PP imports to Ukraine in Q1 2013 grew twofold

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ukraine's imports of polypropylene (PP) is rapidly growing on the back of the outage of local producer Linik. Thus, PP imports to Ukraine in Q1 2013 grew more than twofold, reaching 39,300 tonnes, from 19,000 tonnes in Q1 2012, according to MRC DataScope.

March PP imports to Ukraine reached 14,600 tonnes, up 20% from February. March imports of homopolymer of polypropylene (PP-homo) to Ukraine amounted to about 11,400 tonnes, up 18% from February. The total import supplies of PP-homo in the first quarter of 2013 reached 31,700 tonnes, up 166% year on year.

This year Ukrainian companies have significantly increased the imports of PP-homo from Saudi Arabia, India and the United States. The share of European producers has declined, the only exception made the material by Rompetrol production.

Imports of block copolymers of propylene (PP-block) last month made 1,200 tonnes, which is almost equal to the February imports. Ukraine's imports of PP-block in the first quarter of this year made around 3,300 tonnes, up 10% year on year.

The main drop in imports occurred in the supplies of injection moulding copolymers of propylene due to the decline in demand in the automotive sector. The imports of statistical copolymer of polypropylene (PP-random) grew almost twice from February to 1,500 tonnes on the back of growing demand from the producers of pressure polypropylene pipes.

In general, in January - March 2013 imports of PP-random is very close to 3,000 tonnes, up 24% year on year. Only pipe producers increased their demand for PP-random in Q1, while other sectors, on the contrary, reduced it.

The main reason for the record imports in Q1 2013 is an outage of a major domestic producer - Linik. The company stopped its PP production in April 2012 due to economic inefficiency.

The Ukrainian government many times stated it would make every effort to resume operation of the enterprise in the current year.
In the meantime, Ukrainian market meets their needs by imports of polypropylene.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In the first quarter, Russian converters of polymers increased production of finished products by 12,8% year-on-year, according to MRC analysts.

The sector of sheets production accounted for the largest production volume, while, by contrast, the output of bottles, flasks and similar articles from polymers slumped by 14,8% to 3.13 billion items. However, the output of these products in March rose by nearly a quarter from February and reached the level of 1.24 billion items.

The production of plates, non-porous sheets in March fell to 13,500 tonnes, while in February this index made 17,900 tonnes. In January-March, 2013, the total output of plates, non-porous sheets by Russian plants made about 51,000 tonnes, up 30% year-on-year.

In the construction sector, plastic windows and window sills accounted for the largest increase in production volumes. According to Rosstat, last month the output of these products amounted to 1.6 million square metres, up 22% from February. Overall, in January-March this year, the production volume of plastic windows and window sills made 3.9 million square meters, an increase of 21% year-on-year.

In March 2013, the output of doors and their polymer boxes reached 60,400 square metres, an increase of 26% from February. However, in January-March 2013, the total production volume of doors and polymer boxes grew by only 3,3% year-on-year.

The production of plastic pipes and fittings in March rose to 47,200 tonnes, up 12% from February. Over the first three months of 2013, the total output of plastic pipes and fittings went up to 127,000 tonnes, up 6,4% year-on-year.

Last month, the output of plates, polymer non-porous and non-reinforced films made about 70,900 tonnes, an increase of 9% compared to February. In January-March 2013, the total production volume of these products amounted to 183,000 tonnes, up 7,1% year-on-year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In the first quarter, 2013, Ukrainian companies increased their imports of PET granulate by 2,6% year-on-year, according to MRC DataScope.
In January-March 2013, imports of PET to Ukraine for the production of PET preforms mades about 38,700 tonnes, nearly 1,000 tonnes more than last year. In 2012, imports of granulate amounted to about 37,800 tonnes.

February accounted for the peak volumes of imports in the first quarter of the year. In February, total imports of PET made about 16,000 tonnes, while in March, the supply of granulate to the country amounted to about 14,300 tonnes.

According to converters, a rise in the processing of the material is expected this year due to an increase in production in the end-use sectors of PET preforms consumption. However, a surge in the market capacity should not be expected, report converters, citing instability of macroeconomic indices in the country.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fluor has been awarded a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract by South African Petroleum Refineries (SAPREF) for its Clean Fuels 2 project in Durban, South Africa, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to officials.

The undisclosed contract value was booked in the first quarter of 2013.

This new contract will be the first to be executed in Africa under Shell’s enterprise framework agreement with Fluor that encompasses engineering and project management services throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The project will enable a substantial upgrade of the SAPREF refinery, thereby improving the quality of transportation fuels by reducing levels of sulfur, benzene and aromatics and meeting enhanced legislative requirements.

The agreement allows for the potential of an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract to be signed at a later date.

As MRC wrote previously, Royal Dutch Shell had recently announced it plans to sell its only oil refinery in Australia, as the local industry struggles to compete with low-cost operators in Asia.

SAPREF is a joint venture between Shell SA Refining and BP Southern Africa. It is the largest crude oil refinery in the region, representing 35% of South Africa’s refining capacity.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sahara Petrochemicals Co. posted net earnings of SAR 125 million for Q1-13, soaring198 % y/y from SAR 42 million and 95% q/q from SAR 64 million, said Sahara.

Net profit for the first quarter of year 2013 reached an amount of SAR 125 million, compared with SAR 42 million for the same period in the previous year with an increase of 198%, and compared with SAR 64 million for previous quarter, with a an increase of 95 %.

Gross profit for the first quarter amounted to SAR 77 million compared with a gross loss of SAR (37.44) for the same period in the previous year.

The operational profit for the first quarter amounted to SAR 42 million compared with an operational loss of SAR (57.72) million for the same quarter of the previous year.

Earnings per share for the first three months of 2013 reached SAR 0.29 compared with SAR 0.10 for the same period in the previous year.

Increase of the net profit during this quarter compared with the same period of the previous year is mainly attributed to the improvement of the performance of Al Wahas plant in addition to the improvement of the results of the other companys affiliates due to the increase of sales prices, relative decrease of the feedstock prices and relative stability of production rates.

Increase of the net profit during this quarter compared with the previous quarter is mainly attributed to the improvement of the performance of Al Wahas plant in addition to the improvement of the results of the other companys affiliates due to the increase of sales prices, relative decrease of the feedstock prices and relative stability of production rates.

Increase of gross profits attained in the first quarter of 2013 is mainly attributed to the improvement of the performance of Al Waha Petrochemicals Company, an affiliate of Sahara , after completing the periodic maintenance of the propylene plant which was executed in the mid of the last year which apparently was reflected in the increase of the produced quantities besides producing new grades of polypropylene with high financial returns, in addition to the increase of the sales prices there was relative decrease of the feedstock prices.

As MRC wrote earlier, Sahara Petrochemicals plans to start up four joint venture plants over the next two years, completing the company’s initial expansion programme in Jubail.

Sahara Petrochemicals performs participation and supervises foundation and establishing several limited liability companies in Al Jubail Industrial City with the participation of Saudi and foreign companies that have the modern skills and technologies; to produce and market its chemical and petrochemical products such as propylene, polypropylene, ethylene and polyethylene.
MRC