Kazakhstan starts construction of first PE plant

Kazakhstan has started construction of state-owned Silleno’s polyethylene (PE) plant at the National Industrial Petrochemical Technopark in the Atyrau Region, according to local media reports, said Chemweek.

The PE plant, Kazakhstan’s first and due to be completed in 2029, will enable the country to replace imports with its own production. It will use ethane from the Tengiz oil field and have a capacity of 1.25 million metric tons per year, the reports said.

According to the results of the first half of the year, Russia became the largest exporter to the Republic of Kazakhstan. 28.6% of goods delivered to the country were of Russian production. At the same time, the Russian Federation overtook China (share in total deliveries is 24.5%). The shares of other suppliers were significantly lower: Germany - 5.1%, the USA - 4.1%, South Korea - 3.3%.

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Linde PLC’s (Woking, UK) affiliate, Linde India Ltd. (Kolkata), has invested 349 million Indian rupees (USD4.1 million) to acquire 27% stake in Zenataris Renewable Energy Pvt. Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of Fourth Partner Energy Pvt. Ltd. (Secunderabad, India), said Chemweek.

Linde said this investment is the first tranche in the overall planned investment of 1.4 billion rupees in Zenataris Renewable Energy and the deal is expected to be completed by March 2025.

Zenataris Renewable Energy engaged in the business of commissioning and generation of electricity through renewable energy including transmission and distribution. It supplies power either directly or through transmission lines of governments or private companies or electricity boards.

Linde said it can purchase renewable power under captive mechanism, which will result in a lower tariff and consequent cost savings.

We remind, Linde PLC is investing $2 billion to build a clean hydrogen and atmospheric gas plant in Alberta, Canada. Under the long-term agreement, the hydrogen will be supplied to Dow as part of its Path2Zero ethylene project.

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Propylene prices witness a drop in Asia, said Polymerupdate.

An industry source in Asia requesting to remain unidentified informed a Polymerupdate team member, "Prices inched lower on the back of bearish buying sentiments in the Asian markets."

FOB Korea propylene prices on Wednesday were assessed at the USD 820-830/mt levels, a decline of USD (-10/mt) Tuesday's assessed levels.

Meanwhile, CFR China propylene prices on Wednesday were assessed at the USD 850-860/mt levels, a day on day drop of USD (-5/mt).

In plant news, Tianhong Chemical has restarted its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in early September 2024 following a turnaround. The plant was shut for maintenance on June 4, 2024. Located in Dongying, Shandong in China, the plant has a propylene production capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

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Carlsberg is set to invest over 100 million euros in a new production facility for non-alcoholic beverages in Kazakhstan, as per Interfax.

"The new investment is expected to deliver a double-digit return on invested capital (ROIC) from the first year and increase the group's ROIC by the third year," the company said in a press release.

The Carlsberg Group and PepsiCo, Inc. announced an expansion of their strategic partnership with a new agreement under which Carlsberg will become the PepsiCo bottler in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan from January 1, 2026.

"With the new strategic partnership, PepsiCo and Carlsberg have agreed to cooperate in the production, sale and distribution of non-alcoholic beverages in the two countries. Beginning January 1, 2026, Carlsberg will take over the PepsiCo franchise to produce non-alcoholic beverages in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan," according to the statement.

Carlsberg Kazakhstan was the market leader in the beer category with a 38% market share in 2023.

Carlsberg and PepsiCo already have existing bottling agreements in five other markets across Europe and Asia, namely Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Cambodia and Laos. Earlier this year, Carlsberg announced its intention to acquire Britvic plc, which, upon completion and subject to regulatory and legal requirements, would allow Carlsberg to produce and distribute soft drinks for PepsiCo in the UK and Ireland.

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Styrene monomer (SM) prices drift lower in Asia, said Polymerupdate.

An industry source in Asia informed a Polymerupdate team member, "Prices trended downward on the back of bearish upstream benzene prices coupled with a depressed purchase pulse in the Asian region."

FOB Korea SM prices on Monday were assessed at the USD 1080-1090/mt levels, down USD (-10/mt) from Friday's assessed levels.

CFR China SM prices on Monday were assessed at the USD 1090-1100/mt levels, a drop of USD (-10/mt) from Friday.

Meanwhile, upstream benzene prices on Monday were assessed at the USD 960-970/mt FOB Korea levels, a decline of USD (-15/mt) from Friday.

Styrene is the main raw material component for the production of polystyrene (PS).

According to the ScanPlast, the total estimated consumption of polystyrene and styrene plastics in Russia amounted to 172,460 tonnes in the first four months. In the reporting month, the total estimated consumption amounted to 38,340 tonnes, which is 21% lower than the consumption volume in April 2023.

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