HDPE production in Russia up by 15% in Q1 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's overall production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) totalled 505,800 tonnes in the first three months of 2021, up by 15% year on year. At the same time, only one Russian producer increased its output, according to MRC ScanPlast report.
March total HDPE production in Russia grew to 176,000 tonnes, whereas this figure was 152,500 tonnes a month earlier, three out of four producers increased their capacity utilisation. Thus, overall HDPE output in the country reached 505,800 tonnes in January-March 2021, compared to 439,400 tonnes a year earlier. Only ZapSibNeftekhim's production increased, whereas Kazanorgsintez and Gazprom neftekhim Salavat reduced their output.

The structure of polyethylene (PE) production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.
SapSibNeftekhim's March total HDPE production reached 97,200 tonnes versus 93,700 tonnes a month earlier. The Tobolsk plant's overall HDPE production exceeded 290,000 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 48% year on year.

Kazanorgsintez increased its total HDPE production to 41,000 tonnes last month from 28,300 tonnes in February. Thus, overall production of this PE grade totalled 107,300 tonnes in the first quarter of 2021, down by 18% year on year.

Stavrolen's March HDPE production was 27,600 tonnes versus 24,800 tonnes a month earlier. Overall HDPE output exceeded 81,100 tonnes in January-March 2021, down by only 1% year on year.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's total HDPE production rose to 10,200 tonnes last month from 5,800 tonnes in February. Thus, overall production of this PE grade totalled 27,300 tonnes at the Salavat plant over the stated period, down by 9% year on year.

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Louisiana Green Fuels plans USD700 MM renewable diesel refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gov. John Bel Edwards and CEO Paul Schubert of Strategic Biofuels LLC announced that the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Louisiana Green Fuels, plans to develop a renewable diesel plant near the Caldwell Parish seat of Columbia, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Situated on a 171-acre site at the Port of Columbia, the plant would produce up to 32 million gallons of renewable fuel annually through established refinery processes with wood waste as the feedstock.

The company is completing feasibility and financing phases for the project in anticipation of a final investment decision by late 2022.

Through the project, Louisiana Green Fuels would make a capital investment of at least USD700 million. The company would create 76 new direct jobs, with an average annual salary of more than USD68,000, plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project would result in an additional 412 new indirect jobs, for a total of nearly 500 new jobs in Caldwell Parish and the surrounding region. During a 30-month building phase, the project would generate 450 construction jobs.

Strategic Biofuels has raised 85% of its early-stage financing from investors in North Louisiana. In addition to the Columbia renewable diesel refinery, the company envisions the development of additional Louisiana refineries that would target production of renewable aviation fuel, as well as diesel.

Following the final investment decision by Strategic Biofuels, construction of the initial Louisiana Green Fuels refinery in Caldwell Parish would begin at the Port of Columbia and lead to initial plant operations in early to mid-2025.

As MRC reported before, earlier this month, Worley was awarded a front-end engineering services contract by Phillips 66 to convert its San Francisco refinery in Rodeo, California, USA into a renewable fuels-manufacturing facility. The project will reconfigure the refinery and produce up to 650 million gallons per year of renewable transportation fuels from used cooking oils, fats, greases and vegetable oils.

We remind that US-based Phillips 66 remains open to developing another ethane cracker for its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) joint venture, the refiner's CEO said in March 2018.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
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PP production in Russia grew by 13% in Q1 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's production of polypropylene (PP) increased to about 532,700 tonne in first three months of this year, up 13% year on year, compared to the same period of 2020. All producers, with the exception of Nizhnekamskneftekhim and Ufaorgsintez, have increased their production, according to MRC's ScanPlast.

March PP production in the country exceeded 181,800 tonnes, compared with 168,100 tonnes in February. Russia's overall PP production reached 532,700 tonnes in January-March 2021, compared to 470,000 tonnes a year earlier. Five out of seven producers increased their capacity utilisation, with Stavrolen and SIBUR Tobolsk / ZapSibNeftekhim accounting for the greatest growth in the output.

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

SIBUR Tobolsk/SapSibNeftekhim raised its production in March, the plant's production was 97,300 tonnes versus 91,900 tonnes a month earlier. SIBUR Tobolsk's PP overall output reached 285,900 tonnes in the first three months of 2021, up by 27% year on year.

Poliom increased its capacity utilisation last month, and, as a result, produced about 17,800 tonnes of PP, whereas its production was 15,900 tonnes a month earlier. Overall, the Omsk plant produced 51,900 tonnes of PP over the stated period, up by 1% year on year.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim produced a little less then 18,600 tonnes of propylene polymers in March versus 17,200 tonnes a month earlier. The Nizhnekamsk plant's overall output of polymer reached 54,200 tonnes in January-March 2021, compared to 55,200 tonnes a year earlier.

