Versalis operations unaffected by Italian emergency measures

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Operations at Italian petrochemical producer Versalis have not affected by emergency quarantine measures in the country, reported S&P Global with reference to a company spokesperson's statement Thursday.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte extended its emergency coronavirus measures Wednesday evening and announced the closure of "non-essential" commercial businesses. This follows the announcement of a nationwide lockdown on Monday, limiting movement for around 60 million people. Under these measures people will only be allowed to leave their homes for work or health reasons.

Factories can operate as long as safety protocols are in place, Conte told a press conference.

"Versalis (Eni) confirms that operations are being carried on regularly. Since the emergency outbreak, the company has promptly put in place all necessary measures to protect its personnel's health," the company told S&P Global Platts in a statement.

"The progress of the epidemic is being monitored in order to continue to guarantee maximum health and safety protection of all employees," the statement continued.

Versalis has three steam crackers in Italy, capable of producing 1.675 million mt of ethylene, 750,000 of propylene and 285,000 mt of butadiene a year.

As MRC informed earlier, Versalis shut its cracking unit in Priolo, Sicily, for repairs in the last days of December, 2019. The capacity of the cracking unit at this complex is 490,000 tonnes of ethylene and 130,000 tonnes of propylene per year. The maintenance works lasted until February 2020. Loading at this cracker was reduced in November and December 2019.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

Versalis is a petrochemical company, a 100% subsidiary of the Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA. The company produces a wide range of petrochemical products, and is also one of the world's leading elastomer companies.
Eni spa (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi) is an Italian oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. Eni operates in 70 countries.
MRC

SHARQ restarts No. 4 MEG plant in Jubail

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s SHARQ, or Eastern Petrochemical Company, has resumed operations at its No.4 monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant, according to Polymerupdate.

A Polymerupdate source in Saudi Arabia informed that, the company brought on-stream this plant following a maintenance turnaround in early March 2020. The plant was shut on February 6, 2020.

Located at Jubail in Saudi Arabia, the No. 4 MEG plant has a production capacity of 700,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, SHARQ shut its high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) lines for a two-month turnaround in January 2020. Located in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, each of the two PE lines has a production capacity of 400,000 tons/year. The precise duration of the shutdown was not available at the time of press.

PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.

As per MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's PET consumption increased in January 2020 by 9% year on year. Totally Russia recycled 55,390 tonnes of PET chips in January (these data do not take into account the shipment of Russian material to the countries of the Customs Union).
MRC

Versalis joins the Circular Plastics Alliance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Versalis, Eni's chemicals company, has joined the Circular Plastics Alliance (CPA) to actively contribute achieving the ambitious European target of using 10 million tonnes of recycled plastic in new products by 2025, said Eni on its site.

The aim of the Alliance, promoted by the European Commission, with numerous member companies and associations across the value chain, is to boost plastic recycling in Europe and at the same time develop the market for secondary raw materials.

By joining CPA, Versalis has submitted its voluntary pledges in line with its circular economy strategy that is defined by three main pillars: eco-design, recycling technologies and alternative feedstocks.

With regard to eco-design, Versalis has committed to using at least half of its packaging, for transporting products on pallets and in containers, with up to 50% of recycled material.

In the recycling and feedstock diversification areas, Versalis has committed to increasing the production capacity of Versalis Revive®, its new line of polyethylene and polystyrene products, to contain up to 70% of mechanically recycled plastic.

Furthermore, to boost the recovery and recycling of all types of plastics that cannot be mechanically treated, Versalis has pledged to develop a new chemical recycling technology to transform mixed plastic waste into raw material to manufacture new virgin polymers, identical to those originating from fossil sources and suitable for all applications, including those that require high quality and performance, like food packaging.

Versalis’ pledges also include assessments conducted by certified life cycle analysis (LCA) to prove the effective sustainability of all the initiatives undertaken, in addition to raising awareness of the responsible use of plastics in daily activities amongst its employees.

As MRC reported earlier, Versalis is embarking on a wide-reaching transformation that could see its sales of intermediates and plastics drop from around 5 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) currently to 4 MMt/y by 2035 and to about 3 MMt/y by 2050.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

Versalis is a petrochemical company, a 100% subsidiary of the Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA. The company produces a wide range of petrochemical products, and is also one of the world's leading elastomer companies.
Eni spa (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi) is an Italian oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. Eni operates in 70 countries.
MRC

SK Advanced restarted its PDH plant in Ulsan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Major producer SK Advanced has restarted its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant following a planned outage, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that, the company resumed operations at the plant early this week. The plant was shut for maintenance on January 29, 2020 and was expected to resume production in end-February.

Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a propylene production capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, SK Advanced last undertook an emergency shutdown at its PDH plant at Ulsan on November 16, 2019 owing to a technical issue. The unit was brought on-stream on November 20, 2019. Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a propylene production capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

SK Advanced, a joint venture of South Korea's largest LPG supplier SK Gas and Advanced Petrochemical Company (APC) of Saudi Arabia.
MRC

AFPM cancels annual refining industry conference because of coronavirus concerns

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers canceled its annual refining industry conference over coronavirus concerns, adding to the events scrapped as the global outbreak of the virus spreads across the United States, reported Reuters.

The conference, scheduled to take place in Austin, Texas, later this month, was one of the largest U.S. conferences to bring together oil refining industry officials and chief executives. The conference regularly drew more than 1,000 participants, AFPM said.

"It is clear to us that canceling these meetings is the right course of action to protect the health and safety of our meeting registrants and vendors, our staff, and the Austin and New Orleans communities," said AFPM Chief Executive Chet Thompson in a statement.

The group also canceled its International Petrochemical Conference scheduled for the end of the month in New Orleans.

More than 119,100 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and 4,298 have died, the vast majority in China, according to a Reuters tally. The United States has 975 cases and 30 deaths.

As MRC informed previously, BP has recently said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40 per cent this year, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.

We also remind that in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.
MRC