Petkim to invest USD8 bln on refinery, port, power plant

(bloomberg) -- Petkim Petrokimya Holding AS, Turkey’s biggest petrochemicals maker, plans to invest as much as USD8 billion by 2016 on projects including a refinery, a new port and power plants.

The company, owned by the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan or Socar, will build two coal-fired plants with capacities of 600 megawatts and 200 megawatts, Kenan Yavuz, chief executive officer of Socar’s Turkish unit, told reporters at the company’s plant in Izmir, Western Turkey. The power plants will cost a total of USD1.2 billion, and help cut the company’s energy costs by 40%, he said.

Petkim will start building a USD400 million port in November and complete it within two years, Yavuz said. Together with a USD5 billion refinery that the company is building, the port will help cut raw material costs by USD75 million a year, he said.

Socar’s Turkey unit will start imports of 1.2 billion cubic meters a year of natural gas from Azerbaijan in 2013, Yavuz said. The company will sell as much as 500 million cubic meters of that gas to Petkim, and the rest to other Turkish buyers, the chief executive said.

Petkim is the leading petrochemical company of Turkey. Specializing in petrochemical manufacturing, the company produces ethylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene and other chemical building blocks for use in the manufacture of plastics, textiles, and other consumer and industrial products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) – Last week, PP prices in Asia were reduced by USD10-40/tonne amid low demand and the global worsening of economic situation. The immediate market perspectives remain unclear, according to MRC Price Report.

Last week, low buying activity in the Asian markets resulted in PP price cut by USD10-40/tonne. High volatility of oil futures, constantly declining demand for polymers and pessimistic outlook for the global economic situation keep putting significant pressure on the demand.

Many polyolefin plants in China resumed operations in late September-early October after outages for scheduled maintenance. Some Chinese importers are concerned that polypropylene prices in the domestic market in China might drop significantly on the back of the increased demand in the market.

South-East countries have also considerably reduced their need for polypropylene. In Indonesia, the zero duty for ASEAN producers might result in the increased competition between suppliers, yet, the converters are not in a hurry to replenish their inventories. Elsewhere in the region, converters report that they have already covered their October needs in the polymer.

Many market participants expect the buying activity in the PP market in Asia to keep being low on high volatility of oil futures and unfavorable outlook for the world economy. PP supplies from Saudi Arabia are limited and they are unlikely to affect the market. Last week, deals for homopolymer polypropylene were concluded in the range of USD1,410-1,460/tonne, CFR, which is by USD10-40/tonne down from the previous week.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Last week, the price of polyethylene (PE) in the Asian market reduced by USD10-45/tonne on weak demand. The situation is not expected to change in the near future, according to MRC Price Report.

Last week, the price quotations of PE in Asia were cut due to the weak demand. High volatility of oil futures, the ongoing sluggish demand for polymers and pessimistic outlook on the economy continue to put significant pressure on the Asian market.

In late September-early October, many Chinese PE productions resumed their operation after scheduled maintenance. As a consequence, many Chinese importers are worried that the prices of polyethylene in the Chinese domestic market can be significantly reduced on increased supply in the market.

The demand for PE in Southeast Asia is also weak. The agreement on duty-free trade within ASEAN came into force in Indonesia. According to some market participants, this agreement will increase competition between suppliers in the market. In Thailand and the Philippines many converters have purchased polyethylene until the end of the month.

As per many market participants, the buying activity in the Asian PE market in the coming weeks will remain low due to the high volatility of oil prices and uncertain global economic outlook. The disruptions of PE supply from Saudi Arabia on worsening congestion at Saudi Arabian ports are unlikely to put the pressure on prices in Asia.

LDPE prices were most notably decreased last week. Low density polyethylene prices were cut by USD30-45/tonne, the deals were settled in a fairly wide range of USD1,265-1,350/tonne, CFR China. HDPE prices decreased by USD10-35/tonne to USD1,265-1,340/tonne, CFR China.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Due to the increase in bio-PET production, according to the annual report of the European Trade Organization European Bioplastics, the global market for bioplastics will increase five-fold by 2016.

At present, PET-based biomaterial accounts for about 40% of the total global production of bioplastics, as per European Bioplastics. According to the organization, the share of bio-PET will grow, and its output will make 4.6 million tonnes by 2016, which corresponds to 80% of the total production. The second most popular polymer, according to European Bioplastics, is biodegradable polyethylene.

However, there is a disturbing trend of geographical relocation of production of biodegradable polyethylene from Europe to Asia and South America, as per European Bioplastics. Andy Sweetman, Chairman of European Bioplastics said that if Europe wants to make a profit at all stages of production of the biopolymer, it is time to take decisive actions.
MRC

(plastemart) -- Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT) announced that Khalifa Port received the first shipment of polyethylene for export from Borouge, provider of innovative plastics solutions. The port received more than 700 containers of polyethylene from Borouge's petrochemicals plant in Ruwais. Previously, Borouge was using Abu Dhabi's Mina Zayed to export its products to customers globally.

"The new terminal at Khalifa Port provides Borouge with an efficient and cost-effective distribution point for its broad range of innovative plastics solutions manufactured at Ruwais," said Wim Roels CEO of Borouge's Marketing & Sales Company, who received Borouge's first vessel from Ruwais at the Khalifa Port. "Routing our polyethylene and polypropylene products through the new Khalifa Port enables us to better serve our customers throughout Asia and beyond, and we look forward to Khalifa Port's contribution to the successful growth of Borouge in the international plastics industry," he added.

Borouge is a joint venture of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Austria's Borealis. It has two complementary ventures: Abu Dhabi Polymers Co Ltd (Borouge) - a production company based in Abu Dhabi - and Borouge Pte Ltd based in Singapore. Borouge is a leading supplier of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). They focus on differentiated high end applications in the Middle East and Asia Pacific with Borstar Enhanced Polyethylene produced in Abu Dhabi, UAE and the full range of Borealis specialities.
MRC