LyondellBasell shut its Louisiana PP plant after lightning strike

LyondellBasell shut its Louisiana PP plant after lightning strike

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, the world's largest polyolefins producer, has shut its Equistar Chemicals polypropylene (PP) plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana, following a lightning strike, reported S&P Global with reference to LyondellBasell's statement July 16.

The lightning strike occurred July 13, LyondellBasell said in a letter to customers obtained by S&P Global.

"This unforeseen event caused utilities outages and a shutdown of all plant production lines," the company said. "We are currently evaluating the overall impact to the plant and are working towards restart; however, at this time, we do not have a complete timeline for startup."

There could be an update on operations by close of business on July 20, LyondellBassell said.

The plant has nameplate capacity totaling 509,000 mt/year of PP.

A LyondellBasell spokeswoman decline further comment.

As MRC informed before, LBI reported an equipment failure at its La Porte linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant, which forced the company to shut down the 355,000 tons/year unit without a return schedule, according to the company's official letter to its customers on 17 June 2021.

According to MR''s ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
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COVID-19 - News digest as of 19.07.2021

1. US Jan-Apr caustic soda exports drop by 2.4%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US caustic soda exports in the first four months of 2021 declined nearly 2.4% compared with January-April 2020, reflecting continued fallout from production shutdowns forced by a deep freeze that hit the US Gulf Coast and much of the US in mid-February, reported S&P Global with reference to the latest US International Trade Commission (ITC) data. The US shipped out 1.878 million mt of caustic soda in the January-April period, down from 1.92 million mt in the year-ago span, the data showed. US chlor-alkali rates plunged to 59% in February, from 83% in January, when sustained subfreezing temperatures forced widespread petrochemical plant shutdowns, according to industry statistics. Caustic soda supply had been seen long before the freeze, but sudden shutdowns tightened supply. After the freeze, caustic soda demand that had been sluggish since mid-2019 began rebounding as buyers sought to boost low inventories and growth in US COVID-19 vaccination rates spurred more economic activity.


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Yansab to restart cracker at Yanbu, Saudi Arabia

Yansab to restart cracker at Yanbu, Saudi Arabia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yanbu National Petrochemical Company (Yansab), part of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), plans to restart its cracker on 23 July, 2021, after an unplanned repairs, reported Agraam with reference to the company's statement in a bourse filing.

The cracker in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, which can produce 1.38 mln mt/year of ethylene and 400,000 mt/year of propylene, was temporary shut on 11 July, 2021, due to technical issues.

The petrochemical producer is currently working on repairs and necessary maintenance. Thus, the shutdown is expected to continue for 12 days.

As MRC reported earlier, in 2021, the company conducted a scheduled turnaround at this cracker from 5 to 15 February.

The company also has polyolefin plants at the same site with production capacity of 400,000 tons/year of polypropylene (PP), high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) each. They were also taken off-line for maintenance at the same period as the cracker.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

Yansab is the most recent SABIC, (Saudi Basic Industries Corp), affiliate in Saudi Arabia, and will be the largest Sabic petrochemical complex. It will have an annual capacity exceeding 4 million metric tons (MT) of petrochemical products including: 1.3 million MT (metric-tons) of ethylene; 400,000 MT of propylene; 900,000 MT of polyethylene; 400,000 MT of polypropylene; 700,000 MT of ethylene glycol; 250,000 MT of benzene, xylene and toluene, and 100,000 MT of butene-1 and butene-2.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
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Crude oil futures drop in Asia as OPEC+ reaches deal and on worries of rapid spread of Delta variant of COVID-19

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures declined during the mid-morning trade in Asia July 19, as the market participants were concerned over a rise in supply following an OPEC+ deal to an impending increase in production quotas, while the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus raised worries about the re-imposition of demand-sapping mobility restrictions, reported S&P Global.

At 10:53 am Singapore time (0253 GMT), the ICE September Brent futures contract was down USD1.20/b (1.63%) from the previous close at USD72.39/b, while the NYMEX August light sweet crude contract was down USD1.14/b (1.59%) at USD70.67/b.

"A cocktail of bearish factors are causing the fall in prices we are

The OPEC+ producer group, on July 18, reached a deal to increase its production quotas by 400,000 b/d each month starting in August, amounting to a 2 million b/d total increase by the end of the year. The agreement also involved an extension of the coalition's supply management pact through to 2022.

The OPEC+ resolution puts an end to an acrimonious spat between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which had arisen after the UAE had objected to Saudi Arabia's plan to tie OPEC+ production increases to a lengthening of the supply management pact, insisting that its baseline production level, from which its quota is determined, be raised first.

In an appeasement to the UAE, the country will receive a 332,000 b/d boost to its reference production level, from which quotas are determined, starting in May 2022. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Russia will also be granted 500,000 b/d baseline increases, with Iraq and Kuwait getting 150,000 b/d rises.

While the compromise has brought more clarity to the supply-side of the equation in the market, it has failed to alleviate concerns of a potential breakdown in OPEC+ unity.

Meanwhile, analysts also said that the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus has also soured sentiment in the market, as countries around the world consider tightening or have tightened mobility restrictions.

As MRC informed earlier, OPEC stuck to its forecast for a strong recovery in world oil demand in the rest of 2021 and predicted oil use would rise in 2022 at similar to pre-pandemic rates, led by growth in the United States, China and India.

We remind that China's crude oil imports fell 3% from January to June versus a year earlier, in the first first-half contraction since 2013, as an import quota shortage, refinery maintenance and rising global prices curbed buying. Imports totalled 40.14 million tonnes last month, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday, equivalent to 9.77 million barrels per day (bpd).

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
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Prime Polymer to start construction of new Chiba PP plant in August

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Prime Polymer Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo) and Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd. (Tokyo), plans to start building a new polypropylene (PP) plant at its Ichihara Works in Chiba, Japan in August, 2021, according to Chemical Engineering.

The decision to construct a new manufacturing facility made in late May, 2021, is part of the company's plans for a scrap-and-build-style restructuring of its production system.

The new plant is slated to produce 200,000 mt/year of PP using licensed process technology from Mitsui Chemicals (the HYPOL process). Its operations are scheduled to start up in November 2024.

The new manufacturing facility to be constructed will enable the production of high-performance PP, something that has been unattainable with the facility used to date, and allow Prime Polymer to meet the growing needs for lightweighting and thinning in automotive materials. And through its offering of recycling-conducive materials here, Prime Polymer is looking to help drive material recycling.

Moving forward, Prime Polymer plans to suspend its existing manufacturing facility with a view to production capacity that is in line with supply-demand balance.

In restructuring its production system here, Prime Polymer anticipates the effect of approximately 70,000 tons in reduced greenhouse gas emissions annually against 2013 figures. Further, Prime Polymer will be ramping up its circular economy-related efforts through the likes of providing of biomass raw material-based materials.

As MRC reported earlier, in 2017, Mitsui Chemicals and Prime Polymer announced the completion and start-up of three augmented PP compound hubs. The group expanded two lines at its Advanced Composites subsidiary in the US. One line was enhanced at the group's Advanced Composites Mexicana site in Mexico and another line was augmented at Mitsui Prime Advanced Composites India in India. With the enhancements, Mitsui's total PP compound production capacity has increased to 1.05-million t/y from 1-million t/y.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

Prime Polymer Co., Ltd. was established in April 2005 as part of a comprehensive tie-up with Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. The company's activity is focused in polyolefins business to produce different grades of polythylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
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