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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hanwha Chemical is likely to undertake planned shutdown at its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in Ulsan, as per Apic-online.
A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the company has planned to shut the plant in October 2017 for a period of around 15-20 days. The exact date of the shutdown could not be ascertained.
Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the PVC plant has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.
As MRC reported before, in 2015, Hanwha Chemical merged two of its chemical compounds businesses, Hanwha Next and Hanwha Compound. The combined entity, named Hanwha Compound, produces polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene. The company operates manufacturing plants in Yeosu and Suncheon, with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons.
Hanwha Group is one of the largest business conglomerate in South Korea. Founded in 1952 as Korea Explosives Inc., the group has grown into a large multi-profile business conglomerate, with diversified holdings stretching from explosives, their original business, to retail to financial services.
MRC
Hanwha Chemical to shut PVC plant in Ulsan for maintenance
Reliance opens research centre for polymer applications at Vadodara
MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has opened a technologically advanced product application & research centre (PARC) for polymers at Vadodara, Gujarat. The PARC will focus on creating value addition opportunities, not only for RIL’s polymer business, but also for its customers by offering technical, product upgradations and application development services, said Business-standard.
The PARC, initially set up in Mumbai in 1990 with the sole objective of providing product support solutions to customers, has now been transformed into a crucial R&D facility for polymers, such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Ajay Shah, president - polymer chain, Reliance Industries, said, "The PARC at Vadodara possesses a spacious shop floor and state-of-the-art labs that are equipped with the world’s finest processing and testing equipment. It has been tailored to cater to the ever-growing needs and expectations of our customers. A dynamic set of young engineers and technologists at the labs will play a crucial role as the vital link between end users, converters and manufacturing plants. I believe that a facility of this magnitude will go a long way to ensure that Reliance is at the quality frontier of our industry, globally."
The PARC houses the best brains of polymer technology, engineering and sector specialties. The team works tirelessly, creating opportunities and providing solutions to the ever-growing market needs and customer demands. The team is equipped at providing best-quality technical services, benchmarking, development of new grades in polymers, and inventions of applications.
Perry Vyas, Managing Director, Skaps India, said: “We are eager to use RIL’s world-class PARC facility as it is manned by the best talent in India. The unique combination of ultra-modern machineries, experienced technologists and engineers will help us boost the quality of our product offerings, and save costs as well. The facility will serve as an incubator for us to innovate and manufacture top quality products for international markets."
The processing machinery section at PARC is equipped with advanced machineries that can use PE for making mono & multilayer blown films, PP TQ film, PE & PP cast films & sheets. The huge shop floor also equipped to make articles through the processes of blow molding, injection molding, roto molding, compression molding and pipe extrusion.
The PARC team also engages with end-user industries, such as FMCG, automobile, food and beverages, agriculture, OEMs converters and other polymer processors.
The applications laboratory at the PARC is capable of performing tests for characterisation of polymers in accordance with the Indian and international standards. It is equipped with facilities for physical, mechanical, thermal, optical, environmental and rheological tests.
The PARC offers processing and testing services – such as value-added services like evaluation of their existing products, formulation of new products and creation of new applications - to customers and help them meet the global standards.
Apart from the PARC, RIL houses its product development centre at Vadodara, which specialises in plasticulture application development and creates awareness by providing on-ground training to farmers about plasticulture product usages and their benefits. Also, there is the elastomer customer support centre for research, testing and product development activities for elastomer.
MRC
PE imports to Russia up by 7% in the first seven months of 2017
Last month's PE shipments to the Russian market dropped to 45,000 tonnes from 49,800 tonnes in June, with HDPE from Uzbekistan accounting for the main decrease in supplies.Overall PE imports reached 320,000 tonnes in January-July 2017, compared to 300,100 tonnes a year earlier. The HDPE and EVA segments accounted for the increase in imports, whereas other PE grades accounted for the decrease in import shipments.
The structure of PE imports looked the following way over the stated period.
Last month's HDPE imports fell to 15,000 tonnes from 21,000 tons in June, local companies reduced their purchasing of film grade and blow moulding HDPE in Uzbekistan. Overall HDPE imports reached 118,100 tonnes in the first seven months of 2017 versus 79,200 tonnes a year earlier.
July imports of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) were 14,400 tonnes, compared to 13,000 tonnes a month earlier, shipments of film grade PE increased, whereas demand for PE for rotational moulding of large items decreased. LLDPE imports totalled 101,600 tonnes in the first seven months of the year, compared to 124,000 tonnes a year earlier. An increase in the domestic output, particularly, by Nizhnekamskneftekhim, helped to reduce imports.
Last month's imports of low density polyethylene (LDPE) grew to 7,800 tonnes from 7,400 tonnes in June, shipments of PE for paper lamination from Europe increased. Overall LDPE imports decreased to 37,600 tonnes in January-July 2017 from 44,400 tonnes a year earlier.
July EVA imports were about 3,000 tonnes, compared to 3,800 tonnes a month earlier, demand subsided from footwear and cable and wire producers. Imports of this ethylene copolymer grade grew by 30% over the stated period to 22,200 tonnes.
Imports of other ethylene polymers totalled 25,200 tonnes, compared to 21,100 tonnes a year earlier.
MRC
July Iranian crude oil imports into South Korea jump 27%
MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea's crude oil imports from Iran rose 26.5% in July from a year ago, driven by Seoul's strong appetite for competitively priced Iranian light oil as Tehran looks to boost market share, reported Reuters.
Korea, one of Iran's major Asian customers, shipped in 1.40 MMt of crude from Tehran in July, or 330,151 bpd, up from 1.10 MMt last year, customs data showed on Tuesday.
The worlds' fifth-biggest crude importer brought in 10.67 MMt of Iranian crude in the first seven months of this year, or 368,952 bpd, up 47.7% from 7.22 MMt over the same period last year, the data showed.
South Korea mainly imports Iranian condensate, an ultra-light oil used to produce more expensive fuels like naphtha. No breakdown of imports was available.
Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is exempt from the oil cartel's deal to limit production to drain a global supply glut. The country is seeking to regain market share lost during the years it was under western sanctions over its nuclear program.
In July, the Middle Eastern country exported 2.2 MMbpd of oil to Asian and European markets, with its exports to Asia up by 100,000 bpd.
South Korea's intake of crude oil from top exporter Saudi Arabia fell 9.3% to 3.69 MMt, or 873,656 bpd, a year ago.
OPEC's July oil production rose further by 173,000 bpd to 32.87 MMbpd, in the latest sign the oil producer club's joint efforts to cap output are weak.
Overall, South Korea's total July crude imports increased 3.2% to 12.44 MMt, or 2.94 MMbpd, from a year ago, the data showed.
In the January-July of 2017, South Korea imported 84.68 MMt of crude, or 2.93 MMbpd, up 2.0% from 83.04 MMt in the same period last year.
South Korea's final data for July crude oil imports by state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) is due later this month.
We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group plans to list its Malaysian petrochemical unit in the third quarter, company filings show, in an initial public offering that sources say could raise as much as USD1.5 billion. The listing could be one of the biggest IPOs in years in Malaysia, which has not seen any listing of USD1 billion and above since the USD1.5 billion IPO of Astro Malaysia Holdings in 2012.
MRC
PVC imports to Russia fell by 37% in January-July 2017
July SPVC imports into the country decreased to 7,300 tonnes, compared with 8,600 tonnes in June. Local companies reduced their acetylene resin purchasing in China on the back of lower prices of Russian PVC. Thus, January-July SPVC imports into the country totalled about 39,400 tonnes compared with 62,300 tonnes year on year; the peak of imports in 2017 was seen in May with 11,800 tonnes imported.
A significant increase in domestic production made it possible to notably reduce the dependence on imports of PVC, even in the period of high seasonal demand. Chinese producers traditionally have been the key foreign PVC suppliers for the past several years.
July imports of Chinese acetylene PVC decreased to 7,000 tonnes, compared with 8,300 tonnes in June. Total imports of Chinese PVC were 37,100 tonnes in the first seven months of the year, compared with 49,700 tonnes year on year. A further reduction of imports of acetylene PVC from China is expected to be in August - September on a serious increase in export prices from local producers.
Small volumes of the suspension were supplied by European producers, the total imports of European PVC for the period under review decreased to 1,900 tonnes against 3,800 tonnes a year earlier.
Deliveries of the SPVC from the USA since the beginning of the year amounted to about 154 tonnes, while a year earlier this figure was 7,300 tonnes.
mrcplast.com