HDPE production in Russia grew 90% in 2020

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) totalled about 1,824,800 tonnes in 2020, up 90% year on year.
ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

December PE production in Russia was 160,400 tonnes, whereas this figure was 158,600 tonnes a month earlier, output of high density polyethylene (HDPE) at the facilities of Zapsibneftekhim and Kazanorgsintez decreased. Thus, overall HDPE production reached 1,824,800 tonnes in 2020, compared to 960,600 tonnes a year earlier. All producers raised their output, but ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the greatest increase.

The structure of PE output by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

Russia's December HDPE production at Kazanorgsintez increased to 40,300 tonnes from 37,700 tonnes a month earlier. Russian plants' overall HDPE output reached 484,800 tonnes in January-December 2020, up by 2% year on year.
Last month, HDPE production at Stavrolen facilities increased to about 25,300 tonnes against 25,900 tonnes in November. Thus, for the period under review, the total volume of polyethylene production by the Budenny producer amounted to 318,000 tonnes, up 21% than a year earlier.

Stavrolen's December output of HDPE at Gazprom neftekhim Salavat decreased to 7,200 tonnes from 8,200 tonnes a month earlier. Overall HDPE production grew to 120,000 tonnes in 2020 from 106,000 tonnes a year earlier.


ZapSibNeftekhim increased its production of HDPE to 87,500 tonnes last month against 86,800 tonnes in November. During the period under review, the new producer produced more than 902,000 tonnes of HDPE.

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1. U.S. oil refiners set for worst earnings quarter of the pandemic

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. refiners are girding for a painful slate of fourth-quarter earnings, reflecting the pressure of rising crude prices, weak demand due to renewed COVID-19 travel restrictions, and higher costs of associated with blending of renewable fuels into their products, said Hydrocarbonprocessing. Seven U.S. independent refiners are projected to post an average earnings-per-share loss of USD1.51, down from a loss of USD1.06 in the third quarter of 2020, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Both Credit Suisse and Tudor Pickering Holt cut lowered the price estimates of every U.S. independent refiner for the fourth quarter.


MOSCOW (MRC) -- OPEC's secretary general said on Tuesday he was cautiously optimistic the oil market would recover this year from the slump in demand brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, reported Reuters. Monthly meetings of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia - a grouping known as OPEC+ - are there to stop an imbalance from re-emerging, OPEC's Mohammad Barkindo told a virtual forum. "We all agree that the recovery is fragile, there are still more uncertainties, but we are cautiously optimistic that the recovery will materialise this year," he said. Oil prices have rallied to an 11-month high this month, helped by a Jan. 5 decision by most members of OPEC+ to hold production steady in February and a pledge by Saudi Arabia to voluntarily cut output.


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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is expected to raise its official selling prices (OSPs) for Asian buyers for a second straight month in February, tracking stronger benchmark prices and product cracks, reported The Economic Times with reference to a Reuters survey.

Three sources at Asian refiners expect the February OSP for the flagship grade Arab Light to rise by 33 cents a barrel on average, with their forecasts ranging between an increase of 30 cents and 40 cents.

In December strong spot crude purchases pushed up the average differentials to Dubai swaps for the cash Dubai and DME Oman benchmarks by about 41 cents and 17 cents a barrel respectively from last month, data compiled by Reuters showed on Wednesday.

Asia's cracks for a range of oil products - naphtha, gasoil , jet fuel and fuel oil , strengthened this month on improved demand.

Asia's gasoline crack, however, has dipped recently on concerns that restored mobility restrictions to combat a new coronavirus variant would dent near-term demand.

Saudi crude OSPs are usually released around the fifth of each month and set the trend for Iranian, Kuwaiti and Iraqi prices, affecting more than 12 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude bound for Asia.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco sets its crude prices based on recommendations from customers and after calculating the change in the value of its oil over the past month, based on yields and product prices.

Saudi Aramco officials, as a matter of policy, do not comment on the kingdom's monthly OSPs.

As MRC informed earlier, top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has cut supplies of February-loading crude for some Asian buyer by up to a quarter while meeting requirements of at least four others.

We remind that in October 2019, McDermott International announced that it had been awarded a contract by Saudi Aramco and Total Raffinage Chimie (Total) for their joint venture (JV) Amiral steam cracker project at Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Amiral is a JV in which Aramco holds 62.5% and Total the rest. The plant, designed to produce 1.5 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) of ethylene, will be one of the world's largest mixed-feed crackers.

Aramco and Total launched their USD5-billion Amiral JV project in October 2018. The steam cracker will be fed with a mixture of 50% ethane and refinery off-gases. It will supply ethylene to a downstream 1 MMt/y polyethylene manufacturing complex and other petrochemical products. The project aims to fully exploit operational synergies with the adjacent refinery, owned by Satorp, another JV between Aramco and Total. Third-party investors, including Daelim and Ineos, will locate plants at the value park adjacent to Amiral with a combined investment of USD4 billion. A final investment decision is expected in 2021.

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.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fujian Baihong Petrochemical started up its new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) line at Jinjiang, China on Jan. 21, reported S&P Global with reference to market sources.

The new line with the capacity of2.5 million mt/year of PTA is running at half of its capacity currently, market sources said.

Supply of PTA remains relatively tight outside of China, so Northeast Asian PTA producers have no interest in selling to China.

In India, market participants will watch out for the trend in freight this week as the Taiwan-India rate was reportedly slightly lower in the week ended Jan. 22; spot trades likely to remain muted.

As MRC informed previously, Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co. Ltd. is expected to lead the global planned and announced purified terephthalic acid (PTA) capacity additions during the period 2019 to 2023, contributing around 22% of the global growth by 2023. Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co. Ltd. is expected to add a capacity of 5.00 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from two planned projects by 2023.

PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated 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 eleven months of 2020, down by 18% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, has recently collaborated with DSM and Viscofan in the development of an innovative multi-barrier film for meat casings, as per SABIC's press release.

The film combines layers of a SABIC’s certified circular polyethylene (PE) from its TRUCIRCLE portfolio and a circular polyamide (PA) from DSM Engineering Materials in a more sustainable packaging solution without compromising the high functional and aesthetic performance required in the fresh food packaging market.

The resulting multi-barrier packaging film, manufactured by Viscofan, a world leader in casings for meat products, is designed to help extend the shelf life of products - thus reducing the waste of food - and effectively mitigating against the depletion of fossil resources by capturing the value of used plastic as a feedstock for new food-grade materials. The solution aims to support the growing demand among end-users and consumers for packaging products that can make a significant contribution to reducing the environmental footprint in our society.

“This successful project is notable proof of our determination to partner will players across the value chain willing to share our drive in the industry for implementing a truly circular plastics economy,” states Fahad Al-Swailem, Vice President, PE Business and Sales of Petrochemicals at SABIC. “Relationships like these are instrumental in bringing commercially viable and more sustainable solutions to the packaging market. The certified circular products from our TRUCIRCLE portfolio can help support our environment and can help both packaging manufacturers and the food industry address their sustainability objectives and help stop plastic becoming waste.”

As further demonstration of collaboration across the value chain, SABIC provided certified circular benzene made from feedstock recycling to Cepsa – a global energy and chemical supplier - , who manufactured certified circular phenol that is used as a building block in production process for DSM’s circular PA. Adds Joost d’Hooghe, VP Business Line at DSM Engineering Materials: “By introducing circular PA, we are taking an exciting next step in our sustainability journey towards expanding DSM’s comprehensive materials portfolio by 2030 with a full range of bio-based and/or recycle-based alternatives. The co-development of a recycle-based film for packaging applications underlines our commitment to working closely with partners, customers and suppliers to realize a more sustainable value chain and economy.”

The certified circular SABIC PE and DSM PA polymers in the multi-layered high-barrier film casings are fully accredited under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) scheme which uses a mass balance approach. The certified circular polyethylene and benzene in SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE portfolio are based on used and post-consumer plastics which would otherwise be discarded as landfill or lost to incineration. Using advanced recycling, the used plastic is converted into a new feedstock, which then enters the production chain to deliver new virgin-quality materials. Mass balance accounting provides a method of asserting the recycled content in those materials along predefined and transparent rules by independent third-party laboratories.

The certified circular materials offer drop-in solutions for replacing fossil-based plastics in the packaging industry without compromising on product purity and food safety. Packaging film using certified circular PE polymer from SABIC offers an excellent balance of toughness, barrier performance and aesthetics for a wide range of flexible packaging applications. In addition, it easily lends itself to multi-layer film structures manufactured on common production equipment.

“By combining our capacity for innovation and the latest available technology, we today have reached a unique solution in the market using post-consumer recycled plastics”, Oscar Ponz, Chief Plastic Business Officer at Viscofan explains. “Today’s announcement is a result of the shared commitment to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally friendly for a more sustainable future. This important project is being developed with the collaboration of important Viscofan customers like El Pozo.”

SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE program spans from design for recyclability services and mechanically recycled materials to certified circular products from feedstock recycling of used plastics as well as certified renewable polymers from bio-based feedstock. Read more here.

As MRC reported earlier, in November 2020, SABIC announced the successful commercialization of LEXAN HP92AF Anti-Fog film, targeted especially at demanding COVID-19 protection equipment such as safety face shields and goggles in front-line work environments.

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.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
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