MOL Group enters into manufacturing synthetic rubber in Hungary through JSR joint-venture

MOSCOW (MRC) -- MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Public Limited Company hereby informs the capital market participants that it has reached an agreement with JSR Corporation (JSR) to establish a joint venture in Hungary and construct a new plant to manufacture solution polymerization styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR), said MOL Group.

The establishment of the joint venture is subject to obtaining the necessary clearance from the relevant competition authorities. The joint venture will be incorporated with 51% of the total shares held by JSR and 49% held by MOL. The new plant capacity will be 60,000 tons per annum, with the sales launch scheduled for 2017. A capacity expansion is also under investigation and will be implemented in accordance with the demand increase of S-SBR.

Located in Hungary, the joint venture has advantages in access to Western Europe, a focal point for major tire manufacturers, as well as to Central-Eastern Europe, Russia, and Turkey, where the expansion of tire production is expected. Furthermore, some major tire manufacturers have already commenced their operations in Hungary. Utilizing MOL’s plant infrastructures and JSR’s S-SBR production technologies and sales networks, we will establish joint management in order to take care of the expansion of demand.

Featuring a characteristic molecular structure, S-SBR is highly valued worldwide as a raw material of a fuel-efficient tire known as an "eco-friendly tire", due to its excellent industry-leading properties suited to fuel-efficient tires and wet grip performance. The market of S-SBR is currently observing the tightening regulations on automobile fuel consumption and CO2 emissions on a global basis, the dissemination of a rating system for fuel efficiency of tires in Japan, Europe, and Korea, and the expected introduction of such a rating system in many other countries in the future. With this as a background, the demand for S-SBR for fuel-efficient tires is expected to expand.

In order to seize strategic business development opportunities MOL Group through its subsidiary TVK targets to build a 130,000 tons per annum capacity butadiene extraction unit at the same location, in Tiszaujvaros by 2015. The partnership with JSR provides MOL Group the opportunity to further diversify its petrochemical product line along the value chain by entering the S-SBR market as MOL Group can stably provide the joint venture with raw materials.

As MRC wrote before, Hungarian largest oil and gas company MOL Nyrt. laid the cornerstone of a butadiene plant in a move that may decrease Hungary's dependency on imports of the chemical. MOL is set to invest 120 million euros (USD162.7 million) in the plant of its petrochemical arm TVK, part of the company's 300-billion-forint (USD1.37 billion) three-year investment scheme.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - October production of finished products made from polymers in Russia decreased, following nine months of growth. Production volumes of key products from polymers decreased by 0.8% in October compared with the September level, according to MRC.

Production in one of the key sectors - polymer pipes, hoses and fittings dropped significantly in October. Production growth of other finished products made from polymers also slowed.

In general, October results looked as follows. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, the production volume of pipes, hoses and fittings made ??of polymers fell to 50,400 tonnes in October, from 56,100 tonnes in September. Total production of these products was about 496,500 tonnes in the first ten months of the year, down 17.7% year on year.

October production of plates, films and combined sheets was 76,800 tonnes, from 74,500 tonnes a month earlier.
Total production of these polymer products reached 704,900 tonnes in the first ten months of the year, which is only up 0.5% year on year.

October output of plates, sheets, porous and combined films in Russia rose to 20,500 tonnes, up 2.4% from the September level. Total production of these products was 173,200 tonnes in the first ten months of the year, up by 16.5% year on year.

October production of plastic windows and window sills rose to 3.4 mln square meters, compared to 3.1 mln square meters in September. Total production of these polymer products reached 23.5 mln square meters in the first ten months of the year, up by 8.5% year on year.

October production of plastic doors and door boxes was about 108,000 square meters, up by 9.9% from the September level. In general, production of these products in Russia was 814,400 tonnes in the ten months of the year, down by 3.4% year on year.

October production of polymer bottles and flasks reached 958 mln units. Total production of these products was about 11.3 bln units in the first ten months of the year, down by 1.2% year on year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP, the petrochemical venture of US oil producer Chevron Corp. and refiner Phillips 66, has announced the completion of its study to expand normal alpha olefin (NAO) capacity at its Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas, and receipt of approval to proceed with detailed engineering, design and procurement of long-lead equipment, according to the company's press release.

The capacity expansion is targeting a 20% minimum increase in a phased approach. Final project approval will be sought in the first quarter of 2014.

Construction would be targeted to commence in the first quarter of 2014, and the project would be completed in the second quarter of 2015.

"This is a critical milestone in meeting our goals to remain a consistent and reliable supplier to our customers and to meet their growth strategies," said Mitch Eichelberger, general manager of normal alpha olefins and polyalphaolefins for Chevron Phillips Chemical. "We are well-positioned to take full advantage of the abundant resources from shale resource development and to support our customers as they continue to grow their businesses."

Normal alpha olefins and their derivatives are used extensively as polyethylene co-monomers, plasticizers, synthetic motor oils, lubricants, automotive additives, surfactants, paper sizing, and in a wide range of specialty applications.

As MRC informed earlier, Yokogawa Electric Corp. has been recently selected as the main automation contractor for Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP’s USGC Petrochemicals Project. The project, first announced in March 2011, will include an ethane cracker with capacity to produce 1.5 mln tpa and two new polyethylene facilities, each with an annual capacity of 500,000 tonnes. The ethane cracker will be built at Chevron Phillips Chemical’s Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas, and two polyethylene units will be built at a site in Old Ocean, also in Texas and near Chevron Phillips Chemical’s Sweeny plant.

Chevron Phillips Chemica, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), US,l is one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping, and proprietary plastics. Chevron and Phillips 66 each own 50% of Chevron Phillips Chemical.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In 2013, the European market for cables was worth circa EUR 20 billion, as per Plastemart.

Expressed in terms of plastic compound-on-the-cable, this market lost circa 15% of its 2007 peak volume. However, the performance has not been uniform – some regions performed considerably better than others.

Cables are used either to transport electrical power or to convey data. Most typically, they consist of metal conductors and plastic compounds, the latter providing electrical insulation, as well as mechanical, thermal and chemical protection. Some cables are complex in design, with multiple conductors, insulation, shielding and protection layers. Cables are utilised in many sectors, especially in building and infrastructure, in transport (automotive, railway rolling stock, naval applications), as well as in electro-domestic appliances and industrial equipment.

A wide variety of plastic compounds are used in cable applications, where they help fulfil the exacting requirements of users and of modern regulation. Often, there are multiple competing solutions – indeed the study analyses in depth the various inter-solution and inter-material competition trends. Technological progress generates frequent improvements in materials and processes.

The study found that circa 200 firms manufacture cables in Europe, operating more than 300 production sites. From a structural point of view, Europe’s cable manufacturing industry may be described as comprising a "leading pack" of large groups, followed by a long tail of relatively small, specialised or local players. European producers face significant challenges, including commoditisation of certain types of products, competition with non-European imports and regulatory changes.

European manufacturers are adjusting their strategies in an effort to avoid the threats and exploit the opportunities arising from the market dynamics. As a result, some companies will emerge as winners, while others will find it increasingly difficult to compete. This is likely to result, in the following years, in deep structural changes in the
industry.

As MRC wrote before, Russian cable producer "Kamskiy cable" plans to open a new production of cables for medium and high voltage XLPE insulation "Peroxide-2". In a future project, "Kamsky cable" intends to establish eleven units of the new equipment and upgrade two existing plants. The aim of the project is to launch a new line of cables XLPE medium voltage.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian independent Lukoil is set to drill two wells on its pair of blocks in the Romanian sector of the Black Sea in 2014, said Upstreamonline.

Romgaz development director Radu Gheorghe told Romania’s Ziarul Financiar newspaper that "we plan to dig at least two wells" next year.

The Romanian state gas producer holds a 10% interest in the holds Est Rapsodia and Trident blocks since farming in this time last year.

Lukoil operates the block on a 72% working interest, while Houston-based PanAtlantic Exploration, formerly Vanco International, holds an 18% stake.

The Moscow-headquartered explorer was awarded the two blocks by Romanian authorities in 2011, and contracted CGG for a seismic acquisition programme on the blocks that was completed late last year.

The contiguous blocks cover 2014 square kilometres of the Black Sea in water depths of between 100 metres and 1000 metres.

As MRC wrote before, Karpatneftekhim (LUKOIL group) resumed polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)production in Ukraine. The resumption of PE and PVC production will fully meet the needs of the Ukrainian market in these products.
MRC