Formosa Plastics USA issues force majeure on PVC supply amid upstream issues

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Plastics USA, part of Formosa Petrochemical, issued a force majeure on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) supplies from its Texas and Louisiana plants, due to difficulties to produce the product amid upstream steam cracker problems, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's statement in a letter to its customers dated Aug. 14.

"Formosa Plastics Corporation, USA, on behalf of Formosa Plastics Corporation, Texas, and Formosa Plastics Corporation, Louisiana, has experienced unexpected difficulties in its upstream facility at Point Comfort, Texas, impacting the PVC production at both manufacturing sites," the company said in the letter.

Formosa USA and Taiwan officials could not be reached for further comment.

Market sources in Asia said the Asian PVC market would likely remain firm in the near-term as spot supplies would tighten further after Formosa USA's force majeure.

As MRC informed before, in March, 2020, Formosa Plastics was emerging from a turnaround at its 798,000 mt/year PVC plant and upstream 753,000 mt/year vinyl chloride monomer unit at its Point Comfort, Texas, complex.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PVC production reached 557,000 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only three Russian producers managed to increase their output.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) is in plans to undertake a planned shutdown at its low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in September, reported S&P Global with reference to a company source.

The plant is expected to remain shut for a turnaround for 24 days.

Located at Map Ta Phut in Thailand, the LDPE plant has a production capacity of 345,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, PTTGC undertook a planned shutdown at its LDPE plant for turnaround on July 7, 2019. The plant remained shut for around 3 weeks.

PTT has a total capacity of 800,000 mt/year of high density polyethylene (HDPE), 345,000 mt/year of LDPE and 800,000 mt/year of LLDPE at the same site.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, June estimated LDPE consumption in Russia grew to 55,260 tonnes from 45,490 tonnes a month earlier. Kazanorgsintez raised its PE output after a spring shutdown for a scheduled turnaround. Russia's estimated LDPE consumption rose to 291,270 tonnes in January-June 2020, up by 5% year on year. Russian producers raised their production, and LDPE imports also increased.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, has increased August list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in Europe, Middle East and Africa, as per the company's press release.

The price increase below is effective for orders shipped on or after August 14, 2020, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, VAM prices rose by EUR100/mt for Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese last raised its VAM prices for the stated above regions on July 1, 2020, by the same amount of EUR100/mt.

According to MRC's DataScope report, June EVA imports to Russia fell by 22,5% year on year to 2,940 tonnes from 3,800 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation dropped in January-June 2020 by 8,16% year on year to 17,440 tonnes (18,980 tonnes a year earlier).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2019 net sales of USD6.3 billion.
MRC

1. Ineos Styrolution Canada donates to Ontario mental health service organizations

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As demand increases for COVID-19 related mental health programs, material supplier Ineos Styrolution Canada been working with Ontario organizations St. Clair Child & Youth Services and Canadian Mental Health Association Lambton Kent to fund virtual, mental health programs for their community, said Canplastics. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of their Outreach Program, a cornerstone summer activity for “at-risk” children within the community, Ineos Styrolution Canada, delivered a USD10,000 grant through the Ineos Community Fund to St. Clair Child & Youth Services. This grant will used for the creation of virtual summer camps, ensuring that staff will have the ability to stay connected with families during challenging times.



MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s refinery output jumped 12% in July from the same month a year earlier, hitting the highest on record for any single month, as several major state plants resumed operations after maintenance overhauls, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

China processed 59.56 million tonnes of crude oil last month, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday, equivalent to about 14.03 million barrels per day (bpd). Throughput for the first seven months totalled 378.65 million tonnes, or about 12.98 million bpd, up 2.3% from the same period a year ago.

Two of Sinopec Corp’s top plants - Zhenhai and Tianjin - and PetroChina’s Dalian plant resumed production after being off-line for months. But the elevated production came amid slowing demand for diesel and gasoline as severe floods hit provinces along the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River for much of July, leading to brimming inventories and signalling potential cutbacks in fuel processing down the line.

Run rates at independent refineries across China have already fallen to around 70% this week from near 80% last month, according to China-based Longzhong consultancy. “Stocks were very high, near the highest levels seen in February when the country was worst hit by the coronavirus, as floods stalled road traffic and slowed down construction,” said Wang Zhao, senior analyst with Sublime Information Group, ahead of the data release.

The NBS data also showed China’s domestic crude oil output rose 0.6% last month compared with the same month a year ago to 16.46 million tonnes, or 3.88 million bpd. Output for the January-July period reached 113.5 million tonnes, up 1.4% over the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, natural gas output grew 4.8% last month from a year earlier to 14.2 billion cubic metres (bcm), and production for the first seven months of the year climbed 9.5% to 108.3 bcm.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC