Stavrolen resumes PP production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Stavrolen, a major producer of polyolefins in Russia, had resumed its polypropylene (PP) production by the end of last week after a long forced shutdown, reported MRC analysts.

The plant's clients said Stavrolen had resumed its PP production by last weekend after the forced outage due to technical issues. In fact, the plant did not produce PP for almost one month, the forced shutdown began on 16 July. Shipments of the product to consumers will begin this week.

Stavrolen's (part of Lukoil) annual capacity of PP and high density polyethylene (HDPE) production is 120,000 and 300,000 tonnes, respectively.

It is also worth noting that Tomskneftekhim, Ufaorgsintez and Poliom will shut down their production capacities for scheduled turnarounds in September. The outage at these plants will be short and will last for about two weeks.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gazprom neftekhim Salavat has restarted its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production after a scheduled maintenance, reported MRC analysts.

The plant's customers said Gazprom neftekhim Salavat resumed its LDPE production on 10 August after the scheduled turnaround. The outage lasted slightly longer than originally planned. LDPE production capacities were shut for the turnaround on 1 July.

As reported earlier, Angarsk Polymers Plant (Rosneft) shut its LDPE production capacities for an unscheduled maintenance on 10 August due to problems at the ethylene unit.

OAO "Gazprom neftekhim Salavat" (formerly OAO "Salavatnefteorgsintez") is one of the leading petrochemical companies in Russia, carrying out a full cycle of processing hydrocarbon material. The list of products manufactured by the plant includes more than 140 items, including 76 grades of the main products: gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, fuel oil, toluene, solvent, liquefied gases, benzene, styrene, ethylbenzene, butyl alcohols, phthalic anhydride and plasticizers, polyethylene, polystyrenes, silica gels and zeolite catalysts, corrosion inhibitors, elemental sulfur, ammonia and urea, glycols and amines, a wide range of household products made of plastics, surfactants and much more.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Kazakhstan increased to about 29,800 tonnes in January-June 2020, up 27% compared with the same time a year earlier, according to MRC analysts.

Demand for PVC increased from local companies in June under the pressure of seasonal factors, and June imports of unmixed PVC were 5,800 tonnes versus 5,400 tonnes a month earlier. Thus, overall imports of PVC reached 29,800 tonnes in January-June 2020, compared to 23,500 tonnes a year earlier.

It is also worth adding that such a significant increase in this year's imports was caused by a further resale of PVC to Russia. Due to the geographical position, the main suppliers of PVC to Kazakhstan were Chinese producers, with the share of about 84% of the local market over the stated period.

Russia was the second largest PVC supplier, shipments of Russian PVC reached 4,700 tonnes over the stated period.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Novozymes says its net profits for the second quarter of 2020 dropped 28% year on year (YOY), to 646 million Danish krone (USD102 million) on 3% YOY lower sales, to DKr3.35 billion, according to Chemweek.

EBITDA and EBIT also declined 24% and 27%, to DKr1.17 billion and DKr867 million, respectively. The disproportional fall in profits this year is mainly attributed to a decrease in other operating income, which in 2019 included the recognition of DKr287 million in deferred income related to the termination of the BioAg alliance and DKr153 million in proceeds from the divestment of a pharma-related royalty, the company says.

“The pandemic is still very present, and we continue to take all necessary measures to keep our employees safe, protect the business, and maintain our ability to supply our customers. But as countries and economies carefully reopen, we now reinstate our 2020 outlook with an organic sales performance of -2% to +2%, an EBIT margin of around 26% including much weaker currency effects, and free cash flow before acquisitions of DKr2.4-2.8 billion,” says Ester Baiget, president and CEO at Novozymes.

Sales in the company’s household care business grew by 11% organically YOY, driven by COVID-19 related stockpiling effects that continued into April but eased toward the end of the quarter, and the increased demand for higher-performance quality detergents, Novozymes says. Sales in the food and beverages business went up 3% organically YOY mainly due to increased at-home consumption with growth in freshkeeping and flour-correction technologies as well as in solutions targeting consumer-health trends such as acrylamide reduction, the company says. The agriculture and feed business also saw organic growth of 27%, which included a positive settlement contribution related to the former BioAg setup.

However, sales of Novozymes’ bioenergy business declined by 37% organically, mainly due to the significant drop in ethanol production in North America, as the full impact of the stay-at-home restrictions, related to COVID-19, materialized, the company says. Technical and pharma also saw a 34% organic drop in sales, attributed to the continuation of last year’s decline in China's textile production, with volumes shifting away from China to countries with lower enzyme penetration. The decline was further amplified by COVID-19 lockdowns and their impact on the textile and apparel industry, Novozymes says.

Operating free cash flow was DKr1.45 billion, an increase of DKr401 million compared with the second quarter of 2019. The improvement was mainly due to higher sales, gross margin expansion, and lower operating costs, the company says.

As MRC reported earlier, in 2012, BASF, Cargill and Novozymes signed an agreement to develop technologies to produce acrylic acid from renewable raw materials. Presently, acrylic acid is produced by the oxidation of propylene derived from the refining of crude oil. BASF – The Chemical Company, Cargill and industrial biotechnology company Novozymes were tol develop bio-based technologies to produce acrylic acid from renewable feedstocks.

We remind that BASF-YPC, a 50-50 joint venture of BASF and Sinopec, undertook a planned shutdown at its naphtha cracker on 30 April 2020. The company initially planned to start turnaround at the cracker on April 5, 2020. The plant remained under maintenance unitl 18 June, 2020. Located in Jiangsu, China, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 750,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Element Solutions says it has acquired DMP Corporation (Rock Hill, South Carolina), a provider of turnkey wastewater treatment and recycling products and services for the manufacturing sector, reported Chemweek.

Terms of the transaction, including purchase price, were not disclosed. DMP will, along with Element’s existing metals recycling business, form MacDermic Envio Solutions, a new business unit within the company’s industrial solutions segment.

“As environmental concerns and regulation continue to drive change within the specialty chemicals industry and our existing supply chain, we continue to invest in technology to help our customers meet and exceed these requirements,” says Element Solutions CEO Benjamin Gliklich.

MacDermid Envio Solutions will launch with USD20 million/year in sales, “however, we have greater ambitions for it in the near term,” Gliklich adds. “Several of the technologies in this portfolio are novel to international markets and with modest customer education, these technologies should generate strong traction.”

As MRC informed before, in October 2018, Siemens Water Solutions received an order for a complete wastewater treatment system for Tianjin Bohua Chemical Development’s (a subsidiary of Bohai Chemical Group) new propylene oxide-styrene monomer (POSM) plant. The plant, located at the Nangang Industrial Zone in northern China’s Tianjin, will have a production capacity of 200 000 tpy of propylene oxide (PO) and 450 000 tpy of styrene monomer (SM).

SM is the main feedstock for the production of polystyrene (PS).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics was 225,870 tonnes in the first half of 2020, down by 8% year on year. PS consumption increased by 2% year on year in June 2020, totalling 39,590 tonnes.
MRC