PP production in Russia dropped by 31% in January-November

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's overall polypropylene (PP) production increased in the eleven months of 2020 by 31% year on year to about 1,698,000 tonnes. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

November PP production in the country exceeded 169,100 tonnes, compared with 152,000 tonnes in October; several producers increased their capacity utilisation. Russia's overall PP production reached 1 698,000 tonnes in January-November 2020, compared to 1 298,000 tonnes a year earlier. Six out of eight producers increased their capacity utilisation, two producers decreased production volumes.

The structure of PP production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

SIBUR Tobolsk reduced its capacity utilisation in November, the plant's PP production dropped to 49,200 tonnes that month versus 51,800 tonnes a month earlier. The Tobolsk plant's total PP production reached 453,800 tonnes in the eleven months of 2020, up by 7% year on year.

ZapSibNeftekhim produced about 40,100 tonnes of polypropylene in November compared with 32,000 tonnes in October. The plant's overall output totalled 396,900 tonnes in the eleven months of 2020.

Omsk Poliom increased the capacity utilisation to almost 100% in November, and, as a result, produced about 15,000 tonnes of PP. Whereas in October the plant was shut for scheduled maintenance and the volume of production decreased to 5,800 tonnes. The Omsk plant's PP production totalled about 165,500 tonnes over the stated period, down by 15% year on year.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim produced a little more then 18,000 tonnes of propylene polymers in November versus 17,700 tonnes a month earlier.
The Nizhnekamsk plant's overall output of polymer reached 200,600 tonnes in the eleven months of 2020, compared to 193,300 tonnes a year earlier.

Tomskneftekhim produced about 12,400 tonnes of polypropylene in November against 13,500 tonnes in October. Total PP production by the producer reached 135,600 tonnes in January-November 2020, up 1% year on year.

Ufaorgsintez's November PP production was about 11,300 tonnes versus 7,600 tonnes in October; in September-October the producer carried out scheduled maintenance works. The Ufa plant's overall output of polymer reached 108,900 tonnes in January-November 2020, down by 7% year on year.

Neftekhimiya (Kapotnya) last month produced about 12,500 tonnes of PP, compared with 11,900 tonnes in October. The plant's overall PP output reached 136,800 tonnes in the eleven months of 2020, up by 9% year on year.

Stavrolen (LUKOIL) increased its capacity utilisation in November, and, as a result, it produced about 10,800 tonnes of propylene polymers versus 11,700 tonnes in October. The Budenovsk plant's overall production of propylene polymers exceeded 100,300 tonnes in the eleven months of 2020 versus 96,000 tonnes a year earlier.

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Lotte Group implements generation change at executive level

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea’s fifth-largest Lotte Group has turned younger, with executive positions filled with 50s at latest reshuffle to become more agile to fast-changing environment from the pandemic, according to PulseNews.

Lotte Group on Thursday conducted the year-end executive team reshuffle at 53 affiliates, spanning from retail to food, chemical and hotel.

Lee Young-goo, 58 years old, chief executive officer of Lotte Chilsung Beverage, has been named the head of the group’s food and beverage business unit, replacing Lee Young-ho, 62. Park Yoon-ki, 50, senior vice president of the strategy & planning division at Lotte Chilsung Beverage, was made the new CEO of the company.

Kang Sung-hyun, 50, CEO of Lotte-Nestle Korea, was named the head of Lotte Mart business unit head. Lee Jin-sung, 51, director of Lotte Institute of Economy & Business Strategy was named CEO of Lotte Food. Hwang Jin-goo, 52, CEO of Lotte Chemical USA, was named CEO of Lotte Chemical. Cha Woo-chul, 52, audit team director at Lotte Corporation, was named CEO of Lotte GRS, while Noh Joon-hyung, 52, DT business director at Lotte Data Communication Company, was promoted to CEO of the company.

Koh Soo-chan, 58, executive vice president of Lotte Engineering & Construction, has been promoted as the head of communications at Lotte Corp. Park Eun-jae, an ex-prosecutor was recruited as the head of the legal & compliance division at Lotte Corp.

Lotte Corp. is Lotte Group’s holding entity. It has replaced the heads of all six teams in two years.

Lotte Group retained Kim Kyo-hyun, CEO of Lotte Chemical, as the head of its chemical business unit despite the company’s poor business performance this year, which was largely affected by the pandemic. Sohn Tae-woon, executive vice president of Lotte Chemical USA was promoted to CEO of the company.

This year’s reshuffle at Lotte Group had 80 percent fewer promotions compared with past years. A total of 50 new appointments have been made to the senior management positions, compared with 64 last year. Nearly 20 percent of Lotte Group’s about 600 senior executives are projected to be leaving the company after the reshuffle.

The group reduced the number of senior executive ranks to allow those with more achievements to climb up the ladder faster.

As MRC reported earlier, South Korea’s Lotte Chemical has restarted its fire-hit naphtha-fed steam cracker in Daesan. Thus, the facility begins trial runs of naphtha on 7 December, 2020. Lotte Chemical had initially planned to restart the cracker in September, then - in mid-November and finally - to early December. The cracker was shut on March 4 following an explosion, which injured more than 30 people. Lotte Chemical has two steam crackers. The steam cracker in Daesan has a production capacity of 1.1 million mt/year of ethylene, 550,000 mt/year of propylene and 150,000 mt/year of butadiene, while the Yeosu steam cracker is able to produce 1.18 million mt/year of ethylene, 550,000 mt/year of propylene and 130,000 mt/year of butadiene.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
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Mammoet completes final PTC lifts at petrochemical plant in Pennsylvania

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mammoet’s team completed several lifts using the PTC 200-DS in Potter Township, Pennsylvania last year. Originally there were ten scheduled lifts to be executed at a radius of 146m (480ft), with the heaviest two pieces weighing in at over 663.4t (1.4m lbs.) each, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In order to maximize construction efficiency and because of its reach and centralized location, Mammoet’s PTC was proposed as an option to complete other lifts on site as necessary. Ultimately, a further 137 lifts, not previously included in the PTC’s scope, were executed within the crane’s 205m (673ft) working radius.

By combining lifting capacity - up to 4,535t (5,000 US) tons - with its long reach and flexible configuration, Mammoet’s PTC provided an ideal solution on site. Because the counterweight is positioned on the ring, cranes such as the PTC don’t need any additional space to slew, allowing an efficient use of available space while still providing an extended lifting range.

Additionally, Mammoet’s crew set six steel pre-assemblies over existing purge bins inside the plant. These maneuvers needed to be made approximately 91m (300ft) above ground level, with use of tag lines. By setting this steel in pre-assembled sections, the amount of work performed at elevation was greatly reduced.

A hydraulic swivel was used to help steady the load because using tag lines alone would have been infeasible for controlling the orientation of each piece. With the assistance of the remote-controlled hydraulic swivel, the pre-assemblies were able to be precisely positioned. This was a necessity due to a clearance of less than 5cm (2in) at times between the pre-assemblies and the purge bins. The facility is the first major U.S. project of its kind to be built outside of the Gulf Coast region in 20 years. Once operational, the complex will include four processing units, including an ethane cracker and three polyethylene units and is expected to employ up to 600 workers. In early 2019, Mammoet’s MSG80 successfully lifted a 1,814t (2,000 US ton) quench tower into position, which was the tallest and heaviest lift scheduled at this location.

As MRC informed earlier, Mammoet has safely completed a critical lift at Shell’s Pennsylvania Chemicals Project in Potter Township, utilizing its MSG80 to hoist a 2,000 ton quench tower into position. The facility is the first major US project of its kind to be built outside of the Gulf Coast region in 20 years. Once operational, the facility will boast an ethane cracker and three polyethylene units, and is expected to employ up to 600 employees. As part of its heavy lift scope, Mammoet recently lifted the tallest and heaviest piece, a quench tower, into place using its specialized MSG80 crane.

We remind that PetroChina has nearly doubled the amount of Russian crude being processed at its refinery in Dalian, the company's biggest, since January 2018, as a new supply agreement had come into effect. The Dalian Petrochemical Corp, located in the northeast port city of Dalian, was expected to process 13 million tonnes, or 260,000 bpd of Russian pipeline crude in 2018, up by about 85 to 90 percent from the previous year's level. Dalian has the capacity to process about 410,000 bpd of crude. The increase follows an agreement worked out between the Russian and Chinese governments under which Russia's top oil producer Rosneft was to supply 30 million tonnes of ESPO Blend crude to PetroChina in 2018, or about 600,000 bpd. That would have represented an increase of 50 percent over 2017 volumes.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

Solvay to use renewable gas to power cyclopentanone unit at Melle, France

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay says it has agreed to buy renewable gas to power the production of cyclopentanone at its plant in Melle, France, as part of a wider decarbonization drive, reporte Chemweek.

The company has committed to use biomethane gas to power the cyclopentanone unit at Melle for the next 15 years from an 18-gigawatt hours/year waste biomass facility built by an agricultural cooperative.

“Since cyclopentanone is used as a building block for so many fragrance applications, such as jasmine, we are committed to producing it in the most sustainable way,” says Guillaume Meunier, global market director/flavor and fragrance at Solvay's aroma performance business. The commitment to power the plant with renewable gas is part of the company’s initiative to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26% by 2030, he says.

Solvay commercializes two grades of cyclopentanone, one for the fragrance market and another ultra-high-purity version for the electronics market. Both are manufactured at the Melle facility.

As MRC reported earlier, in August, 2020, through the acquisition of the Solvay polyamide (PA) business, BASF enhanced its R&D capabilities in Asia Pacific with new technologies, technical expertise, and upgraded material and part testing services. BASF is planning to integrate the R&D centers from Solvay into its R&D existing facilities in Shanghai, China, and Seoul, Korea. The enhanced capabilities will boost BASF’s position as a solution provider to develop advanced material solutions for key industries.

We remind that BASF-YPC, a 50-50 joint venture of BASF and Sinopec, undertook a planned shutdown at its naphtha cracker on 30 April 2020. The company initially planned to start turnaround at the cracker on April 5, 2020. The plant remained under maintenance unitl 18 June, 2020. Located in Jiangsu, China, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 750,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

Fire at Rosneft refinery in Russia Far East contained

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire at a secondary unit at an oil refinery owned by Rosneft in Russia's far eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur has been contained, said Reuters.

The blaze has not caused any injuries and the incident would not have in impact on production plans, said the company's spokesman.

The Komsomolsk refinery processed 7.23 million tonnes of oil in 2019. It produced 567,000 tonnes of gasoline, 1.91 million tonnes of diesel, 2.04 million tonnes of marine fuel and 1.34 million tonnes of heavy petroleum fuel.

As MRC informed earlier, Lummus Technology (Houston) and Chevron Lummus Global (CLG) announced multiple technology contracts with PT Pertamina Rosneft Pengolahan dan Petrokimia (PRPP), a joint venture (JV) between Indonesia’s PT Pertamina (Persero) and Russia’s Rosneft Oil Company for a grassroots refinery and petrochemical complex in Tuban, Indonesia.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC