Petrobas to commence PET production at Petroquímica Suape complex by late 2013

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil's state-controlled energy giant Petrobras plans to begin production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin and polyester fibers at its Petroquimica Suape complex in northeastern Brazil by the end of the year, as per Business News Americas.

Total investment outlay by Petrobras amounts to 6.7 bln reais (USD2.8 bln) in the two units. Petroquimica Suape comprises three units. One unit has been producing purified terephthalic acid (PTA), the main raw material for PET resin and polyester fibers, since the beginning of the year.

The site's production capacity for PTA is 700,000 tpa. When complete, the complex will have the capacity to produce 450,000t/y of PET resin and 240,000 tpa of polyester fibers. It will also produce partially oriented yarn (POY), draw textured yarn (DTY) and full draw yarn (FDY).

As MRC wrote previously, Brazilian Petrobras plans to launch the first of its new refineries in November 2014. The second line will be put in operation in May 2015. The refinery will add 230,000 bpd of processing capacity. Currently, Petrobras processes about 2 million bpd at 12 refineries.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in the Southern Hemisphere by market capitalization and the largest in Latin America measured by 2011 revenues.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPC), a major global manufacturer of petrochemicals, will be shutting its naphtha cracker for maintenance turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the cracker will be taken off-stream in mid-September 2013. It is likely to be restarted in end-October 2013.

Located in Mailiao, Taiwan, the cracker has a production capacity of 1.03 million mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC) is in plans to shut a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant for maintenance turnaround in September 2013. The plant is expected to remain off-stream for around two weeks.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resins, polystyrene, polypropylene and panlite.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Scheduled shutdowns of three Russian producers of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in July resulted in a serious drop in the output. LDPE production in July decreased by 19%, according to MRC analysts.

Three Russian producers stopped their LDPE capacities on scheduled turnaround: Tomskneftekhim (Sibur group), "Gazprom neftekhim Salavat" (Gazprom) and Angarsk Zavod Polymerov (Rosneft), with total annual capacity of 362,000 tonnes.


Russia's imports of LDPE in July fell to 46,700 tonnes, from the level of 57,700 in June. Tomskneftekhim (SIBUR group) stopped its LDPE production on scheduled maintenance works from 19 July to 8 August. The company produced 12,800 tonnes of LDPE in less than three weeks of July.

"Gazprom neftekhim Salavat" (Gazprom) stopped production of LDPE on the turnaround from 17 July to 17 August; July production of LDPE of the plant was slightly more than 2,000 tonnes. Angarsk Zavod Polymerov (Rosneft) halted its capacities on 50-days prevention in the third decade of July; LDPE production of the plant in July was 2,400 tonnes.

Other Russian producers of LDPE, Kazanorgsyntez and Ufaorgsintez, in July kept the June level of capacity utilisation. The output of LDPE at these plants totalled 21,200 tonnes and 8,300 tonnes, respectively.

Overall, Russia's production of LDPE in the first seven months of this year totalled 374,200 tonnes, up by 4% year on year.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russian converters continue to increase production of polymer products, but the rate of the production growth has slowed this year. Russian production of polymer products grew by 5.9% in July, according to MRC analysts.

At the same time, production of pipes and fittings made of polymers, on the contrary, decreased in the first seven months.

According to the Russian Federal State Statistics, July production of films and sheets, non-porous and not combined with other materials totalled 76,300 tonnes, from 72,300 tonnes in June. Russia's production of films and sheets, non-porous and not combined with other materials in the seven months of this year totalled 479,200 tonnes, up 1.3% year on year.

The output of pipes, hoses and fittings made of polymers in July was 54,800 tonnes, up by 0,5% from June level.
The production of pipes, hoses and fittings made of polymer In January - July of this year totalled 331,300 tonnes, down by 14,7% year on year.

The production of plastic windows and sills in July of this year was 3 mln square meters, up by 16.6% from June level. Russian production of plastic windows and sills in the seven months of this year totalled 13.9 mln square meters, up by 9.6% year on year.

The volume of production of plastic doors and boxes in July was 102,000 square meters, up 12,4% from June level.
The total production of plastic doors and boxes In January - July 2013 amounted to 498,400 square meters, down by 1.1% year on year.

July production of polymer plates and sheets was 19,100 tonnes, up by 14% from June. The production of polymer plates and sheets in Russia totalled 112,900 tonnes in the seven months of this year, up by 17.5% year on year.

Russia's production volume of bottles, flasks and similar articles from polymers in July was 1.4 billion items, almost the equal as in June. Russian production volume of bottles, flasks and similar articles from polymers in seven months totalled 8.4 billion items, down by 1.4% year on year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - On the back of the shortage in the domestic market and a serious rise in feedstock costs European producers increased their export PVC price significantly. PVC prices for the CIS countries markets grew by EUR25-40/tonne for August delivery, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Scheduled and unscheduled shutdowns of PVC plants in Europe amid strong seasonal demand resulted in a shortage of material, which is especially felt in the eastern part of the region. In addition, the contract price of ethylene (one of the two main feedstock) was agreed in August up by EUR40/tonne from July level.

All of these factors allowed European producers to achieve significant rise in export prices in the current month.
Thus, the deals for European PVC were struck at EUR775-850/tonne FCA.

All deals for August European PVC supplies to the CIS markets had been closed by this week. Some European producers said they also plan to raise export prices of PVC in September in line with further price growth of raw materials. The expected price increase will be at least EUR10/tonne.
MRC