Petrochem appoints acting CEO

MOSCOW (MRC) -- National Petrochemical Co.’s (Petrochem) board of directors approved the resignation of managing director Abdulrahman Saleh Alismail, who will join Saudi Industrial Investment Group (SIIG) as its new chief executive officer (CEO), effective from Jan. 1, 2021, said Chemweek.

Alismail’s resignation was accepted today, Dec. 24, and will come into effect as of Dec. 31, 2020, Petrochem said in a bourse statement, adding that Alismail will retain his position as a member in the board of directors.

Petrochem board also named Fahad Abdullah Al Theban, as the acting chief executive officer, effective from Jan. 1.

Al Theban holds a bachelor of statistics from King Saud University. He has extensive experience of more than 25 years in petrochemicals. He joined Petrochem in 2011, the statement added.

As per MRC, SIBUR Holding, Russia’s leading petrochemicals company and one of the most rapidly growing petrochemicals businesses globally, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), China’s leading energy and chemical company, have closed the deal to set up a joint venture (JV) at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex after obtaining all the necessary approvals from the regulators of both countries.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and 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

1. Russian LDPE market: 2020 year results

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Demand for low density polyethylene (LDPE) subsided in Russia in 2020 by 2% after an increase a year earlier. At the same time, prices have reached a record level over the past five years and continued to rise, according to ICIS-MRC Price report. Quarantine restrictions in April-May led to a significant reduction in demand for LDPE in Russia, despite seasonal factors. But already from mid-summer, processing volumes began to recover dynamically and remained at a good level until the end of the year. However, according to preliminary results, demand for LDPE showed a negative result in 2020. At the same time, the dynamically growing polyethylene (PE) prices in Asia have begun to put a major pressure on prices in the Russian market for the past two months of the year, and already in December, prices of Russian LDPE exceeded Rb100,000/tonne. Russian producers failed to maintain last year"s LDPE production figures. LDPE output totalled 574,600 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020, down by 2% year on year. And lower PE production was largely due to the increase in the time of shutdowns for repairs at some plants.




MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ENEOS Corporation (formerly known as JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy) has postponed the restart of its larger cracker in Kawasaki, Japan until 4 January after the plant failed to resume operations, as planned, earlier this week, reported Chemweek.

The company shut this cracker with an annual capacity of 515,000 tons/year of ethylene, 300,000 tons/year of propylene, and 105,000 tons/year of butadiene on 4 December, 2020, for repairment after a technical issue reported at the butadiene separation unit and initially planned to resume operations on 28 December.

The company’s smaller cracker at the same location was not affected by the issue.

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.

Japan's largest refiner JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy was renamed ENEOS Corporation on 25 June, 2020, as part of a wider re-organization of the parent company JXTG Holdings. The move, which also involved renaming the parent company to ENEOS Holdings upon approval at its annual shareholders meeting in June 2020, comes as it strives to be a more comprehensive energy and materials company under its 2040 vision announced in May, 2019. JXTG Holdings was formed as a result of a merger between JX Holdings and TonenGeneral in April 2017. This followed the establishment of JX Holdings as a result of the merger between Nippon Oil and Nippon Mining Holdings in April 2010.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR, Russia’s leading petrochemicals company and one of the most rapidly growing petrochemicals businesses globally, says it has agreed a deal for the supply of recycled plastic as feedstock for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) granules at its Polief plant in Blagoveshchensk, Bashkortostan, Russia, as per the company's press release.

The company has signed a contract to receive up to 4,000 metric tons/year of PET flakes made from recycled food packaging from Autopark No.1 Spetstrans, the largest operator for the collection, removal, and disposal of solid municipal waste in St. Petersburg. Deliveries will begin in 2022, it says.

SIBUR will produce primary polymer PET granules manufactured using add-ins of the recycled PET flakes, with the company’s target overall to use about 34,000 metric tons/year of recycled raw materials in its products. The PET granules produced at the Polief facility will “meet the growing market demand for PET packaging containing recycled materials, and its producers will be provided with a comprehensive solution that combines both primary and secondary PET,” Sibur says.

Autopark No.1 Spetstrans says it is planning to build a plastics processing plant in St. Petersburg within the next two years that will be able to deal with PET as well as high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and polypropylene (PP).

SIBUR has also entered into an agreement with TGC-1, a subsidiary of Gazprom (Moscow, Russia), for the supply of renewable electricity as part of its strategy for sustainable development until 2025. The electricity is generated by a hydroelectric power plant at Lesogorskaya, Leningrad, it says. Sibur plans to increase the amount of electricity it consumes from renewable energy sources “both through its own generation and through direct contracts with suppliers of green energy” in order to reduced greenhouse gas emissions, it says.

As MRC reported before, earlier this weak, SIBUR Holding and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), China’s leading energy and chemical company, closed the deal to set up a joint venture (JV) at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex after obtaining all the necessary approvals from the regulators of both countries. SIBUR and Sinopec will hold interest in the JV in the amount of 60% and 40%, respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's PET consumption reached 61,110 tonnes in November 2020, up by 1% year on year. Overall PET consumption in Russia reached 648,110 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020 , down by 18% year on year.

SIBUR is a uniquely positioned vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. We own and operate Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes and are a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry. As of 31 March 2014, SIBUR operated 27 production sites located all over Russia, had over 1,400 large customers engaged in the energy, chemical, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, construction and other industries in approximately 70 countries worldwide and employed over 27,000 personnel.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sahara International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) is planning to mothball the Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT) plant, owned by its affiliate, Sipchem Chemical Co., and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) Film plant that is owned by affiliate firm, Saudi Specialized Products Co, said Chemweek.

Steps to implement the decision are underway, Sipchem said in a statement to Tadawul, adding that the suspension of both plants will start on Jan. 1, 2021, until further notice. The company expects a positive financial impact starting from Q1 2021 results.

The move is in line with Sipchem's post-merger strategy to improve profitability and efficiency of operations, and ensure best levels of liquidity and stability, along with maintaining the integrity of the financial structure, considering the investment risks resulting from the current economic conditions and the challenges faced by the markets in general.

Sipchem PBT Plant is located in Jubail Industrial City, and EVA Film plant is located in Hail Industry City. Sipchem will make announcement on updates and progress in a timely manner.

According to the data compiled by Argaam, Sipchem announced in January 2019 the commercial start of the ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) film plant, by affiliate Saudi Specialized Products Company (Wahaj), with a production capacity of 4,000 metric tons.

Early July 2018, Sipchem Chemical Co., an affiliate of Sipchem, commenced commercial operations at its polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) plant in Jubail Industrial City. The total production capacity of the plant is 63,000 metric tons per year.

As per MRC ScanPlast, November imports of other ethylene polymers, including ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA), were 9,100 tonnes, compared to 10,100 tonnes in October. Overall imports of other ethylene polymers reached 90,200 tonnes over the stated period versus 85,200 tonnes a year earlier.
MRC