API expects Falconara refinery to restart next week

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Italian oil refiner API said it expected its Falconara Marittima facility to restart production early next week after shutting down at the end of March as a result of COVID-19, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

“The refinery ... has launched preliminary operations for the restart,” the group said in a statement.

The lockdown imposed by the Italian government to stop the spread of the pandemic led to a sharp fall in demand for oil products with excess supply saturating storage capacity.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and 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

Reliance Industries to sell its stake in Asian Paints

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries Ltd. is considering selling its stake in India’s largest paint maker valued at about USD989 million as the conglomerate steps up efforts to trim its debt, reported Kemicalinfo with reference to Bloomberg's report.

RIL is in discussions with banks for a potential sale of its 4.9% stake in Asian Paints Ltd. through a series of block trades, according to the report. Reliance holds the stake through Teesta Retail.

The size and timing of any potential sale haven’t been finalized, and Reliance could decide not to pro-ceed with a deal, the people said," the report added.

The sale of stake in Asian Paints is part of RIL’s string of fundraising plans unveiled in order to bolster investor confidence, even as the crash in oil prices pulled down profit at the company’s oil-to-chemicals business.

Last month, Reliance said that the group’s net debt would be slashed to zero ahead of its previous target of early 2021.

Asian Paints is India’s largest paints & coatings manufaturer by revenue. The company operates in 15 countries with 26 paint manufacturing facilities globally.

On report of RIL stake sale, the stock of Asian Paints has underperformed the market by falling 15%, as compared to a 0.55% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

As MRC informed before, in November 2019, Reliance Industries confirmed plans to invest 700 billion Indian rupees (USD9.75 billion) to establish a crude-oil-to-chemicals (COTC) complex at the company's Jamnagar, India.

The MCC/HSFCC complex will have combined capacity for 8.5 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) of ethylene and propylene, and total extraction capacity for 3.5 MMt/y of benzene, toluene, and xylenes. It will also have combined capacity for 4.0 MMt/y of para-xylene (p-xylene) and ortho-xylene. The steam cracker will have combined capacity for 4.1 MMt/y of ethylene and propylene, and feed crude C4s to a 700,000-metric tons/year butadiene extraction plant. Reliance will also add 1.3 MMt/y of p-xylene capacity at existing plants at Jamnagar.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, 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.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. Thus, the company produces among others polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride.
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 12.05.2020

1. Transition to low-carbon energy may accelerate after crisis: Shell

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The ongoing transition to low-carbon energy sources may accelerate as economies recover from the impact of the coronavirus crisis, reported Reuters with reference to the head of oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell's statement. Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said while Shell was not ringfencing its low-carbon Integrated Gas and New Energies division from spending cuts to weather the crisis, those businesses would be shielded from the worst of the reductions.


MRC

Qapco declares force majeure on LLDPE output

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In an official letter to its customers in Southeast Asia, Muntajat - the sole marketing and distribution arm for Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO) declared a force majeure on linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipment due to an unexpected shutdown at the production line on 3 May 2020, according to CommoPlast.

The LLDPE line is expected to remain off-line until 12 May 2020.

"We are unable to quantify the impact of the shutdown on the overall supply condition at the moment. However, the unplanned stoppage significantly impacted and prevented our ability to meet our delivery obligations," said the letter.

As MRC informed previously, in 2013, Qatar Chemical and Petrochemical Marketing and Distribution Company (Muntajat) took over the marketing and distribution responsibilities for Qatar’s globally recognised Lotrene brand of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and LLDPE. Muntajat has the mandate to export Qatar’s 10 million tonnes/year of chemicals and petrochemicals to markets worldwide.

In Qatar, LDPE and LLDPE are produced by Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) and Qatofin, respectively, and these high-quality products are being sold to more than 4,500 customers worldwide under the brand name Lotrene.

Qatar’s chemical and petrochemical industry’s planned investments will further increase the country’s export portfolio to 23 million tonnes per year by 2020, from 10 million tonnes in 2013, according to Muntajat CEO Abdulrahman Ali Al-Abdulla's statement.

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.
MRC

Borealis investigates weekend fire incident at Stenungsund cracker in Sweden

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Austria-based petrochemicals producer Borealis said Monday that it was still investigating a fire that broke out late Saturday at its Stenungsund steam cracker in Sweden, reported S&P Global.

Borealis said in an initial public statement issued Sunday that "its emergency plan was immediately activated by the local crisis team." The fire broke out on 9 May, at 20:45 CEST, according to the company.

The company said no one was injured and that it was working closely with authorities to investigate the causes.

Market sources said the incident would have an impact on the market, referring back to when the Stenungsund cracker was under force majeure for around 10 days in April which helped noticeably to balance ethylene supply in Northwest Europe, which had been particularly long. Sources are predicting a similar impact as a result of this latest incident, with additional impact on propylene, a source said, as "they were cracking heavier."

As MRC informed earlier, the company declared FM on April 8 due to a technical incident, while before that Borealis had had lowered its steam cracker operating rates as a result of the recent slump in oil prices and the coronavirus lockdowns in Europe.

The Stenungsund cracker can produce 625,000 mt/year of ethylene and 150,000 mt/year of propylene.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, 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.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC