COVID-19 - News digest as of 25.01.2022

1. Sumitomo Chemical to expand LCP capacity in Japan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sumitomo Chemical is building additional production lines for its liquid crystal polymer (LCP) super engineering plastic at the company's site in Ehime, said the company. This expansion will increase the group’s production capacity of LCP by around 30%, it said in a statement. The new production lines are scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2023. LCP has been used for a broad range of applications, including electronic components for PCs and smartphones. Demand for LCP is continuing to grow strongly as the rollout of 5G data communications systems is progressing at scale, while electric vehicles are becoming more popular on the back of accelerated efforts to mitigate environmental impact. To immediately address a recent tightening of the global supply-demand conditions, Sumitomo Chemical has decided to construct new facilities to increase its production capacity for LCP.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- OQ Chem plans to resume operations at its polypropylene (PP) plant in Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC), Oman after an unscheduled turnaround, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

This plant was unexpectedly taken off-stream on 10 January, 2022, due to a technical issue following seawater backflow.

The PP plant that consists of three production lines with a combined capacity of 300,000 tons/year will remain shut for about two weeks.

Meanwhile, the company’s 880,000 tons/year polyethylene (PE plant) was not affected by the incident.

As MRC reported earlier, in May, 2020, Energy powerhouse OQ (formerly Oman Oil and Orpic Group) announced the launch of the commissioning phase of Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC), a giant petrochemicals project being set up at an investment of USD6.7 billion.

According to MR's ScanPlast report, 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Last year's overall polyethylene (PE) imports into the Ukrainian market reached 277,300 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased with one exception, according to a MRC's DataScope report.

Last month's PE imports to Ukraine were 30,500 tonnes versus 26,400 tonnes in November, local companies raised their purchasing of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE). Thus, overall PE imports reached 177,300 tonnes in 2021, compared to 165,900 tonnes a year earlier. Only HDPE imports decreased, whereas imports of other PE grades increased. The structure of PE imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

Last month's HDPE imports grew to 10,700 tonnes from 9,600 tonnes a year earlier, shipments of film grade and pipe grade PE increased. Overall HDPE imports totalled 90,700 tonnes in the twelve months of 2021 versus 97,300 tonnes a year earlier.

December LDPE imports were 10,900 tonnes versus 8,100 tonnes a month earlier, Ukrainian companies raised their PE purchases in Azerbaijan and Belarus. Overall LDPE imports reached 86,300 tonnes over the stated period, up by 9% year on year.

Last month's linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) imports were 7,300 tonnes, which virtually corresponded to the November figure. Thus, overall LLDPE imports reached 81,800 tonnes in 2021, up by 8% year on year.

Imports of other PE grades, including ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA), totalled about 18,500 tonnes last year, compared to 13,400 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hyosung Vina Chemicals Co Ltd restarted its No. 2 polypropylene (PP) line in Southern Vietnam last week, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

This PP line with an annual capacity of 300,000 mtt year was taken offline in mid-December 2021 due to propylene supply disruption.

The No. 2 line was able to resume production after the upstream propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit restarted on 7 January, 2022. The PDH plant has a production capacity of 600,000 tons/year.

The company already operates No. 1 PP plant in Southern Vietnam with the same production capacity, using external sources of propylene. This plant is reportedly operating at normal rates at the moment. It was shut down on 9 July, 2021, due to an unspecified technical issue and came back on line in July, 2021.

As MRC wrote previoulsy, Hyosung Vina Chemicals Co Ltd started up its new No. 2 PP plant in Southern Vietnam in August 2021. Besides, a new PDH unit was also scheduled for a start-up at the same site that month.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Hyosung Corporation is a Korean industrial conglomerate, founded in 1957. It operates in various fields, including the chemical industry, industrial machinery, IT, trade, and construction.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sumitomo Chemical is building additional production lines for its liquid crystal polymer (LCP) super engineering plastic at the company's site in Ehime, said the company.

This expansion will increase the group’s production capacity of LCP by around 30%, it said in a statement. The new production lines are scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2023. LCP has been used for a broad range of applications, including electronic components for PCs and smartphones.

Demand for LCP is continuing to grow strongly as the rollout of 5G data communications systems is progressing at scale, while electric vehicles are becoming more popular on the back of accelerated efforts to mitigate environmental impact. To immediately address a recent tightening of the global supply-demand conditions, Sumitomo Chemical has decided to construct new facilities to increase its production capacity for LCP. The Company will consider further capacity expansion as the LCP market is expected to grow rapidly supported by higher-speed, larger-volume data communications and advances in the field of mobility.

Investment and capacity details of the new production lines were not disclosed.

As per MRC, Sumitomo Chemical has successfully conducted the first waste-based polyolefin production at its laboratory in Japan earlier this year, by use of the ethylene produced by Axens ethanol-to-ethylene technology Atol. This process value chain is complemented with the upfront “Waste to Ethanol” technology by Sekisui Chemical.

We remind, Sumitomo Chemical will establish a subsidiary, Sumika Polymer Compounds Poland (SPCP), to build and operate a polypropylene (PP) compounding facility at PoznaA, Poland. The capacity of the planned PP compounding plant will be 30,000 metric tons/year. It is due to commence operations in 2022.

Sumitomo Chemical, a leading Japanese chemical company, was founded with a mission to drive societal impact and solve environmental challenges through technology. They have been exploring new opportunities to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
MRC