Alpha olefin demand to grow at CAGR of 4.2% till 2018

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Alpha olefin demand will grow with a CAGR of 4.2% from 2013 to 2018 and reach 4.6 million metric tons, as per Plastemart.

The Alpha Olefin Market is mainly driven by polyethylene application, which accounts for the largest consumption share of alpha olefins.

Rising demand for co-monomers in the production of polyethylene and poly alpha olefins (used in synthetic lubricants) is driving the alpha olefin market. Along with polyethylene and poly alpha olefins (PAO), oil field drilling is also a growing application.

The alpha olefin players are constantly looking for capacity expansions and new product development targeting new applications which in turn would increase their market shares. This market has a very few large players that are mainly in the alpha olefin business. Most of these players are local companies operating in specific areas and capturing insignificant market shares individually. Shell is the largest player of this market followed by CP Chem and Sasol.

As MRC reported before, Ineos plans to build a new 350,000 tpy linear alpha olefins plant in the US Gulf Coast region. The project is targeted for completion by the end of 2016. Beyond then, it could be expanded by an additional 50%. Ultimately, the capacity could reach over 500,000 tpy.

Besides, Chevron Phillips Chemical mulls expansion of its normal alpha olefins (NAO) capacity by, at least, 20% at its Cedar Bayou Chemical Complex in Baytown, Texas, USA. The company has filed the necessary environmental permit application with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The construction is scheduled to begin in early in 2014 and the project would be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015, the company said in a statement.

Also, in March, 2013, Dow Chemical signed a long-term ethylene off-take agreement with a new Japanese joint venture that will allow the chemical producer to enhance its performance plastics franchise. The joint venture is being formed between Japanese companies Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui & Co. to construct and operate a linear alpha olefins unit on the US Gulf Coast.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexican state-owned player Pemex is not looking to increase its holding in Spanish counterpart Repsol, reported Upstreamonline with reference to a Spanish government official.

Last week, reports suggested Pemex could be looking to tie-up with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim in an attempt to become the largest shareholder in Repsol.

One report out of Madrid quoted Spain's Minister of Industry, Energy & Tourism Jose Manuel Soria as saying Pemex has "absolutely no intention" of increasing its Repsol holding.

Pemex chief executive Emilio Lozoya this week denied that the company is moving on Repsol and instead criticised Repsol chairman Antonio Brufau’s pay package for being excessive.

Pemex has in the past threatened to sell out of Repsol due to differences with Brufau. The former does not agree with the manner in which Repsol has responded to the expropriation of assets by the Argentine government.

Argentina seized Repsol's majority stake in Buenos Aires-based YPF last year, arguing it had not done enough to invest in output.

Since then, Repsol has vowed to sue any company that partners with YPF to cover losses stemming from the expropriation, which it says merits a USD10.5 billion reimbursement. Pemex, which has a 9.4% stake in Repsol, has disagreed with the Spanish company's strategy.

Pemex has had talks about the prospect of exploiting the vast Vaca Muerta shale field owned by YPF as part of its bid to work on projects outside Mexico, stoking differences between Pemex and Repsol.

As MRC informed previously, Pemex and Mexichem have recently entered into a joint venture, which will enable greater competitiveness of the domestic petrochemical industry in the global market through the integration of a new company, which will create value to the chlorine-vinyl chain. The joint venture includes a cash investment and assets contribution up to the amount of USD518 million, of which Pemex will participate with USD228 million in assets while Mexichem will contribute with both, USD90 million in assets and USD200 million in cash in order to modernize the Pajaritos complex.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene.

Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema, a France-based chemical manufacturer, has presented its new PVDF film for photovoltaic panel back sheets, according to the company's press release.

The lifetime of solar panels spans 25 to 30 years: therefore its components have to deliver long-lasting top performance. A challenge taken up successfully by Arkema thanks to its Kynar PVDF film for PV panel backsheet protection.

Kynar polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film is a key element in the design of the panel for back sheet protection. Its excellent temperature, moisture, abrasion and UV resistance, together with its white color stability which helps reflect light toward the silicon, are key factors in the panel’s long service life.

Recentlty, Arkema has teamed up with German company Krempel to develop a unique back sheet, branded KPK comprising two Kynar films over a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) core film.

"Our premium and very durable three-layers Kynar film has a proven lifetime expectancy of more than 25 years, especially when it is used in the KPK back sheet protection. Sufficiently competitive, this film is very well positioned to serve the domestic market of the photovoltaic solar field, especially in the deserts of the Middle East where abrasion from sandstorms and very high UV sunshine create extreme weather conditions", explains Bernard Schlinquer, Global Manager Kynar Film & Photovoltaics.

Arkema produces Kynar PVDF at its three plants in the US, France and China.

As MRC reported earlier, Arkema has recently officially started its new 60,000 mty emulsion polymers facility on its Changshu platform. The plant, part of Arkema’s Coating Resins business unit, will serve customers in the Asia Pacific region with a full line of waterborne emulsion polymers for coatings and adhesives applications.

Arkema with annual revenue of EUR6.4 billion is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gazprom is to pump USD13.5 billion into building a planned liquefied natural gas plant and associated infrastructure in the far east of Russia, siad Upstreamonline.

The Russian gas monopoly is to make the investment at the planned LNG plant near Vladivostok, Reuters cited a local governor as saying. The news wire also cited a Gazprom spokesperson as saying the investment figure, double the company’s previous figure of 220 billion rubles (USD6.67 billion today), includes the plant, port and associated infrastructure.

Gazprom plans to complete the first Vladivostok train by the end of 2018, with a throughput capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

A second train is due on line in 2020, doubling the available capacity. However, industry observers in Moscow warned that the project’s LNG may be very expensive to produce and the scheme may never break even, because its main source of gas is more than 3000 kilometres away at the Chayanda field in East Siberia.

As MRC wrote before, Russian Gazprom Neft beat analyst forecasts with a 3% year-on-year increase in third-quarter net profit. The oil-producing arm of state gas export monopoly Gazprom reported a net result of 57.5 billion roubles (USD1.75 billion), compared with 55.95 billion roubles a year earlier, while a Reuters poll of analysts had expected the company to earn 52.3 billion roubles in the latest quarter.

Gazprom Neft, is the fourth largest oil producer in Russia and ranked third according to refining throughput. It is a subsidiary of Gazprom, which owns about 96% of its shares. The company is registered and headquartered in St. Petersburg after central offices were relocated from Moscow in 2011.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian company Oil Gas Trade is ready to take over Romanian Oltchim chemical plant when Oltchim II will be put up for privatization, said Iliaspapageorgiadis.

"We wait for the creation of this Oltchim II, we are in good relations with the judicial administrators and we are ready to take over the chemical plant," said company’s representative Florin Rozescu, quoted by local news agency Agerpres.

He added the company’s interest for Romania’s Oltchim appeared in June this year when representatives of the company submitted a letter to former Romanian Economy Minister Varujan Vosganian, while on August 1, together with one of the owners, they visited the chemical plant.

"At the end of August, the judicial administrators asked us if we were interested in Oltchim, to finance the chemical plant’s needs with a certain amount of money. On September 12 we have provided an amount of EUR 50 million necessary for capitalization, raw materials and for the plant to move forward in order to register increased production," added Florin Rozescu.

Oltchim has been under insolvency procedures since January 2013. This came soon after the state failed to privatize Oltchim in its first privatization stage, which was won by media mogul Dan Diaconescu, who then failed to pay the pledged amount.

In September this year, Oltchim recorded a turnover of EUR 11.4 million, double than the EUR 5.6 million registered in the same month of 2012.

Based at Ramnicu Valcea in southern Romania, Oltchim produces caustic soda, petrochemicals, agrochemicals, inorganic products and building materials, including insulating PVC for panels, doors and window frames.
MRC