Tomskneftekhim produced 13,100 tonnes of propylene polymers last month versus 12,000 tonnes a month earlier. Total PP production by the producer increased to 38,600 tonnes in January-March 2020, up 2% year on year.

Ufaorgsintez worked in March with higher capacity utilisation, the final indicator of polypropylene production amounted to about 11,400 tonnes against 9,500 tonnes a month earlier. The Ufa plant's overall output of polymer reached 32,800 tonnes in the first three months of 2021, down by 3% year on year.

Neftekhimiya (Kapotnya) produced 13,000 tonnes of PP last month, compared to 11,800 tonnes a month earlier. The producer's overall PP output reached 37,400 tonnes over the stated period, up by 1% year on year.

Stavrolen (Lukoil) produced 10,700 tonnes of propylene polymers in March versus 10,000 tonnes in February. The Budenovsk plant's overall output of propylene polymers reached 31,900 tonnes in the first three months of 2021, up by 6% year on year.

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Domo Chemicals names Bamberger Polymer authorised distribution partner in North America

MOSCOW (MRC) - Domo Chemicals has named Bamberger Polymers an authorised distribution partner effective immediately, according to GV.

Bamberger will offer Domo’s North American product portfolio including Domamid, Econamid and Domonyl Nylon 6 and 66 compounds. For more than 50 years, Bamberger Polymers has serviced the plastics industry distributing thermoplastic resins to customers worldwide. The company offers products to injection moulders, blow moulders, compounders, extruders, and manufacturers of plastic products.

“Offering Domo workhorse nylon grades for the automotive industry, while providing custom nylon compounded solutions and speciality compounded products utilising PPS, TPU, PPA and other base resins, Bamberger is equipped with the entire Domo Engineered Materials product line at their disposal. Their open-minded approach to problem solving, combined with Domo’s custom compounding business model, results in a relationship that has provided results in a short time. I look forward to growing our relationship with Bamberger as we expand our reach together,” said Rob Schultz, General Manager, Domo Engineering Plastics US, LLC.

Domo’s Buford plant in Georgia, USA, already produces a product portfolio, that includes the integrated production of PA6 and PA66 based materials, and many special solutions based on multiple base polymers which are available exclusively for the US market, including Slique, special friction & wear modified solutions, Elastane solutions based on TPU, and high thermal and chemicals resistant solutions based on PPA and PPS base resins.

As MRC reported earlier, Domo Chemicals ceased production of biaxially oriented polyamide (BOPA) films at Leuna, Germany, closing its plant there in August 2020. The company's Domo Film Solutions (DFS) subsidiary will continue operating its BOPA and cast non-oriented polyamide (CPA) film plants at Cesano Maderno, Italy.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in February 2021 by 5.3% year on year. Thus, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 7.5% in the first two months of 2021, according to Rosstat's data. February production of polymers in primary form was 861,000 tonnes versus 196,000 tonnes in January. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 1,770,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 8.4% year on year.
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Honeywell to provide technology for propylene production in Egypt

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Anchorage Investments Ltd. will use Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology to produce 750,000 metric tons per year of polymer-grade propylene for its new Anchor Benitoite petrochemicals complex in Suez, Egypt, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Propylene is the primary component in a variety of plastic products that are rapidly growing in demand. As part of the contract, Honeywell will provide technology licensing and basic engineering design, in addition to services, equipment, catalysts and adsorbents for the plant. This represents UOP’s third award for a C3 Oleflex unit in North Africa, following earlier wins in Egypt and Algeria.

"Anchor Benitoite’s PDH unit is an important production unit in the project; being the upstream propylene-producing unit for the whole complex.” said Ahmed M. A. Moharram, Founder and Managing Director of Anchorage Investments. “This underscores the significant importance of implementing Honeywell UOP’s well-proven and globally acknowledged propane dehydrogenation technology."

“The increasing consumption of plastics in the region has created a growing gap between supply and demand for propylene, which has historically been a byproduct of refining fuels,” said Laura Leonard, vice president and general manager, Honeywell UOP Process Technologies. “Our Oleflex technology can bridge this gap by producing ‘on-purpose’ propylene from propane that is derived from natural gas or refining processes."

Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology converts propane to propylene through catalytic dehydrogenation. The technology is designed to have a lower cash cost of production and higher return on investment when compared to competing dehydrogenation technologies. Its low energy consumption, low emissions and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system helps minimize its impact on the environment. The independent reactor and regeneration design of the Oleflex technology helps maximize operating flexibility and onstream reliability.

Oleflex technology has been selected for 71 dehydrogenation projects globally since 2011, including applications for propane, isobutane (iC4) and mixed propane and isobutane feeds.

As MRC reported earlier, in May, 2020, Honeywell announced that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will use Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology in its second propane dehydrogenation plant, called "PDH 2". Located near Mont Belvieu, Texas, PDH 2 will produce 750,000 metric tons per year of polymer-grade propylene as part of Enterprise’s expansion of propylene manufacturing capacity.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.
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