Formosa to reach full capacity utilisation at No.1 cracker in Mailiao after restart

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Plastics Company (FPC), part of Formosa Petrochemical, expects to resume 100% capacity utilisation at its No. 1 cracker in Mailiao, Taiwan in a couple of days, reported Reuters with reference to the company's spokesman.

This cracker was unexpectedly taken off-stream on 12 April 2021 due to an unspecified technical issue and resumed operations on 19 April 2021.

The No. 1 cracker has an annual capacity of 700,000 tons of ethylene and 350,000 tons of propylene.

As MRC wrote before, FPC shut down its No.2 cracker in Taiwan on 1 June, 2020. No reason for unplanned closure was given then. The cracker was dle during one week. Located at Mailiao in Taiwan, the No.2 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 1.03 million mt/year, propylene production capacity of 515,000 mt/year and butadiene production capacity of 162,000 mt/year.

Besides, FPCC undertook a planned shutdown at its No.3 cracker in Mailiao on August 11, 2020. The cracker remained off-line till end-September, 2020. Located at Mailiao in Taiwan, the No. 3 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 1.2 million mt/year and propylene production capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated polyethylene (PE) consumption totalled 356,370 tonnes in the first two month of 2021, down by 9% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market was 246,870 tonnes in January-February 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company"s plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

Nan Ya Plastics to restart its new MEG plant in Texas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The restart of Formosa's ethylene cracker in Point Comfort, Texas, USA, completed the week of April 5, is expected to allow Nan Ya Plastics, Formosa's sister company, to restart its new monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit at the same site, reported S&P Global with reference to sources, familiar with the plant's operations.

This plant with the capacity of 800,000 mt/year of MEG was shut im mid-February because of deep freeze in the region.

Meanwhile, Nan Ya Plastic's smaller 370,000 mt/year MEG plant is expected to remain shut until mid-summer, said sources familiar with its operations.

As MRC reported earlier, the mew MEG plant's start-up was pushe back to early 2021 from H1 2020 on coronavirus pandemic-related concerns to ensure worker safety and social distancing.

MEG is one of the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption increased in February 2021 to about 57,760 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Overall PET consumption in Russia totalled 115,210 tonnes in the two months of 2021.

Nan Ya's 800,000 mt/year monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant in Texas is expected to come online by late 2020 or early 2021 rather than the third quarter of 2020, reported S&P Global with reference to a source familiar with company operations.
MRC

Azerbaijan increases profit from PP exports by more than a quarter in Q1 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azerbaijan exported 23,988 tonnes of polypropylene (PP) in primary forms in January-March 2021, said the Azeri news agency REPORT with reference to the data of customs declarations.

According to the State Customs Committee, the cost of PP exports totally USD26.791 million, up by USD5.672 million (26.8%) and down by 935 tons (3.8%) year on year.

In the last quarter of 2020, the share of PP in the total exports of the non-oil sector was 5.34%, and in the total export volume - 0.65%.

As reported previously, PP is produced in Azerbaijan at SOCAR Polymer's plant, which was commissioned on July 18, 2018. The design capacity of the plant is 184,000 mt/year of PP. A plant for the production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) with a capacity of 120,000 mt/year started up on February 18, 2019.

In general, the plants of SOCAR Polymer, a subsidiariy of the state oil company of Azerbaijan - SOCAR, are designed to produce 10 grades of PP and 4 grades of HDPE. SOCAR Polymer's revenues from these plants for the period of operation are expected at USD6.6 billion, net profit will amount to USD1.98 billion. For the entire period of operation of the plants, tax payments to the state budget of Azerbaijan will amount to USD600 million.

It was also reported that most of the PE and PP quantities produced at SOCAR Polymer are exported. Thus, Azerbaijan exports these products mainly to Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Lithuania.

Azerbaijan also produces low density polyethylene (LDPE) at the Ethylene-Polyethylene plant of the Azerkhimia production association of SOCAR in the amount of over 60,000 mt/year.

SOCAR Polymer was founded by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan. Currently, SOCAR's share in the company's capital is 57%. LLC "Vitol Black Sea V. L. L", LLC "Ecoland" and a number of other companies are also among the shareholders.
MRC

Kazanorgsintez shuts LDPE production for scheduled turnaround

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazanorgsintez (part of TAIF Group) has shut some of its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production capacities for a scheduled turnaround, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's customers said on 16 April, Kazanorgsintez completely shut production at its third LDPE line for the annual scheduled maintenance. The outage will be lengthy, with the completion of the maintenance works is scheduled for mid-May.

The third line's production capacity is 140,000 tonnes/year.

At the same time, the next shutdowns for maintenance at Russian LDPE plants are planned in June-July. Angarsk Polymers Plant and Gazprom neftekhim Salavat will take off-stream their production capacities for turnarounds.

PJSC "Kazanorgsintez" (part of TAIF Group) is one of Russia's largest plants. Kazanorgsintez produces 40% of overall Russian polyethylene (PE) and is the country's largest exporter. To date, the plant produces PE, polycarbonate (PC), PE pipes, phenol, acetone, bisphenol A. Kazanorgsintez is Russia's only PC producer. It manufactures a total of 170 items of products. Kazanorgsintez's annual output is 1.6 million tonnes. The plant is Russia's largest producer of high density polyethylene (HDPE). The plant's annual HDPE production capacity is 540,000 tonnes and its annual LDPE capacity is 225,000 tonnes.
MRC

Trinseo and BASF to cooperate on circular styrenic plastics

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and BASF, the world's largest petrochemical company, have announced the intention to expand their businesses with the production of styrene monomer (SM) based on circular feedstock, said BASF in its press release.

The enhanced collaboration between Trinseo and BASF aims to increase efforts by both companies in the development and management of SM featuring an improved environmental profile.

Trinseo has recently been procuring first supplies of the synthetical chemical styrene based on circular feedstock from BASF for use in its Solution-Styrene Butadiene Rubber (S-SBR) and polystyrene (PS) products. Trinseo supplies S-SBR to major tires manufacturers while its PS products are used in applications such as food packaging and appliances. The first few customers have already processed the material.

“By creating synergy across the value chain, the Trinseo-BASF collaboration is an important move towards helping our customers reach their sustainability goals as well as the development of a truly circular economy,” said Nicolas Joly, Vice President, Plastics & Feedstocks of Trinseo. “The initiative is also in line with Trinseo’s 2030 Sustainability Goals announced earlier this year.”

“CO2 emission reduction and a circular economy are BASF’s paramount targets. Using circular feedstocks instead of virgin fossil resources contributes directly or indirectly to an improved CO2 footprint of subsequent products,” says Klaus Ries, Vice President for BASF’s Styrenics Business Europe. “While our customer Trinseo procures biomass balanced (BMB) styrene for their downstream business already, styrene Ccycled will be available in the near future”.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced a price increase for all PS, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) in Europe. Effective April 1, 2021, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below rose as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR330 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR330 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR300 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR350 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.0 billion in net sales in 2020, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,600 employees.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC