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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The 380,000-metric
tons/year steam cracker at Porvoo, Finland, operated by Borealis is expected to
restart operations in early December after the company declared force
majeure following a technical failure on 11 November, reported Chemweek with reference to a company
spokesperson's statement to OPIS on Friday.
"Start-up is
currently foreseen for early December 2020," the spokesperson said.
The
cracker was shut down to allow necessary repair works, according to Borealis.
Cumene and phenol operations at Porvoo have not been disrupted by the cracker
outage, as Borealis has been able to source feedstocks to maintain production,
according to IHS Markit analysts. Borealis produces
150,000 metric
tons/year of benzene, 245,000 metric tons/year of cumene, and 190,000 metric
tons/year of phenol at Porvoo, IHS Markit data show.
OPIS is an IHS
Markit company.
As MRC informed earlier,
Borealis announces that its new naphtha cavern in Porvoo, Finland has now been
safely commissioned as of October 2020. Having invested around EUR25 million in
the construction of this 80,000 m3 facility, Borealis can now source and store
naphtha for its Porvoo operations from the global market in a more flexible,
cost-efficient, and secure way. The cavern can also accommodate renewable
naphtha, making it possible for Borealis customers in future to draw on
certified renewable polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE), as well as
renewable base chemicals, ethylene, propylene and phenol.
We remind that
the light-feed 625,000-metric tons/year Borealis steam cracker at Stenungsund,
Sweden, is expected to restart operations
in the fourth quarter this year after a fire broke out at the plant in May,
2020. The cracker has been under force majeure ever since after the blaze at the
plant on 10 May, which was subsequently brought under control the following
day.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and
PP.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report,
Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine
months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE)
shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market
reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula:
production minus exports plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1
January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random
copolymer.
Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the
fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in
Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over
120 countries. |
