Biaxplen modernised equipment for the production of BOPP films

MOSCOW (MRC) - The Biaxplen Group of Companies (part of SIBUR Holding) announced the modernization of extrusion lines produced by the German Bruckner for the production of biaxially oriented films (BOPP films) at its facilities, the company said.

“The long-term partnership with Bruckner Servtec resulted in a system upgrade in 2021. Despite the challenging epidemiological environment, the upgrade went very quickly. Bruckner's Moscow office, partner network, support from Bruckner's Siegsdorf office and collaboration with Biaxplen staff ensured the project was carried out professionally. ", - the message says.

“The line we are currently modernizing is a prime example of the fact that, with optimal support, our lines can operate at the highest level for many - many years and therefore is also a prime example of sustainability,” summed up Christian Aigner, Director Sales and Service Bruckner Servtec.

Earlier it was reported that in July, Biaxplen introduced a metallized film of the HBV.M brand, which has high barrier properties. The new brand will be produced at the Kursk plant. The production capacity will be 500,000 tonnes per year. The production launch of the film is scheduled for the second half of 2021.

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.

All five Biaxplen factories are certified according to the quality management system ISO 9001. The group's total BOPP film production capacity is over 160 thousand tons per year. The company is actively developing export supplies of films to the EU market.

Biaxplen is a subsidiary of the petrochemical holding SIBUR, the leader of BOPP in Russia. Production capacity - 180 thousand tons per year, 8 high-speed lines. Brand assortment - over 40 types. Production sites are located in five regions. The products are exported to 27 countries.
MRC

MOSOW (MRC) -- Chemical producer LyondellBasell Industries NV aims to sell its Houston crude oil refinery as quickly as possible, reported Reuters with reference to people familiar with the matter.

The company on Wednesday said it is considering strategic options for the refinery, including a potential sale. US refiners last year suffered deep losses as the coronavirus pandemic slashed demand for motor fuels.

LyondellBasell joins a number of other operators that have put plants up for sale. Royal Dutch Shell Plc last year offered its Convent, Louisiana, refinery and Phillips 66 recently put a Belle Chasse, Louisiana, plant on the market.

"They hope to sell as soon as possible," one of the people familiar with the matter said of LyondellBasell.

The refinery along the Houston Ship Channel has been under Lyondell's sole ownership since 2006, when the company bought out minority partner Citgo Petroleum to end a troubled relationship.

This is Lyondell's second attempt to sell the Houston refinery, which the US Energy Information Administration says can process 263,776 barrels per day of crude oil.

The first attempt, in 2016, was hampered by repeated fires and breakdowns at the Houston refinery that cut production to a third of capacity in the spring of that year. But by the fall, the plant had recovered sufficiently to draw offers over USD1 billion from Saudi Aramco and Suncor. Saudi Aramco denied bidding on the plant, but sources familiar with company's negotiations said a deal fell apart when Lyondell raised the asking price before formal bids.

Refinery values have fallen in the past five years as capacity, especially in the United States, is seen too great for an economy preparing to move away from fossil fuels for transportation.

The Houston refinery was once considered an essential source of feedstock for the company's chemical plants, but that changed following Basell's purchase of Lyondell in 2007 and the company's emergence from bankruptcy in 2010. Since then, Lyondell has expanded, acquiring and building chemical plants around the world, especially in Asia as well as adding capacity along the US Gulf Coast.

As MRC informed previously, in early March 2021, LyondellBasell Industries began restarting the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) after completing the restart of the large crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 263,776 barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston refinery. The 147,000-bpd Unit 537 CDU is the first to restart since the refinery was shut on Feb. 15 by severe cold weather. The 90,000-bpd FCC was back in production in H1 March, 2021.

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.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 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, improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road, and ensuring the safe and effective functionality in electronics and appliances. LyondellBasell sells products into more than 100 countries and is the world"s largest producer of polymer compounds and the largest licensor of polyolefin technologies. In 2020, LyondellBasell was named to Fortune Magazine"s list of the "World"s Most Admired Companies" for the third consecutive year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - SIBUR Holding (Tobolsk) in 2022 may make an investment decision on a joint project with Sinopec in China for the production of nitrile butadiene rubbers (BNK) reports TASS with reference to the words of the managing director of the company Pavel Lyakhovich within the framework of VI Eastern Economic Forum.

"I think that by the end of this year, probably not, we will not be in time, but next year we will have to make a decision on this matter," Pavel Lyakhovich said.

In October 2019, SIBUR and Sinopec agreed to establish a joint venture in China for the production of nitrile butadiene rubbers with a capacity of 50 thousand tons per year. The share of SIBUR and Sinopec in the joint venture will be 40% and 60%, respectively.

"Together with our partners, we have finalized the technology. This technology can be exported to China. Further work was carried out with the selection of the location for the production site. Here we are now, after we have selected this production site, in the calculation of an investment project specifically for this investment site. this will be done, we will be able, together with a partner, to make a decision on the construction, according to our technology, of nitrile rubber in China, "added Pavel Lyakhovich.

In addition, SIBUR is not currently considering new projects in India, but a targeted expansion of existing production with Reliance Industries is possible. The production of butyl rubber, launched last year, reached its design capacity faster than SIBUR expected, and also has better consumption rates than those laid down in the justification of the investment project, said a member of the SIBUR board.

It was also previously reported that Saudi Aramco, Total and SIBUR refused from the petrochemical project in Saudi Arabia, since it does not have economic potential in the current market conditions, since it will in fact be similar to a similar SIBUR project in India.

"Our technology is in demand in the world, it is competitive. Here, 120 thousand tons of butyl rubber, this is a quarter of the world market. We have built a capacity according to our technology, which occupies a quarter of the world market," P. Lyakhovich stressed.

Earlier it was also reported that SIBUR sold the Chinese Sinopec 40% in Amur Gas Chemical Complex LLC for 18.274 billion rubles. SIBUR and Sinopec closed the deal to create a joint venture (JV) based on the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (MCC) at the end of December 2020.

SIBUR is the largest integrated gas processing and petrochemical company in terms of revenue in Russia, as well as in the CIS, Central and Eastern Europe. The company produces liquefied petroleum gases, natural gas and naphtha, various petrochemical products, including base polymers (PE and PP), synthetic rubbers, plastics, organic synthesis products, semi-finished products and other products.
MRC

1. Sidel adjusts equipment prices due to rising raw material costs

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The global pandemic has affected the packaging solution industry by leading to a significant price increase and shortage of raw materials and components used in packaging equipment, said the company. To compensate for the rising costs and continue to provide the highest quality solutions, Sidel is implementing a commodity-induced price adjustment on its equipment by an average of 5% effective September 6, 2021. Deficiency of raw materials and components may impact equipment delivery time as well. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Sidel has been striving to keep the same price level for its equipment despite the fact that the price of raw materials has increased significantly since 2020. Moreover, this increase is not expected to recover in the foreseeable future.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shintech, a subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. and the largest US polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer, has shut its 1.45 million mt/year PVC operations in Freeport, Texas, on a lack of upstream vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) supply, sources familiar with company operations told S&P Global Sept. 7.

The shutdown of the largest PVC plant in the US pushed the amount of US PVC capacity offline to about 58%, according to S&P Global data. About 41% of US PVC capacity was already offline after Hurricane Ida's Aug. 29 assault on Louisiana.

Shintech's Freeport shutdown at the end of the week starting Aug. 30 came after Olin's 835,000 mt/year VCM plant at Freeport shut the same week because of an equipment failure, sources familiar with Olin's operations said. Both issues were unrelated to Ida, which affected Louisiana along the Mississippi River, Mississippi and other states as it moved toward the US Northeast after making landfall.

Olin supplies Shintech with VCM to make PVC, a construction staple used to make pipes, window frames, vinyl siding and other products.

Neither company responded to requests for comment.

Sources said Olin emptied its inventories of VCM for Shintech after shutting its plant, and Shintech had to shut its PVC operations when those flows dried up.

As MRC informed previously, Shintech will start up the first phase of an expansion across the PVC production chain at its Louisiana complex in September, 2021.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall production of unmixed PVC totalled 580,500 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 4% year on year. At the same time, one producer reduced its output.

Shintech Inc. is the world's largest producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC is a general-use resin that is finding wide application in goods used in daily life and a significant number of industrial materials. Shintech is committed to operating safe and environmentally responsible facilities
MRC