Bayport Polymers announced PE price increase in June

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayport Polymers LLC (Baystar), the joint venture Total and Borealis, announced a 4 cents/lb price increase for all PE resins effective June 1, said S&P Global.

Baystar now is building a 625,000 mt/year HDPE plant along the Houston Ship Channel.

The state-of-the-art Borstar technology, which will be used in North America for the first time, will allow Baystar to produce enhanced polyethylene products for the most demanding applications. Approximately 1,750 jobs will be created during the peak engineering and construction activity.

Baystar is also building a one-million-ton per year steam cracker in Port Arthur, Texas. The new cracker will process ethane, which is abundantly available and competitively priced in the U.S., and will supply feedstock for its existing 400,000-ton-per-year polyethylene units as well as the new Borstar polyethylene unit in Pasadena.

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.

Total and NOVA Chemicals are founding members of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, an alliance of nearly 30 companies from the plastics and consumer goods value chain committed to advance solutions to help end plastic waste in the environment, especially in the ocean. Borealis is a founding member of Project STOP, an initiative that aims to eliminate the leakage of plastics into the environment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of expandable polystyrene (EPS) into Belarus rose in the first quarter of 2020 by 15% year on year, totalling 2,600 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was at 2,300 tonnes in January-March 2019.

March EPS imports into the country fell by almost two times from February to 1,160 tonnes from 650 tonnes. Imports of material into the country were 1,100 tonnes in March 2019.

Russia is the main EPS importer to Belarus.

Imports of Russian material to the Belarusian market rose in the first three months of 2020 by 25% year on year: from 1,390 tonnes in January-March 2019 to 1,740 tonnes. The share of EPS imports from Russia in the total shipments to the country reached 66% in the first quarter of 2020 versus 60% a year earlier. March shipments of Russian EPS to the region were 941 tonnes versus 477 tonnes in February, whereas imports of material were 731 tonnes in March 2019.

At the same time, the share of imports of Chinese material doubled year on year in January-March 2020: from 5% (120 tonnes) to 10% (260 tonnes).

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Russian energy ministry expects the global oil market to balance in June or July as a result of rising consumption, as well as the drop in production in OPEC+ and other countries, said S&P Global.

"14-15 million b/d of oil has already left the market as a result of the OPEC+ deal, and also declining production in other countries. The surplus is currently around 7-12 million b/d, but the energy ministry expects that in June or July the market will balance thanks to rising consumption," the ministry said in a statement released after the energy minister Alexander Novak took part in a government meeting Monday.

The ministry estimates that although demand for oil in May continues to be low, it is up around 20% on April levels.

During the meeting, participants also discussed measures to support the industry in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Russia has already issued a temporary ban on imports of oil products, including gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, until October 1.

It also reduced required volumes of oil products sales via exchanges by half between April 1 and June 30. Companies are now required to sell 5% of gasoline, 3% of diesel, 5% of jet fuel, 1% of fuel oil and 2.5% of LPG produced on exchanges.

Other proposals include exemptions from meeting oil production targets in project documentation, creation of a fund to support the oil field services industry, and moving the excise on motor fuels from refineries to filling stations. The government has set a deadline of June 15 to finalize these support measures.

As MRC informed earlier, China's crude oil imports from Russia rose 17.7% year on year to 7.2 million mt or 1.76 million b/d in April, resulting in Russia overtaking Saudi Arabia to become the country's top supplier in the month.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) to the Russian market increased in the first four months of 2020 by 5% year on year to 10,900 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was at 10,400 tonnes in January-April 2019.

South Korean companies LG Chem and Lotte Advanced accounted for about 54% of the country's ABS imports this year.

Styrolution and Trinseo shipped the bulk of European ABS to Russia. The share of their shipments is 24% of the total imports.

Last month's imports of material to the Russian Federation rose by 5% to 3,300 tonnes from 3,100 tonnes a year earlier. March ABS imports into the country were 2,800 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global petrochemical giant Dow Chemical shut down operating units and implemented flood preparedness and later recovery and cleanup plans last week as the Tittabawassee River adjacent to the company's Midland, Michigan, headquarters overflowed its banks when two upstream dams broke May 19, reported S&P Global.

As MRC informed earlier, in mid-May 2020, USA based Dow Chemical announced plans to shut three polyethylene (PE) plants in the USA and Argentina to avoid piling inventories amid sluggish global demand conditions due to the COVID-19 related lockdown.

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.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC