Chandra Asri receives tax holiday incentive from government for 2nd petrochemical complex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (CAP) has recently received tax incentive from the Ministry of Finance, for the development of its second petrochemical complex, according to IDN Financials.

Erwin Ciputra, President Director of CAP, said the incentive included a 100% corporate income tax (PPh) cut for the first 20 years after the petrochemical complex is operational, and 50% for the next two years.

The tax incentive is given, because the Indonesian government wants to improve the investment climate while simultaneously spurring national economic growth. In addition, this policy is expected to attract more investors to Indonesia.

"We express our highest appreciation to the Ministry of Finance and the government for their continued support for improving the overall investment climate," Ciputra explained through an official statement .

As MRC reported earlier, PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical shut its naphtha cracker in Cilegon for maintenance in early-August 2019. The plant remained off-stream for a period of around 6-7 weeks. Located at Cilegon in Indonesia, the naphtha cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 860,000 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 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

CAP is the largest integrated petrochemical company in Indonesia and operates the country’s only world-scale size Naphtha Cracker. The CAP plant is strategically located in Banten province, providing convenient access to key customers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema is expanding its executive committee to give a “broader and more diversified” representation of its business lines by adding three new members and naming executive vice president Marc Schuller as COO, said the company.

Schuller will oversee coating solutions, industrial specialties and advanced materials, and will be responsible for North America and global raw materials and energy procurement, the company said.

Thierry Le Henaff will continue to oversee the Group’s R&D, headed by Christian Collette, Arkema’s chief technical officer.

Arkema CEO Thierry Le Henaff will continue to oversee group research and development which is headed by CTO Christian Collett.

The three new members - Marie-Pierre Chevallier, Richard Jenkins and Erwoan Pezron - will join Arkema's executive committee on 4 May. They will report to Schuller and their responsibilities set out on that date.

As it was written earlier, in October 2019, Arkema (Colombes, France) announced the proposed divestment of its Functional Polyolefins business to SK Global Chemical (Seoul, South Korea), a subsidiary of SK, the major South Korean corporation. With this project, Arkema continues its shift towards specialty chemicals and advanced materials.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea’s Lotte Chemical has shut its naphtha cracker after an explosion at the plant in the southwestern city of Seosan, which injured 31 people, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement on Wednesday.

The explosion, which was triggered by a fire at a compressor in Lotte Chemical’s naphtha cracker at around 3 a.m. local time (1800 GMT), has been contained and is under control, the company said in a statement.

The petrochemical maker said it has suspended its naphtha cracker’s operations in Daesan county in Seosan due to the fire and will seek to minimize supply disruptions.

The company is looking into the exact cause of the accident, it said, adding there was no leak of toxic chemicals.

As MRC wrote before, Lotte Chemical has shut down its Deasan cracker for maintenance turnaround on October 14, 2019. The cracker resumed production on November 10, 2019. Located at Daesan in South Korea, currently the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 1.1 million mt/year and propylene capacity of 540,000 mt/year.

Lotte Chemical runs two naphtha crackers in South Korea. One cracker is located in Daesan county in Seosan which can produce 1.1 million tonnes per year of ethylene with the other 1.2 million tonnes per year cracker in the southwestern city of Yeosu.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Production volume of chemical and petrochemical products registered a 1.9 percent growth in 10 months of the current year (from March 21 to Jan. 20), said Mehrnews.

Statistics showed that 45,885,000 tons of petrochemcials were produced from March 21, 2019 to Jan. 20, 2020, showing a 1.9 percent growth as compared to the same period of last year.

In this period, production of polystyrene recorded a 60 percent decline while production of polycarbonate and resin epoxy registered a 48.8 and 11.9 percent slump respectively.

In the meantime, production of rubber styrene butadiene, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) recorded a 19, 9.5 and 8.7 percent increase respectively.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Algeria has restarted the Sidi Rezine oil refinery in Algiers after modernization works that lift annual output to 3.645 million tons from 2.7 million tons a year ago, Hydrocarbonprocessing reported.

Fuel importer Algeria aims to start exporting gasoline next year and diesel in 2024 after upgrades to its refineries, state news agency APS said, quoting Sidi Rezine plant manager Hassen Boukhalfa.

Inaugurated by Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad, the Sidi Rezine refinery was shut down in 2018 for modernization work by China Petrolum Engineering and Construction (CPECC).

Algeria currently produces about 30 million tons of refined products a year and imports large quantities to meet growing domestic demand.

OPEC member Algeria’s gasoline output reached 2.7 million tons in 2019, against total domestic consumption of 4 million tons, Boukhalfa said.

It aims to stop imports this year and begin exporting in 2021 after completion of the upgrades at other refineries.

The modernization plan will also help to increase diesel production, paving the way for first exports in 2024, Boukhalfa said.

As MRC informed earlier, Turkey and Algeria will jointly establish a petrochemicals plant in Adana on the Mediterranean coast, Algerian Energy Minister Mohammed Arkab told state-run Anadolu Agency. Turkey’s Ronesans Holding and Algeria’s state-owned energy company Sonatrach will take part in the project, Arkab said on the margins of the Turkey-Algeria Business Forum. The facility is planned in Seyhan industrial zone for petrochemical development and will have production capacity of 450,000 tons per year of polypropylene (PP). The construction of the plant will be completed in two years and the facility is expected to become operational in July 2022, Arkab said.Sonatarch will supply the planned plant with 540,000 tons per year of propane that will be used to produce polypropylene, he added.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC