European BOPET film prices finally stabilise

MOSCIW (MRC) -- Two major factors influence commodity bi-oriented polyester (BOPET) film prices – the cost of raw materials (PTA and MEG) and supply/demand dynamics in the global BOPET film industry, according to PCI Films Consulting’s Quarterly Business Report.

After the supply shortages and rapid increases in commodity BOPET film prices in 2010/11, US buyers are relieved to see a recent return to a degree of 'normality'.

Prices for polyester raw materials are hardly moving and with US demand for flexible packaging only now returning to historic levels. It is the increasing volume of commodity BOPET film which is being made available that is driving current prices.

New thin film extrusion capacity has been commissioned by Flex Americas S.A. de C.V. in Mexico, and there are two new thin film lines to be added in the US by the end of the year. As a result, 50% more volume should be available to film buyers in 2013, which should increase competition and help keep film costs more stable.

In fact there has been virtually no upward price movement in the US over the past three quarters in any of the five flexible packaging substrate materials monitored by leading UK-based films experts PCI Films Consulting.

Trends over the past year to eighteen months have also been influenced by buyers at both the converter and packer level purchasing only what they immediately require in order to cut costs and reduce working capital.

The quarterly price series editor, Paul Gaster notes, “In a number of cases, buyers of film were caught out by the rapid rise in prices of BOPET film because they were monitoring raw material costs i.e. PTA and MEG, which hadn’t moved. The recent spike in film prices was purely supply/demand driven and therefore our series is likely to be more timely at picking up and understanding these key drivers”.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, Atlas has commissioned an 8.7m wide Atlas CW984AP primary film slitter at Surat Metallics Ltd., in Surat (Gujarat State, India), which is located approx. 250 km north of Mumbai. The slitter rewinder was installed in conjunction with a new BOPET (bi-oriented polyester) film production line which is the first film production line to have been installed by Surat Metallics. The film line commenced production in February 2012 and has the capacity to produce up to 32,000 tonnes of BOPET film per annum.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A catalytic cracking and hydrotreating unit and light naphtha isomerisation unit have been put into operation at Gazprom Neft’s Moscow refinery, said Yourpetrochemicalnews.

Commissioning of the new units enabled the refinery to switch to the production of Class-5 fuels, according to Russian motor fuel specifications (Russian equivalent of Euro-5) in 2013, 2,5 years ahead of schedule.

The catalytic cracking and hydrotreating facility has a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum and is designed to produce fuels with an extremely low sulphur content. This is 15 times less than in Class-3 fuels permitted in Russia today and complies with the Euro-5 emission standard. The total cost of construction was RUB 5.7 billion.

The light naphtha isomerisation unit has an annual capacity of 650,000 tonnes and will contribute to an increase in the Moscow refinery’s throughput of class-5 Au-95 fuels. The unit produces a high-octane component for fuels with zero sulphur or aromatic and unsaturated hydrocarbons. Blending the isomerised product with other fuel components reduces the aromatic, benzene and olefin content, while increasing the octane rating and reducing the environmental impact. The total cost of construction was RUB 10.9 billion.

The launch of both units marks completion of the first stage of the Moscow refinery modernisation programme aimed at improving the quality of its products. The next stage involves major projects focused on improving the refining yield and increasing production volumes and output of light oil products.

Alexander Dyukov, Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprom Neft, said: "Completing the first stage in the Moscow refinery’s modernisation plan is a significant achievement for Gazprom Neft. Now all of the company’s refining assets have switched to Euro-5 standard fuel production, 2,5 years ahead of regulation requirements. The refinery will supply Moscow and Central Russia with better quality gasoline and diesel which meet European standards. This will contribute to the reduction of harmful emissions and have a positive effect on the environment. The next stage in the modernisation of the Moscow refinery will aim at increasing throughput and supply of high-quality fuels to the Moscow market."

As MRC wrote before, Gazprom will soon announce another "fundamentally new" liquefied natural gas (LNG) project," said Alexei Miller, the company's chief executive. "We will have another fundamentally new project that you do not know of yet," he said. Gazprom is already building a gas liquefaction plant in Vladivostok, eastern Russia, to supply the Asia-Pacific region. Companies from Japan, a large consumer of LNG, are in talks on purchasing supplies from the facility. We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, Gazprom can return to the construction of LNG plant with the nominal capacity of 7 million tonnes in Primorsk (Leningrad region).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) --KBR was selected by Total to utilize its ROSE solvent de-asphalting technology for use at Total's Antwerp refinery in Belgium, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to the company's statement.

The ROSE unit is expected to significantly enhance the profitability of the refinery and is expected to come on stream in early 2016, according to company officials.

"We are pleased that KBR’s world-leading ROSE technology was selected by Total for this major project," said John Derbyshire, president of KBR Technology.

"We understand the importance of this project to Total and are confident that the project will enable Total to achieve its business objectives," he added.

We remind that, as MRC wrote preciously, in April 2013 Total signed a final agreement to sell TIGF, a regional gas pipeline network, to a group comprising Italy's Snam, Singaporean sovereign fund GIC, and French state-controlled power utility Electricite de France. Besides, last autumn Total announced its plans to invest over EUR1 billion into its Belgian refining and petrochemical complex to boost its diesel-making capacity and create cost-cutting synergies. This investment could bring Europe's largest refiner extra cash of USD500 mln a year.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
mrpclast.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The export revenues of Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem rose to USD303mn in June, 42.3% higher than in June last year, according to data from the ministry of development, trade and industry, said Bnamericas.

For the first half of the year, Braskem's exports rose by 10.1% to USD1.55bn.

The data refers to the exports of Braskem's main operating subsidiary in Brazil, rather than companies it has acquired in recent years.

In the first half of the year, Braskem was Brazil's twelfth largest exporter.

In June, Braskem's imports fell by 27.7% year-on-year to USD177mn. For the first half of the year, the company's imports have fallen 24.1% to USD1.12bn, making it Brazil's sixth largest importer.

As MRC wrote before, Braskem announced the expansion of its portfolio of renewable products with the launch of its new line of green low-density polyethylene (LDPE), with this new product family complementing its already well known Green Plastics. Annual production of the new resin will amount to approximately 30 kton and the product will be made available in the market starting in January 2014.

According to the MRC data, Braskem imports of PP to Russia over the first half of 2013 totalled 484 tonnes (2 times less than in January-June 2012) and PE imports over the same period made 279 tonnes (up by 45% from the previous year).

Braskem is Brazilian main producer of polyethylene and polypropylene. In addition with ongoing plants located in both petrochemical complexes, in April 2008 Braskem opened a 300,000 metric ton polypropylene plant in the city of Paulinia (Sao Paulo).

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The production of bottle grades of PET granulate in Russia fell by 1.2% to 230,700 tonnes in the first half of 2013, according to MRC ScanPlast.
The total production capacity of all four PET producers in Russia amounts to 520,000 tonnes per year. Over the first two quarters of 2013, the average capacity utilization of the plants was 88.7%, whereas for the same period a year ago this index equalled 89.8%.

As reported previously, despite the decrease in the output, the domestic supply of granulate to the country increased because of the fall in sales to export markets.
PET output in Russia grew in June by 7% from May. Overall, 41,400 tonnes of PET granulate were produced in June. An increase in Kaliningrad plant Alco-Naphtha's capacity utilization, as well as SIBUR-PETF's reaching full capacity utilization after the May outage for maintenance contributed to the growth of production in June.

MRC