Tosoh gains control of Mabuhay Vinyl

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tosoh Corp. has acquired an additional 48.05% interest in Philippine-based Mabuhay Vinyl Corp., raising its ownership in Mabuhay to 87.97%, reported GV with referece to a local media report citing the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Mabuhay produces chlorine, caustic soda, hydrochloric acid and supplies more than 50% of the country's requirement for sodium hypochlorite.

As MRC wrote before, Tosoh (Guangzhou) Chemical Industries, Inc restarted its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in end-March 2015. It was shut in end-February for maintenance turnaround. Located at Guangzhou in China, the plant has a production capacity of 220,000 mt/year.

Tosoh is one of the largest chlor-alkali manufacturers in Asia. The company supplies the plastic resins and an array of the basic chemicals that support modern life. Tosoh's petrochemical operations supply ethylene, polymers, and polyethylene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesia's PT Pertamina announced that its new residual fluid catalytic cracking unit at the Cilicap refinery in Java, Indonesia, has entered the commissioning stage, as per GV.

Production of the RFCC will include about 140,000 t/y of propylene, 389,000 t/y of liquefied petroleum gas and 37,500 b/d of gasoline with octane levels above RON 93 and standard euro 3 specification.

"The company is expecting that all units of equipment can be in operation this September so that we will see the first drop of production next month," said Pertamina Refining Director Rachmad Hardadi.

As MRC informed earlier, Pertamina signed an agreement to purchase petrochemical products from PTT Global Chemical. The agreement serves as a pre-marketing strategy for Pertamina and PTT’s joint Indonesian petrochemical business. Under the agreement, PTT will deliver at least 5,000 tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene products each month to Pertamina for sale in Indonesia.

Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin (established 1961) and Permina (established 1957). Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Badlands NGL has entered into an agreement with Continental Resources (CLR), one of the largest and most important oil and gas producers in the Williston Basin, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The agreement dedicates a long-term ethane supply to Badlands' North Dakota based project: a world-scale, NGL-sourced ethane gas to polyethylene (PE) manufacturing facility.

"We are very honored and pleased to announce that we have entered into this agreement with CLR," said William Jeffrey Gilliam, CEO of Badlands. "This is a major milestone for Badlands in that CLR is one of the largest leaseholders and producers in the Williston Basin.

"Further, CLR has a long history of being a 'first mover,' as well as a long history of maximizing its resources to further enhance shareholder value," he added. "We believe that by creating an indigenous demand for ethane in North Dakota, large ethane producers like CLR will realize increased 'net back' for their ethane. It's a great vote of confidence for our project that a highly respected company like CLR will be a supplier."

The Badlands North Dakota PE facility was originally announced by North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple and the North Dakota Industrial Commission in October 2014.

"During the past several weeks, Badlands has signed licensing agreements with key technology partners, and finalized other agreements,' its CEO said. "As a result of ongoing discussions with both North Dakota and Western Canadian NGL-sourced ethane feedstock suppliers, Badlands will increase the size of its planned North Dakota facility from 1.53 million tpy of PE to 2 million tpy (4.4 billion lb/year).

"Badlands is looking forward to continuing NGL-sourced ethane feedstock discussions with both Canadian and North Dakota suppliers."

Badlands intends to market the majority of the polyethylene products domestically, but will also reach markets in Asia, South America and Europe. Project developers said that the plant’s location in North Dakota will enable them to efficiently ship to world markets from the Pacific Northwest and from Atlantic ports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total SA has scaled back the expansion strategy it pursued during the past decade of high oil prices, announcing a fresh round of investment cutbacks and project delays while reducing production targets, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The measures, laid out by the French energy company on Wednesday before an investor day in London, signal that the belt-tightening among global oil producers to protect dividends will extend into 2017 and hurt future growth.

"We are preparing the group to face low oil prices for a long time," Total chief financial officer Patrick de la Chevardiere told reporters. "We don’t want to be the first group to cut the dividend."

The oil company, Europe’s largest after Royal Dutch Shell, expects to produce 2.6 million bpd of oil equivalent in 2017 compared with a previous forecast of 2.8 million bpd. Growth will slow to 1% to 2% a year starting in 2019 from the current 6% to 7%.

The company said the measures will allow it to fund shareholder payouts in 2017 from the cash it generates pumping, refining and selling oil, without the need to take on debt, even with crude at USD60/bbl.

To protect the dividend, Total will reduce investment in 2016 to between USD20 billion and USD21 billion from as much as USD24 billion this year and a peak of USD28 billion in 2013. The company plans to spend USD17 billion to USD19 billion in 2017, down from a previous target of USD20 billion.

Major oil companies including ExxonMobil and Shell have told investors they'll do whatever it takes to maintain dividends without compromising future growth. Total’s announcement signals that growth plans can't in fact be shielded from spending cuts.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, in December 2014, Total permanently shut its high density polyethylene (HDPE) line in Belgium. The plant was shut permanently owing to weak margins which have arisen on account of cheap imports in the region. Located at Antwerp in Belgium, the line has a production capacity of 70,000 mt/year.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Consumption of polycarbonate (PC) in the Russian market was about 58,800 tonnes in the first eight months of the year, down 9% year on year, according MRC ScanPlast.

Although this year production volumes remained at the last year's at 42,400 tonnes, PC imports decreased by 35% on the back of the rouble devaluation. At the same time, PC exports was suspended in order to ensure the domestic market.

Demand for extrusion PC granules decreased by 13% over the reported period to 48,000 tonnes. Market players said the market reduced performance in natural terms, but in prices on the contrary increased.

Demand for PC sheets seasonally improved in the late August, but the hype in the market is not expected. Prices for PC sheets increased almost twofold over the reported period, whereas the inflation rate on the goods-substitutes in the construction market was only 15-20% (e.g., metal, tiles, sandwich panels). The cost of the sheets was adjusted in proportion to PC granules prices.

The most painful impact was on the retail consumption sector, which occupies almost half of the total PC sheets market. Converters said this factor significantly slowed down the development of the market. PC became one of the most expensive materials this year.

Demand for injection moulding PC grades remained stable. However, calculated demand for injection moulding PC rose by 28% to 9,500 tonnes in the first eight months of the year because of the suspension of exports from the country.

Consumption of bottle grade PC granules was equal to the volume of imports. In the last eight months, it was only 1,200 tonnes, accounting for 65% of total consumption in the past year.

In September, market players did not expect a sharp surge in demand for both the polymer, and the finished PC products. In addition, producers' PC prices made converters reduce the consumed volumes, or consider a more affordable substitutes of polycarbonate polymer.


MRC