PE production in Russia up by 59% in Jan-Mar 2020

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's overall polyethylene (PE) production totalled 734,600 tonnes in the first three months of 2020, up by 59% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

March total PE production in Russia rose to 260,500 tonnes, whereas this figure was at 237,800 tonnes a month earlier, output of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and LLDPE increased. Thus, overall PE production reached 734,600 tonnes in January-March 2020, compared to 460,600 tonnes a year earlier. Production of all PE grades rose, but LLDPE accounted for the greatest increase, which was provided by ZapSibNeftekhim.

The structure of PE production by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

March total HDPE production grew to 142,300 tonnes from 140,500 tonnes a month earlier. ZapSibNeftekhim raised its capacity utilisation. Russian plants' overall HDPE output reached 420,600 tonnes in January-March 2020, up by 78% year on year.

Last month's total low density polyethylene (LDPE) production grew to 61,000 tonnes from 53,700 tonnes in February, Gazpron neftekhim Salavat, Kazanorgsintez and Tomskneftekhim increased their output. Thus, overall production of this PE grade totalled 173,200 tonnes over the stated period, up by 3% year on year.

March LLDPE production rose to 57,200 tonnes from 43,600 tonnes a month earlier, ZapSibNeftekhim increased its capacity utilisation by 19%. Overall LLDPE output rose to 140,800 tonnes in the first three months of 2020 from 56,500 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Production of polypropylene (PP) in Russia increased to about 472,900 tonne in first three months of this year, down 37% year on year, compared to the same period of 2019. The main increase in production volumes was provided by ZapSibNeftekhim, MRC DataScope said.

March PP production in Russia fell to 146,600 tonnes compared to 157,700 tonnes a month earlier. SIBUR Tobolsk shut its PP production in mid March for a turnaround. Russia's overall PP production reached 472,900 tonnes in the first three months of 2020, compared to 346,000 tonnes a year earlier. Five out of eight producers increased capacity utilisation, while the main increase in operating hours was provided by a new producer - ZapSibNeftekhim.

The structure of PP production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

SIBUR Tobolsk shut its facilities for 45-day turnaround in mid-March, the total production indicator was 22,900 tonnes against 44,200 tonnes a month earlier. The Tobolsk plant's total PP production reached 122,600 tonnes in the first three months of 2020, up by 3% year on year.

ZapSibNeftekhim in March produced about 37,500 tonnes of polypropylene compared with 38,000 tonnes in February. The production output in the first three months of this year totalled 116,400 tonnes.

Poliom produced about 18,000 tonnes of PP in March, compared with 16,880 tonnes in February. Total PP production at the plant over the reported period was about 51,600 tonnes, down 2% year on year.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim produced 19,100 tonnes of propylene polymers in February versus 17,200 tonnes a month earlier. The producer's PP output exceeded 55,100 tonnes in January-March 2020 compared with 53,600 tonnes year on year.

Tomskneftekhim in March produced about 13,400 tonnes of polypropylene to 11,500 tonnes in February. Total PP production by the producer increased to 38,000 tonnes in January-March 2020, up 3% year on year.

March PP production at Ufaorgsintez increased to about 11,200 tonnes from 10,500 tonnes a month earlier. The Ufa plant's overall output of polymer reached 32,300 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 4% year on year.

Neftekhimiya (Kapotnya) last month produced about 13,100 tonnes of PP, compared with 10,800 tonnes in February. The plant's overall PP output reached 36,900 tonnes over the stated period, up by 2% year on year.

Stavrolen (LUKOIL) increased its capacity utilisation in March, the total production of propylene polymers was 11,500 tonnes versus 8,600 tonnes a month earlier. In general, the total production of polymers of propylene in the first three months of this year at the Budenovsk enterprise reached 30,000 tonnes against 23,600 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan's Tosoh Corp has brought on-stream its naphtha cracker following a planned outage, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that, the company resumed operations at the cracker on April 20, 2020. The cracker was shut for maintenance on March 4, 2020.

Located at Yokkaichi in Japan, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 527,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 315,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, Tosoh Corp restarted its 527,000 tpa naphtha cracker in Yokkaichi, central Japan, in mid-Apirl, 2016, after planned maintenance. The cracker was shut on 8 March, 2016.

