Eastman increases acids prices in September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eastman Chemical Company, a global specialty chemical company, is increasing prices on the following products with effect of 1 September, or as contracts allow, as per the company's press release.

EASTMAN PROPIONIC ACID, all grades: offlist price increase of USD 0.06/lb (USD 0.13/kg) in North America and Latin America.

These increases are due to elevated operating costs, especially in raw materials.

As MRC informed before, earlier this year, Eastman Chemical Company enhanced its medical packaging portfolio with Eastalite copolyester, the company’s first opaque offering, which is styrene-free and can be a sustainable alternative to high-impact polystyrene (HIPS).

Eastman is a global specialty chemical company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With a portfolio of specialty businesses, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. Its market-driven approaches take advantage of world-class technology platforms and leading positions in attractive end-markets such as transportation, building and construction and consumables. Eastman serves customers in approximately 100 countries and had 2013 revenues of approximately USD9.4 billion. The company is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA and employs approximately 14,000 people around the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Corp. has started scheduled maintenance on a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit at its 561,000-b/d integrated refining and petrochemical complex in Baytown, Texas, said Ogj.

Planned maintenance activities at the refinery’s FCC are expected to continue for the next several weeks, stated Nicholas Scinta, ExxonMobil’s public and government affairs advisor, in an e-mail to OGJ. The routine maintenance is part of the company’s ongoing effort to maintain the safety and reliability of operations at the Baytown complex, Scinta said.

Further details regarding the specific nature of work to be performed at the FCC were not disclosed. ExxonMobil said it does not expect the planned shutdown of the gasoline-producing unit during the maintenance period to impact the company’s ability to meet its contractual commitments to customers.

The Baytown refinery, which has the ability to process up to 584,000 b/d of crude oil, operates two FCCs with a combined processing capacity of 204,000 b/d, according to the latest operational data available from ExxonMobil’s web site.

As MRC wrote before, The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May issued a final notice of decision for the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) for greenhouse gas (GHG) construction permit for the ExxonMobil Olefins Plant in Baytown, Texas. The company proposes to construct a new ethylene production unit consisting of eight ethylene cracking furnaces and recovery equipment to produce polymer-grade ethylene.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.

MRC

МOSCOW (MRC) -- Toyo Engineering Corporation has been awarded a contract for a Steam Cracker Complex (SCC) project in Malaysia by PRPC Refinery and Cracker Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary under the Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) group, Malaysia’s national oil and gas company, said Plastemart.

The SCC will be part of PETRONAS’ Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (RAPID) project in Pengerang, Johor, Malaysia. The contract has been awarded on a lump sum turn-key basis and is scheduled for completion by mid-2019.

RAPID is part of the bigger PETRONAS Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) development worth an estimated 27 Billion US Dollars, which comprises of RAPID and its associated facilities including the Pengerang Co-generation Plant (PCP), Re-gasification Terminal 2 (RGT2), Air Separation Unit (ASU), Raw Water Supply Project (PAMER), Crude and Product Tanks (SPV2) as well as central and shared Utilities and Facilities (UF). RAPID will consist of a 300,000 barrels per stream day refinery and petrochemical complex with a combined capacity of producing 7.7 mln tpa of various grades of products, including differentiated and specialty chemicals products such as synthetic rubbers and high-grade polymers.

PIC is part of Malaysia’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to establish new engines of growth for Malaysia; whilst meeting future energy requirement and strengthening PETRONAS’ position as a key player in the Asian chemicals market.

As MRC wrote before, Toyo Engineering Corporation was awarded a contract to build a large gas chemical complex for State Concern "Turkmengas", in collaboration with Hyundai Engineering Co., Ltd., Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd., and LG International Corporation of Korea.

PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tight supply of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) in the domestic market allowed Russian producers to maintain August contract prices for September shipments, despite a drop in the import duty, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Negotiations over contract prices of Russian polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for September deliveries began last week. Russian producers have limited stocks of SPVC because of scheduled outages for maintenance (SayanskKhimplast - in August, Bashkir Soda Company - in September, Kaustik (Volgograd) - in October), At the same time, PVC imports fell substantially, particularly, from the United States. It was this factor that allowed Russian producers to maintain August prices for September, despite a decline in entry barriers for imports.

Contracts for September shipments of Russian SPVC were concluded in the range of Rb53,000-56,000/tonne, CPT Moscow, including VAT, which corresponds to the August price level.

Some market participants said they intend to partially meet September demand for PVC by purchasing material in Europe and the United States. Prices of imported material are already almost equal prices of Russian PVC because of the reduced import duty to 6.5%, and in some cases, they are even lower. However, such cases are not widespread.

As reported earlier, according to the decision of the Eurasian Economic Commission of 23 June 2014, the import duty on unmixed with other substances (HS code 3904 10 009 9) SPVC is 6.5% from the 1 September 2014.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nan Ya Plastics is in plans to shut its No.4 monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the line is likely to be shut on September 7, 2014. The plant expected to remain shut for around one month.

Located at Mailiao, Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 720,000 mt/year.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, Sinopec Hubei Chemical Fertilizer has started a new MEG plant on February 8, 2014. Initially the plant was scheduled to start commercial production in late 2013. Located at Zhejiang in Hubei province of China, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

Another Chinese petrochemical producer Hubei Chemical Fertilizer started a new monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant in late 2013. Located in Hubei, China, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year.
MRC