Polyplex to invest USD103 million to build BOPET film plant, debottleneck PET resin plant in Alabama

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polyplex (Thailand) Public Limited Company (PTL), a subsidiary of Polyplex Corporation Limited (PCL; Gautam Buddh Nagar, India), will invest USD102.8 million to build a biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) thin film line at Decatur, Alabama. The production capacity of the planned plant will be 50,000 metric tons/year, said Chemweek.

The company also intends to debottleneck the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin plant at Decatur, to raise the capacity from the current 58,000 metric tons/year to 86,000 metric tons/year. The project is expected to be commissioned in 24 months.

In June 2019, the company decided to invest USD48 million to build a biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film plant in Indonesia, with a capacity of 60,000 metric tons/year.

As per MRC' ScanPlast, total calculated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) consumption in Russia in August reached 55,220 tonnes, down 27% year on year. Russia's overall estimated consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) decreased in the first eight months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 476,940 tonnes.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hyosung Vina Chemicals Co Ltd has reportedly shut down its polypropylene (PP) plant in Vietnam on 29 September 2020 due to an unspecified technical issue, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The 300,000 tons/year PP unit is expected to remain offline between 20-30 days, sources added.

The shutdown is expected to curtail local supply further as two other PP producers in Vietnam have also just restarted operation.

As MRC informed before, following the start-up at the newly constructed PP plant in Vietnam on 12 February 2020, it was reported that Hyosung reached on-spec cargoes approximately in mid-February. The first prime grade parcels were homo-PP yarn grade F501N with a melt index of 3.7.

This is the No. 1 PP unit that has an annual capacity of 300,000 tons/year, operating using external sources of propylene. The company is constructing the Phase II project at the same location, which houses a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant and No. 2 PP unit that could produce another 300,000 tons/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Hyosung Corporation is a Korean industrial conglomerate, founded in 1957. It operates in various fields, including the chemical industry, industrial machinery, IT, trade, and construction.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian, China) will invest 11.5 billion renminbi (USD1.6 billion) to build two purified terephthalic acid (PTA) units at the Daya Bay petrochemical park at Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China, according to Chemweek.

Each PTA unit will have a production capacity of 2.5 million metric tons/year (MMt/y). Operations are planned to commence by the end of 2021. The company’s current production capacity for PTA is 11.6 MMt/y following the start-up of new plants at Dalian.

Hengli says that after the project is complete, it expects annual sales to reach 21.2 billion renminbi and profit to rise to 1.2 billion renminbi.

Hengli says that the Daya Bay petrochemical park at Huizhou is one of the seven key petchem industrial bases in China. It says that the project will fill gaps in the middle and lower reaches of the petrochemical industry chain at Huizhou and in Guangdong. The investment will also improve the park's industrial structure as it develops into an energy, petrochemical, and materials cluster. Multinational companies building world-scale petrochemical complexes at Daya Bay include ExxonMobil and Shell.

Guangdong Province in southern China is one of the key regional economies in the country. It has the largest automotive and electronics industries in China and is a big manufacturer of consumer goods. Guangdong is also the largest consumer market in China, partly because it is the country’s most populous province with more than 110 million residents. Annual growth of household consumption has averaged 8% there in the last five years, according to estimates.

IHS Markit says that China is the world’s largest producer of PTA and downstream consumer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). China's reliance on imported PTA has dramatically declined with the ramp-up of domestic production capacity, including Hengli adding large capacity at Dalian. Chinese PTA imports declined at an average of 19.5%/year over the last decade to just 676,000 metric tons in 2018, says IHS Markit.

In 2018–23, China is expected to add 22.5 MMt/y of PTA capacity. By 2023, total Chinese capacity is expected to be in excess of 66 MMt/y, according to data from IHS Markit.

As MRC wrote oreviously, Hengli Petrochemical Co Ltd ramped up the operation rate of its new No. 5 purified terephthalic acid (PTA) line at Dalian to around 85% on 11-12 July, 2020. The company managed to produce prime grade PTA cargoes at its new PTA line in China on 30 June. This line was successfully launched on 28 June, 2020. Based in Dalian, China, the company has 5 PTA plants with combined production capacity of 11.6 million tons/year, making Hengli Group the world's largest PTA producer, as each PTA plant has production capacity of 2.5 million tons/year.

PTA is one of the main feedstocks for the production of PET.

As per MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption reached 55,220 tonnes in August, 2020, down by 27% year on year. Overall estimated PET consumption in Russia decreased in the first eight months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 476,940 tonnes.

Hengli Petrochemical Co., Ltd. manufactures chemical fibers. The Company researches, produces, and sells polyester filament and chips for consumer and industry products. Hengli Petrochemical markets it products worldwide.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ALPLA Group, a global specialist for packaging solutions and recycling, is acquiring a facility in Western India for the production of preforms for PET bottles from the packaging company Amcor, said the company.

ALPLA Group has taken over a plant for rigid plastics in India from the global packaging specialist Amcor with effect from September 28, 2020. The plant in Alandi, West India, is in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis of Pune. It manufactures preforms for the production of PET bottles for the beverage industry. Customers include Coca-Cola and the Indian dairy company Amul.

With this takeover, ALPLA is expanding its core business in the PET area in India. All 50 employees will be taken over by ALPLA. Vagish Dixit, Managing Director ALPLA India: ‘The newly acquired facility near Pune will primarily help us to better serve the market in the Western Region of India and further expand existing partnerships with customers such as Coca-Cola.’ ALPLA Pune is the ninth location of ALPLA in India and the second in the west of the country.

As MRC informed earlier, Alpla strengthened its recycling operations and entered into the high density polyethylene recycling market with the acquisition of two Spanish businesses. The company said it signed the purchase agreements for the acquisition of Suminco SA in Montcada, near Barcelona, and Replacal SL in Palencia, north of Madrid, in October. Terms and conditions of the deal were not disclosed.

As per MRC' ScanPlast, total calculated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) consumption in Russia in August reached 55,220 tonnes, down 27% year on year. Russia's overall estimated consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) decreased in the first eight months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 476,940 tonnes.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's efforts to privatise refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. could spill over into the next fiscal year, according to a government document and sources, hurting New Delhi's efforts to rein in a ballooning fiscal deficit, reported Reuters.

The privatisation of key companies, including BPCL, is a key part of government plans to pare the fiscal deficit, which has breached its target level just four months into the current fiscal year. Industry sources last year estimated the government's 53.29% stake in BPCL could fetch USD8 billion to USD10 billion.

With India's economy contracting by a record 23.9% in the June quarter due to COVID-19, a delayed sale of BPCL could hinder the government's ability to generate funds for stimulus efforts aimed at restoring growth.

New Delhi's plan to sell its stake in BPCL was first announced in November 2019, and is part of a broader program to spin off or sell stakes in dozens of state-owned companies.

The sale has been targeted for completion in the current fiscal year at end-March, but the deadline for initial expressions of interest was pushed out by two months due to pandemic-related movement restrictions that have prevented potential buyers from inspecting the facility.

A sale status report issued last month and reviewed by Reuters showed the sale was only due to complete the third step of a 25-step process established for government divestments this month. The document suggests it could take as long as another 21 months for the sale to be completed, although some stages could be carried out concurrently. Potential buyers still needed to attain security clearance, conduct valuation assessments and agree financial terms.

"This looks challenging. But we are doing our best to complete the transaction in this financial year," a senior government official familiar with the sale told Reuters.

A second official said the process could take at least 7-8 months more, which would delay completion until at least the end of April, and mean that the proceeds of any sale would only hit government coffers next fiscal year, which begins on April 1

"It may not be possible for overseas companies to do due diligence as air travel is restricted," added a third official involved in the privatisation process.

All three officials declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The sale also faces domestic opposition. The state government of Kerala, where BPCL's 310,000 barrels per day Kochi refinery is located, fears job losses and plans to challenge the privatisation in the Supreme Court, its industry minister EP Jayarajan told Reuters.

Companies including Saudi Aramco and Rosneft have indicated they would look at BPCL since the privatisation plan was announced.

BPCL shares have fallen more than 20% since November last year. Interest may be dampened as the industry looks to shift to greener energy investments.

The government had budgeted collections of over USD27 billion from privatisations and minority stake sales of state-owned companies this fiscal year, but had raised only about USD775 million after the first 6 months.

As MRC informed before, in January 2020, BPCL said it would invest about Rs25,000 crore to set up an ethylene cracker plant at Rasayani, 50 kilometres from its Mumbai refinery, as the firm pushes further into the petrochemicals business to fuel growth.

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

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.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian state-controlled oil and gas company headquartered in Mumbai, India. Bharat Petroleum owns refineries at Mumbai, Maharashtra and Kochi, Kerala (Kochi Refineries) with a capacity of 12 and 9.5 million metric tonnes per year.
MRC