MOSCOW (MRC) -- BPC has, for the first time, supplied its product to China via the Northern Sea Route, the company announced via a press release issued 5 October, said Chemweek.
"On October 5, two vessels with the Belarusian muriate of potash for the first time arrived from the port of Klaipeda to China over the Northern Sea Route, through waters of the Arctic Ocean and then through the Bering Strait," the company said.
The cargo delivery time was said to be 1.5 times shorter in comparison to the traditional route, with a significant reduction in freight costs. "This bold project underscores the aspiration of BPC toward the ongoing improvement of the service quality and also makes a material contribution to development of the Belt and Road global strategic initiative," the press service said.
We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in August 2020 by 5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 5.3% in the first eight months of 2020, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-July output. August production of benzene fell to 102,000 tonnes from 95,300 tonnes a month earlier due to scheduled shutdowns for maintenance at several producers. Overall output of this product reached 918,300 tonnes over the stated period, down by 0.9% year on year.
At the same time, August production of primary polymers rose to 888,000 tonnes against 838,000 tonnes in July due to increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim, Stavrolen and Gazprom neftekhim Salavat. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 6,630,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 15.2% year on year.
According to MRC DataScope, July imports of polypropylene in Belarus decreased to 7,300 tonnes, while a month earlier this figure was about 11,000 tonnes, local companies reduced the volume of purchases of all types of propylene polymers in Russia. Total PP imports into the country reached 62,800 tonnes in January - July, compared with 64,600 tonnes year on year. The demand for homopolymer PP increased, but demand for propylene copolymers decreased.
MRC