Indian ONGC defers startup of new paraxylene plant to Q3 2014

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp has deferred the startup of its new aromatics plant in Mangalore to the third quarter of 2014, from its previous schedule in March, reported Apic-online with reference to a statements of sources close to the company.

The plant is designed to produce 900,000 mt/year of paraxylene and 270,000 mt/year of benzene.

This is not the first time ONGC has deferred the startup of the plant.

ONGC had initially planned to start commercial operations in April 2013, but this was pushed back several times due to delays in construction.

Other than ONGC, several new PX plants across the region have also recently pushed back their startup dates to later this year.

Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Co., or Satorp, has delayed the startup of its new aromatics plant in Jubail to June-July, from February. The aromatics plant has a production capacity of 700,000 mt/year of paraxylene and 140,000 mt/year of benzene.

In South Korea, progress on SK Innovation's new 1.3 million mt/year PX plant in Incheon has been delayed slightly. The company had planned to bring the plant onstream in June or July, but construction works are now seen delayed because of an order from local authorities to halt work.

As MRC informed previously, in 2013, ONGC signed a memorandum of understanding with fellow Indian company Reliance Industries which could see the pair share the latter's infrastructure on the country's east coast. ONGC said the agreement would help minimise its capital expenditure as well as speed up the development of its deep-water fields which lie near Reliance's.

Besides, in September 2013, ONGC, the promoter of the ONGC Petro-Additions Ltd. (OPAL) project in Dahej, Gujarat, India, retained Ernst & Young to find a strategic partner for at least a 25% interest in OPAL. The USD3.24-billion project includes units to produce 1.1-million t/y of ethylene, 340,000 t/y of propylene, 720,000 t/y of linear low- and high-density polyethylene (LLDPE and HDPE), 340,000 t/y of polypropylene (PP), 95,000 t/y of butadi-ene and 135,000 t/y of benzene. Production is expected to begin in 2015.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polymer production in Belarus increased by 3% in 2013, according to MRC analysts.

The largest increase in production occurred for the producers of boxes, trays, pipes and fittings. According to the National Statistics Committee of Belarus, production of plastic boxes and trays was about 66.4 million units in December 2013, compared with 66.7 million units in November 2013. Total production of these polymer products in Belarus rose to 716.3 million units in 2013, up 8.8% from the level in 2012.

Production of pipes, hoses and fittings made of polymers rose to 896 tonnes in December 2013, compared with 800 tonnes in November 2013. Total production of these products in 2013 was about 13,600 tonnes, up 7.2% compared with the level a year earlier.

December production of windows boxes and sills declined to 27,100 square meters, compared with 40,800 square meters in November 2013. Total production of these products in the last year rose to 481,700 square meters, up about 4.8% from the level in 2012.

Production of reinforced and noncombined polymer films in December remained at the November's level at about 6,700 tonnes. Total production of films in Belarus decreased to 87,200 tonnes in 2013, down 2.7% from 2012.

Production of plastic doors and boxes in December 2013 was 3,000 square meters, compared to 2,900 square meters in November 2013. Total production of these products fell by 7.2% to 38,600 square meters in 2013.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Last year, the ORLEN Group consistently pursued its strategic objectives and operational goals, said the producer in its press-release.

The company paid out dividend for the first time since 2008, at a yield of 3.8% (based on the average ORLEN stock price in 2012), and regained, after four years, investment grade ratings from Fitch and Moody's. It also diversified its financing sources through a successful PLN 700m issue of retail bonds. Development projects in the exploration and production and power generation segments continued to proceed on schedule, and the Group was joined by TriOil following acquisition of an equity interest in the Canadian production company. Concurrently, by the end of Q4 2013 PKN ORLEN reduced its debt by PLN 2.2bn, to PLN 4.6bn.

Despite these strategic achievements, the steady decline in refining margins, coupled with expansion of the grey economy, weighed heavily on the ORLEN Group's financial performance in 2013. The poorer results posted by the refining segment were partly offset by improvements in the petrochemical and retail segments.
In 2013, PKN ORLEN reported - LIFO-based EBITDA of PLN 3.2bn, revenue of PLN 113.8bn, positive operating cash flow of PLN 5.7bn, crude oil throughput up 1% year on year, total sales volume of nearly 36m tonnes, very good operating result of the retail segment at PLN 1.3bn, and of the petrochemical segment at PLN 2bn.

A very solid result of PLN 420m was posted by the petrochemical segment, though the amount was slightly less than in Q4 2012, mainly due to lower margins on petrochemical products. The weakening of the average PLN/EUR exchange rate and higher sales of fertilizers, PTA and PVC also contributed, although lower sales volumes of olefins and polyolefins caused by maintenance shutdowns earlier in the year partially offset the result.

The refining segment continued to be strongly affected by macroeconomic factors. At the end of last year, it had to cope with the lowest refining margin and Ural/Bent differential since 2002, whose negative effect on the segment's results was as much as PLN 552m. All in all, the LIFO-based EBITDA came in at PLN 51m. Higher sales volumes in Poland and improved fuel yields from the Plock and Mazeikiai refineries were among the refining segment's operating achievements in Q4 2013, although these were offset by lower sales in the markets served by ORLEN Lietuva and in the Czech Republic.

As MRC informed previously, in mid-June 2013 PKN Orlen offered for sale a second PLN 200m tranche of its bonds and expects the proceeds from the entire bond issue programme to reach approximately PLN 1bn. This move was done in response to the enormous interest in PKN Orlen bonds on the part of investors, who subscribed to the entire PLN 200m of the first series of bonds in just two days.

Polski Koncern Naftowy ORLEN S.A. (PKN Orlen) is a Polish oil and gas company. It has a lot of petrol stations in Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovakia. It is the biggest company in Poland and one of the biggest oil and gas companies in Europe. Polish group PKN Orlen PKNA is a majority owner - 63% of czech polyolefins manufacturer Unipetrol.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total SA and China Power Investment Corp. (CPI) have received clearance from China's National Development and Reform Commission for a planned USD 4-billion coal-to-olefins project in Inner Mongolia, reported GV with reference to several sources.

In 2011, Total, CPI and the provincial government of Inner Mongolia signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement for the project.

Total and CPI have conducted a feasibility study for a complex to produce 1-million t/y of polyethylene and polypropylene using Total’s methanol-to-olefins and olefins cracking technologies. Production is expected after 2017.

The Methanol to Olefins (MTO) technology allows the production of propylene and ethylene from methanol, which can be obtained from various feedstocks such as natural gas, coal or biomass. In combination with the OCP process, it allows a very high yield of polyolefin production.

CPI is one of the five biggest energy producers in China with a particularly strong position in coal mining and transformation of coal into energy.

Total S.A. is one of the largest integrated international oil and gas companies with operations in more than 130 countries worldwide. TPRI is a major producer of base chemicals, styrene, polystyrene, polypropylene and polyethylene in the United States.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Traders have increased their offer prices of expandable polystyrene (EPS) for the Ukrainian domestic market on the back of higher prices of European producers in January and the weakening of the hryvnya, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Traders' offer prices rose by an average of UAH400/tonne from early 2014, following the weakening of the hryvnya against the dollar, despite a reduction of USD50/tonne in Russian export EPS prices for January shipments. A trader said the devaluation had completely offset the discount SIBUR gave for January.

Traders' offers were heard in the range of UAH21,700-21,900/tonne CPT Kiev, including VAT, at the end of the week. Despite the overall weak demand, companies did not want to make concessions to their customers, because of the increased procurement costs (in terms of the national currency), a source said.

Converters said purchase prices had also risen in Europe. Contract European EPS prices for January shipments increased by EUR35-40/tonne. The rising euro only contributed to it, a converter said.
MRC