The company runs two low-density polyethylene (LDPE) lines with a combined production capacity of 56,000 mt/year and a 43,000 mt/year LDPE/ ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) swing plant at the same site. It also runs 120,000 mt/year high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.

Tosoh is one of the largest chlor-alkali manufacturers in Asia. The company supplies the plastic resins and an array of the basic chemicals that support modern life. Tosoh's petrochemical operations supply ethylene, polymers, and polyethylene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European Petrochemical Association (EPCA; Brussels, Belgium) says that, “as a result of the severe global disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the EPCA board has unanimously decided to cancel the 54th EPCA annual meeting, which had been due to take place in Budapest, Hungary, on 4-7 October 2020, reported Chemweek.

EPCA says it has decided instead to hold the event in a “virtual” format on the same dates.

“Even in the event that the various pandemic lockdown measures were to be lifted, the potential participation of several thousand individuals would create an undue risk to delegates, speakers, staff members, and external suppliers as well as to the citizens of Budapest,” EPCA says.

The virtual event will have a revised program, details of which will be disclosed before the summer, EPCA says.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, dozens of tankers holding jet fuel and gasoline are at anchor in sea lanes around Europe’s main storage hubs, unable to discharge their cargoes as onshore tanks are full to capacity following the collapse in demand linked to the coronavirus crisis. Nearly 1 million tonnes of refined products are parked on around 30 tankers off Europe’s coast, Reuters calculations found. According to shipping data and trade sources, tankers have dropped anchor near to the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub and across parts of the Mediterranean as their cargo owners struggle to find buyers or storage tanks.

Earlier this year, BP said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40 per cent in 2020, 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 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eni is seeing an uptick in fuel demand in Italy from lows during March when the country's lockdown hit pump sales by up to 80%, reported S&P Global with reference to Eni's CEO Claudio Descalzi's statement Friday.

In March, Eni saw its fuel sales reduced on average by 70-80% from normal levels, with gasoline sales hit more sharply than diesel consumption as many delivery trucks were still operating, Descazli told a quarterly earnings call.
"The good news is that is improving, by some percentage points, but it's improving," he said referring to Eni's transport fuel consumption.

"We think, by the end of May, the critical phase is finished and we will start gradually to recover the consumption and go to a possible normal situation by the end of the year."

The Italian government locked down the country - one of the world's hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic -- in early March but is expected to start easing restrictions in the coming weeks after the number of people confirmed as infected recently peaked.

Reporting Q1 earnings Friday, Eni said its retail fuel sales in Italy totaled 1.12 million mt, down by 19% year-on-year, with a notable fall in motorway fuel sales and consumption declining from February.

As MRC informed before, Italy's Eni on Friday lowered its production guidance for 2020 and announced at least a 30% cut in planned capex for 2020 and 2021, in response to the collapse in oil prices and the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The Rome-based major said it expects oil and production to average between 1.75 million–1.80 million b/d of oil equivalent in 2020, down from initial forecasts of around 1.9 million boe/d for the year.
Eni said it will also cut Eur2.3 billion from 2020 capex, 30% lower than the initial targets, and anticipates further reductions of 30%-35% lower than original plans in 2021.

Eni said in early April that most of its oil refineries in Italy were working at around 60% of their capacity as the coronavirus emergency continues. The pandemic has shut down large parts of economies across the globe and prompted many governments to slap tough restrictions on travel, triggering a steep fall in the demand for refined oil products. In emailed comments, Eni said its biggest refinery Sannazzaro, in northern Italy, was running at around 50% of its capacity since it was also impacted by planned maintenance work.

Earlier, in mid-March, the company said all its refineries in

At the same time, operations at Italian petrochemical producer Versalis (part of Eni) have not affected by emergency quarantine measures in the country at that period. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte extended its emergency coronavirus measures in mid-March and announced the closure of "non-essential" commercial businesses. This follows the earlier announcement of a nationwide lockdown, limiting movement for around 60 million people. Under these measures people werel only allowed to leave their homes for work or health reasons. 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.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC