Petro Rabigh to resume operations at HDPE plant after turnaround

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical (Petro Rabigh) is planning to resume production at its high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia after maintenance this week, reported CommoPlast.

This HDPE plant with the capacity of 300,000 tons/year was shut in early March, 2020, although initially it was scheduled to be taken off-stream in late February.

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 earlier they expected no impact on supplies during the shutdown.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's March estimated HDPE consumption fell to 78,220 tonnes from 104,030 tonnes a month earlier. ZapSibNeftekhim significantly increased its export sales to China. Overall HDPE imports to the Russian market totalled 308,320 tonnes in the first three months of 2020, up by 9% year on year. Production increased significantly due to ZapSibNeftekhim, and exports also grew by 5 times.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical (Petro Rabigh) is planning to bring on-line its No. 2 linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia after maintenance this week, reported CommoPlast.

No. 2 LLDPE unit with the capacity of 250,000 tons/year was shut in early March, 2020, although initially it was scheduled to be taken off-stream in late February.

Petro Rabigh also operates No. 1 LLDPE unit at the same location with a capacty of 350,000 tons/year, which is 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, March LLDPE shipments to Russia grew to 36,790 tonnes from 25,690 tonnes a month earlier, production increased. Overall LLDPE shipments into the Russian market totalled 110,000 tonnes in the first three months of 2020, up by 11% year on year. SabSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in shipments.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical (Petro Rabigh) is planning to resume operations at its No. 1 linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia after maintenance this week, reported CommoPlast.

No. 1 LLDPE unit with the capacity of 350,000 tons/year was shut for the turnaround in early March, 2020, although initially it was scheduled to be taken off-stream in late February.

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

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 earlier said they expected no impact on supplies during the shutdown.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, March LLDPE shipments to Russia grew to 36,790 tonnes from 25,690 tonnes a month earlier, production increased. Overall LLDPE shipments into the Russian market totalled 110,000 tonnes in the first three months of 2020, up by 11% year on year. SabSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in shipments.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Negotiations over May shipments of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) to the domestic market began in the Russian market in the mid of last week. After a sharp rise in prices in April, domestic producers had to decrease prices in May more substantially, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Last month, amid a significant weakening of the rouble against the dollar, high prices in foreign markets and low stocks, Russian producers managed to increase the contract prices of PVC for supplies to the domestic market by Rb6,500/tonne and above. But by mid-April, the situation had radically changed due to the coronavirus pandemic. There was a significant reduction in prices in foreign markets, and the demand for PVC declined by Russian producers. As a result, price reductions of Rb8,000/tonne are being discussed for May deliveries. per tonne or more.

The quarantine restrictions introduced by local authorities in April led to a reduction in demand for finished PVC products by 20-50% depending on the segment. Some converters, including large ones, had to suspend their work for a while. Also, an unusually high demand in March led to a reduction in demand for finished products in April.

Some converters had to limit the volume of purchases of PVC in April and reduce capacity utilisation. Someone shifted to work exclusively for current orders for finished products, without building up stocks. The coronavirus pandemic also led to a dramatic change in the price situation in foreign markets.

PVC prices in the US fell by more than USD200/tonne. Producers from Europe and China reduced their export prices by more than USD100/tonne.

Kaustik Volgograd shut its 90,000 tonnes/year PVC capacities for the turnaround from 1, May to 21, May. RusVinyl postponed scheduled repairs from April to July. Many converters intend to limit their purchases of PVC in May, but because of the series of May holidays, it is still difficult to assess the real reduction in demand.

The picture in the second half of the month will become more understandable. Despite a serious reduction in prices from domestic producers, some converters are considering the possibility of purchasing PVC in foreign markets.
According to them, the imported alternative is still cheaper than Russian PVC.

At the same time, there are still few such converters who are considering the possibility of external procurement.
Overall, deals for May shipments of Russian resin with K64/67 were negotiated in the range of Rb71 000-83 000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, for quantities of less than 500 tonnes. PVC with K70 was offered by Rb1,000-2,000/tonnes higher.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US oil refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp cut spending by 30% and detailed other measures to reduce costs, as widespread lockdowns to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic pummel demand for oil and gas, reported Reuters.

Stay-at-home orders to contain the pandemic have decimated travel, cutting worldwide demand for oil at a time when the market is already over supplied.

With US oil prices now down 70% for the year, companies have rushed to cut their budgets and are finding ways to save cash in order to survive through the downturn.

Marathon, which last month said it will defer or delay some expenses, expects total capital spending to decline by USD1.4 billion, reducing its budget for the year to USD3 billion. It estimated operating expenses to be USD950 million lower in 2020.

Investors are likely to take a positive view of the spending cuts, analysts at Credit Suisse wrote in a note, adding that the measures were better than the brokerage’s estimates.

Marathon’s shares rose around 5% in premarket trading, as the company also posted a quarterly adjusted loss of 16 cents per share that was much smaller than analysts’ average estimate of 31 cents, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Marathon forecast sharply lower refining throughput for the second quarter as it temporarily idled some facilities to save costs amid little demand for refined products.

The company expects second-quarter throughput, defined as the amount of crude oil processed by a refinery, to be around 2.13 million barrels of oil per day (bopd), down from 3.1 million bopd a year earlier.

Net loss attributable to the largest US oil refiner was USD9.2 billion, or USD14.25 per share, in the first quarter, as it booked USD12.4 billion in charges related to inventory writedowns and goodwill impairment.

Marathon’s rivals Valero Energy Corp and Phillips 66 reported losses for the first three months of the year as they also wrote down the value of their inventories and took one-time charges because of the oil crash.

As MRC wrote before, Marathon Petroleum Corp will idle its 166,000 barrel-per-day (bpd)refinery in Martinez, California beginning April 27 in response to the coronavirus pandemic’s hit to demand for refined products.

Meanwhile, Marathon Petroleum Corp plans to operate the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 585,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas. The 140,000 bpd FCC restarted on Sunday, 12 April, after repairs following a March 23 brief power outage that shut the unit.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market was 267,630 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 20% year on year. Homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC