Unplanned outage reported at No. 1 cracker of Formosa

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC) has undertaken an emergency shutdown at its No. 1 cracker in Mailiao, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the company has halted operations at the cracker on March 19, 2018 owing to technical issues. The plant is expected to remain off-line for around one day.

Located at Mailiao in Taiwan, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 700,000 mt/year, propylene production capacity of 350,000 mt/year and butadiene production capacity of 109,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, Formosa has three naphtha-fed steam crackers and each goes through maintenance once every three years.

The No. 1 cracker is able to produce 700,000 mt/year of ethylene, 350,000 mt/year of propylene and 109,000 mt/year of butadiene.

The No. 2 unit is able to produce 1.03 million mt/year of ethylene, 515,000 mt/year of propylene and 162,000 mt/year of butadiene.

The No. 3 steam cracker has the capacity to produce 1.2 million mt/year of ethylene, 600,000 mt/year of propylene and 180,000 mt/year of butadiene.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's overall production of polypropylene (PP) grew in January-February 2018 by 4% year on year, totalling 245,100 tonne. All Russian producers increased their output, with Nizhnekamskneftekhim being the exception, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

Some producers cut capacity utilisation in February; PP production in the country decreased to 113,900 tonnes, compared with 131,300 tonnes in January. In general, in January-February PP production in the Russian Federation exceeded the level of 245,100 tonnes against 234,700 tonnes a year earlier, the greatest increase in production showed SIBUR Tobolsk and Tomskneftekhim, while Neftekhimiya, Stavrolen and Nizhnekamskneftekhim lowered production indicators.

The structure of PP production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

The largest producer of PP in Russia - SIBUR Tobolsk in February produced about 39,100 tonnes against 47,700 tonnes a month earlier. SIBUR Tobolsk's PP production exceeded 86,700 tonnes in January-February 2018, up 7% year on year.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim decreased capacity utilisation in February, total polypropylene production had decreased to 15,800 tonnes against 18,300 tonnes in January. The producer's PP production in January-February decreased by 4% from last year's level to 35,800 tonnes.

Poliom (Titan Group) last month, produced 17,200 tonnes of PP, compared with 18,500 tonnes in January. Total PP production at the plant over the reported period was about 35,700 tonnes, up 1% year on year.

Tomskneftekhim decreased production volumes in February, and the final production of propylene polymers was 11,100 tonnes against 12,700 tonnes in January. Total PP production at Tomskneftekhim over the reported period reached 23,900 tonnes, compared with 23,100 tonnes year on year.

February PP production at Ufaorgsintez decreased to 10,300 tonnes from 11,600 tonnes a month earlier. The producer's PP output decreased to 21,800 tonnes in January-February 2018 compared with 21,500 tonnes year on year.

Neftekhimiya (Kapotnya) also slightly decreased capacity utilisation in February, total polypropylene production had decreased to 10,700 tonnes against 12,300 tonnes in January. The producer's PP output in January-February reached 23,200 tonnes, down 27% year on year. A low indicator of last year was a result of a long scheduled maintenance works in March-April.

Stavrolen (subsidiary of Lukoil) produced 9,500 tonnes of PP in February against 10,200 tonnes in January. Overall PP production at the plant exceeded 19,700 tonnes in January-February, down 1% year on year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Production volumes of high density polyethylene (HDPE) in the Russian market reached about 154,600 tonnes in the first two months of the year, which practically the same as last year's level, according MRC ScanPlast.

February production of HDPE in Russia decreased to 73,500 tonnes, whereas a month earlier this figure was 81,100 tonnes. Last month, all Russian producers decreased their volumes of HDPE production. Overall HDPE output was 154,600 tonnes in the first two months of 2018, compared to 154,800 tonnes a year earlier.

Structure of PE production over the reported period looked as follows.
Russia's February HDPE production at Kazanorgsintez decreased to 41,200 tonnes from 44,800 tonnes a month earlier. The Kazan plant's overall HDPE production was 86,000 tonnes in January-February 2018, up by 6% year on year.

Stavrolen also reduced output of HDPE last month, the final figure was 23,300 tonnes against 26,000 tonnes in January. The plant's HDPE output reached 49,300 tonnes in January-February 2018, up 2% year on year.
Gazprom neftekhim Salavat cut capacity utilisation and February HDPE production at the plant reached about 9,000 tonnes, compared with 10,300 tonnes in January. Total HDPE production at the plant reached 19,400 tonnes in January-February 2018, up 28% year on year.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim switched to linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) production in the early November, and will continue to produce it until May. Nizhnekamskneftekhim produced only 65,600 tonnes of HDPE in 2017.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India’s HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) has recently received clearance from India’s ministry of environments for the polymer addition project at its Guru Gobind Singh refinery and Petrochemical complex, a government source said, as per JayJayPoly.

The proposed units at the petrochemical complex include a 1.2m tonnes/year naphtha cracker, two linear low density polyethylene/high density polyethylene (LLDPE/HDPE) swing plants of 400,000 tonnes/year capacity each. The complex, in Bhatinda region of Punjab province, will also house a 450,000 tonnes/year HDPE unit, a 500,000 tonnes/year polypropylene (PP) plant and a 55,000 tonnes/year butane-1 line.

The project will cost Indian rupees (Rs) 196.4 bn (USD3bn) and is expected to be completed by April 2021, the source added. The HMEL petrochemical complex currently operates a 500,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) line. The company, which is currently increasing its refining capacity from 9m tonnes/year to 11.5m tonnes/year, plans to eventually expand it to 18m tonnes/year, the source added.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is an Indian state-owned oil and natural gas company with its headquarters at Mumbai, Maharashtra and with Navratna status. HPCL has about 25% marketing share in India among PSUs and a strong marketing infrastructure. The Government of India owns 51.11% shares in HPCL and others are distributed amongst financial institutes, public and other investors.
mrcplast.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petkim, part of SOCAR, is in plans to restart its naphtha cracker following an unplanned shutdown, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Turkey informed that the cracker is likely to resume production by this weekend. The cracker was shut owing to a technical glitch on March 9, 2018.

Located at Aliaga in Turkey, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 585,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 240,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported previously, in May 2016, Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR sold 2.75 percent of its stake in Turkey's petrochemical giant Petkim to a foreign investment fund. Turkey’s Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) reports that this stake was sold for 147 million liras (USD51 million).
MRC