Total finalizes plans to expand Texas Bayport Polymers in petrochems push

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French oil and gas major Total has made a final investment decision to expand its Texas Bayport Polymers joint venture to double polyethylene production capacity to around 1.1 million tonnes a year, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement.

Total said it aimed to become a major player in the US polyethylene (PE) market when it announced the joint venture in March 2017 with Borealis and Canada’s Nova Chemical.

The Bayport project is in line with the company’s USD3 billion program that began a year ago with a USD1.7 billion investment to build an ethane steam cracker at its Port Arthur refining complex in Texas.

The cracker will process ethane, which is abundantly available from US shale gas at competitive prices, and will supply Bayport polyethylene units. Production is expected to start in 2021.

The new unit is expected to have a capacity of a 625,000 tonnes a year, that will added to the existing 400,000 tonnes per year unit.

The Bayport unit engineering, procurement and construction has been awarded to the company McDermott, Total said.

PE is used in packaging, pipes, bottles, plastics and other composite materials. It is also seen as a growing market, that Total is targeting with a global expansion of its petrochemicals refining units.

"The project is in line with our strategy to develop petrochemicals at our major integrated (refining) complexes and leverage competitively priced feedstocks," said Bernard Pinatel, Total’s President for Refining and Chemicals.

Pinatel said light materials are increasingly used as substitutes for metals in various industrial sectors such as transport and energy, all of which is lifting demand for plastics and polymers.

"It is a market that is growing by 3 to 4 percent per year," Pinatel said.

As part of this expansion into the polyethylene market, Total and Saudi Aramco had said in April they would invest around USD5 billion to build a petrochemical complex at their Jubail Satorp refinery.

In May, Total also signed a USD1.5 billion deal with Algeria’s Sonatrach to build a polypropylene (PP) plant in western Algeria that will supply plastic to the Algerian and wider Mediterranean market.

Last December, its South Korean joint venture with Hanwha Group had also said it would invest USD331 million in the group’s refining and petrochemicals platform to increase polyethylene output by 400,000 tonnes per year by 2019.

That increased investment was planned to deal with growing demand, particularly from China.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's overall production of polypropylene (PP) fell in January-August 2018 by 0.6% year on year, totalling about 954,100 tonnes. At the same time, three Russian producers increased their PP output, according to MRC ScanPlast report.

Russia's PP production in August remained practically at the July level at about 125,100 tonnes. Russia's overall PP production reached 954,100 tonnes in the first eight months of 2018, compared to 960,100 tonnes a year earlier. Nizhnekamskneftekhim, Stavrolen, Sibur Tobolsk and Tomskneftekhim reduced production figures, while other producers managed to increase production volumes.

The structure of PP production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

Sibur Tobolsk decreased capacity utilisation in July, total polypropylene production reached 45,700 tonnes against 49,000 tonnes in July. The Tobolsk plant's total PP production exceeded 319,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2018, down by 8% year on year. The decline in production was a result of an early shutdown in prevention this year.

Poliom (Titan Group) last month produced about 19,400 tonnes of polypropylene, compared with 18,700 tonnes in July. Total PP production at the plant over the reported period was about 148,000 tonnes, up 3% year on year.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim produced 18,800 tonnes of propylene polymers in August versus 18,600 tonnes a month earlier. The producer's PP production in January-August decreased by 2% from last year's level to 142,400 tonnes.

Tomskneftekhim produced about 8,300 tonnes of propylene polymers in August against 9,800 tonnes in July, the low indicator of in the last two months was caused by the shutdown for scheduled maintenance works, which started on 19 July and lasted just under a month. The Tomsk plant's PP output exceeded 91,800 tonnes in the first eight months of 2018, compared to 94,800 tonnes a year earlier.

August PP production at Ufaorgsintez reached about 11,300 tonnes from 10,600 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of polymer at the Ufa plant rose to 88,500 tonnes in January-August 2018, compared to 85,100 tonnes a year earlier.

Neftekhimiya (Kapotnya) in August produced about 11,800 tonnes of PP, compared with 11,000 tonnes in July. The plant's overall PP output reached 89,700 tonnes over the stated period, up 40% year on year. A low indicator of the current year was a result of a long scheduled maintenance works in March-April.

Stavrolen (LUKOIL) in August worked with a high capacity utilisation, the total production figure was 9,800 tonnes against 7,500 tonnes in July (the enterprise stopped production for a week). Overall production of propylene polymers at the Budenovsk plant reached 74,100 tonnes in the first eight months of 2018, down by 10% year on year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's production of polyethylene (PE) grew in the first eight months of 2018 by 3% year on year to 1,215,500 tonnes. Output of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

August total PE production rose to 142,800 tonnes, whereas this figure was 141,200 tonnes a month earlier, local producers raised their HDPE output. Overall PE production reached 1,215,500 tonnes in January-August 2018, compared to 1,179,700 tonnes a year earlier. HDPE and LLDPE output increased, whereas production of low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased slightly.

The PE production structure by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

August total HDPE production grew to 81,500 tonnes, compared to 79,600 tonnes a month earlier, Gazprom neftekhim Salavat and Stavrolen increased their capacity utilisation. Russian plants' overall HDPE output reached 652,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2018, up by 1% year on year.

Last month's total LDPE production was slightly over 42,500 tonnes versus 42,700 in July, low output for the last two months of the summer were caused by the shutdown for maintenance at Angarsk Polymers Plant, Gazprom nefthim Salavat and Tomskneftekhim. Overall LDPE output exceeded 430,100 tonnes over the stated period, down by 1% year on year.

Overall LLDPE production reached 133,000 tonnes in the first eight months of 2018, up by almost a third year on year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell Industries may have restarted its 263,776-barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston refinery over the weekend after the entire plant was shut by a power outage on Wednesday, reported Reuters with reference to Gulf Coast market sources.

LyondellBasell spokeswoman Chevalier Gray declined to discuss operations at the refinery.

The refinery’s 120,000-bpd 536 crude distillation unit (CDU) and 56,000-bpd 737 coker will remain shut, the sources said. The units were shut on Sept. 17 for a six-week overhaul.

As MRC wrote previously, in August 2016, LyondellBasell made the final investment decision to build a high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant on the US Gulf Coast. The plant will have an annual capacity of 1.1 billion pounds (500,000 metric tons) and will be the first commercial plant to employ LyondellBasell's new proprietary Hyperzone PE technology. The start-up of the new plant is scheduled for 2019.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 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, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fujian Refining & Petrochemical (FREP) has restarted its No.3 polypropylene (PP) plant in Fujian Province, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has resumed operations at the plant on September 23, following an unplanned outage. The plant was taken off-line on September 18, 2018 owing to a technical issues.

Located in Fujian province, China, the No. 3 PP plant has a production capacity of 220,000 mt/year.

The company also operates other two PP plants at the same location with production capacity of 120,000 mt/year and 360,000 mt/year.

FREP is a joint venture between Fujian Petrochemical Co. (50%), ExxonMobil China Petroleum and Petrochemical Co. (25%) and Saudi Aramco Sino Co. (25%). Fujian Petrochemical is a 50:50 JV between Sinopec and the Fujian provincial government.
MRC