HIP Petrohemija announced force majeure for the supply of products from a complex in Serbia

MOSCOW (MRC) - The HIP Petrohemija plant said that the fire started at a processing facility in the Etilen factory, adding that all production was stopped, the company said in a statement.

The fire was brought under control. During the evacuation from the plant, one employee received minor injuries.

The company in a letter to customers informed that the production at this enterprise with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes of ethylene and 85,000 tonnes of propylene per year was stopped. The company in a letter announced force majeure for the supply of its products from this site.

The company also operates factories at the site for the production of low-density polyethylene (HDPE) with a capacity of 90,000 tonnes per year and 65,000 tonnes of LDPE per year.The HIP Petrohemija plant said that the fire started at a processing facility in the Etilen factory, adding that all production was stopped. “Company firefighters reacted quickly and placed the fire under control with support from firefighters and the oil refinery and Pancevo fire brigade. One employee was lightly injured in the evacuation and received medical care before returning to work,” a press release said.

It said that an investigation was underway.

As per MRC, HIP Petrohemija, a large petrochemical company, closed in March the cracking unit and associated plants at the Pancevo petrochemical site (Pancevo, Serbia) on 20 March for repairs. Maintenance work at this enterprise with a capacity of 200,000 of ethylene and 85,000 tonnes of propylene per year continued until 20 April.
MRC

1. Sinopec posts USD6 bln H1 profit on rebounding oil prices, better demand

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp reported a 39.15 billion yuan (USD6.05 bn) net profit for the first six months of 2021 on the back of renewed fuel demand and a rebound in oil prices amid a recovery from the impact of COVID-19, said Reuters. Asia's biggest oil refiner, known as Sinopec, posted a 23 billion yuan loss during January-June last year as the coronavirus pandemic walloped fuel demand and knocked oil prices. The 2021 interim profit compares with a 31.338 billion yuan profit in the same period in 2019.



MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were steady to lower during mid-morning Asia trade Sept. 3 following overnight gains, amid the retreat in the US dollar and as remnants of Hurricane Ida continued to shut US terminals in the East Coast, reported S&P Global.

At 12:19 pm Singapore time (0419 GMT), the ICE November Brent futures contract was down 1 cent/b (0.01%) from the previous close at USD73.02/b while the NYMEX October light sweet crude contract was down 14 cents/b (0.2%) at USD69.85/b.

"Crude prices seem to be volatile this morning, hovering between the green and red zone," Vandana Hari, CEO of Vanda Insights told Platts Sept 3.

"However, on a boarder perspective, the market seems to be on a positive note, supported by the bullish data from the Energy Information Administration and retreat of the dollar," Hari said, adding that the market is also awaiting further cues as production outages from the impact of Hurricane Ida will be prolonged, but overall fundamental seems to be bullish.

The latest Energy Information Administration data released late Sept. 2 showed that US crude inventories fell 7.2 million barrels to 425.4 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 27, bringing inventories to roughly 6% below the five-year seasonal average.

At 11:57 am Singapore time, the ICE US Dollar Index fell to 92.21, down from the previous close of 92.23 and on pace to close at its weakest since July 29.

Meanwhile, the latest data released by the US Department of Labor showed that weekly initial jobless claims stood at 340,000 for the week ended Aug. 28, marking its lowest since the start of the pandemic in mid-March 2020.
Jobless claims totaled 340,000 for the week ended Aug. 28, compared with market estimates of 345,000.

Elsewhere, the remnants of Hurricane Ida has resulted in historic flash flooding along the US' East Coast, shutting terminals in the area, with some regions receiving up to 10 inches of rainfall already, according to the US National Weather Service on Sept. 2.

"Refiners are struggling getting power back, but optimism is that things should mostly be back to normal in a few weeks," Oanda's senior market analyst Edward Moya said in a Sept. 3 note.

As MRC informed earlier, ExxonMobil said it has been restarting its 517,700 b/d refinery at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after it was shut down ahead of Hurricane Ida.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe, have announced a price reduction for all polystyrene (PS) grades in Europe, according to the company's press release as of September 2.

Effective September 1, 2021, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below went down, as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR65 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR55 per metric ton;

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo raised its prices for its PS grades, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) on August 1, 2021, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS -- by EUR45 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech HIPS - by EUR60 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR130 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR90 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Russia, Nizhnekamskneftekhim raised its September selling HIPS an GPPS prices for most buyers by Rb700-750/tonne amid an increase in delivery costs. However, some market participants reported a price roll-over.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.0 billion in net sales in 2020, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,600 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Scheduled maintenance works at Russian producers of low density polyethylene (LDPE) result in an imbalance between supply and demand in the market. Tight supply also puts pressure on prices, the main sellers announced a price increase of roubles (Rb) 2,000-7,000/tonne for in September, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

A limited supply of LDPE from Russian producers was reported by many converters back in August. Supply of LDPE will become even tighter in September due to the planned shutdowns for the repair of facilities in Ufa and Kazan.
Also in the past few weeks, problems with road transport have worsened, and transportation costs have increased.
Because of this LDPE prices increased in early September by Rb2,000/tonne and more.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat shut its LDPE capacities for the annual scheduled maintenance works from 20 July; the turnaround was originally planned for 30 days. But due to objective factors, the turnaround continues to this day, and new launch dates are not yet known.

Ufaorgsintez began a sequential shutdown for the repair of the capacities of the first LDPE line (PE 108) from 1 September, which will take a little less than two weeks according to the plan. However, the biggest loss for the market in the autumn is the shutdown of Kazanorgsintez's facilities for the turnaround, which will start on 15 September and will last a little less than a month. It is the second largest LDPE manufacturer in Russia.

This week's spot offer prices of 108 grade LDPE has started from Rb144,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, PE 108 prices increased to Rb149,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.
MRC