CPDC to shut ACN plant in Taiwan for scheduled turnaround

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Major Taiwanese producer, ), is planning to shut its acrylonitrile (ACN) plant in Kaohsiung on October 20 for a planned maintenance, according to S&P Global.

The turnaround at this plant with the capacity of 240,000 mt per year is expected to be conducted during one month.

ACN is a feedstock for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated consumption decreased in January-June 2020 by 18% year on year in the Russian ABS sector, totalling 19,360 tonnes. 2,680 tonnes of ABS plastics were processed in Russia in June 2020.

China Petrochemical Development Corporation (CPDC) was established in 1969 as a state-owned enterprise under the supervision of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. In 1991, CPDC was listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, and in 1994 the company was privatized. CPDC is one of the business units of the Core Pacific Group. Its core business is in the production of petrochemical intermediates and related engineering plastics, synthetic resins, raw materials for chemical fiber and other derivative products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- GAIL India Ltd has reportedly taken its polyethylene (PE) unit in Pata, Uttar Pradesh off-stream on 25 September 2020 following a ruptured pipeline at ONGC’s gas processing plant that disrupts feedstock supply to GAIL, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The unit has an annual capacity of 400,000 tons/year, which might remain shut for several days.

In the meantime, GAIL operates two other PE lines: a 210,000 tons/year high density polyethylene (HDPE)/linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) swing line and a standalone 100,000 tons/year HDPE line. There are no confirmed reports on the operation status of these units at the time of this report.

GAIL has slashed gas supplies by about 40% to its customers, mainly power and fertilizer companies following the incident.

As MRC reported earlier, on 24 September 2020, a fire broke out at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) gas processing plant in Hazira, India with no casualty or injury reported. ONGC’s own petrochemical plant, namely ONGC Petro Additions (OPaL), is not affected by the incident as it is situated in a different location.

OPaL operates the petrochemical complex in Gujarat, India that houses a naphtha cracker with an annual output of 1.1 million tons/year of ethylene and 400,000 tons/year of propylene. Downstream units including a 340,000 tons/year PP line, a 360,000 tons/year HDPE/LLDPE swing line, and a 340,000 tons/year HDPE line.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Three Arkema executives charged over a 2017 explosion and fire at the company’s Crosby, Texas organic peroxides plant during Hurricane Harvey have been acquitted, said Chemweek.

The indictment accused Arkema North America CEO Richard Rowe and plant manager Leslie Comardelle of playing a role in “recklessly” releasing chemicals into the air, putting residents and first responders at risk. An additional assault charge against former logistics executive Michael Keough was dropped last month.

Arkema called the trial an attempt to criminalize the impact of a natural disaster that Harris County itself was not prepared for. “While Arkema was found to have been prepared for a 500-year flood, our Crosby plant had a 5,000-20,000 year rainfall and the resulting flooding rose 30 inches above the 500-year flood level,” Arkema tells CW in a statement. “Our plant employees went to heroic lengths to protect the public, and when flooding overwhelmed their every effort, we proactively notified emergency responders and the public, days before the first fire started. We communicated extensively with the Unified Command that coordinated emergency response, and explicitly warned that emergency responders should wear respirators if they might be exposed to smoke from the fires. We cannot fathom why they did not do so, but it certainly was not for lack of warning.

The company added that it did not believe any indictment would have been granted without false information being presented to the grand jury. “The prosecutors in this case repeatedly, blatantly and unapologetically broke rules that are in place to protect us all by ensuring our fundamental right to a fair trial,” Arkema says. The statement added that the judge, Belinda Hill, twice found that the prosecutors had committed misconduct.

As MRC said earlier, Arkema announces the start-up of a new world-scale industrial adhesives plant in Japan. Those new capacities will enable Bostik to serve its Japanese customers in the continuously growing markets of diapers.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of products from polymers grew in August 2020 by 4.1% year on year. However, this figure increased by 1.9% year on year in the first eight months of 2020. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, August production of unreinforced and non-combined films rose to 126,300 tonnes from 118,200 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in January-August 2020 by 8.3% year on year to 863,200 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tank storage company Oiltanking (Hamburg, Germany) says a wholly owned subsidiary has commissioned a new butane storage tank at the port of Antwerp, Belgium, that will store gas on behalf of Ineos for use at its nearby petrochemical manufacturing facilities, said Chemweek.

The subsidiary, Oiltanking Antwerp Gas Terminal (OAGT), says the fully refrigerated, double containment tank has a capacity of 135,000 cubic meters, doubling the company’s storage capacity at Antwerp. A second fully refrigerated tank with similar storage dimensions is also under construction on the same site, it says.

OAGT is one of Europe’s largest independent terminals for storage, throughput, and distribution of liquefied petroleum gas and petrochemical gases. Oiltanking is a subsidiary of Marquard & Bahls (Hamburg), an energy and chemicals trading and logistics company.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of products from polymers grew in August 2020 by 4.1% year on year. However, this figure increased by 1.9% year on year in the first eight months of 2020. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, August production of unreinforced and non-combined films rose to 126,300 tonnes from 118,200 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in January-August 2020 by 8.3% year on year to 863,200 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A handful of long-term customers of Venezuela’s PDVSA have begun winding down oil trade with the state-run company by scheduling the last cargoes to depart from the sanctioned country ahead of a US deadline, reported Reuters with reference to five sources close to the decisions.

The US government has given the firms - which include Spain's Repsol, Italy's Eni, India's Reliance Industries and Thailand's Tipco Asphalt - deadlines ranging between October and November for ending exemptions to the sanctions allowing some companies still to receive Venezuelan oil, the sources said.

With US elections looming in November, the Trump administration is seeking to raise the heat on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose 2018 re-election was not recognized by most Western nations.

Repsol, which since late 2018 had been receiving crude under a swap deal with PDVSA authorized by the US Treasury Department allowing the Spanish company to cash pending debt, received its most recent cargo of Venezuelan oil this month on tanker Delta Ios, according to PDVSA’s exports schedules.

The company does not plan to charter a new vessel to pick up Venezuelan crude after October, a company source said. In response to Reuters’ questions, a Repsol spokesman said the firm “abides by the international norms in force and will keep on abiding.”

Eni, currently receiving crude under a similar swap deal, plans to take a Venezuelan oil cargo later this month on tanker Delta Captain and probably another in October before temporarily ending trade, according to PDVSA’s documents and a company source.

A spokesperson for Eni declined to comment on specific cargoes, but said the company “is operating and will operate in full compliance with applicable sanctions regulations and in continuous dialogue with the relevant authorities.”

Thailand’s Tipco Asphalt has three more cargoes of Venezuelan heavy crude scheduled to load through October, all of them bound for its Kemaman refinery in Malaysia, according to the documents and a company source.

Tipco Asphalt said in a letter to Thailand’s stock exchange this month that the US State Department had contacted the firm in August asking it to wind down procurement of Venezuelan oil by the end of November, warning the company that it could be subject to US sanctions in the event of non-compliance.

Tipco added this it was “taking steps to comply with such request,” including a temporary shutdown of its Kemaman refinery until finding alternative oil supplies.

The company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for further comment.

And Reliance Industries, which in July received a temporary US authorization to swap Venezuelan oil for diesel for the OPEC-member nation, has received some 4 million barrels of Venezuelan crude so far this month and plans to import almost 5 million barrels more in the coming weeks, the PDVSA documents showed.

A source close to Reliance’s plans said the firm will halt imports of Venezuelan oil in November and also shipments of diesel to the nation after a cargo currently on its way.

The pause would last for at least two months and a decision on whether to resume the trade would be taken after the US election.

Reliance and PDVSA did not reply to requests for comment.

As PDVSA’s pool of traditional customers has shrunk since last year due to sanctions, sales to mostly unknown or inexperienced firms accused by Washington of acting as shell companies have partially replaced them. A large portion of the crude taken by these firms ends up in China.

Venezuela has also received help from Iran this year as trade between the two sanctioned nations has deepened. A large tanker that delivered Iranian condensate to PDVSA earlier this month is now loading Venezuelan crude for Iran’s national oil company.

It is yet unknown if Washington will resume authorizing PDVSA’s customers to take Venezuelan oil under swap deals.

The US Treasury Department declined to comment.

US special envoy for Venezuela and Iran, Elliott Abrams, told Reuters that sanctions are “increasingly effective in denying revenue” to Maduro’s administration.

“Around the globe, leading companies are abiding by our sanctions, and acting responsibly and transparently. We appreciate their cooperation,” he added.

Even though scheduled cargoes of Venezuelan crude for Repsol, Eni, Tipco and Reliance are expected to finish soon once authorizations granted by Washington expire, the exchanged fuels most of these companies are delivering to PDVSA have continued arriving in Venezuelan ports, the documents also showed.

Venezuela expects the arrival this month of about 820,000 barrels of Iranian gasoline on tankers Forest, Faxon and Fortune, currently crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

As MRC informed before, Russian state oil company Rosneft's decision to cease operations in Venezuela and sell its assets there to a Russian government-owned company was a "maneuver" made in reaction to collapsing oil prices, a US State Department official said earlier this year.

We remind that Angarsk Polymers Plant, part of Russian oil giant Rosneft, has resumed its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production after an unscheduled shutdown because of a technical issues at the ethylene unit. The plant"s customers said Angarsk Polymers Plant had brought on-stream its LDPE production by 28 August after the forced shutdown due to technical problems at its ethylene production. And the first shipments of polyethylene (PE) to customers began on 31 August. The outage lasted slightly over two weeks and began on 10 August The plant"s annual production capacity is about 75,000 tonnes.

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.

We also remind that Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC