Ompet inks deal for land in Sohar as site for new PTA, PET project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oman International Petrochemical Industry Co. (Ompet) has signed an agreement with Sohar Port and Freezone in which Ompet will lease land at the Sohar Industrial Port in Oman for the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), as per GV.

Ompet, a joint venture of Oman Oil Co. (50 %), LG Corp. (30 %) and Takamul Investment Co. (20 %), will have the capacity to produce 1.1-million t/y of PTA to be used as feedstock for the production of 250,000 t/y of PET. Earlier reports said the project would produce 500,000 t/y of PET and be built in two phases.

The Ompet plant will be built adjacent to Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Co. (Orpic) and will utilize all of the paraxylene produced by Orpic. Operations are expected to begin in 2016.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, in December 2013, Oman Oil Company (OOC), a commercial company wholly owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman, successfully concluded the acquisition of Oxea which was announced in October. The purchase price was not disclosed. Oxea is one of the largest global manufacturers of Oxo chemicals. With the acquisition, OOC aims to become a vertically integrated global chemical leader in the downstream industry
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC), a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Group, has restarted its No. 1 styrene monomer (SM) plant, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the No.1 plant restarted in early January 2015. It was shut in mid-December 2014 on account of weak market conditions.

Located at Mailiao in Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 250,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, on 9 September 2014, Formosa Plastics Corp shut down its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in China for a one-month maintenance turnaround. Located at Ningbo in Zhejiang province of China, the plant has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation (FCFC) is a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Group, the largest private owned enterprise in Taiwan, with annual revenue of USD13.5 billion.

Formosa Plastics Corporation is a Taiwanese company based in Taiwan that primarily produces polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins and other intermediate plastic products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of polypropylene (PP) in Kazakhstan increased to 18,100 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2014, up 29% year on year. Due to the growth in production volumes export sales of the Kazakh PP increased by 29% to 19,700 tonnes over the reported period, according to MRC analysts.

November PP exports from Kazakhstan seasonally decreased to 2,000 tonnes, compared with 2,700 tonnes in October. Imports of PP in the country increased to 18,100 tonnes in January - November 2014, compared with 14,000 tonnes in the same time a year earlier. November exports of homopolymer PP in Kazakhstan were 1,600 tonnes, compared with 2,300 tonnes in October on the back of the lower demand from the producers of PP bags.

Imports of homopolymer PP in the country grew to 13,800 tonnes in the first eleven months of this year, compared with 9,200 tonnes year on year. November imports of propylene copolymers in the country decreased to 405 tonnes, compared with 420 tonnes in October. Imports of propylene copolymers in January-November 2014 decreased to 4,300 tonnes, compared with 4,900 tonnes year on year.

This year, a local producer of polypropylene - Neftekhim Ltd increased its production by reducing the time of scheduled shutdown. The producer launched in December a polypropylene granulation unit, whereas up to that time PP was produced in the form of powder. In November, due to the preparation for the launch of PP granulation unit exports of PP from Kazakhstan decreased to 715 tonnes compared to 2,100 tonnes in October. Exports of homopolymer PP from the country totalled 19,700 tonnes in January - November, up 27% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s National Petrochemical Industrial Company (Natpet) is in plans to shut a polypropylene (PP) plant for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Saudi Arabia informed that the plant is likely to be shut on January 25, 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located at Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, the plant has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, Natpet restarted its PP plant in Yanbu with the capacity of 400,000 mt/year on 11 January, 2014. It was shut on January 4, 2014 owing to unplanned issues.

We also remind that this plant is producing a wide range of PP product mix of (homopolymers, random & heterophasic copolymers) that is suitable for a wide variety of applications. Natpet has acquired state of the art Spheripol process to produce polypropylene from LyondellBasell, which is the world leader in polypropylene technology.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global chemicals company Huntsman issued a statement today in response to inquiries regarding the business impact of lower priced oil, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

From CEO Peter R. Huntsman: "In an environment where oil prices are sustainably low, Huntsman will emphatically be a beneficiary over the long term," he said. "Many of our raw materials are derived from the oil refining process.

"We expect our margins to improve as the cost of our raw materials decrease," Huntsman continued. "We also expect a meaningful working capital release which will help strengthen our balance sheet. Lower priced oil should provide more discretionary spending for consumers; approximately one third of our business is consumer oriented.

"We have a number of growth projects underway; I expect our business to improve throughout 2015."

Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals with 2013 revenues of approximately USD13 billion, including the acquisition of Rockwood's performance additives and TiO2 businesses.

MRC