Olefins shipments from Japan cancelled

(ICIS) -- Olefins shipments from Japan this month have been cancelled as some naphtha crackers in the country remain shut about a week after a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the northern part of the country, market sources said on Thursday. At least 15,000 tonnes of propylene cargoes and around 10,000 tonnes of ethylene shipments were affected, traders estimated.

Mitsubishi Chemical's two crackers in Kashima, along with Maruzen Petrochemicals' 520,000 tonne/year ethylene plant in Chiba, remain off line.

JX Nippon Oil and Energy's 460,000 tonne/year cracker and an olefins conversion unit (OCU), which can produce 140,000 tonnes/year of propylene, in Kawasaki are still shut, market sources said.

On the other hand, Mitsui Chemicals has increased the operating rate at its 617,000 tonne/year cracker in Chiba to close to 100% after earlier reducing output in the wake of the disaster, a company source said.

Japan exported around 480,000 tonnes of ethylene and 700,000 tonnes of propylene in 2010, according to estimates from traders.

MRC

(Trend) -- The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) in 2011 plans to launch a construction of a carbamide plant in the Sumgait city, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said on Wednesday. The plan t will be built close to Azerkimya, he added.

Following the entrance into the balance of SOCAR, Azerkimya's production cycle closed up and now the State Oil Company is engaged in oil and gas extraction, refining and selling, oil and gas distribution, as well as the production and sale of chemical products, he stressed.

The company intends to focus its efforts on development and modernization of enterprises entering its balance, Abdullayev said. In particular, preparation is underway i for the establishment of new oil and gas refining, petrochemical complexes.

SOCAR also intends to continue to work on reconstruction and modernization of existing chemical plants, and creating a new technology park for the final chemical products.

MRC

(Trend) -- State-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has signed a joint venture deal worth around USD 9 bln to build an oil refinery and petrochemical plant in southern China, Al Arabiya reported according to Reuters. KPC and Sinopec, China's biggest refiner, are equal partners in the project, Kuwait's state news agency said on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, China approved the USD 9 bln joint venture, which will be built in the southern coastal city of Zhanjiang. The project will secure Kuwait, the world's fourth-largest crude exporter, a solid outlet for its oil, ahead of competitors such as Venezuela, Russia and Qatar, all of which are planning refineries in China.

MRC

(ICIS) -- US-based producers Dow Chemical and DuPont have shut down two facilities in Japan, although their other plants are still operating, the companies said on Tuesday. A 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit the country on Friday, knocking out several petrochemical plants.

DuPont's research and manufacturing facility in Utsunomiya was damaged, and it would remain closed until the company finishes assessing it. The company was reviewing the operations at its 15 joint ventures in the nation, it said.

DuPont's remaining sites in Japan were operating, it said. Also, all of its employees and their immediate family were safe. Dow Chemical said its Soma site was closed after being flooded during the tsunami that followed the earthquake. The Soma site produces ion-exchange resins. Dow would review the damage to the site as soon as possible, it said. Dow's other sites in Japan are operational, the company said.

On Monday, US specialty chemicals producer Solutia said that it had temporarily suspended operations at the company's facility in Kashima, which lost power. No damage was reported at Solutia's manufacturing facility, and the company confirmed the safety of all employees and their families in the region over the weekend.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Japan is seeking prompt supplies of fuel to run its power plants and plug a severe domestic shortfall, after about 22% of its refining capacity was shut down in the aftermath of the 11 March earthquake, market sources said on Wednesday.

Japan was seeking 10 parts per million (ppm) of diesel, gasoline, fuel oil, low-sulphur waxy residual products, traders said, but details on the volumes sought were not immediately available.

Five refineries, with a combined capacity of about 999.000 bbl/day, were forced to shut down following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the country's northeast on 11 March. These included JX Nippon Oil and Energy's refineries in Sendai, Kashima and Negishi, as well as refineries of Cosmo Oil and Kyokuto Petroleum in Chiba.

About a third of Japan's energy comes from nuclear power, 20% from liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the remainder largely from oil products, with a small amount from renewable energy, market sources said.

MRC