Taekwang Industrial to shut PTA plant in South Korea

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taekwang Industrial is in plans to shut a purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant is planned to be shut on March 10, 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around 10 days.

Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 1 million mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, China based company Xianglu Petrochemical started up its new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in end-November 2013. Located in Xiamen, China, the plant has a production capacity of 1.5 million mt/year.

Besides, China American Petrochemical Co (Capco) restarted its No.6 purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Taiwan in late January 2014. It was shut on January 4, 2014 for a maintenance turnaround. Located in Taichung, Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 700,000 mt/year.
mcplast.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The propylene produced at Tobolsk-Polymer's propane dehydrogenation facilities was registered under the European Union's REACH chemical safety regulations, said the producer in its press-release.

EU certification of the polypropylene product opens up the export markets of member states. The core product is made at the new Tobolsk facility using propylene as the feedstock.

Tobolsk-Polymer is a world-class state-of-the-art facility. The Company's production processes comply with international safety and quality standards. The registration of this polypropylene feedstock under the EU REACH Regulations is another milestone confirming the Company's commitment to high quality standards and use of modern, environmentally friendly technologies.

REACH, the European Union's regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, came into force in 2007. Chemicals without a REACH registration will not be allowed to be produced, imported, sold or used in EU countries. The main aims of REACH are to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals.

At least thirty thousand existing and new chemicals will be registered under the regulation in the coming years.

Construction of Tobolsk-Polymer plant is the Russian petrochemical industry’s largest investment project. The Tobolsk-Polymer complex comprises two units - a 510,000 tonne/year propane dehydrogenation (PDH) propylene production unit and a 500,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) production unit. The polypropylene unit employs a licensed technology solution provided by Ineos (UK), with Linde AG, Germany, acting as an ЕРС contractor.

It took three years and USD2 billion to build the plant, and Sibur received a USD1.4 billion loan granted by a number of international credit agencies. The new production site will increase Russia's existing polypropylene output by 40%, Russian media said, and will make it possible to export the plastic to other countries.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styron, the global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, today reported fourth quarter 2013 results with revenue of USD1,245 million and adjusted EBITDA of USD104 million, said the producer in its press-release.

"Full year 2013 Adjusted EBITDA, excluding inventory revaluation, of USD344 million is the highest fiscal year in Trinseo’s history, looking back to 2011," said Chris Pappas, Trinseo President and Chief Executive Officer. "I am proud of our full year results and other achievements that have improved the Company’s growth prospects for the future. Our team remains focused on executing our business strategies and I am cautiously optimistic for a better 2014."

Full year revenue decreased 3% versus prior year, driven by 3% lower price and 1% lower volume. The overall decrease in sales volume was primarily due to the Styrenics segment, with increases in the selling price of our polystyrene products due to the pass through of price increases of our key raw material (styrene monomer), and the Latex segment, driven by lower demand in the Europe and Asia paper markets. These were partially offset by higher sales volume in the Synthetic Rubber segment due to our previously announced SSBR capacity expansion. The overall decrease in selling price was driven by the contractual pass through of lower butadiene cost in the Latex and Synthetic Rubber segments. These impacts were partially offset by the pass through of higher styrene cost as well as a favorable foreign exchange impact as the U.S. dollar weakened compared to the euro.

Adjusted EBITDA for the year increased 4%, driven primarily by higher margin, with volumes remaining relatively flat. Higher volume in the Synthetic Rubber segment was driven by the SSBR capacity expansion, partially offset by lower demand in the Styrenics segment, with the pass through of the higher cost of styrene monomer, and the Latex segment, due to weaker paper markets in Europe and Asia. Higher margin was driven by improved styrene production economics and styrenic polymer margin optimization efforts, which were partially offset by unfavorable inventory revaluation. Fixed costs were higher due to the SSBR capacity expansion, higher incentive compensation, and a lower rate of fixed cost absorption as we worked to optimize inventory levels.

As MRC wrote before, Styron announced plans to expand its latex capacity with a new reactor at its Zhangjiagang, China, production facility. This expansion will mainly support the demand for latex in China’s paper and paperboard industry, forecast to grow in the next five years.

Styron is a leading global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Styron's technology solutions are used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building and construction, carpet, commercial transportation, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper and paperboard, rubber goods and tires.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kronos and Polyalt, major players in the Russian sheet polycarbonate (PC) market, which formed Scientific and Production Association in January 2014, plan to increase their production and to expand its product range at the Moscow plant in the near future, as per Kronos' press release.

Thus, the General Director of Kronos Andrew Lapin said a line for the production of a special multilayer polypropylene (PP) sheets would be installed this July under the project Go Green. This project presupposes production of new materials, using recycled feedstock, in cooperation with the companies Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. Thus, the production capacity of cellular PC at Polyalt will be increased until the end of the year, and production of cellular PP will be launched.

The company also plans to produce highly specialized materials in order to increase demand for PC sheets, as the market becomes more fragmented. However, the sector of low-quality sheets, i.e. short-lived in service and having no protection against ultraviolet radiation, is being reduced, added A.Lapin.

In view of that, the plant intends to develop sheets of high-quality, which are now produced in Europe. The company is currently considering this issue with Sabic, which is a consultant on the project. The company plans to equip its laboratory at Scientific and Production Association "Kronos", which will be located in the premises of Polyalt, in Chekhov district, within three years.

The company also intends to expand its geography of shipments, according to Kronos' CEO. SELLEX grade, produced by Polyalt, is already represented in the markets of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Azerbaijan. However, the company makes trial shipments to the Ukrainian market and is also considering importing products to European countries.

The Omsk company Kronos is a research and production company, specializing in the production of cellular polycarbonate and polypropylene under its own brand KRONOS. Kronos has been an official distributor of the Saudi corporation SABIC, a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, since early 2013.

LLC " Polyalt " (Dubna, Moscow region) is a Russian company, which launched its own production of plastic sheets in 2004 under the brand SELLEX. The plant produces cellular polycarbonate and its components.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP has completed the purchase of all interests previously held by Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (MCI) and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (MBK) in PT Amoco Mitsui PTA Indonesia (AMI), as per BP's press release.

For over fifteen years, AMI was a 50/50 joint venture between BP and its partners, producing and marketing purified terephthalic acid (PTA) in the Republic of Indonesia. With effect from 1 March, AMI is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BP group. AMI has its head office in Jakarta, and a manufacturing site at Merak, Cilegon, Banten Province in Indonesia.

Nick Elmslie, Chief Executive of BP Global Petrochemicals, said: "BP has a major, global PTA business, with operations in the USA, Europe and Asia, underpinned by advantaged technology. This transaction is consistent with our strategy to be a leading PTA player in the markets in which we choose to compete."

Mark Wilson, President of BP’s Aromatics business in Asia, said: "This is an efficient plant with a good market position in Indonesia, where domestic demand for PTA has been growing at around 6% over the last few years. This deal allows us to assess future opportunities to lower the cost of the production facilities by upgrading to our latest technology as well as opportunities for expansion in the Indonesian market."

AMI will continue to serve the Indonesian PTA market. BP’s other businesses in Indonesia are unaffected by this transaction.

AMI’s PTA plant, commissioned in 1997, has nameplate production capacity of 525,000 tonnes per year.

BP’s current net global PTA capacity is 7.1 million tonnes per year (mtpa) from seven sites in the US (2), Belgium, China, Indonesia, and Taiwan (2). The largest is at Zhuhai, China where expansion of its current capacity of 1.5mtpa is expected to add a further 1.25 mtpa during 2014, making it one of the world’s largest PTA manufacturing sites.

As MRC informed previously, in February 2014, BP announced that it dropped plans to invest in a refinery in China and "dismantled" a team assigned to the project late last month. BP had considered investing in the 200,000 bpd Qinzhou plant operated by PetroChina, according to the IEA, an energy adviser to developed nations. The refinery in the southern province of Guangxi started operations in 2010 and is currently being upgraded to handle a wider range of feedstock, it said in its monthly Oil Market Report.

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
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