PP imports into Kazakhstan increased by 10% in January-November 2021, exports down by 24%

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of polypropylene (PP) in Kazakhstan grew to 39,700 tonnes in first eleven months of this year, up 8% compared to the same period of 2020. PP exports increased more significantly by 24%, reported MRC analysts.

November PP shipments to Kazakhstan grew to 2,400 tonnes from 3,600 tonnes a month earlier, local converters decreased their purchasing of homopolymer PP in Russia and Azerbaijan. Overall PP imports into the country exceeded 39,700 tonnes in the first eleven months of the year, compared to 36,600 tonnes a year earlier. At the same time, the stable work of the local producer during this period of time allowed increasing the export sales of polypropylene by almost a quarter.

November imports of homopolymer PP and propylene copolymers increased to 2,100 tonnes and 300 tonnes, respectively, versus over 2,300 tonnes and 1,300 tonnes a month earlier, local companies reduced purchases pipe PP in Russia and PP-homo in Azerbaijan. Overall imports of homopolymer PP and propylene copolymers reached 28,600 tonnes and 11,200 tons, respectively, in January-November 2021, compared to 28,600 tonnes and 8,100 tonnes a year earlier.

November exports of PP from Kazakhstan increased to 1,600 tonnes against 800 tonnes in October. Kazakhstan's PP exports over the first eleven months dropped to 28,000 tonnes, whereas this figure was 22,700 tonnes a year earlier. About 92% of total exports accounted for Russia.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexican state oil company Pemex on Thursday signed a long-term crude supply contract with Royal Dutch Shell Plc as part of its acquisition of the Deer Park refinery in Texas, reported Reuters.

Pemex and Shell in May announced the transaction, which is worth almost USD600 MM and will make the Mexican firm the sole owner of the refinery near Houston. The facility has capacity to process 340,000 bpd.

Shell will supply about 200,000 bpd of foreign and US crude to the plant for at least 15 years, according to a source and a July document seen by Reuters.

A Pemex unit expects to supply up to 115,000 bpd of Mexican crude to the refinery and receive about 230,000 bpd of refined products that could go to Mexico. The transfer secures for Mexico a greater supply of fuel produced by the plant while reducing sales to gasoline retailers in the US.

Pemex separately agreed to supply the adjacent Shell Chemical plant with feedstocks, and made two-year job offers to the plant's salaried workforce, two sources said.

Pemex Chief Executive Officer Octavio Romero in a statement pledged to operate the plant safely and protect its staff and the environment. The refinery's new board of directors held its first meeting on Thursday, he said.

If Pemex suspends or reduces the volumes that are part of its supply contract, it would have to pay Shell between $50 MM and USD190 MM depending on the year it does so, according to the July document.

Pemex's fuel production declined by almost half between 2016 and 2020 and its refineries ran at less than 50% of their capacity in 2020. In contrast, Deer Park ran at 78% of capacity in 2020.

As MRC wrote before, Mexico carried out the transaction as agreed: USD596 MM for the refinery's assets - equivalent to Shell's 50% stake in the JV's debt - as well as the liquidation of the USD596 MM that made up Pemex's stake in the refinery.

We remind that Royal Dutch Shell plc. said in November, 2021, that its petrochemical complex of several billion dollars in Western Pennsylvania is about 70% complete and in the process to enter service in the early 2020s. The plant's costs are estimated to be USD6-USD10 billion, where ethane will be transformed into plastic feedstock. The facility is equipped to produce 1.5 million metric tons per year (mmty) of ethylene and 1.6 mmty of polyethylene (PE), two important constituents of plastics.

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

According to MR''s ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yanbu National Petrochemical Co. (Yansab) reported a surge of over twofold in 2021 net profit after Zakat and tax to SAR 1.531 billion, from SAR 677.6 million a year earlier, said Argaam.

The strong performance was driven by better average sales prices despite lower production and sales volume, due to the turnaround and shutdown of the company's plants as previously announced on Jan. 26 and July 11, 2021. 26 and July 11, 2021.

When compared to previous quarter, net profit jumped 86.3% from SAR 179.8 million, thanks to higher production and sales volumes.

Shareholders’ equity, after minority interest, increased by 0.37% to SAR 15.042 billion as of Dec. 31, 2021 from SAR 14.985 billion a year earlier.

Yanbu National Petrochemical Co’s (Yansab) net profit rose slightly in the fourth quarter of last year amid higher average selling prices.

Earnings were partly weighed down by higher average feedstock costs, Yanbu said in a statement filed on the Saudi bourse, Tadawul.

For the whole of 2021, the company's net profit more than doubled on the back of higher average selling prices despite lower production and sales from plant turnarounds.

As per MRC, Yanbu National Petrochemical Company (Yansab), part of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), restarted its cracker after a planned turnaround. The cracker in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, which can produce 1.38 mln mt/year of ethylene and 400,000 mt/year of propylene, resumed operations on 15 February, 2021. It was shut for a turnaround on 5 February 2021.

The company also has polyolefin plants at the same site with production capacity of 400,000 tons/year of polypropylene (PP) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) each. They were also taken off-line for maintenance on 5 February 2021.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide will invest around 350 Crores Rupees (40 million euros) in a new Air Separation Unit (ASU) dedicated to Industrial Merchant activities in Kosi, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Northern India, according to BusinessWire.

