, which he said would be unveiled on Wednesday, were going to be introduced "progressively, without harshness".

Businesses feared that the lack of transport would affect shopping activity on a key weekend for the consumer economy just two weeks before Christmas.

Unions say Macron’s proposal for a single pension system would force millions of people in both the public and private sectors to work well beyond the official retirement age of 62.

At least 800,000 took part in rallies around the country on Thursday, according to the interior ministry - one of the biggest demonstrations of union strength in nearly a decade.

Another day of strikes and rallies has been called for Tuesday, a day after union leaders are to meet again with government officials over the pension reform.

As MRC informed earlier, staff at seven of France's eight refineries joined a general strike Thursday, affecting oil product deliveries. Thus, Total reported difficulties in accessing its terminals at the Gonfreville, Grandpuits, Donges and Feyzin refineries and La Mede biofuels plant Thursday morning. In addition, access had been difficult to the terminals at Portes-les-Valence and Puget-sur-Argens. Total said, with 200 oil terminals in France, supply to its retail stations had not been affected, despite the blockades. At the same time, ExxonMobil, which operates the Gravenchon refinery near Le Havre and the Fos-sur-Mer plant in the south, said Gravenchon had not been hit by the strike, but there had been a minor impact on road traffic due to external blockades around the site.

We also remind that France's Feyzin refinery was in the process of halting units and the steam cracker was running at reduced rates on 9 October, 2019. Local media had reported earlier that the refinery had been halting operations since Monday, 7 October, due to a strike. The company said it regrets the decision by labor unions to call a strike while discussions were ongoing with refinery staff about a planned indefinite closure of a unit due to lower product demand.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Prices of Iranian polystyrene (PS) remained the same for Ukrainian buyers at the end of last month, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Thus, Iranian producers have not yet changed prices of their material.

Iranian general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) of Tabriz was offered in the Ukrainian market at UAH39,000-39,500/tonne CPT Kiev, including VAT.

At the same time, Tabriz's high impact polystyrene (HIPS) is expected to enter the domestic market in the first half of December.

As reported earlier, November prices of Iranian PS dropped for the Ukrainian market by USD20/tonne.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical has restarted from the 50 days maintenance shutdown over the weekend, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The plant was taken off-stream on 22 October 2019.

Nghi Son is the largest PP producer in Vietnam with a nameplate capacity of 400,000 tons per annum.

A source close to the company reported that the plant would be able to achieve on-spec cargoes within this week.

As MRC wrote before, NSRP shut its PP unit on 21 June, 2019, owing to technical issues. The exact duration of the shutdown could not be ascertained.

We also remind that Vietnam’s Nghi Son oil refinery officially began commercial production from 14 November 2018, following months of tests. The USD9 billion refinery is 35.1 percent owned by Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co, 35.1 percent by Kuwait Petroleum, 25.1 percent by PetroVietnam and 4.7 percent by Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

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.
MRC