Lummus wins technology contract for new PP plant in Brunei

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hengyi Industries Sdn. Bhd. has let a contract to Lummus Novolen Technology GmbH for a large-scale polypropylene unit at its 8-million tonnes/year integrated refining and petrochemical complex on Pulau Muara Besar island in Brunei, said Chemweek.

Lummus' scope includes the technology license for 1,000 kton per year (kta) polypropylene unit as well as basic design engineering, training, and technical services.

Hengyi's unit, at 1,000 kta, is Lummus' largest polypropylene license to date and will be one of the largest polypropylene units in the world, Lummus said.

The contract follows Hengyi’s contract to a division of E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. to license technology for an alkylation at the refining and petrochemical complex in August.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
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Blast causes fire at petrochemical plant in southwest Iran, fire contained

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Blast causes fire at petrochemical plant in southwest Iran, fire contained, said Reuters.

An explosion caused a blaze in an aromatics unit of a petrochemicals plant in southwestern Iran on Friday and was brought under control, state broadcaster IRIB reported.

Firefighters from the petrochemicals plant near the port of Bandar Imam Khomeini and regional fire teams responded to contain the blaze and there were no injuries, IRIB said on its social media feed.

As MRC informed earlier, Iran will launch 42 petrochemical projects by the end of next year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,496,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of all ethylene polymers increased, except for linear low desnity polyethylene (LLDPE). At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.


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COVID-19 - News digest as of 23.10.2020

1. Sika profits slip on lower sales, confirms 2023 targets

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Construction chemicals company Sika (Baar, Switzerland) says its net profits for the first nine months of 2020 were lower by almost 1% on a year-on-year (YOY) basis, to 561.5 million Swiss francs (USD619.5 million) on sales down 3.4% YOY, to SFr5.81 billion, reported Chemweek. The company says that lower sales in the March-to-May period had a negative impact on profits, with nine-month EBIT slipping by approximately 1% YOY, to SFr797.4 million. However, EBITDA increased 3.1% YOY, to SFr1.07 billion. Third-quarter figures have not been disclosed. “The 2020 financial year to date has been dominated by the coronavirus pandemic. With our decentralized organization, we have been able to adapt swiftly to changed local conditions in all 100 countries and gain market share,” says Paul Schuler, CEO at Sika.



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Braskem restors systems after cyber attack

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem S.A. has notified that its systems are back online after a cyber attack led the company to declare force majeure in Brazil, as per the company's statement last Thursday.

Braskem is safely restoring its external networks, and all systems in the US are back to normal, the company said.

As MRC reported previously, on 7 October, Braskem informed its shareholders and the market that, in view of an identified cyber-attack occurred in its Information Technology environment, the protection system interrupted, as a precautionary measure, the access to some of its servers and software, impacting its operations.

We remind that Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem's 450,000 mt/year polypropylene (PP) plant in LaPorte, Texas, along the Houston Ship Channel completed its initial commercial production, as per the company's statement as of Sept. 10. "The launch of commercial production at our new world-class PP production line in La Porte clearly affirms Braskem's position as the North American polypropylene market leader," Braskem America CEO Mark Nikolich said in a statement. With a USD750 million investment, the new PP plant's construction started in October 2017 and was completed in June, 2020.

Braskem operates five other US PP plants in Texas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, with a cumulative capacity of 1.57 million mt/year that the company acquired. The new plant in La Porte, Texas, is Braskem America's first PP new build.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
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Air Liquide beats on sales, reaffirms 2020 guidance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide reports an 8.7% decline year on year (YOY) in group sales for the third quarter to EUR4.98 billion (USD5.90 billion), beating analysts’ consensus estimate by 180 basis points, with the company reconfirming its existing full-year 2020 guidance of delivering net profit close to last year’s result of EUR2.2 billion, said Chemweek.

The company has not published third-quarter net profit figures. The quarter produced “a marked recovery in sales” compared with the second quarter of this year, with improvements across all business lines and in all regions, according to Benoit Potier, Air Liquide’s chairman and CEO. Within the context of limited local lockdowns and a progressive recovery until the end of the year, the company is “confident in its ability to further increase its operating margin and to deliver net profit close to [the] preceding year’s level,” he says. Cash flow from operating activities reached nearly 24% of sales in the quarter, with industrial investment decisions for the nine months to end September totaling EUR2.1 billion and EUR685 million for the quarter, according to the company. It has also achieved EUR311 million in cost efficiencies so far this year, with a total of over EUR400 million targeted for the full financial year 2020, it adds.

Air Liquide says that China has seen the most dynamic level of recovery in the third quarter, with sales “up markedly” YOY, while the situation was “more contrasted” in the rest of the Asia Pacific region. Activity is also picking up in Europe, with slight growth in sales seen compared with the equivalent quarter last year. Signs of a more gradual recovery can be seen in North America, with business remaining strong in South America, it says.

Air Liquide’s gas and services business, which represents 96% of group sales, reported a decline in revenue of 8.9% YOY to EUR4.77 billion, beating consensus by 150 basis points according to Bernstein Research. Sales in Air Liquide's global markets and technologies segment totaled €143 million in the quarter, a rise of 11.4% YOY mainly due to production capacity no longer being constrained by the pandemic. Consolidated engineering and construction revenue was EUR60 million, with sales to third-party customers remaining sluggish due to the pandemic, it says.

The contribution to the company’s annual sales from the start-up of new production units and the ramp-up of existing units this year is expected to contribute EUR180 million in additional revenue for 2020, at the high end of its previous estimated range, it says. The estimated additional contribution to sales from these units has also been revised upward to a range of EUR320–350 million, which also factors in the expected contribution to revenue from 16 air separation units that Air Liquide is acquiring from Sasol in South Africa, it adds.

Air Liquide’s better-than-expected sales were helped by stable growth in the company’s large industries segment, driven by air gases and hydrogen volumes in North America and the ramp-up of new hydrogen units in Latin America, Bernstein says. Although demand in Europe for air gases from the steel sector remained weak, volumes improved for chemicals, while in Asia Pacific there was strong demand for oxygen volumes for both the chemicals and steel sectors, mainly in China, it says.

As MRC informed earlier, Air Liquide finalised an agreement with Sasol to acquire the biggest oxygen production site in the world with a plan to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30%. After the announcement on July 29, the international major industry gas company has now entered into a business purchase agreement with Sasol to acquire the oxygen production site in Secunda, South Africa.

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.
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