This unit will have a production capacity of 350 tonnes per day, with a maximum of 300 tonnes of oxygen. Air Liquide India will build, own and operate this ASU, which is planned to start operating by the end of 2023.

The new plant will support small-and-medium sized customers of liquid and packaged gases in Northern India. It will allow Air Liquide to meet the growing demand of the automotive, metal fabrication, heat treatment, photovoltaic, and electronics industries, as well as local hospitals requiring high-purity medical gases. When commissioned, Air Liquide’s site in Kosi, where the unit will be located, will become the largest liquid gases plant in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

In line with Air Liquide’s Sustainability Objectives, which include reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, this plant has been designed to contribute to a successful energy transition by India. The new unit is indeed planned to fully operate on renewable energy by 2030.

The new ASU will contribute to Air Liquide’s expansion strategy in India, where the Group has been present for more than 30 years. It already owns and operates 4 ASUs in North & West of India and will finalize in 2022 the construction of a 5th ASU in Nagpur (West India). Air Liquide is committed to continue investing in coming years to accompany the development of India and its growing demand for sustainable solutions.

Pascal Vinet, Senior Vice President and a member of the Air Liquide Group’s Executive Committee supervising Europe Industries activities and Africa / Middle East /India hubs, said : “The construction of a new plant in Uttar Pradesh is a very important milestone for Air Liquide in India. This new significant investment will give us the ability to better serve our customers, while also investing in the long-term growth opportunities of this key State. It also shows our confidence in the sustained growth of the Indian industry. This investment is in line with Air Liquide’s Sustainable Objectives as this ASU is meant to ultimately solely run on renewable energy.”

As MRC reported earlier, Air Liquide and BASF plan to develop world largest cross-border CCS value chain. The goal is to significantly reduce CO2 emissions at the industrial cluster in the port of Antwerp. The joint project Kairos@C has been selected for funding by the European Commission through its Innovation Fund, as one of the seven large-scale projects out of more than 300 applications.

We remind that BASF aims is to electrify its production processes for basic chemicals, which are currently based on fossil fuels.

We also remind that in mid-February, BASF said it was restarting one of its steam crackers at its Ludwigshafen complex in Germany after operations were halted in December, 2021, due to a technical issue. The naphtha cracker produces ethylene and propylene, and is one of two crackers on the site. One has a production capacity of 420,000 metric tons/year, with the other"s capacity at 240,000 metric tons/year.

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 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Air Liquide in Benelux comprises subsidiaries active in the production, distribution, and sale of industrial and medical gases, technologies and services of the Air Liquide Group. Founded in Belgium in 1906, in the Netherlands in 1913 and in Luxembourg in 1931, Air Liquide is present in 78 countries with approximately 64,500 employees and serves more than 3.8 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. Air Liquide’s revenue amounted to more than 20 billion euros in 2020. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (compartment A) and belongs to the CAC 40, EURO STOXX 50 and FTSE4Good indexes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont Interconnect Solutions, a business within the Electronics & Industrial segment, today announced it has completed the expansion project at its Circleville, Ohio manufacturing site, said the company.

The USD250 million investment expands production of Kapton polyimide film and Pyralux® flexible circuit materials, ensuring a committed supply to meet the growing global demand in the automotive, consumer electronics, telecom, specialized industrial and defense segments served by DuPont.

“This is a really important milestone for DuPont and the Electronics & Industrial business,” said Avi Avula, vice president and general manager, DuPont Interconnect Solutions. “With this expansion, we can elevate our service levels to our customers to help them grow. This new plant is an indication of our renewed commitment to our customers’ growth agenda and enables us to meet their aggressive demand for new products with higher reliability and supply assurance."

The new manufacturing line at Circleville uses DuPont proprietary processing capabilities to produce advanced Kapton polyimide films, which have set industry standards for more than 50 years, offering high performance, reliability and durability. Kapton® polyimide films provide a unique combination of electrical, thermal, chemical and mechanical properties that withstand extreme temperature, vibration and other demanding environments.

The Kapton polyimide film is also at the heart of DuPont’s Pyralux line of flexible copper-clad laminates that are available in a wide variety of copper types, thicknesses and construction options, all of which offer excellent thermal, chemical, electrical and mechanical properties. Pyralux® laminates are ideal for use in wide variety of multi-layer flex and rigid-flex applications which require advanced performance, such as low dissipation loss for high speed, high frequency, robust thermal resistance and high reliability.

As MRC reported earlier, DuPont is to invest around USD 5 m at facilities in Germany and Switzerland to increase capacity for automotive adhesives. The investment will expand capacity to support growing demand for advanced mobility solutions for vehicle electrification. New equipment has been delivered and installed that will increase manufacturing capacity as well as accelerate delivery of product samples to customers.

We remind that DuPont is also investing USD400 million in the production capacity of Tyvek nonwoven fabric made from high density polyethylene (HDPE) at its site in Luxembourg. A new building and a third work line at the production site will be constructed. The launch of new facilities is scheduled for 2021.

DuPont Electronics & Industrial is a global supplier of new technologies and performance materials serving the semiconductor, circuit board, display, digital and flexographic printing, healthcare, aerospace, industrial and transportation industries. From advanced technology centers worldwide, teams of talented research scientists and application experts work closely with customers, providing solutions, products and technical service to enable next-generation technologies.
MRC