Fire breaks out at Slovnaft refinery, one person hospitalised

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire occurred at the Bratislava-based oil refinery Slovnaft on Monday, June 24, said Spectator.

"We started an ethylene unit, and there was a smaller fire during this start, but it was soon extinguished by our factory firemen," Slovnaft spokesperson Anton Molnar told the TASR newswire. "We did not need any help from outside, it was just a minor accident."

One man was examined at the hospital in Ruzinov, but his condition did not require further hospitalisation. "The man complained about problems with breathing, but examinations finally didn’t reveal intoxication by combustion gasses,”" the spokesperson of the University Hospital Bratislava, which operates the Ruzinov hospital, Petra Stano Matasovska, said. "After the treatment, he felt better."

According to MRC data, Slovnaft has not been supplying PP-random to Russia since 2008. Several years before the company's shipments to Russia had been negligible. Slovnat had mostly supplied block copolymers and homopolymers of polypropylene to the Russian market. Overall, since 2008, Slovnaft has reduced imports of polypropylene to Russia by 6.5 times.

Slovnaft Petrochemicals, s.r.o., represents the Petrochemicals Division of Slovnaft Group. It produces polymers of high quality which are base materials with a broad range of uses. The geographical position of company gives it an important advantage when penetrating the quickly growing polymer markets of Central Europe.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - In May, the output of suspension PVC (SPVC) in Russia totalled 54,300 tonnes, up 2% from April, according to MRC ScanPlast.

Russian producers of SPVC continue to keep a high level of capacity utilisation. May increase in production resulted from calendar factor (there are 31 days in May).

SayanskKhimPlast last month produced 27,600 tonnes of resin, from 26,800 tonnes in April.

Kaustik (Volgograd) in May increased the capacity utilisation rate by 2%, the total output of PVC made about 18,600 tonnes. Kaustik, (Volgograd), traditionally has the maintenance works in April - May, but this year the plant is going to have turnaround in the fall.
In May the output of SPVC by the plant made 8,100 tonnes.

Sibur-neftekhim in early April completely stopped its chlorine production in the framework of the project RusVinyl.


Over the first five months of this year the total production of SPVC in Russia totalled 267,200 tonnes, up 3% compared to the same period in 2012. The main increase in production provided SayanskKhimPlast.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal DSM, the global life sciences and materials sciences company, has launched Arnite A-X07455, the first high performance polyethylene terephthalate (PET) engineering plastic that is highly resistant to hydrolysis, according to the company's press release.

This breakthrough development opens up opportunities for significant weight and cost benefits over metal in automobile engine compartment applications.

"Injection moulded parts from conventional PET lose as much as half of their tensile strength after 1000 hours at 85°C and 85% relative humidity," says Wouter Gabrielse, Automotive Segment Manager for DSM. "Parts made from DSM’s new hydrolysis resistant Arnite A PET keep around 90% of their initial strength under the same conditions. This was proven in simulated conditions in our laboratory. The performance we have achieved is quite spectacular."

Arnite A-X07455 enables substitution of metals or higher cost engineering plastics such as polyphthalamides (PPA) and polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) in automotive parts that require high dimensional accuracy, good chemical resistance, and very good mechanical properties. It will enable car makers to save costs and improve fuel efficiency through light weighting.

This hydrolysis resistant Arnite A is being targeted at a variety of automotive under-the-hood applications, including throttle valve bodies, sensors, air control valve housings, electronic throttle control (ETC) and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) covers, and ignition systems.

"Arnite A has been proven to be the material of choice in automotive safety applications like brake booster valve bodies for many years” says Gabrielse. “With the new hydrolysis resistant grade we can enter into applications that are closer to the engine and which until now have never been achievable with PET."

As MRC informed previously, Magna Auteca, one of the world's leading suppliers of automotive micro-actuator systems for various kinds of adjustments, has chosen Arnite A, a high performance compound based on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), from DSM for use in its latest generation of exterior mirror adjustment units.

