Celanese again raises September VAM prices in Asia

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.

The price increase is effective for orders shipped on or after 15 September, 2020, or as contracts otherwise allow, and is incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, September VAM prices rose by USD100/mt - for AOC.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese already raised its VAM prices for this region on 2 September, 2020. The price increase was also USD100/mt.

According to MRC's DataScope report, June EVA imports to Russia fell by 22,5% year on year to 2,940 tonnes from 3,800 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation dropped in January-June 2020 by 8,16% year on year to 17,440 tonnes (18,980 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) -- Heide Refinery, one of the most complex refineries in Europe, has licensed Aspen Generic Dynamic Optimization Technology (GDOT) software to achieve production levels more closely aligned to plan, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The solution will be deployed to help improve refinery margins with real-time, closed-loop, dynamic optimization increasing the flexibility of operations. GDOT will maximize against operational constraints across the refinery and help to reduce finished product quality giveaway, improving business results.

Juergen Wollschlaeger, CEO at Heide Refinery said: “AspenTech’s GDOT will improve agility in our response to changes in market conditions, such as those we are experiencing right now. It will optimize our production by continuously adjusting targets in the individual controllers within the Advanced Process Control layer so that they align with the economic objectives from planning and scheduling. Ultimately GDOT will optimize profits by minimizing finished product quality giveaway and maximizing production of the most valuable products.”

Matt Holland, vice president of sales for EURA, Aspen Technology added: “The global energy industry is facing a number of unforeseen challenges today. Operational flexibility for refineries is more crucial than ever in this environment. Our GDOT technology will give Heide Refinery the increased agility and flexibility in its operations that this unpredictable landscape demands.”

As MRC wrote before, German refiner Klesch postponed scheduled turnaround work at its refinery near Hamburg until late summer because of the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The 90,000-b/d refinery, known as Raffinerie Heide, was due to undergo planned maintenance in June, 2020.

We remind that in late 2019, the TOTAL refinery in Leuna awarded Bilfinger two further major contracts worth roughly EUR30 million: the first involves exchanging the reactor systems; the second, performing the turnaround for the plant’s POX methanol facility.

We alos remind that Total is evaluating new gas cracker project in South Korea as part of petchems growth strategy.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) will be USD640/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival October 2020, said the company.

The October 2020 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.

MEG is one of the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption totalled 367,720 tonnes in the first six months of 2020, up by 19% year on year. Russian companies processed 62,910 tonnes in June.

Headquartered in Dubai (UAE), MEGlobal is the world leader in the production of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and diethylene glycol (DG). Established in July 2004, MEGlobal currently sells more than 2.5 million tons of DG per year worldwide. MEGlobal is a 100% subsidiary of Equate Petrochemical Company. In December 2015, Dow Chemical closed a deal to sell its stake in MEGlobal to Equate Petrochemical Company as part of a strategy to optimize its equity stake in Kuwaiti joint ventures.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan's Idemitsu Kosan has taken off-stream its naphtha cracker for a turnaround, according to Apic-onlne.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that, the company halted operations at the cracker on September 7, 2020. The cracker is likely to remain under maintenance by end-October, 2020.

Located at Tokuyama, Japan, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 690,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 110,000 mt/year.

Idemitsu Kosan also operates another cracker in Chiba, Japan, with an ethylene production capacity of 410,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.

Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese petroleum company. It owns and operates oil platforms, refineries and produces and sells petroleum, oils and petrochemical products. The company runs two petrochemical plants in Chiba and Tokuyama. The two naphtha crackers can produce up to 997,000 tonnes of ethylene per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s Sinochem Quanzhou Petrochemical is expected to start up its 1 million tons/year cracker in China around mid of September 2020, reported CommoPlast with reference to a source close to the company.

Hence the company's polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) new plants shall start up around October period.

The new plants include a 450,000 tons/year high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant, a 200,000 tons/year low density polyethylene (LDPE) line and a 350,000 tons/year PP line.

Sinochem Quanzhou Petrochemical began trial runs at its HDPE plant on 25 August, 2020, according to market sources.

As MRC informed before, in January 2020, Sinochem Energy, a unit of China’s Sinochem Group, agreed to sell a 20% stake to five state-owned firms for 11.56 billion yuan (USD1.65 billion).

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.

Sinochem Group engages in energy, agriculture, chemicals, real estate, and finance service businesses in China and internationally. It is involved in the exploration and production, refining and trading, warehousing and logistics, and distribution and retailing of oil and gas. The company also produces and distributes fertilizers, such as nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and other fertilizers.
MRC