SIBUR-Khimprom intends to expand its customer base in Russia by shipping styrene in road tank cars

SIBUR-Khimprom intends to expand its customer base in Russia by shipping styrene in road tank cars

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR-Khimprom (Perm) plans to expand its presence in the Russian petrochemical market by delivering styrene monomer (SM) by road from Perm, reported Business Class.

Traditionally, SIBUR-Khimprom ships SM to customers in rail tank cars. Shipments by road will allow the company to meet the needs of customers who require small quantities of material.

"The shipment of styrene by road tank cars is necessary, first of all, for small enterprises with moderate consumption of SM in production, which do not have their own storage facilities. We fill a railway tank car with 66 cubic meters of products, and a car tank holds no more than 22 cubic meters, such volumes are of interest to many small- and medium-sized enterprises, "said Oleg Gryaznov, SIBUR-Khimprom's leading engineer.

According to the calculations of SIBUR-Khimprom experts, SM shipments by road will allow the company to increase the number of customers at the expense of the Central and Volga regions, where it will be profitable to deliver material by road from Perm, as well as by concluding small-scale deals with small businesses.

At present, the commissioning works at SIBUR-Khimprom, which will allow to start shipments of styrene by road tank cars, have already been fully completed.

The idea to ship SM by road was approved by the investment committee and implemented within two years. According to experts, its implementation will allow the plant to increase its sales of SM by 2,500-3,000 tonnes per year.

Commissioning works started at the beginning of 2021. The first SM shipment in a road tank car took place in May 2021.

As MRC reported earlier, SIBUR-Khimprom also produces dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) - a special eco-friendly phthalate-free PVC plasticizer for general use in the amount of up to 100,000 tonnes per year. The final investment decision on the construction of a DOTP line at SIBUR's site in Perm was made in April 2017, and production was launched in the second quarter of 2019.

SM is the main feedstock for the production of polystyrene (PS).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics totalled 236,110 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, up by 27% year on year (172,360 tonnes). May estimated consumption in the country was 48,880 tonnes, up by 66% year on year.

OAO SIBUR Holding is the largest petrochemical company in Russia and Eastern Europe with full coverage of the industry cycle from gas processing, production of monomers, plastics and synthetic rubbers to plastics processing.
MRC

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat shut PE production

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat shut PE production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gazprom neftekhim Salavat (Salavat, Bashkortostan) shut down its polyethylene (PE) production for a scheduled turnaround, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's customers said Gazprom neftekhim Salavat took off-stream it low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) production capacities for a scheduled maintenance on 20 July. The outage will be quite long and will last for 30 days. The plants' production capacities are 45,000 and 120,000 tonnes per year, respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's total HDPE production reached 11,400 tonnes in May, compared to 10,200 tonnes in April. Thus, the Salavat plant's overall production of this PE grade totalled 48,900 tonnes in January-May 2021, down by 8% year on year.

OAO "Gazprom neftekhim Salavat" (formerly OAO "Salavatnefteorgsintez") is one of the leading petrochemical companies in Russia, carrying out a full cycle of processing hydrocarbon material. The list of products manufactured by the plant includes more than 140 items, including 76 grades of the main products: gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, fuel oil, toluene, solvent, liquefied gases, benzene, styrene, ethylbenzene, butyl alcohols, phthalic anhydride and plasticizers, polyethylene, polystyrenes, silica gels and zeolite catalysts, corrosion inhibitors, elemental sulfur, ammonia and urea, glycols and amines, a wide range of household products made of plastics, surfactants and much more.
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 22.07.2021

1. Crude oil rises over 4% despite higher US inventories

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices rose more than 4% Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session as improved risk appetite provided support despite data showing an unexpected rise in US oil inventories, reported Reuters. Brent crude futures rose USD2.88, or 4.2%, to settle at USD72.23 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose USD3.1, or 4.6%, to settle at USD70.30 a barrel. Futures are rebounding after dropping around 7% on Monday, following a deal by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together known as OPEC+, to boost supply by 400,000 barrels per day from August through December. The sell-off was exacerbated by fears that a rise in cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in major markets like the United States, Britain and Japan would affect demand.

MRC

Hyosung to start up new PDH unit in Vietnam in July-August

Hyosung to start up new PDH unit in Vietnam in July-August

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hyosung Vina Chemicals Co Ltd plans to bring online its new 600,000 tons/year propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Southern Vietnam in July-August 2021, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The start-up of the company's new PDH unit will enable the launch of the second polypropylene (PP) plant with a capacity of 300,000 tons/year at the same site.

The company already operates No. 1 PP plant in Southern Vietnam with the same production capacity, using external sources of propylene. It was shut down on 9 July, 2021, due to an unspecified technical issue and is expected to remain off-line between three to four weeks.

As MRC informed before, following the start-up at the newly constructed PP plant in Vietnam on 12 February 2020, it was reported that Hyosung reached on-spec cargoes approximately in mid-February. The first prime grade parcels were homo-PP yarn grade F501N with a melt index of 3.7.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

Hyosung Corporation is a Korean industrial conglomerate, founded in 1957. It operates in various fields, including the chemical industry, industrial machinery, IT, trade, and construction.
MRC

PPG Industries Q2 earnings miss Wall Street expectations

PPG Industries Q2 earnings miss Wall Street expectations

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) on Monday reported second-quarter net income of USD431 million, according to The Sacramento Bee.

The Pittsburgh-based company said it had profit of USD1.80 per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to USD1.94 per share. The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of USD2.19 per share.

The paint and coatings maker posted revenue of USD4.36 billion in the period, which also missed Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected USD4.42 billion.

PPG Industries expects full-year earnings in the range of USD7.40 to USD7.60 per share.

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2021, PPG announced an expansion of its coatings manufacturing capacity in Europe for packaging applications. The investments at sites in The Netherlands and Poland will support growing customer demand in the region for the latest generation of coatings for aluminum and steel cans used in packaging for beverage, food and personal care items. The projects include a further expansion of the company’s location in Tiel, The Netherlands, which will increase the plant’s production capacity for PPG INNOVEL non-BPA internal coatings for beverage cans by 30%. Expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, the project follows a 50% expansion completed at the end of 2020.

BPA is the main feedstock for the production of polycarbonate (PC).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus) rose in January-May 2021 by 8% year on year to 42,200 tonnes (38,900 tonnes a year earlier).
MRC