Russia Jan-July chemical production index up 1% year on year

MOSCOW (MRC)–In July, Russian companies managed to achieve a positive growth of production of basic chemicals in Russia after a long negative period from April to June.

In general, the index of production of basic chemicals rose by 1% in the first seven months of 2016, according to official data.

The Federal Service of State Statistics (Rosstat) stated that last month’s output of basic chemicals increased by 0.5% from July, whereas in April-June this figure was negative. However, despite several negative months, production of basic chemicals grew by 1% in January-July 2016.

Thus, 193,000 tonnes of ethylene was produced in July versus 224,000 tonnes a month earlier with the lower output caused by scheduled maintenance at Nizhnekamskneftekhim and a short outage at Angarsk Polymer Plant due to technical issues.

In general, over 1.6m tonnes of this olefin were produced in January-July 2016, down by 2.3% year on year.

Last month’s production of benzene also decreased to 92,000 tonnes from 95,500 tonnes in June, also because of the shutdowns at the Nizhnekamsk and Angarsk’s plants. Overall output of these products reached 691,000 tonnes in the first seven months of 2016, down by 2.6% from the same period in 2015.

July production of xylenes dropped to 46,100 tonnes from 48,300 tonnes a month earlier. 336,500 tonnes of xylenes were produced in Januay-July 2016, up by 4% year on year.

July index of production of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) rose to 93,300 tonnes (100% of the basic substance) versus 88,900 tonnes a month earlier.

The increased output of caustic soda was provided by SayanskKhimplast. Overall production of caustic soda totalled 642,000 tonnes in January-July 2016, down by 1.5% year on year. The main reason was a forced long shutdown at SayanskKhimplast.

Last month’s output of mineral fertilizers was 1.639m tonnes (if recalculated for 100% of nutrients), up by 5% from June.

Russian plants produced over 11.8m tonnes of fertilizer in the first seven months of the year, up by 0.1% year on year. Production of all types of fertilizers increased, with the exception of potash, the output of which decreased by 9.2%.

MRC, a partner of ICIS, produces polymers news and pricing reports from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.