Lotte Chemical awards contracts worth USD757.2m to begin building petrochemical complex in Merak

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Subsidiaries of South Korea’s Lotte Chemical Corporation on Friday announced the award of contracts worth USD757.2m to begin building a USD3.9bn petrochemical complex in Indonesia. The Lotte Chemical Indonesia New Ethylene project (LINE) will be located in Merak, Banten Province, western Java, according to GCR.

The contract for the Group A work package was to be awarded to a joint venture between South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering Co. and Indonesia’s PT Hans Enjiniring dan Konstruksi, while an offshore engineering and procurement contract goes to Hyundai.

The Group A package involves building a cracker plant with the capacity to produce, amongst others, 1 million tons/year of ethylene and 520,000 tons/year of propylene.

As MRC informed earlier, in a 7 January press release, Lotte Chemical informed that that company had decided to proceed with the petrochemical project in Indonesia after the previous delay due the pandemic. The LINE project is to commence construction in 2022, according to the company's bourse filing. Lotte Chemical aims to bring the new complex online in 2025.

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.
MRC

1. Demand for residual fuel oil peaks in the USA in late 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In November 2021, more residual fuel oil was consumed in the US, measured as product supplied, than during any month since January 2017, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Residual fuel oil has several uses, but it is primarily consumed as bunker fuel in the maritime shipping sector. Consumption in December 2021 was at its highest end-of-year level since 2012, according to the EIA's weekly petroleum status report. On January 1, 2020, tighter regulations from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on maritime fuel sulfur specifications became effective. Before 2020, marine fuel could have a sulfur content as high as 3.5%, which is considered high-sulfur fuel oil.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- MEGlobal has announced its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) to be shipped in March 2022, according to the company's press release.

Thus, on 15 February, 2022. the company said ACP for MEG would be at USD890/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival in March 2022, up by USD10/tonne from the previous month.

The March 2022 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.

As MRC reported earlier, MEGlobal announced its February ACP for MEG at USD880/MT CFR Asian main ports, up by USD30/tonne from January.

MEG is one of the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, PET prices continued to be steady in the Russian spot market. February spot prices remained at the level of the second half of January. The current spot prices are expected to remain the same until the end of the month.

MEGlobal is a fully integrated supplier of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), collectively known as ethylene glycol (EG).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- IRPC Public Company Limited, a PTT Plc subsidiary, is in plans to take off-stream its polypropylene (PP) plant in Rayong, Thailand for maintenance, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The turnaround is expected to last about 15 days in March, 2022.

The company, being the third-largest PP producer in Southeast Asia, operates four PP lines in the Rayong complex, with a combined capacity of 635,000 tons.

The company has been limiting spot selling to build up inventory ahead of the shutdown.

As MRC informed earlier, IRPC took off-line PP lines in June, 2020, for routine maintenance. There was no additional information on how long the plant remained shut.

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.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lotte Chemical has recently informed that that company has decided to proceed with the 5 trillion won (USD4.4 billion) petrochemical project in Cilegon, Indonesia after the previous delay due the pandemic. The project named Lotte Chemical Indonesia New Ethylene (LINE) is to commence construction in 2022, according to CommoPlast with reference to the company's bourse filing.

Lotte Chemical aims to bring the new complex online in 2025.

LINE consists of a mixed feeds cracker that could product 1 million tons/year of ethylene and 520,000 tons/year of propylene, and downstream polyethylene (PE) plants.

“However, the final investment and plant design might be larger than the initial plan,” a Lotte Chemical official said.

On 28 October 2021, Lotte Chemical awarded two contracts worth USD1.64 billion involving engineering and construction work for the new project to Lotte Engineering & Construction Co Ltd (LEC).

Lotte Chemical has already established presence in Indonesia via PT Lotte Chemical which operates a non-integrated 450,000 tons/year PE plant and uses ethylene feed from its sister company in Malaysia.

As MRC informed before, in January, 2019, Lotte Chemical Titan announced plans to add a naphtha-fed steam cracker with an ethylene production capacity of 1 million mt/year to its petrochemical facility in Merak of Banten province, Indonesia, by 2023, making it an integrated petrochemical complex.

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.
MRC