ExxonMobil to begin sales allocation for PP from Baton Rouge plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Chemical will begin a sales allocation for some grades of polypropylene because of operational difficulties at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana, facility, as per Plastemart.

"Presently, we are assessing the full impact to our polypropylene supply capability at this site," according to the letter, which was sent to customers Tuesday. The letter added that that allocation levels would be communicated to customers as soon as possible, if applicable.

It was unclear what the nature of the operational difficulties were at the Baton Rouge Polyolefins Plant, or which specific grades would be impacted. No timeframe for the allocation was provided in the letter. ExxonMobil Chemical could not be immediately reached for comment.

As MRC wrote before, Mexico's state oil company Pemex and Exxon Mobil Corp signed a non-commercial agreement on Thursday to jointly explore potential upstream and downstream business opportunities. The agreement comes against the backdrop of the landmark constitutional reform, signed into law under Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto last year, that ended Pemex's 75-year-old oil and gas monopoly.

Exxon Mobil is the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, and produces in nonconventional areas like the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico on the U.S. side. Pemex is just starting exploration in the deep waters of the Mexican side of the Gulf.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polymir, Belarus' only producer of low density polyethylene (LDPE), has shut down a part of its production capacities for maintenance, reported MRC analysts.

Polymir shut down its second LDPE reactor for a scheduled turnaround on 5 October. The outage at the plant will last about three weeks. The production capacity of the plant's second LDPE reactor is 65,000 tonnes per year. Maintenance works at the plant's first reactor were carried out in May 2014.

Polymir was founded in 1968. Technologies of the largest foreign companies from Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy (Courtaulds, Asahi Chemical Co. Ltd, Kanematsu Gosho, SNIA BPD et al.), as well as engineering projects of the CIS scientific research institutes, were used in the process of formation of the plant's production and technical facilities. Polymir's LDPE annual production capacity is 130,000 tonnes. The plants' overall output totalled 82,100 tonnes over the first nine months of 2014.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's largest producer of polyethylene - Kazanorgsintez (Taif group) has resumed production of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in the third stage of the plant, according to MRC analysts.

Kazanorgsintez resumed LDPE production at the third stage of the plant on 6, October, following scheduled maintenance works, begun on 19, September.

According to the company's customers, the shipments of LDPE for shrinkable films (153 PE) would be resumed on 7, October. The delivery of other LDPE grades, in particular 158 PE, will be resumed on 13, October.

Kazanorgsintez, a wholly owned subsidiary of the TAIF group, is one of the largest chemical producers in the Russian Federation and Russia's largest polyethylene (PE) producer. Kazanorgsintez produces more than 38% of all Russian polyethylene and is its largest exporter. The company also occupies a leading position in the production of gas polyethylene pipes, phenol, acetone, antifreeze, chemicals for oil and natural gas dehydration. The plant's overall LDPE production totalled 121,000 tonnes in the first eight months of 2014, down 19% year on year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The estimated consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Russia rose from January to August 2014 by 7% year on year and totalled almost 440,000 tonnes, according to MRC ScanPlast report.

PET production of Russian producers dropped from January to August 2014 by 2% year on year. Russia produced 298,000 tonnes of PET over the first eight months of the year. Higher figures of the estimated consumption were achieved due to imported PET chips. Increased purchasing in foreign markets led to higher imports of Asian material. PET imports rose over the stated period by 27% year on year and totalled 155,000 tonnes.

It is worth noting that PET imports into Russia have been falling since July on the back of weak domestic demand and sufficient quantities in warehouses. August imports decreased by 19% from July, reaching 12,000 tonnes.

The rouble devaluation and large stocks at Russian converters' warehouses will contribute to a sharp fall in imports in the remaining months of 2014.

Exports from Russia fell from January to August 2014 by 16% year on year to 13,600 tonnes.

Buying activity was sluggish in the PET market in September. Producers and converters reported significant leftovers of PET and finished products.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CB&I has been awarded a contract valued in excess of USD200 million by Toyo Engineering for the engineering and supply of ethylene heaters for Petronas' refinery and petrochemicals integrated development (RAPID) project in Pengerang, Johor, Malaysia, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The plant will utilize SRT VII cracking heaters, which are the latest generation of SRT high-selectivity heaters designed for cracking gas and liquid feedstock, to produce 1.1 million tpy of ethylene.

The complete steam cracker technology package was previously awarded to CB&I under a separate contract.

"Our clients appreciate the high selectivity and reliability of our new generation SRT cracking heater technology," said Daniel McCarthy, president of CB&I's technology operating group. "The SRT heaters are used to produce more than 40% of the world's annual ethylene capacity."

RAPID, part of Petronas’ larger Pengerang Integrated Complex project, will include a 300,000-b/d refinery, which is due to start up by early 2019 and will supply naphtha and liquid petroleum gas feedstock for the petrochemical portion of the complex. The complex will have the capacity to produce 7.7-million t/y of various petrochemicals.

As MRC informed earlier, in July 2013, Technip, leader of a joint venture with Fluor, was awarded a program management consultancy contract by Petronas for RAPID project in Johor. The contract includes overall project and site management for the project and provision of project management services for specific engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning packages within Rapid.

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