Petro Rabigh to take off-stream LLDPE No. 2 unit for maintenance in late February

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical (Petro Rabigh) is planning to shut down its No. 2 linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia for maintenance in late February, 2020, reported NCT with reference to sources familiar with the matte.

At present the restart dates of No. 2 LLDPE unit with the capacity of 250,000 tons/year could not be ascertained.

Petro Rabigh also operates No. 1 LLDPE unit at the same location with a capacty of 350,000 tons/year, which will be also taken off-stream for a turnaround at the same period of time.

Besides, the company has here a 300,000 tons/year high density polyethylene (HDPE) unit and a 160,000 tons/year low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit.

Sources also said they expect no impact on supplies during the shutdown.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, LLDPE shipments to the Russian market grew in 2019 by 13% year on year to 398,000 tonnes. Domestic producers increased their output by 32%, thereby reducing dependence on imports by 6%

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, has an annual output capacity of 18 million tonnes of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals. Thus, the complex currently has a cracker to produce 1.6-million t/y of ethylene, as well as downstream production of polyethylene, polypropylene, propylene oxide, ethylene glycol and butene-1.
MRC

Petro Rabigh to take off-stream HDPE plant for turnaround in late February

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical (Petro Rabigh) is planning to shut its high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia for maintenance in late February, 2020, reported NCT with reference to sources familiar with the matte.

At present the restart dates of this HDPE plant with the capacity of 300,000 tons/year could not be ascertained.

Petro Rabigh also operates No. 1 and 2 linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) units at the same location with a combined capacty of 600,000 tons/year.

Besides, the company has here a 160,000 tons/year low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit.

Sources also said they expect no impact on supplies during the shutdown.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's HDPE production totalled about 868,000 tonnes in 2019, down by 10% year on year. All manufacturers reduced production volumes, primarily due to long scheduled maintenance works.

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, has an annual output capacity of 18 million tonnes of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals. Thus, the complex currently has a cracker to produce 1.6-million t/y of ethylene, as well as downstream production of polyethylene, polypropylene, propylene oxide, ethylene glycol and butene-1.
MRC

LyondellBasell Houston refinery gasoline unit shut after Sunday fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The gasoline-producing unit at Lyondell Basell Industries 263,776 barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston refinery was shut after a fire on Sunday, reported Nasdaq with reference to sources familiar with the plant's operations.

The 90,000 bpd gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) is expected to remain shut for at least the remainder of the week, the sources said. No injuries were reported.

Lyondell did not respond to a request on Tuesday for comment.

The sources said a crack was found in the FCCU's regenerator, in which the catalyst used to convert gas oil to gasoline is recycled.

As MRC wrote previously, iin September 2016, LyondellBasell selected its La Porte, Texas, manufacturing complex as the site for a new high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant. The plant will be the first commercial plant to employ LyondellBasell's new proprietary Hyperzone PE technology and will have an annual capacity of 1.1 billion pounds (500,000 metric tons). Construction began in early 2017 with start-up planned for Q1 2020.

According to MRC's DataScope report, HDPE imports into Russia grew in January-December 2019 by 44% year on year, reaching 363,100 tonnes. Pipe grade and film grade polyethylene (PE) accounted for the greatest increase in imports.

LyondellBasell is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies. The company manufactures products at 57 sites in 18 countries. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

Petro Rabigh to shut LLDPE No. 1 unit for maintenance in late February

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical (Petro Rabigh) is planning to shut its No. 1 linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia for maintenance in late February, 2020, reported NCT with reference to sources familiar with the matte.

At present the restart dates of No. 1 LLDPE unit with the capacity of 350,000 tons/year could not be ascertained.

Petro Rabigh also operates No. 2 LLDPE unit at the same location with a capacty of 250,000 tons/yea.

Besides, the company has here a 300,000 tons/year high density polyethylene (HDPE) unit and a 160,000 tons/year low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit.

Sources also said they expect no impact on supplies during the shutdown.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, LLDPE shipments to the Russian market grew in 2019 by 13% year on year to 398,000 tonnes. Domestic producers increased their output by 32%, thereby reducing dependence on imports by 6%

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, has an annual output capacity of 18 million tonnes of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals. Thus, the complex currently has a cracker to produce 1.6-million t/y of ethylene, as well as downstream production of polyethylene, polypropylene, propylene oxide, ethylene glycol and butene-1.
MRC

Taiwanese CPC offers spot naphtha in rare move

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan's CPC Corp has offered to sell naphtha cargoes, industry sources said on Tuesday, a rare move by a company which is normally a buyer of naphtha, reported Reuters.

CPC has offered at least 70,000 tonnes of the fuel for loading in the first half of March from Kaohsiung and Taipei through a tender due to be awarded this week, the sources said, adding the exact dates were not clear.

The offer comes at a time when naphtha fundamentals are at their weakest in months as lackluster petrochemicals demand sent the crack value down 16% on Monday to a 4-1/2 month low of $60.88 a tonne.

The crack, or the premium of refining a barrel of Brent crude into naphtha, eased further on Tuesday to USD59.28 a tonne, still a 4-1/2 month low.

It was unclear why CPC has offered the petrochemical feedstock but it has shut a 380,000 tonnes per year (tpy) naphtha cracker in Lin Yuan for a scheduled turnaround from November 2019 to January 2020, according to Reuters data and as MRC wrote before.

It has another 720,000 tpy cracker in Lin Yuan but the operating rates of that unit were not clear.

Several naphtha crackers in Asia have cut throughput to combat high naphtha feedstock costs but low petrochemical margins.

CPC also operates two refineries, one in Talin and another in Taoyuan, Taiwan, which have a combined capacity of over 500,000 barrels per day (bpd).

It also has a condensate splitter, which produces naphtha.

Despite the refineries and splitter, the company is net short of naphtha feedstock.

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).

CPC Corporation, Taiwan, is engaged in the exploration, production, refining, procurement, transportation, storage, and marketing of oil and gas. The company provides fuel oil, including automotive unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel, low-sulfur fuel oil, marine distillate fuels, marine residual fuels, and aviation fuel; petrochemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, para-xylene, and ortho-xylene; liquefied petroleum gas products comprising liquefied petroleum gas, propane, butane, and a propane/butane mixture; lubricants, motor oil, industrial oil, grease, and marilube oil; SNC products, including petroleum ether, naphtha, toluene, xylene, crude octene, methyl alcohol, normal paraffin, viscosity-graded asphalt cement, and sulfur; and natural gas.
MRC