Global demand for plastic pipe rising 8.5% annually

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global demand for plastic pipe will rise 8.5% annually through 2017 to 11.2 billion meters, according to a report by Cleveland-based Freedonia Group Inc.

Growth will be the result of increased construction spending, a rebound in the U.S. market, and gains in market share from copper, concrete, and steel, thanks to lower cost, installation ease and performance advantages.

PVC will remain the most widely used resin, accounting for more than 55% of demand in 2012, but high density polyethylene will take market share from PVC. The U.S. construction sector will see double-digit gains in pipe demand.

As MRC wrote before, Russia's investments in processing of PVC in 2012 made USD74.3 mln, down 21% from 2011, when investments rose sharply after two-years fall in investments. Investments in PVC processing in 2008 was 2.5 times higher than in 2012. In 2012 there were installed 436 production lines with total capacity of PVC processing about 450,000 tonnes/year, down almost 21% from 2011.

The growth rate of PMP market is not expected to exceed 4-5% in the nearest years.
Therefore, investments in PVC processing are most likely to slowdown, although in some sectors the investments can grow faster - cable extrusion, coating, extrusion (seals).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh), a petrochemical company in Saudi Arabia, announces its interim financial results for the first quarter, 2013, according to the company's statement.

Petro Rabigh's net loss in Q1, 2013, is SAR 658.1 million versus SAR 115.8 million net profit for the same quarter for the previous year, and versus SAR 68.1 million net profit for the previous quarter.

The gross loss for the 1st quarter is SAR 448.5 million versus SAR 381.5 million gross profit for the same quarter of the previous year, while the company's operational loss is SAR 628.5 million versus SAR 151.4 million operational profit for the same quarter of the previous year.

The reason for the loss during the first quarter of 2013 versus the same period of the previous year was due to the emergency maintenance and repair work caused by the blackout incident of steam, water and power generating facilities from the provider Company RAWEC and due to the planned maintenance work of the complex as well. Furthermore, the loss was higher than expected due to the extension of the maintenance period for the Ethane Cracker unit and the High Olefin Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit (HOFCC).

As MRC wrote previously, Petro Rabigh had announced that it would be performing maintenance work on its ethan cracker unit which will lead to the shutdown of the said unit as well as the units that are integrated to it. The maintenance started on April 22, 2013 and will last until May 3, 2013 when gradual start up for these units will take place. The company's downstream units include LLDPE plant, HDPE unit, PP unit and MEG plant. This shutdown is expected to have an impact on the financial results for the second quarter of 2013. Further developments will be announced as they occur.

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, has an annual output capacity of 18 million tonsne of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell has been in discussions with India's state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp. about potential opportunities as it seeks to expand its presence in India, one of the world's fastest growing economies and where energy demand is expected to more than double over the next 25 years, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Executives at ONGC said they were in the process of agreeing to a long-term alliance with Shell to jointly explore oil and gas production and were looking at both existing and new projects, but added that it was too early to say what form a potential tie-up will take.

Talks between Shell and ONGC also mark increased interest on the part of big international oil companies in the country's oil and gas sector and come as falling output from India's largest gas deposit in the Krishna-Godavari basin in the Bay of Bengal has hit supplies to the power and fertilizer sector.

The government of the energy-hungry nation is seeking to reduce dependence on oil and gas imports and is currently proposing to allow gas prices in India to be benchmarked to global rates, which would lead to an increase in prices and would benefit the companies involved in extraction.

In February, BP and Reliance Industries said they planned to jointly invest more than USD5 billion over the next three to five years to boost declining gas output in the KG D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari field off India's east coast.

In India, Shell currently has a small retail presence and is involved in developing a liquefied natural gas import and regasification terminal at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

Royal Dutch Shell, commonly known as Shell, is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is also one of the world's most valuable companies. As of January, 2013 the largest shareholder is Capital Research Global Investors with 9.85% ahead of BlackRock in second with 6.89%. Shell topped the list of largest companies in the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co. Ltd., a Chinese maker of chlorinated PVC, is setting up a second plant in Shanghai, said Plasticsnews.

The company's current plant there, launched in the fourth quarter of 2012, has annual CPVC capacity of 22 million pounds. That plant became operational in the last quarter of 2012.

The upcoming facility will have total capacity of 176 million pounds of CPVC, implemented in two phases. The plant should be operational by the first quarter of 2015, said general manager He Gang at Vinyl India 2013. The show was held April 12-13 in Mumbai.

In addition to China, the firm is targeting India and the Middle East. The Indian CPVC market is growing 15% annually, according to He, who estimates the country consumes about 55 million pounds of CPVC annually.
"The Indian market is dependent on imports as there is no local production of CPVC yet," he said.

As MRC informed before, Shanghai Chlor-Alkali is in plans to shut 720,000 dry mt/yearcaustic soda plant for maintenance in June 2013. It will remain off-stream for around one month.

Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co., Ltd. manufactures and markets chlorine and alkaline chemicals. The Company's products include caustic soda, polyvinyl chloride, and other basic chemicals. Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical also has operation in property development.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR’sTreasury was awarded as Best Treasury of the Year at the Russian CFO Awards ceremony launched by the Adam Smith Institute (UK), according to the company's press release.

First held in 2012, the Russian CFO Awards seek to bring the best projects to the attention of the financial community and to honour the best professionals in the Russian financial sector. The Awards judging panel includes representatives of the Russian Economic School, the Higher School of Economics, the Federal Agency for State Property Management of the Russian Federation, the CFO-Russia magazine, and other research institutions and companies.

SIBUR’s Treasury was recognised by the experts for a number of projects and programmes it had implemented in the areas of capital raising, insurance, automation of treasury operations, and for its work with rating agencies.

"We would like to thank the financial community for recognition of our work. We believe this recognition to be a reflection of the company’s growth and investment potential and its strong financial position," said Pavel Ananienko, SIBUR’s Head of Treasury.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, in 2012, SIBUR productions facilities achieved a 22% year-on-year reduction in sanitary waste generation, a 5% reduction in waste water discharge, and a 3% reduction in air pollution. The company's total investment in environmental protection in 2012 under the corporate Dedicated Environmental Programmes reached RUB2.234 bln with the Company’s payments for the environmental impact reduced to .28.2mln (down by RUB7 mln).

SIBUR is the leading petrochemical company in Russia and Eastern Europe. The Company operates across the entire petrochemical process chain from gas processing to the production of monomers, plastics and synthetic rubbers, as well as the processing of plastics.
MRC