Tianjin Dagu to resume operations at ABS plant in Tianjin

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tianjin Dagu Chemical, is in plans to bring on-stream its acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) units following a turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that, the company has planned to complete maintenance at the units by mid-May, 2020. The units were shut for maintenance on March 31, 2020.

Located in Tianjin, China, the ABS units have a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

Tianjin Dagu Chemical also operates a styrene monomer (SM) plant at the same site. Located in Tianjin, China, the plant has a production capacity of 500,000 mt/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's output of ABS was 920 tonnes in March. Russian producers manufactured 2,600 tonnes of ABS plastics in January-March 2020, down by 59% a year earlier.

Tianjin Dagu Chemical Co. Ltd. manufactures diversified chemicals. The company produces and sells caustic soda, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin, propane, synthetic hydrochloric acid, liquid chlorine, styrene, industrial hydrochloric, and other chemicals. Tianjin Dagu Chemical markets its products domestically and internationally.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Austria-based petrochemicals producer Borealis declared force majeure on its steam cracker operations at Stenungsund, Sweden, on 11 May 2020, following a technical incident that led to the shutdown of the olefins plant, reported Chemweek.

The company has informed the affected customers. Borealis says it does not know when the force majeure will be lifted.

The shutdown has impacted the output of the company’s downstream production and supply of certain low density polyethylene (LDPE) grades. Its LDPE plant was shut down and the potential start-up date of the facility is currently being investigated.

As a consequence, there is some shortage of certain LDPE film, masterbatch, and wire and cable products, the company says. Borealis aims to minimize the impact to its customers with supply from other Borealis polyolefin production locations. The LDPE plant is the only affected unit from the cracker outage. All other polyolefin plants of Borealis’s production location in Stenungsund are running.

As MRC informed earlier, Borealis said Monday that it was still investigating a fire that broke out late Saturday at its Stenungsund steam cracker in Sweden. 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.

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."

We remind that 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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) from Russia totalled 69,100 tonnes in the first four months of 2020, up by 2% year on year. Imports fell almost by a quarter, according to MRC's DataScope report.

Last month's exports of Russian suspension (excluding shipments to the countries of the Customs Union ) were 23,700 tonnes, compared to 12,500 tonnes in March. Two of the four producers significantly increased their April exports due to weaker demand for resin in the domestic market. Thus, overall exports totalled 69,100 tonnes in the first four months of 2020 versus 68,000 tonnes a year earlier.

Indian buyers remained the main foreign importers of Russian resin this year. Overall sales of resin exceeded 30,000 tonnes over the stated period. Belarus and Poland with shipments of 11,000 tonnes and 8,000 tonnes, respectively, occupied the second and third positions.

There was a slight surge in imports last month partially because of the pressure from a significant price increase of Russian PVC. April total imports of suspension were 1,400 tonnes, compared to 800 tonnes a month earlier. However, overall PVC imports did not exceed 4,000 tonnes in January-April 2020 versus 5,200 a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European May contract price of propylene was settled down by EUR80/tonne from the previous month. Nevertheless, for the second month in a row, European producers are not going to cut export PP price proportionally for shipments to the CIS markets, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Negotiations over May prices of European PP began at the end of last week. All market participants said that European producers have made a significant reduction in the export prices of propylene polymers for shipments in the current month, but the price reduction does not exceed EUR70/tonne, while propylene fell by EUR80/tonne in the current month in Europe.

Deals for May shipments of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) were discussed in the range of EUR800 - 860/tonne FCA, down by EUR40/tonne from April. Deals for block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) were negotiated in the range of EUR880-920/tonne FCA, down by EUR60-70/tonne from the previous month.
According to market participants, European producers do not have any significant restrictions on May shipments of polypropylene.

Conversely, due to quarantine restrictions in a number of countries, the demand for polypropylene significantly decreased in April - May.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell announced that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will use Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology in its second propane dehydrogenation plant, called "PDH 2", reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Located near Mont Belvieu, Texas, PDH 2 will produce 750,000 metric tons per year of polymer-grade propylene as part of Enterprise’s expansion of propylene manufacturing capacity.

Honeywell UOP, a leading provider of technology, services and equipment for the oil and gas industry, will provide licensing for the Oleflex technology, in addition to engineering, catalysts, adsorbents, services, and equipment for the plant. Enterprise has operated a UOP C4 Oleflex unit, which converts isobutane to isobutylene, since 1993 and currently is building a second C4 Oleflex unit at Mont Belvieu.

Globally, most new dehydrogenation projects since 2011 have been based on UOP technology, including projects for propane (C3), isobutane (iC4) and mixed C3/ iC4 service. Global production capacity of propylene from Oleflex technology currently stands at approximately 7.8 million metric tons per year.

"Due to the demonstrated economics and reliability of the Oleflex process, Enterprise determined this technology provides the best option to expand its propylene production capacity," said Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager, Honeywell UOP’s Petrochemicals and Refining Technologies business. "It will help Enterprise take advantage of low-cost propane and meet the rising demand for on-purpose propylene."

The new propane dehydrogenation unit will have capacity to produce up to 1.65 billion pounds per year of polymer grade propylene. The unit is scheduled to begin service in the first half of 2023.

Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology uses catalytic dehydrogenation to convert propane to propylene and is designed to have a lower cash cost of production and higher return on investment compared to competing dehydrogenation technologies. In addition, the Oleflex technology’s low energy consumption, low emissions, minimal water use, and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system helps minimize its impact on the environment. The independent reactor and regeneration design of the Oleflex technology helps maintain stable operations with high onstream reliability.

As MRC informed previously, in August 2019, Honeywell announced that PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical Company will adopt advanced heavy oil processing technology from Honeywell UOP for its integrated petrochemical complex in China. The new facility will have an annual crude processing capacity of 20 million tons, helping to meet a national energy security strategy while transforming PetroChina Guangdong into a more fully integrated petrochemicals supplier.

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