SIBUR starts construction of its own solar power plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR has begun construction of a solar power plant at Polief in Bashkiria, the largest producer of terephthalic acid and PET in Russia. The first pile for fixing solar panels was loaded at the enterprise.

Using clean energy from the sun will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the carbon footprint of our products. In the future, the solar power plant will provide electricity to another Polief project - the production of "green" PET pellets containing secondary raw materials.

The design capacity of the power plant is about 4.9 MW, the total area of ??solar panels is 8 hectares. Investments in the project will amount to more than a quarter of a billion rubles. It is planned to complete the construction of the SPP and integrate it into the energy supply chain of the enterprise in January 2022.

“Polief will be SIBUR's first production site to generate green electricity. In accordance with the sustainable development strategy, SIBUR plans to increase the volume of green electricity in the company's total energy balance by 5 times by 2025 compared to 2019, ”said Evgeny Semenko, CEO of Polief.

Earlier, in April, Polief launched a project for the production of "green" PET granules containing secondary raw materials. The production site is planned to be launched in the first half of 2022. It is planned to use about 34 thousand tons of secondary raw materials in production annually.

As per MRC ScanPlast, total estimated PET consumption increased by 15% in May compared to the same indicator a year earlier and amounted to 85,850 tonnes. Total estimated consumption amounted to 349,940 tonnes of PET in January-May 2021 in Russia, up 22% year on year.

PJSC SIBUR Holding is the largest petrochemical company in Russia and Eastern Europe with full coverage of the industry cycle from gas processing, production of monomers, plastics and synthetic rubbers to plastics processing.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Polyolefins Company (TPC) is planning to shut its polypropylene (PP) plant in Jurong Island, Singapore in mid-July 2021 for maintenance, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The turnaround at this plant is expected to last for 45 days.

Only part of the unit would be shut during the time, according to a source close to the producer. Affected grades might include PP random copolymers and terpolymer, wherease the homo-PP line would remain operating.

TPC also operates a low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in Ayer Merbau with a capacity of 260,000 mt/year of LDPE.

The company's polyolefins plants in Singapore receive feedstock from No. 2 cracker of the Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore (PCS), which will also be shut for 30 days of repairs in July.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC

1. OPEC forecasts global oil demand to reach pre-pandemic level in 2022

MOSCOW (MRC) -- OPEC stuck to its forecast for a strong recovery in world oil demand in the rest of 2021 and predicted oil use would rise in 2022 at similar to pre-pandemic rates, led by growth in the United States, China and India, reported Reuters. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its monthly report on Thursday that demand next year would rise by 3.4% to 99.86 million barrels per day (bpd), and would average more than 100 million bpd in the second half of 2022.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were steady during mid-morning Asian trade July 16, as increased certainty over the OPEC+ supply accord and robust demand projections from OPEC analysts arrested the plunge in oil prices thus far this week, reported S&P Global.

At 11:26 am Singapore time (0326 GMT), the ICE September Brent crude futures contract rose 2 cents/b (0.03%) from the previous close at USD73.49/b, while the NYMEX August light sweet crude contract was up 4 cents/b (0.06%) at USD71.69/b. The front month ICE Brent and NYMEX light sweet crude markers had fallen 3.94% and and 4.78% over July 13-15.

Reports have emerged that the impasse between the UAE and Saudi Arabia is on the verge of a resolution. Tensions between the two members of OPEC+, a coalition of OPEC and other oil producers, had flared after the UAE had objected to Saudi Arabia's plan to tie OPEC+ production increases to a lengthening of the supply management pact, insisting that its baseline production level, from which its quota is determined, be raised first.

Negotiations between the two seem to be heading towards an upward revision of the UAE's baseline production to 3.65 million b/d, from the current 3.168 million b/d, although this figure has yet to be ratified by other OPEC+ members.

The market also received some assurance from OPEC's July 15 monthly oil market report, in which OPEC analysts have kept their 2021 forecast for oil demand at 96.58 million b/d, up 5.95 million b/d from 2020. Furthermore, OPEC's analysts see demand growing by another 3.28 million b/d to 99.86 million b/d in 2022, expecting demand to top the 100 million b/d mark in the second half of the year. OPEC's robust demand outlook comes despite the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus.

As MRC informed earlier, OPEC stuck to its forecast for a strong recovery in world oil demand in the rest of 2021 and predicted oil use would rise in 2022 at similar to pre-pandemic rates, led by growth in the United States, China and India.

We remind that China's crude oil imports fell 3% from January to June versus a year earlier, in the first first-half contraction since 2013, as an import quota shortage, refinery maintenance and rising global prices curbed buying. Imports totalled 40.14 million tonnes last month, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday, equivalent to 9.77 million barrels per day (bpd).

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Contrary to many consumers' expectations, July low density polyethylene (LDPE) prices went up in the Russian market. Tight supply from virtually all producers was the main driver of the price rise, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Scheduled shutdowns for maintenance in June-July and lower utilisation of one of the producers in the first half of July led to a major reduction in supply of LDPE in the Russian market. At the same time, demand remained strong. Under these conditions, LDPE prices began to go up, and the price increase of some grades exceeded Rb2,000/tonne from June.

Angarsk Polymers Plant shut its LDPE production capacities for a scheduled turnaround on 21 June. The outage will be quite long, the resumption of LDPE production is planned only in early August. Gazprom neftekhim Salavat will be the next one to shut its production for repairs, the shutdown is scheduled for 20 July and will last for about 30 days.

Since February, Ufaorgsintez has been operating with the reduced capacity utilisation at its LDPE production due to a fire in the gas distribution shop. And the timing of reaching full capacity has not been announced yet. The Belarusian producer - Polymir - has also reduced its footprint in the Russian market since May.

Back in the second half of June, many buyers reported unstable LDPE shipments from Russian producers, and this factor intensified even more in July. And tight supply began to drive prices up, although converters were trying to resist any price hikes.

Spot offer prices of 108 grade LDPE started from Rb132,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, in the last week of June, but some sellers' prices of this PE grade have grown to Rb140,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, by mid-July.
MRC