PVC imports to Ukraine increased by 2% in H1 2020, exports down by 28%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire broke out at a facility belonging to the Shahid Tondgooyan Petrochemical Company in southwest Iran but was quickly contained, reported Reuters with reference to the official IRNA news agency, citing a local official.

The fire was caused by an oil leak but did not lead to any casualties or financial damage, Mohsen Beyranvand, the governor of Mahshahr county said, according to IRNA.

Beyranvand described the fire as minor and said it was put out in less than ten minutes.

There have been several explosions around Iranian military, nuclear and industrial facilities since late June.

A gas explosion shook a residential building in Iran’s capital Tehran on Saturday, injuring one person, the semi-official ISNA news agency quoted the city fire department as saying.

A chlorine gas leak occurred at a unit of the Karoon petrochemicals plant near the port of Bandar Imam Khomeini on the Gulf on July 4, injuring dozens, the semi-official ILNA news agency reported.

As MRC informed before, Iran's petrochemical products will reach 100 million tons by the end of 2021, according to a message from the managing director of the investment department of the National Petrochemical Company of Iran Hossein Alimorad. The volume of Iran’s petrochemical industry in 2013, Alimorad noted, was only about 56 million tons, and in 2017 - 64 million tons. The total cost of production in the petrochemical industry in 2013 amounted to USD16 billion, and in 2017 this figure reached USD17 billion. According to Alimorad, by 2021, the volume of production in Iran in the petrochemical industry will reach USD25 billion.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF Total's cracker in Port Arthur, Texas, is undergoing maintenance and expected to restart on 23 July, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's statement in a filing with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

An unexpected outage occurred at BASF Total Petrochemical’s joint-venture (JV) olefins unit at Port Arthur, Texas, on Thursday afternoon, 11 June, 2020.

The cause of the outage is being investigated, with a compressor shutdown cited as a possible factor, according to TCEQ filing.

The JV’s steam cracker at Port Arthur has a production capacity of more than 1 million metric tons/year of ethylene and 544,000 metric tons/year of propylene, according to IHS Markit data.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, once again increased this month's list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in Asia outside China (AOC), as per the company's press release.

This time, the price increase is effective for orders shipped on or after 8 July, 2020, or as contracts otherwise allow, and is incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, July VAM prices rose by USD50/mt - for AOC.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese last raised its VAM prices for this region on 1 July, 2020. The price increase was USD100/mt.

According to MRC's DataScope report, April EVA imports to Russia dropped by 5,85% year on year to 3,050 tonnes from 3,250 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation increased in January-April 2020 by 1,55% year on year to 12,540 tonnes (12,350 tonnes a year earlier).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2019 net sales of USD6.3 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Cefic has called on EU member states to agree urgently on a recovery plan to restart Europe’s economy and kick off investments toward a green and digital transition, said Chemweek.

The EU chemical industry is seeking investments in building renovation, clean mobility, the development of all forms of clean hydrogen, chemical recycling, and carbon capture and storage as well as carbon capture and utilization, Cefic says.

The main aim of Cefic's call for action, ahead of a European Council meeting on 17 July, is to provide a much-needed solution to the economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19, according to the strategic goals set out by the EU Green Deal, Cefic says. It is in line with the Council’s previous comments and announcements on the need for an EU recovery plan, in which the chemical industry should play a key role.

"Our priority is to go through the green transition while strengthening our production capacity in Europe. This will only be possible if the EU keeps its industries competitive throughout the transition. This is why the EU recovery plan must be accompanied by a strong industrial strategy based on the European Green Deal vision. This will ensure that the recovery funding supports a resilient industrial transformation. It also means the upcoming chemical strategy for sustainability needs to be assessed in full on its impact on the EU chemical industry," says Marco Mensink, director general at Cefic.

The Council has welcomed the new EU4Health program that supports the relaunch of the EU's production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and strengthens procurement of vital medicines, medical devices, and personal protective equipment, Cefic says.

EU4Health is a dedicated funding program for 2021-27 to build resilient health systems in the EU to equip it better for the future, the EU Commission says. The EU will invest EUR9.4 billion in tackling cross-border health threats, making medicines affordable, and strengthening health systems in the EU, the Commission says. It forms part of the EU’s ambition to create a European Health Union.

As it was written earlier, in 2017, SIBUR joined the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC). SIBUR has also become a member of the European Committee of Ethylene Producers and Technology Suppliers (EEPC, part of CEFIC). Membership in the Council allowed SIBUR to take part in the work of 93 sectoral groups on more than 120 petrochemical products, in 90 strategic groups working on issues of sustainable development, innovation, trade, energy and law in the field of petrochemicals.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of chemical products rose by 4.4% year on year in May 2020 . Thus, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 5.4% in the first five months of 2020. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the output in January-May. Production of benzene was 110,000 tonnes in May 2020, which equalled the figure a month earlier. Overall output of this product reached 615,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 1.7% year on year.
MRC