EPS imports into Belarus fall by 2% in 2019

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of expandable polystyrene (EPS) into Belarus dropped in 2019 by 2% year on year, totalling 12,900 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

December 2019 EPS imports into the country fell by 18% from November to 900 tonnes from 1,100 tonnes. Imports of material into the Republic of Belarus were 1,000 tonnes in December 2018.

Russia is the main EPS importer to Belarus.

Imports of Russian material to the Belarusian market decreased in 2019 by 15% year on year: from 9,300 tonnes in January-December 2018 to 7,900 tonnes. The share of EPS imports from Russia in the total shipments to the country also decreased last year to 61% from 70% in 2018.

December 2019 shipments of Russian EPS to the region were 506 tonnes versus 537 tonnes in November, whereas imports of material were 459 tonnes in December 2018.

At the same time, the share of imports of Dutch material almost doubled last year: from 6% (800 tonnes) to 11% (1,500 tonnes).

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Former Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih has been appointed minister of a newly created investment ministry, according to a royal decree, reported Chemweek with reference to the Saudi Press Agency's statement on Tuesday.

He takes on a key new portfolio as the country tries to attract more foreign investors. The new ministry replaces the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA).

Falih was removed last year from his posts as energy minister and Saudi Aramco chairman in the lead-up to Aramco’s initial public offering. Saudi Arabia's King Salman appointed his son Abdulaziz as energy minister in September to replace Falih, who had held the post since 2017.

Attracting investors to Saudi Arabia is a key part of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s (MBS) economic transformation plan, which calls for the country’s diversification from a near total reliance on crude oil and building new industries. SAGIA has struggled in the last few years to attract investors.

Other royal orders created new ministries for tourism and sports and replaced the kingdom’s minister of media with Majid Al-Qasabi, on an acting basis. Al-Qasabi is a close adviser to MBS.

As MRC informed previously, in October 2019, McDermott International announced that it had been awarded a contract by Saudi Aramco and Total Raffinage Chimie (Total) for their joint venture (JV) Amiral steam cracker project at Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Amiral is a JV in which Aramco holds 62.5% and Total the rest. The plant, designed to produce 1.5 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) of ethylene, will be one of the world's largest mixed-feed crackers.

Aramco and Total launched their USD5-billion Amiral JV project in October 2018. The steam cracker will be fed with a mixture of 50% ethane and refinery off-gases. It will supply ethylene to a downstream 1 MMt/y polyethylene manufacturing complex and other petrochemical products. The project aims to fully exploit operational synergies with the adjacent refinery, owned by Satorp, another JV between Aramco and Total. Third-party investors, including Daelim and Ineos, will locate plants at the value park adjacent to Amiral with a combined investment of USD4 billion. A final investment decision is expected in 2021.

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).

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- South African petrochemical producer Sasol said Monday its low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit is expected to be completed in the second half of 2020, delayed from its previous plan to start up the cracker and LDPE plant by the end of 2019, reported S&P Global.

On 13 January, an explosion and fire damaged part of Sasol's 420,000 mt/year LDPE plant as it was coming online, as MRC informed earlier. The unit was shut at the time.

The cracker and LDPE plant are part of the new Lake Charles Chemical Project, or LCCP, and among one of the 13 new LDPE plants that emerged through 2017 to 2019.

Sasol's LCCP is 99% completed and operating with 80% production capacity in use, the company said in their interim financial results on Monday.

The company projected the LCCP would cost USD8.9 billion in 2014, but now is expected to cost an additional 43.8% at an estimated USD12.8 billion due to technical complications.

Sasol saw a 73% drop in earnings per share during the second half of 2019 amid delays with the project.

"The financial results were impacted mostly by a weak macroeconomic environment, which resulted in lower margins, and the LCCP being in a ramp-up phase," Sasol said.

The LLCP's linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), ethylene oxide and ethylene glycol units are producing at targeted levels, while the ETO unit achieved "beneficial operation" at the end of January, the company said.

As MRC wrote before, Sasol announced that its world-scale US ethane cracker with the capacity of 1.5 mln tonnes per year reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol’s new cracker, the heart of its Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP), is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities to come online and will provide feedstock to our six new derivative units at the company's Lake Charles multi-asset site.

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).

Sasol is an international integrated chemicals and energy company that leverages technologies and the expertise of our 31 270 people working in 32 countries. The company develops and commercialises technologies, and builds and operates world-scale facilities to produce a range of high-value product stream, including liquid fuels, petrochemicals and low-carbon electricity.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- A portion of Marathon Petroleum Corp’s 363,000 barrel-per-day Carson refinery in California has been shut following a fire, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement on Wednesday.

The fire, which began on Tuesday, has been contained and is under control, Marathon said in a statement, noting that no injuries were reported.The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department tweeted earlier on Wednesday that the refinery perimeter has been secured and that it did not anticipate the need to evacuate area residents.

"An explosion preceded fire in a cooling tower at the Marathon Refinery," the department tweeted. "Marathon personnel (are) keeping flames in check via fixed ground monitors while they work to depressurize the system. Los Angeles County Fire Department is assisting."

In a filing with the state pollution regulator, the refinery reported an "electrical/mechanical malfunction."

As MRC wrote previously, the gasoline-producing unit at Marathon Petroleum Corp’s 585,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, remained shut for six weeks for repairs in late Juney-early August 2019. The 140,000-bpd gasoline-producing Fluidic Catalytic Cracking Unit 3 (FCCU 3) was shut on June 29 2019 to repair a leak. The refinery’s 65,000 bpd reformer, called Ultraformer 4, was also shut down.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical has started up expanded PVC capacities in Louisiana and Germany, reported NCT with reference to the company's statement during an earnings call.

CEO Albert Chao stated that expansion will add 750 million pounds of PVC (340,194 tons/year) production to its Burghausen and Gendorf sites in Germany, as well as its Geismar site in Louisiana, the US.

Westlake also announced that it has increased its stakes in the LACC ethylene joint venture with Lotte Chemical in October 2019 to 46.8% from the previous 35%.

As MRC wrote earlier, Westlake Chemical Corporation saw lower profits in the fourth quarter of 2019, hurt by reduced global sales prices for its major products. The chemical maker posted a profit of USD72 million down around 41% from USD123 million it earned in the prior-year quarter. The Vinyls segment generated sales of USD1.5 billion, down around 1% year over year. Operating income in the segment was USD68 million, down around 46% year over year. The decline was caused by reduced sales prices for caustic soda and PVC resin. Revenues for full-year 2019 were USD8.12 billion, down around 6% year over year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, contrary to seasonal factors, Russian producers of unmixed PVC have maintained a high level of capacity utilisation. Russia's overal PVC output totalled 91,700 tonnes in January 2020, up by 4% year on year. January production of unmixed PVC was 91,700 tonnes versus 87,760 tonnes in January 2019 and 81,400 tonnes in December 2019. Thus, despite relatively weak demand for resin from the domestic market, the average capacity utilisation exceeded 95% last month. Russia's overall PVC production reached 975,000 tonnes in 2019, compared to 958,600 tonnes a year earlier.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is an international manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, chlor-alkali and derivative products, PVC suspension and specialty resins, PVC Compounds, and PVC building products including siding, pipe, fittings and specialty components, windows, fence, deck and film.
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