DSM delivers innovative solutions that nourish, protect and improve performance in global markets such as food and dietary supplements, personal care, feed, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive, paints, electrical and electronics, life protection, alternative energy and bio-based materials.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR Holding, a unique integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company, has published its operational and financial results for the first quarter of 2013 in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), reported the company in its press release.

In the first quarter of 2013, SIBUR’s revenue decreased by 7.6% year-on-year to RR 66.2 billion. The decrease was largely attributable to the fact that the company's revenues from sales of synthetic rubbers decreased on the back of low demand. The above factor was only partially compensated by solid performance of SIBUR's energy product group on strong volume growth despite lower prices and an increase in revenue from sales of plastics and organic synthesis products thanks to higher production and change in scope through consolidation of BIAXPLEN.

The company's EBITDA for the first quarter of 2013 amounted to RR 20.5 billion, a year-on-year decline of 11.1%.
The EBITDA margin totalled 31%. The year-on-year decrease in EBITDA and EBITDA margin is primarily explained by tighter spreads between feedstock and petrochemicals prices, particularly in the synthetic rubber product group. Net profit for the first quarter of 2013 totaled RR 15.6 billion.

In the first quarter of 2013, SIBUR's capital expenditures increased by 81.0% year-on-year to RR 21.5 billion. The increase was attributable to the company's investments in the development of its feedstock processing and transportation infrastructure as well as its petrochemical projects in line with the company's strategic objectives.

SIBUR's cash from operating activities increased by 5.7% year-on-year and reached RR 23.1 billion.

As of 31 March 2013, the company's total debt amounted to RR 96.1 billion, almost unchanged from 31 December 2012. SIBUR's net debt decreased by 5.5% to RR 77.9 billion as of 31 March 2013 as compared to 31 December 2012.

As MRC reported earlier, on 31 January 2013, the company placed its debut five-year Eurobond due 2018, raising USD 1 billion in gross proceeds. The coupon rate was set at 3.914% per annum and will be paid semi-annually. The placement enabled SIBUR to improve its debt maturity profile.

SIBUR is a uniquely positioned vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. We own and operate Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes and are a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry. As of 31 March 2013, SIBUR operated 27 production sites across Russia and employed over 30,000 personnel. The company serve over 1,500 large customers operating in the energy, automotive, construction, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), chemical and other industries in approximately 60 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shintech, one of the major polyvinyl chlorice (PVC) producer in the US, will spend USD500 mln to expand plant capacity by 10% in Plaquemine and Addis, as per Plastemart.

Shin-Etsu said its Plaquemine plant is running at capacity and expansion is needed to meet growing worldwide demand for PVC. The expansion will eliminate production bottlenecks. Shin-Etsu will pay for the project using its own money, planning completion in 2015.

Upon completion of expansion, Shintech will increase its polyvinyl chloride capacity by 300,000 tpa, its vinyl chloride monomer capacity by 300,000 tpa and its caustic soda capacity by 200,000 tpa. About 75-80% of the work will take place at the larger Plaquemine plant and 20-25% will be done at Addis.

As MRC informed previously, last autumn another major PVC producer Westlake Chemical announced an expansion of its existing PVC plant in Calvert City, Kentucky, and the plans to convert the feedstock for its Calvert City ethylene plant from propane to ethane along with increasing ethylene capacity from 450 million pounds per year to 630 million pounds per year. The ethylene expansion and feedstock conversion project is targeted for start-up in the second quarter of 2014 and the PVC expansion is projected to start up in late 2014.

Shintech was founded in 1974 to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin. The catalyst for its current success came in 1976 when it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. Since then Shintech has completed a series of production capacity expansions that combined aggressive domestic and export business plans with careful analysis of market conditions and customer needs. Currently, Shintech Inc. is the largest producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in the United States.
MRC