Formosa suspends glycols plant construction in Texas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Construction on Nan Ya Plastics' 800,000 mt/year ethylene glycol plant in Texas has been suspended, and the company does not have a timeline to resume the work amid coronavirus pandemic uncertainty, reported S&P Global with reference to a spokesman's confirmation Tuesday.

"We are currently evaluating the schedule to resume construction on the new EG plant," Formosa Plastics USA spokesman Fred Neske said in an email. "A timeline is not yet available."

The new plant had been expected to come online in the third quarter of this year. Construction was halted in March.

Other companies that have suspended or slowed construction on large projects amid the pandemic include Shell at its new petrochemical complex in southwest Pennsylvania, NOVA Chemicals' new polyethylene (PE) plant and an ethylene expansion in Ontario and LyondellBasell's new propylene oxide/tertiary butyl alcohol facility near Houston.

The new glycols plant at Formosa's Point Comfort, Texas, complex will be owned by Nan Ya Plastics, a division of Formosa Plastics Group in Taiwan. Formosa Plastics Group also is Formosa Plastics USA's parent.

Nan Ya owns the complex's existing 370,000 mt/year glycols unit.

Neske also confirmed that 10 employees and seven contractors at the complex have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The infections are being addressed through testing, tracing and isolation, he said, and the contractors are following their own company protocols, including isolation.

The employees who tested positive worked at the same unit, which Neske declined to identify. He said production rates have not been reduced, nor have shifts been eliminated, and the company has been able to adjust to staffing issues with existing personnel.

A source familiar with company operations said the affected employees were affiliated with a cracker at the complex, and colleagues they may have been in contact with were also self-isolating. However, the company's ongoing turnaround at its 680,000 mt/year Olefins 1 unit allowed existing staff to cover shifts of isolating employees without affecting output, the source said.

As MRC reported before, Formosa Plastics' new 1.5 million mt/year cracker in Point Comfort, Texas, came online in H1 January, 2020, and was seen ramping up through January.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing 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.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company"s plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

1. Brenntag to hold virtual shareholders meeting

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brenntag, the global market leader in chemical distribution, says that its annual shareholders' meeting will take place as planned on 10 June. But, due to the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the meeting will be held as a purely virtual event, without the physical presence of shareholders, according to Chemweek. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to protect the health of shareholders, employees, and the service providers involved, this year's shareholders’ meeting cannot take place as planned in Essen, Germany, says Brenntag.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant Chemicals India Limited announced that it has restarted operations at its production facilities in the country, following the partial relaxations from COVID - 19 related Nationwide Lockdown by Government of India, according to Kemicalinfo.

Clariant’s production facilities situated in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are back in partial operation with limited capacity and will continue with partial operations till complete relaxations are granted.

The company in its stock exchange statement said, "Pursuant to the partial relaxations from Nationwide Lockdown granted by Central Government and advisories issued by State Governments in order to prevent and tackle the spread of COVID - 19, the Companys manufacturing units/factories situated in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are back in partial operation with limited capacity."

"This partial operation will continue till complete relaxations are granted in this regard. The Company will continue to closely monitor the situation and take appropriate action as per regulatory guidance. The Company shall keep all the stakeholders informed about further update(s) through Stock Exchanges."

As MRC reported earlier, in early March 2020, Sabic announced that it has purchased additional shares in Clariant, increasing its holding in the company from 24.99% to 31.5%.

We remind that SABIC Europe, an affiliate of SABIC, conducted a maintenance work at its cracker No.3 at Geleen site in the Netherlands last autumn. The planned maintenance started in September and lasted around 2 months. The company operates two steam crackers in Geleen which are capable of producing 1,250,000 tons/year of ethylene and 675,000 tons/year of propylene in total.

Earlier last year, SABIC took off-stream its SABIC Olefins 4 cracker owing to technical issues on May 10, 2019. Further details on duration of the shutdown could not be ascertained. Located in beek, the Netherlands, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 690,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 360,000 mt/year.

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.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF said Thursday it will not be able to meet full-year sales and earnings guidance issued on 28 February and withdrew its outlook in advance of its first-quarter earnings report on Friday, reported Chemweek.

"It is currently impossible to reliably estimate both the length and the further spread of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as future measures to contain it," BASF said. "Consequently, concrete statements on the future development of sales and earnings cannot be made at present."

BASF has previously forecast 2020 revenues of EUR60–EUR63 billion, up 3.7% year-on-year (YOY), and EBIT before special items of EUR4.2–EUR4.8 billion, essentially flat with 2019 results. BASF's underlying assumptions for the economy at the time were global GDP growth of 2% and chemical production growth of 1.2%. IHS Markit's current forecast calls for a 3% decrease in global GDP this year.

BASF also announced yesterday that it would leave its dividend for the 2019 business year unchanged. The company’s board today proposed a dividend of EUR3.30/share for approval at the annual shareholders meeting of BASF SE, which will be held 18 June.

As MRC informed earlier, BASF has restarted its No. 1 steam cracker following a maintenance turnaorund. Thus, the company resumed operations at the plant on September 30, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance in mid-August, 2019. Located at Ludwigshafen in Germany, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 235,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 125,000 mt/year.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing 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.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of around EUR63 billion in 2018.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Belarusian refineries received 2 million tons of oil in April, of which 1.56 million tonnes came from Russia, a spokesman for state energy group Belneftekhim told reporters, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Belarus, which had a dispute with Russia over oil prices earlier this year, plans to reduce its Russian oil imports to 1.13 million tons in May, the spokesman said.

According to MRC"s DataScope report, February PP imports into the Republic of Belarus were about 9,700 tonnes, compared to 7,800 tonnes a month earlier, local companies raised their purchasing of PP in Russia. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 17,500 tonnes in January-February 2020, compared to 16,000 tonnes a year earlier, demand for all PP grades increased, with homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) accounting for the greatest growth.
MRC