Nghi Son refinery restarting, to be fully operational mid-December

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Vietnam’s USD9-billion Nghi Son refinery will restart after a shutdown late in October for major maintenance work, reported Reuters with reference to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

Vietnam’s second 200,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) oil refinery, located 260 km (160 miles) south of Hanoi, Nghi Son started commercial operations in late 2018.

"We have basically completed the maintenance work, and we have been restarting the refinery, unit by unit," the source, who asked not to be identified, said.

"The refinery is scheduled to be fully operational by Dec. 12."

Both Nghi Son and the 130,000-bpd Dung Quat refinery, which started production in 2009, meet about 70% of Vietnam’s demand for refined oil products.

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

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.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik plans to increase its capacity for sodium methylate at its Rosario/Santa Fe facility from 60,000 metric tons up to 90,000 metric tons until 2021, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The expansion is driven by growing demand for biodiesel in South America, mainly Argentina and Brazil. Sodium methylate is an important catalyst for large-scale biodiesel production.

"Confirmed higher mandates in Brazil such as the biodiesel blend increase from 11% to 15% by 2023, but also the competitiveness of biodiesel exports from Argentina throughout the world drive our decision,” said Marcos Salgueiro, general manager at Evonik’s Functional Solutions business line in South America. “This is why we continue to invest in our efficient reliable plant, which is strategically located right in the center of the Argentinean soybean and biodiesel production region."

"This investment, coupled with the ongoing expansion of our sodium methylate plant in Mobile, Alabama, demonstrates our commitment to our core market of the Americas,” noted Andreas Kripzak, vice president and general manager Americas.

Alexander Weber, global head of the product line Alkoxides & Potassium Derivatives, added: “This decision fits perfectly into our global strategy and strengthens further our market leadership position for alkoxides."

In addition to the increase in capacity, Evonik Functional Solutions is also investing in infrastructure and logistics improvements in South America, including expanded storage solutions in the region. These developments will ensure continuous high supply reliability to its customers.

A string of recent biodiesel production capacity additions in the region reflects the increased importance of the product in Central & South America. “We are following our customers’ investments with our own to ensure ample future supply for this important renewable fuel, which helps to reduce emissions”, said Elias Lacerda, regional president Central & South America.

Besides Argentina and the U.S., Evonik also produces high volumes of sodium methylate in Luelsdorf, Germany, mainly for the European and Asian markets.

As MRC informed earlier, PSC TAIF-NK, a wholly owned subsidiary of TAIF Group of Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia, has let a construction-related contract to Linde Group, Munich, for two hydrogen plants at its 7 million tonnes/year Nizhnekamsk refinery. The contract is valued at about ?120 million, according to Linde.

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.

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The focus on more specialty businesses, customer-oriented innovative prowess and a trustful and performance-oriented corporate culture form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. They are the lever for profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company. Evonik benefits specifically from its customer proximity and leading market positions. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world with more than 36,000 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- On the margins of the meeting at SIBUR’s PolyLab R&D Centre, SIBUR, the largest petrochemical comples in Russia and Eastern Europe, and BASF, Geman petrochemical major, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalizing their partnership on sustainable development and circular economy agenda further to the companies’ environmental talks held back in June this year, as per SIBUR's press release.

The memorandum is set to strengthen the partners’ commitment to long-term sustainable development goals. BASF and SIBUR agreed to collaborate more closely on water efficiency, carbon footprint management and chemicals recycling along with joining forces in implementing international environmental initiatives.

The document was signed by Maxim Remchukov, Sustainable Development Director at SIBUR, and Christoph Roehrig, Head of BASF in Russia and the CIS.

Maxim Remchukov: "BASF has a long-standing expertise and experience in the field of circular economy, excelling in both achieving commercial success and demonstrating environmental and social responsibility. SIBUR is committed to sustainable business practices and is looking to implement the best initiatives and projects dedicated to this cause. We are certain that this partnership will create substantial synergies for both companies helping us to achieve our goals."

Christoph Roehrig: “BASF has been pursuing its sustainable growth strategy for as long as 25 years. The signing of this memorandum comes as a significant milestone for our company, and we are particularly delighted to have SIBUR - a recognized leader in the Russian petrochemical market - as our partner. I am confident that our joint initiatives and projects will make a real difference in improving the well-being of present and future generations."

As reported earlier, in late August 2019, SIBUR and BASF agreed to closely cooperate on sustainable development to share their best practices.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, in late November 2019, BASF broke ground on a USD10bn petrochemical complex in southern China, becoming the latest foreign company to increase its presence in the country as Beijing gradually relaxes restrictions on overseas investment. The BASF facility, in the city of Zhanjiang, is the first of its kind in China that will be fully owned by the company after Beijing allowed full foreign ownership of chemical “cracking” facilities used to produce plastics. BASF said the plant would produce 60,000 metric tonnes of plastic by 2022.

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.

SIBUR is the largest integrated petrochemicals company in Russia. The Group sells its petrochemical products on the Russian and international markets in two business segments: Olefins & Polyolefins (polypropylene, polyethylene, BOPP films, etc.) Plastics, Elastomers & Intermediates (synthetic rubbers, EPS, PET, etc.). SIBUR’s petrochemicals business utilises mainly own feedstock, which is produced by the Midstream segment using by-products purchased from oil and gas companies. More than 26,000 employees working in SIBUR contribute to the success of customers engaged in the chemical, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, construction, energy and other industries in 80 countries worldwide. In 2018, SIBUR reported revenue of USD 9.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA of USD 3.3 billion.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR-Khimprom has sharply reduced its expandable polystyrene (EPS) prices for December shipments to Ukrainian buyers, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Thus, the reduction in prices of standard grades of material is USD95/tonne.

Thus, December prices of material for the Ukrainian market were at USD1,125/tonne FCA Voronezh, excluding VAT, this month.

Prices dropped not only for December shipments, but also for quantities that were delivered to Ukrainian customers in the last week of November. Some customers already received EPS at new prices at the end of last week.

Import prices of Russian EPS have fallen to the lowest level for all purchases of Russian material by Ukrainian buyers since 2012. Purchase prices of such material, including delivery to a converter's warehouse, will be about UAH36,500/tonne CPT Kiev, including VAT, on the back of the strengthening of the hryvnya exchange rate against the dollar.

SIBUR-Khimprom (part of SIBUR Holding) specializes in the processing of liquid hydrocarbons and is one of the leading Russian producers of a number of the most important petrochemical products. The company has three main production capacities: production of butyl alcohols and 2-ethylhexanol with a capacity of 160,000 tonnes per year, production of ethylbenzene (220,000 tonnes per year), styrene monomer (SM) production (135,000 tonnes per year) and polystyrene (PS) production (100,000 tonnes per year), ethylene and propylene unit, production of eco-friendly plasticizer DOTF (100,000 tonnes per year).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Kazakhstan rose in the first ten months of 2019 by 38% year on year to 51,800 tonnes, reported MRC analysts.

Demand for PVC increased from local companies in October, which was mostly caused by the further re-sale of polymer to Russia, and imports totalled 6,600 tonnes over the stated month versus 4,600 tonnes in September. Thus, overall imports of resin reached 51,800 tonnes in January-October 2019, compared to 37,500 tonnes a year earlier. It is also worth adding that such a significant increase in imports this year was caused by the further resale of resin to Russia.

Due to the geographical position, Chinese producers with the share of about 92% of the local market over the stated period were the main PVC suppliers to Kazakhstan. Russia was the second largest PVC supplier, shipments of Russian resin reached 3,900 tonnes over the stated period.

MRC