PetroChina Dushanzi declared emergency shutdown at PP, PE plants

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical, an affiliate of the Chinese petrochemical giant PetroChina, has unexpectedly shut part of its polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) plants on 15 December due to a fire at the upstream unit that leads to a compressor failure at the polyolefin plant, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The affected production lines include two old PP plants with a combined capacity of 140,000 tons/year, a 100,000 tons/year old PE unit, and a 100,000 tons/year standalone high density polyethylene (HDPE) line.

There are no confirmations on the restart date at the time of this report. Sources said that depending on the repairment at the upstream plant, the company might take between a week to two months to come back online.

Players are not expecting a major impact on the market given the size of the plant and the current sluggish demand condition in China.

As MRC wrote before, state-owned PetroChina plans to spend about Yuan 10 billion (USD1.49 billion) annually in the next five years for low carbon emission transitions as part of the company"s effort to meet Beijing"s call for carbon neutrality by 2060.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only HDPE and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Navin Fluorine announced that its board has approved capital expenditure for setting up of a multi-purpose plant (MPP) with an outlay of Rs 195 crore (USD26.6 million), according to Kemicalinfo.

The capex will be undertaken by its wholly owned subsidiary, Navin Fluorine Advanced Science (NFASL) at Dahej, Gujarat and will be funded through a mix of internal accruals and debt.

The company said its new capacity is expected to come on stream during H1 of FY23 and will create opportunities for new products in life science and crop science sectors in the specialty chemicals business.

Commenting on the development, Radhesh Welling, MD of Navin Fluorine International said, “This investment will lay foundation for the next phase of growth of our Specialty Chemical business. It will help us enhance our product offerings and strengthen our customer relationships along with providing building blocks for future growth.”

Navin Fluorine International is one of the largest manufacturers of fluorochemicals in India. The company has four strategic business units: Refrigeration Gases, Inorganic Fluorides, Speciality Fluorides & Contract Research and Manufacturing Services (CRAMS).

As MRC reported earlier, Asahi Songwon Colors on Monday announced the commencement of commercial operations at the Dahej plant of Asahi Tennants Color, its joint venture with Tennants Textile Colours Limited (TTC) of UK. Gokul Jaykrishna, CEO of Asahi Songwon Colors said, “The commencement of operations of the JV company gives Asahi the perfect launching pad to widen its presence as a leading global supplier of pigments, and make a mark in the AZO pigment space."

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in October 2020 by 7.2% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals grew in the first ten months of 2020 by 6.3% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-October output. October production of polymers in primary form grew to 857,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in September. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 8,340,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Benjamin Moore says it has acquired Shaw Paints Ltd (Slough, United Kingdom), a paints and coatings distributor operating in the UK, according to Chemweek.

Terms of the transaction, including purchase price, were not disclosed. Since 2015, Shaw Paints has acted as Benjamin Moore’s exclusive paints distributor in the UK, and the firm will be rebranded as Benjamin Moore UK.

Craig and Helen Shaw, co-founders of Shaw Paints, will remain with the company and help run the UK business. Benjamin Moore UK will retain showrooms in Slough, Chelsea and Wilmslow.

The deal “will enable Benjamin Moore to increase scale throughout the region and offer our best-in-class products to more UK customers,” says Benjamin Moore CEO Dan Calkins.

Benjamin Moore is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, the investment holding company founded by billionaire Warren Buffet.

As MRC reported earlier, chemical companies across the UK are “battling through the pandemic and the threat of a Brexit no deal,” in November said the Chemical Industries Association (CIA; London). According to the CIA’s latest quarterly survey of its members, chemical businesses saw a modest expansion in the third quarter with the survey’s sales diffusion index reaching 55.4 and export growth to non-EU countries registering 56.5. Any figure above 50 represents growth. The overall performance index was 51.5, beating forecasts, CIA says. Despite new COVID-19 restrictions in the UK, the increases in sales and exports are predicted to continue into the fourth quarter, CIA says. For 2021, 57% of UK chemical businesses expect to see sales climb further, with more global export growth anticipated.

We remind that SABIC Europe declared a force majeure on its low density polyethylene (LDPE) supplies from Wilton, the UK on November 3, 2020. The company had shut its LDPE plant for a maintenance work in the first half of October. The Wilton unit is able to produce 400,000 tons/year of LDPE.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, October estimated LDPE consumption in Russia grew to 50,030 tonnes from 23,930 tonnes a month earlier. Russian producers increased domestic LDPE shipments after the September shutdowns for maintenance. Russia's estimated LDPE consumption was about 456,490 tonnes in January-October 2020, down by 1% year on year. Lower production was offset by higher imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- During the week ended 12 December, chemical railcar traffic in North America was up 7.4% from 2019 and down 0.8% from 2018 on a four-week moving-average (4wma) basis, extending the recovery that began in late October (chart), according to data released on 16 December by the Association of American Railroads (AAR), as per Chemweek.

For the year to date, chemical railcar traffic in North America was down 2.8% from 2019 and down 5% from 2018. Weekly volume totaled 46,463 carloads, down 6.2% from the previous week and up 7.0% year-over-year (YOY).

Chemical railcar traffic in the United States contributed 32,591 carloads to the total, up 5.4% YOY and down 10.2% from the previous week. For the year to date, US chemical railcar traffic was down 3.6%.

Canadian chemical rail traffic totaled 12,967 carloads, up 10.6% YOY and up 5.9% from the previous week. For the year to date, Canadian chemical railcar traffic was down 0.8%.

Chemical railcar traffic in Mexico totaled 905 carloads, a YOY increase of 13.0% and a sequential decrease of 9.0%. For the year to date, Mexican chemical railcar traffic was down 2.0%.

As per MRC, North American chemical rail traffic continues to recover from the effects of COVID-19. During the week ended 5 December, volume totaled 49,537 carloads, up 8.6% year-over-year (YOY).

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in October 2020 by 7.2% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals grew in the first ten months of 2020 by 6.3% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-October output. October production of polymers in primary form grew to 857,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in September. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 8,340,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Venezuela's Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami said on Friday that authorities had disrupted a plan to attack Venezuela's 146,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) El Palito refinery, and had arrested two suspects in the plot, reported Reuters.

El Aissami alleged, without providing evidence, that the planned attack had the support of the Colombian and US governments. Bogota, Washington and dozens of other countries do not recognize Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as the country's rightful leader, arguing he rigged his 2018 re-election.

"This terrorist plan was prepared in Colombia," El Aissami said. "It is also important to denounce that the US Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency had knowledge of the plan and advised the terrorists involved."

El Aissami said the alleged attackers also planned to blow up a pipeline supplying gasoline from the refinery to the Yagua fuel sorting station. El Palito halted gasoline output earlier this month.

The announcement comes as the once-prosperous OPEC nation suffers chronic gasoline shortages due to years of underinvestment and lack of maintenance at its 1.3 MMbpd refining network, as well as US sanctions disrupting fuel imports.

In October, President Nicolas Maduro said the country's 645,000-bpd Amuay refinery was hit by a "terrorist attack."

Venezuela's opposition has in the past accused the government of making false claims of sabotage to critical infrastructure to distract from its mismanagement of public services.

As MRC wrote before, in late October 2020, Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela restarted gasoline production at the FCC unit of its 310,000 bpd Cardon refinery. The unit was producing between 15,000 and 20,000 bpd of gasoline, according to union leader Ivan Freites. PDVSA earlier last week of October began producing at least 25,000 bpd of gasoline at Cardon’s reformer unit.

MRC also reported that Russian state oil company Rosneft's decision to cease operations in Venezuela and sell its assets there to a Russian government-owned company was a "maneuver" made in reaction to collapsing oil prices, a US State Department official said earlier this year.

We remind that Angarsk Polymers Plant, part of Russian oil giant Rosneft, has resumed its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production after an unscheduled shutdown because of a technical issues at the ethylene unit. The plant's customers said Angarsk Polymers Plant had brought on-stream its LDPE production by 28 August after the forced shutdown due to technical problems at its ethylene production. And the first shipments of polyethylene (PE) to customers began on 31 August. The outage lasted slightly over two weeks and began on 10 August The plant's annual production capacity is about 75,000 tonnes.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, October estimated LDPE consumption in Russia grew to 50,030 tonnes from 23,930 tonnes a month earlier. Russian producers increased domestic LDPE shipments after the September shutdowns for maintenance. Russia's estimated LDPE consumption was about 456,490 tonnes in January-October 2020, down by 1% year on year. Lower production was offset by higher imports.
MRC