Primary plastics machinery shipments in North America down in Q3

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The shipments value of primary plastics processing machinery in North America decreased in the third quarter of 2019, according to the Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES) of the Plastics Industry Association, said Canplastics.

Compared to Q2 2019 shipments, total Q3 2019 shipments dropped by 0.5% to US$293.7 million. One bright spot was extrusion machinery shipments, which increased in the third quarter, with single and twin-screw extruder shipments rising 5.3% and 13.9%, respectively. Shipments of injection molding equipment fell 1.9%.

Shipments for Q3 were down 15.9% from the same quarter in 2019. The shipments value of twin-screw extruders fell by 29.3% and single-screw extruders decreased by 5.6%. Injection molding machinery shipments were down 15.5% in value from the third quarter of 2018.

"The plastics industry is a mature industry and its growth will continue to track gross domestic product (GDP),” Perc Pineda, PhD, chief economist at the Washington, D.C.-based Plastics Industry Association, said in a statement. “The third quarter numbers moving sideways are in sync with weaker manufacturing activity in the economy this year."

Internationally, exports of plastics machinery totalled USD378.4 in the third quarter, a 0.1% decrease from the second quarter. Mexico, Canada, and Germany remained the largest U.S. export markets. These three countries combined represented 48% of U.S. plastics machinery exports in the third quarter.

China was the fourth largest market in Q3, with plastics machinery exports totalling USD22.2 million, a 27.6% drop from the second quarter. Despite uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the UK remained one of the top 10 export markets for plastics machinery in the third quarter. Imports of plastics machinery decreased 0.9% in the third quarter to USD785.7 million. Fewer exports and imports have caused the plastics machinery trade deficit to decrease by 1.7%.

"The challenges and concerns of the business sector of the economy today – and the plastics industry is no exception – are largely driven first by external factors – weak global economic growth and ongoing trade disputes – feeding into the U.S., which is largely an open economy,” Pineda said. “It is safe to say, that it is unlikely that the ongoing trade disputes will be resolved this year."

As MRC informed earlier, Global plastics and rubber machinery industry sales are projected to drop 10% this year and 5% in 2020. That’s according to European and German plastics and rubber machinery industry trade associations, speaking at K 2019. The Euromap association, an umbrella group of nine national European plastics and rubber machinery trade groups, projected that global sales for the machinery sector will drop 10% to EUR33.1bn this year, with a further 5% fall to EUR31.5bn in 2020.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of products from polymers rose in September by 5.2% year on year. However, this figure increased by 1.7% year on year in the first nine months of 2019. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, September production of unreinforced and non-combined films was slightly over 107,300 tonnes, compared to 110,000 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in January-September 2019 by 9.1% year on year to 893,000 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China launched its long-awaited national pipeline company Monday, state-owned Xinhua news agency reported, a move that is set to expand infrastructure access to energy industry stakeholders, reported S&P Global.

The new company is expected to break up long-existing monopolies in China's oil and gas sectors, with the ultimate goal of enhancing supply security and lowering the cost of the country's energy consumption, market sources said.

"(This is) a key step towards deepening China's oil and gas reforms by increasing suppliers and supply channels of upstream resources and building a more efficient and competitive pipeline transportation system across the supply chain," an official close to the National Pipeline Company was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

The company will break up the country's oil and gas pipeline transportation, from upstream production and downstream sales, and will facilitate third-party access to oil and gas infrastructure, helping boost market competition and efficiency of resource allocation, the official said.

It will be responsible for building and interconnecting oil and gas trunk pipelines, gas storage and peak shaving facilities, transporting crude oil, oil product and natural gas through the pipelines, as well as disclosing pipeline and storage capacity availability to third parties, and enabling them to apply for access, he said.

Sources said some LNG receiving terminals under the three national oil companies will also be put under the new company, but this could not be confirmed.

Local media said the new entity would be controlled by the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, which holds 40% share, and jointly managed and operated by PetroChina (30%), Sinopec (20%) and CNOOC (10%).

Three main business departments - crude, natural gas and oil products - will be set up to operate the different pipelines and facilities, local media reported. Two PetroChina and CNOOC sources had earlier said that the three major companies - PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC - would send senior officials to assist in the management of the new company.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, Sinopec Guangzhou Petrochemical, part of China's petrochemical giant - Sinopec, has resumed operations at its cracker following a turnaround. The company has restarted the cracker on December 5, 2019. The cracker was shut for maintenance on October 12, 2019. Located in the Guangzhou province of China, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 260,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 150,000 mt/year.

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) -- The Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), the voice of the chemical industry in the Arabian Gulf, has highlighted the growth and success of the chemical industry in the Arabian Gulf following the release of ‘GPCA Pulse of the Chemical Industry Report’ today at the 14th Annual GPCA Forum, which took place from December 3-5, 2019 at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, said Gpca.

The report highlights chemical production, export, sales, job creation and investments made in the Arabian Gulf in 2018.

This year, the forum themed ‘Winning through Strategic Partnerships’ was inaugurated by His Excellency Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhi, Oman’s Minister of Oil and Gas. It included a prestigious speaker line-up that consisted of senior industry leaders, representing some of the world’s largest chemical firms.

The report outlined that the GCC chemical industry achieved a revenue of USD 84.1 billion in 2018, with production capacity reaching 174.8 million tons, signaling an increase of 2.8% in terms of contribution to the regional GDP. Due to the increased demand of chemicals by the GCC producers across the globe, the production capacity of the GCC chemical industry was also added by 13.3. million tons in 2018.

The report has revealed that Oman’s chemical sector has the highest contribution to GDP among the GCC countries, with 5.1% in 2018, double the figure in the region. This achievement is attributable in part to the manufacturing sector being inscribed within the top five sectors identified by Oman’s National Program for Diversification.

Saudi Arabia has maintained its exceptional standing in 2018, retaining its spot in the top ten exporters of chemicals today globally. It is also the region’s powerhouse, with the largest volume output and chemical sales revenue. In 2018, Saudi producers generated USD 62 billion in revenue. The Saudi chemical industry is also a champion in terms of portfolio diversification, with GPCA member companies in Saudi Arabia producing as many as 126 products with a total capacity of 119.2 million tons.

As MRC informed earlier, The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) ethylene production capacity is expected to surge by 53% over the next decade to reach 39.4m tonnes/year in 2029. This translates to about 1.5m tonnes/year of new ethylene capacity additions, compared with 1.2m tonnes/year in 2010-2018, the GPCA said in a report released at its annual forum in Dubai. The GCC's overall ethylene production capacity stood at 25.8m tonnes/year in 2018. The region has a significant competitive cost advantage compared to other parts of the world, as most ethylene production is ethane based. Saudi Arabia will account for half of the incremental ethylene capacity additions.
MRC

MOOSCOW (MRC) -- Advocacy group the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA) has filed a formal comment with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR,) asking it to bring back the 25 per cent tariff on Chinese injection molds, as per Canplastics.

In July 2018, the U.S. government imposed the 25 per cent tariff on imported plastic injection molds from China. On Dec. 28, 2018, however, the government put a hold on the tariff. Importers and manufacturers had until Nov. 30, 2019 to register their support or opposition for extending the tariff suspension or reinstating the 25 per cent tariff on Chinese imports. The comments were requested ahead of the scheduled Dec. 28, 2019 deadline, when the USTR is scheduled to reinstate the tariffs.

Last month, the AMBA hired Washington lobby firm Franklin Partnership to call on the Trump Administration to bring back tariffs on injection molds made in China. “Under President Trump, American manufacturing has grown due to many of his policies enacted,” AMBA managing director Kym Conis said in a Nov. 11 statement. “When the Trump Administration announced that 25 per cent tariffs on imported Chinese molds would take effect in July 2018, our members immediately saw an increase in business and requests for quotes; however, once the U.S. Trade Representative granted the exclusion from the tariffs, those orders dried up."

The AMBA’s formal submission to USTR – filed on Nov. 29 – identified, “a recent survey by Harbour Results Inc., manufacturing consultants with an expertise in downstream industries, show[ing] that 60 per cent of mold builders reported losing more business in 2019 to low-cost countries compared to previous years."

"We recognize the challenges seeking structural reforms in China and applaud USTR for working to address these issues long overlooked by previous administrations,” Kym Conis said in a Nov. 29 statement. “However, we remain concerned too many [import exclusion] requesters are using price as their primary motivation for requesting a 301 tariff exclusion extension and have not made significant efforts to identify U.S. or third-country alternatives, which are readily available."

As MRC informed earlier, Global plastics and rubber machinery industry sales are projected to drop 10% this year and 5% in 2020. That’s according to European and German plastics and rubber machinery industry trade associations, speaking at K 2019. The Euromap association, an umbrella group of nine national European plastics and rubber machinery trade groups, projected that global sales for the machinery sector will drop 10% to EUR33.1bn this year, with a further 5% fall to EUR31.5bn in 2020.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of products from polymers rose in September by 5.2% year on year. However, this figure increased by 1.7% year on year in the first nine months of 2019. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, September production of unreinforced and non-combined films was slightly over 107,300 tonnes, compared to 110,000 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in January-September 2019 by 9.1% year on year to 893,000 tonnes.

Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., AMBA has 200 member companies and over 50 partner companies (supplier members).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell said it had shut a unit at its Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands after a crude spill a day earlier, reported Reuters.

Shell did not specify the unit concerned, but industry monitor Genscape said the 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude unit (CD6) was shut on Monday morning.

Genscape said one of the furnace stacks of the cogeneration unit was also shut on Monday morning.

Shell did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The refinery is Europe’s largest and has a capacity to process 404,000 bpd of crude.

As MRC informed before, Shell Singapore was to restart its naphtha cracker in Bukom Island last week following a two months maintenance shutdown since the beginning of October 2019. Thus, this cracker was taken off-stream for the turnaround on 1 October 2019. The cracker is able to produce 960,000 tons/year of ethylene and 550,000 tons/year of propylene.

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.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC