Sinopec Sabic Tianjin to shut PP plant for maintenance in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Sabic Tianjin is in plans to shut a polypropylene (PP) plant for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is likely to be shut on May 7, 2014. It is planned to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located in Tianjin city, China, the plant has a production capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, in November 2013, top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp won initial approval from China's top economic planner for a plan to build a USD10-billion refinery and petrochemical complex in Shanghai. China, the world's largest net importer of oil, is likely to add 3 million barrels per day, or a quarter of new refining capacity, between 2013 and 2015 to fuel economic growth, industry officials and Chinese media estimate.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kem One, Europe’s third-largest producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), will maintain a strict price policy in April in order to recover the margins, deteriorated by the weakness of the market for caustic soda, reported the company in its press release.

No concession will be made with respect to the movement of the "feedstock", and price increases will be applied.

As MRC informed previously, Kem One increased its February prices of suspension PVC (SPVC) grades and mass PVC (MPVC) grades, given the weakness of the market for caustic soda and margin erosion. The increase for the products stated above was EUR25/tonne. In January 2014, Kem One already raised PVC prices by EUR50/tonne.

Kem One, a fully integrated vinyl production company, was established mid-2012 following the acquisition of Arkema's vinyl products division by the Klesch Group. The company employs 2,600 people at 22 manufacturing sites, primarily in Europe but also in Asia and North America. Europe’s third-largest producer of PVC with revenues in excess of one billion euros, KEM ONE continues to grow and build on its numerous strengths with a view to becoming market leader for integrated vinyl solutions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's production of polycarbonate (PC) was 18,330 tonnes in Q1 2014, up 3% from the same period in 2013, according to MRC ScanPlast.

Monthly PC capacity at Kazanorgsintez is 5,900 tonnes. The producer's PC capacities have been loaded more than by 100% over the reported period. Kazanorgsintez produces injection moulding and extrusion grade PC.

The producer's output over the three months of the year accounted for 70% of extrusion grade PC and 30% injection moulding grade PC.
Kazanorgsintez produced 12,800 tonnes of sheet extrusion PC and 5,500 tonnes of injection moulding PC in Q1 2014.
The producer has increased PC shipment to the domestic market over the reported period, reducing exports. The producer's PC exports in Q1 2014 was 2,600 tonnes.

The structure of Kazanorgsintez's PC exports over the reported period was as follows. Production of injection moulding PC be the producer was 2,200 tonnes in Q1 2014, which made 86% from the total producer's exports over the reported period. Its exports of extrusion PC was 373 tonnes in Q1 2014, which made 14% of the total producer's exports.

Kazanorgsintez is focused on the saturation of domestic market with extrusion PC on the back of seasonally stronger demand for this material.

The devaluation of the Russian rouble and higher prices for imports also contributed to stronger demand for the Russian material.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Veolia was awarded a contract worth over EUR15 million with Formosa Petrochemical, a leading Taiwanese refiner and olefins producer, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

As per Formosa's goal to expand the production capacity of its Mai Liao petrochemical complex (on the southwest coast of Taiwan) and reduce its surface water consumption, Veolia will proceed to an upgrade of the site's water treatment plant.

This solution and the technologies implemented by Veolia on this site will provide for an important decrease in raw water consumption of the plant (from 60,000 m3/day down to 25,000 m3/day, of which 5,000 m3/day of water reused), yet also give higher treatment of effluents and protection of the environment in this region, in particular of a rare and unique species of pink dolphins.

In the framework of this contract, the result of a cooperation between the companies to lay out the most appropriate technology, Veolia will design the water treatment plant upgrade, supply the technology and equipment and guarantee a performance on the upgraded plant.

Solutions used at the Mai Lioa site include in-house technologies such as AnoxKaldnes MBBR (moving bed bio reactor), which maximizes water reuse.

The Mai Liao complex is the largest in Taiwan with a refining capacity of 540,000 bpd and a yearly production of ethylene and propylene exceeding 2.9 and 2.3 million tons, respectively.

We remind that Formosa Plastics Corp. is considering building a factory to make 1.2 million tonnes of ethylene a year in the US state of Louisiana.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC