BASF provides hospitals in the German Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region with free hand sanitizer

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF is set to begin production of hand sanitizers at its Ludwigshafen petrochemicals hub in Germany and will distribute them for free to nearby hospitals in the Rhine-Neckar region to help alleviate supply bottlenecks amid the worsening coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis, said the producer.

The company has obtained quick regulatory approvals to begin the production, and several tonnes of isopropanol have already been re-allocated to enable hand sanitizer production at the site, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

So far, BASF has been producing certain raw materials that can be used to make disinfectant products, but not hand sanitizers.

The company’s move comes amid bottlenecks in the supply of hand sanitizers because of the jump in demand amid the spread of the coronavirus, which keeps worsening in Germany and elsewhere.

“We know from hospitals in the region that supplies of appropriate disinfectants are very tight,” said Uwe Liebelt, head of the Ludwigshafen site.

BASF added that its production capabilities will be “limited”, and the company will therefore be able to distribute free products only to hospitals in the region.

German chemical producers' group VCI has launched a “disinfectant products initiative" that aims at ensuring supplies of isopropanol, ethanol, and other chemicals, as well as the disinfectants made from those raw materials. Because of complex legal regulations, Germany currently has only a few specialty firms that are allowed to produce and market disinfectant products, a VCI official said in a media interview last week.

As MRC wrote earlier, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, has restarted its No. 1 steam cracker following a maintenance turnaorund. Thus, the company resumed operations at the plant on September 30, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance in mid-August, 2019. Located at Ludwigshafen in Germany, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 235,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 125,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of around EUR63 billion in 2018.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total said Tuesday it had a suspected case of coronavirus on a rig at its Culzean gas field in the UK North Sea, but production was unaffected, reported S&P Global.

A morning helicopter flight to change crew members at the gas facility was cancelled when the suspected case became apparent, a spokesman said.

"We are monitoring the situation and working closely with Maersk Drilling," which operates the rig, the spokesman said.

Culzean came on line in the middle of last year and is a major source of gas for the UK, with a maximum output capacity of 16 million cu m/d at present.

gas to the Teesside processing plant in Northeast England.

The issue of helicopter flights to facilities with suspected coronavirus cases is emerging as a significant issue for the North Sea industry in the current health crisis, with helicopter providers reluctant to serve such facilities.

So far, no cases of coronavirus in the UK offshore workforce have been publicly confirmed, although this may be due to a lack of testing capacity.

As MRC wrote before, Total has recently disclosed that it is evaluating construction of a new gas cracker at its Deasan, South Korea, joint venture (JV) with Hanwha Chemical.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

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) -- There has been stronger demand in the Russian polypropylene (PP) market since early March, while supply has been gradually subsiding. Prices have been going up for the second week in a row, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

A prolonged period of oversupply and lower PP prices was registered in the first two months of the year. But already in late February, the need for PP began to grow gradually, and, as a result, some sellers began to raise their prices. In the second week of March, the increased demand was spurred by such factors, as a major weakening of the rouble exchange rate against the dollar, limited stocks of some sellers and rhw upcoming road closures. Prices of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) went up by Rb1,000-2,000/tonne last week.

Homopolymer PP raffia was in high demand last week, and many buyers reported a shortage of both domestic and imported material in the market.

Consumers divided into three groups last week. The first group attempted to build up additional PP inventories amid fears of further price increases on the back of the rouble weakening. The second group of buyers tried to assess the current situation with supply and possible price options for the near future. And only a small part of consumers did not react to the situation.

Some sellers limited their sales of homopolymer PP last week, realizing that the potential for price growth will remain in the coming weeks. Other sellers said they had already sold out their March PP quotas.

The other day, SIBUR Tobolsk, Russia's largest PP producer, should shut down or already took off-stream its production capacities for a long scheduled maintenance. The plant's representatives did not officially comment on the timing of the outage. According to unofficial information, the shutdown will last for 45 days. The plant's annual production capacity is 500,000 tonnes.

Demand was pressured by the factor of restrictions on ruck transportation in certain regions. Market participants said restrictions on freight road transportation will be introduced in Bashkortostan (Ufaorgsintez) on 23 March. Restrictions in Tatarstan will come in force on 1 April.

Some sellers restricted their PP sales last week, spot prices grew by Rb1,000-2,000/tonne for homopolymer PP. Prices of homopolymer PP raffia had risen to Rb84,000-84,500/tonne FCA, including VAT, by the end of last week.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The situation in the Russian high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) market did not change last week, despite a sharp increase in the dollar and euro exchange rate against the rouble and a price collapse in the global feedstocks markets, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Due to the growing volatility of the rouble exchange rate, the downward pressure on next month's prices of Russian polystyrene (PS) was replaced by an increase in uncertainty. Some market participants predicted a major rise in April prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's PS because of a sharp increase in prices of imported analogues, given the new rouble exchange rate. However, the final future price trend in the domestic market may emerge by the end of this week, said most buyers.

Market prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's GPPS for injection moulding and extrusion remained in the range of Rb87,000-91,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT and HIPS prices - at Rb91,000-95,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. Large traders left their selling prices unchanged last week.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Ukraine grew in the first two months of 2020 by 6% year on year, totalling 8,300 tonnes, whereas sales of Ukrainian PVC to foreign markets rose by 102% year on year, according to MRC's DataScope report.

Last month's SPVC imports to the Ukrainian market increased to 4,200 tonnes from 4,100 tonnes in January, with European producers accounting for a slight rise in shipments. Overall SPVC imports reached 8,300 tonnes in January-February 2020, compared to 7,800 tonnes a year earlier. Strong demand for polymer from foreign markets allowed the Ukrainian producer to raise exports significantly.

European producers with the share of about 75% of the total imports were the key suppliers of resin to the Ukrainian market over the stated period. Producers from the USA with the share of about 24% were the second largest suppliers.

The high level of capacity utilisation and good demand from India and Turkey allowed the local producer - Karpatneftekhim - to significantly increase export sales. 26,300 tonnes of suspension were shipped to foreign markets in January, whereas this figure was 16,100 tonnes last month. Overall, about 42,300 tonnes were shipped for export in the first two months of 2020, compared to 21,000 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC