Dow confirms plans to halt PE expansion in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow is not planning to proceed with the polyethylene (PE) expansion project in Europe, reported NCT with reference to the company’s CEO Jim Fitterling, who was quoted as saying in the earnings call transcript.

The CEO pointed to the current state of demand and the market outlook in Europe and said that they didn’t see a reason to push the project forward to any final investment decisions.

Dow first announced plans to construction of a world-scale 450,000 tons/year PE facility in Europe in May 2017. The additional capacity was intended to maximize the value of Dow’s ethylene integration in Europe and serve the growing demand for high-performance pressure pipes, fittings, caps and closures applications.

Meanwhile, the company reported a total quarterly net income of USD347 million versus USD714 million in the year-ago period. The company’s third-quarter net sales were USD10.8 billion, down 15% from the year-ago period, driven by lower local prices primarily due to declines in global energy prices.

The company’s packaging and specialty plastics segment also reported lower net sales for the third quarter. The segment’s net sales were USD5.1 billion, down USD1.1 billion versus the year-ago period, while volume declined and local price declined 4% and 13%, respectively, on a yearly basis.

As MRC informed before, Dow Chemical's propylene dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Freeport, Texas, is offline for a turnaround. The PDH unit went offline for scheduled maintenance September 26, and the work is expected to last 45-60 days. Originally, sources expected the turnaround to begin in early September, but then learned it had been delayed.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,436,390 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China lifted antidumping tariffs on PVC imports from the US, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan on September 28, 2019, reported NCT with reference to a statement published by the country’s Ministry of Commerce.

Chinese authorities decided to maintain the antidumping levies on PVC originating from the four countries on September 28, 2018, as they believed the removal of dumping duties could materially injure Chinese economy.

However, the anti-dumping measures on PVC imports originating in the US, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan were terminated in September 28, 2019 and no anti-dumping duties have been imposed since then, the Ministry of Commerce said.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PVC production exceeded 720,500 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 3% year on year. At the same time, not all Russian producers raised their output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDermott International, Inc. announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Darwin Clean Fuels Pty Ltd. The MOU is for the feasibility study, technology, front-end engineering design (FEED) and engineering procurement and construction (EPC) for a Clean Fuels Condensate Processing Plant in Darwin, in the Northern Territory, Australia, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"The refinery would leverage our proprietary technologies, including alkylation and sulfur recovery, and is evidence of McDermott's technology-led EPC capabilities," said Ian Prescott, Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific. "Our engineering feasibility studies often serve as the essential underpinning of client decisions about moving forward with major investments."

Condensate is a cleaner fuel; it is a light petroleum liquid that condenses from natural gas, requiring less processing to create quality transport fuels. Australia is a major producer of condensate which is forecast to export 260,000 barrels per day by 2020 growing to 305,000 bpd by 2030. Darwin Clean Fuels plans to design, build and operate the condensate plant which has 75 percent lower CO? emissions than crude oil refineries. Australia consumes some 1,000,000 barrels a day of transport fuels and currently imports 600,000 barrels per day to meet its transport fuel needs.

"Darwin Clean Fuels looks forward to the next phase of the project with McDermott to move it toward a final investment decision," said Tony Debenham, Darwin Clean Fuels, Managing Director. "The Clean Fuels Condensate Refinery is a great, long-term investment in Australia, creating jobs and contributing to the economy by reducing the reliance on fuel imports. It also creates an opportunity to maximize both the output and use of this great resource by refining condensate onshore in Australia rather than exporting it overseas for processing it into petrochemicals or refinery blendstock, helping to address the long-term fuel security issues that Australia faces."

As part of the initial contract, McDermott will undertake the feasibility study and FEED through to final investment decision. Upon final investment decision, McDermott will be the lead EPC contractor for the refinery. Early phase engineering work will commence immediately and be completed by quarter one in 2020.

As MRC informed earlier, McDermott International has announced that it has been awarded a contract by Saudi Aramco and Total Raffinage Chimie (Total) for their joint venture (JV) Amiral steam cracker project at Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,436,390 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Thailand’s HMC Polymers is planning to launch its fourth polypropylene (PP) plant in Map Ta Phut site, Rayong Province of Thailand, reported CommoPlast.

The new PP unit would have an annual capacity of 220,000 tons.

HMC Polymers announced plans for this plant's construction on 26 June 2019. The company has already completed the Licence Agreement with LyondellBasell to use the Spherizone technology for the new plant.

Together with the three existing units, the new plant would boost HMC’s total PP output to1.03 million tons per year, making it the largest PP producer in Southeast Asia region.

As MRC informed earlier, in 2010, HMC Polymers increased the production capacity of its PP plant by 300,000 tonnes from 450,000 tonnes in a bid to serve growing demand for polypropylene both domestically and internationally.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

HMC Polymers is one of the leading companies in the manufacturing and marketing of polypropylene (PP) for Asia and worldwide. HMC Polymers is the first PP manufacturer in Thailand with its first PP production facility to have been established in Rayong Province, Thailand in 1987. The company's PP production facilities output is over 750,000 metric tons per year and comprise two Spheripol lines and a latest technology Spherizone line from LyondellBasell. HMC Polymers produces a wide range of Moplen polypropylene grades including homopolymer, heterophasic and random copolymer resins, as well as specialty polypropylene resins such as Adstif, Clyrell and Purell. In addition, a strategic investment in upstream integration was made in parallel with the construction of a Propane Dehydrogenation plant (PDH) at a site adjacent to our Map Ta Phut plant.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell reported a 15% fall in third-quarter net profit, citing lower energy prices and chemicals margins, said the company.

Net income attributable to shareholders on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis, used as a proxy for net profit, and excluding identified items, came in at USD4.767 billion for the third quarter of 2019. That compared with a profit of USD5.624 billion in the same quarter a year ago and USD3.462 billion in the second quarter.

Analysts had expected third-quarter net income attributable to shareholders on a CCS basis, and excluding identified items, to come in at USD6.468 billion, according to data from Refinitiv.

Separately, a company-provided analyst consensus had estimated a profit forecast of USD3.912 billion.

Shares of Shell dipped almost 2% shortly after the opening bell.

Third-quarter net income on a CCS basis attributable to shareholders and excluding identified items came in at USD4.767 billion. That constituted a 15% drop in third-quarter profit when compared to the same period a year earlier. Shell launched the next tranche of its share buyback program on Thursday, with a maximum aggregate consideration of USD2.75 billion in the period up to and including January 27, 2020.

Shares of the Anglo-Dutch oil company are down more than 1% when compared to the same period in 2018, amid lower oil prices and concerns about sluggish global demand.

As MRC informed before, operations were stable on 13 September at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s 340,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) joint-venture refinery in Deer Park, Texas, after the upper Houston Ship Channel was closed by protesters from Greenpeace USA. The Deer Park refinery is a 50-50 joint-venture between Shell and Mexico’s national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Shell is the managing partner of the joint-venture. Shell has three crackers at Deer Park site with a combined ethylene capacity of 1,67 mln per year and petrochemical plants.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,255,800 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 796,120 tonnes in January-July 2019, up by 11% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.

MRC