Russia’s chemical production up 2.8% in January-April

MOSCOW (MRC)–Production of chemicals in Russia rose by 2.8% year on year in January-April, according to statistical agency Rosstat.

April production, however, fell 2.3% compared to a month earlier, with the output of all key products declining.

April production of ethylene reached 244,000 tonnes against 264,000 tonnes a month earlier.

Russia’s production of ethylene in the first four months of the year increased to 1.03m tonnes, up only 1.6% from the same period in 2017.

Production of benzene in April decreased to 116,000 tonnes, compared to 134,000 tonnes in March.

January-April production of benzene in Russia reached 505,800 tonnes, up 4.9% year on year.

April production of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) amounted to 96,700 tonnes (100% of the main substance) against 112,000 tonnes a month earlier, the reduction in the output was a result of the scheduled maintenance works at RusVinyl.

Total production of caustic soda increased to 425,700 tonnes in January-April, up 1.6% year on year.

April production of mineral fertilizers was 1.99m tonnes, in terms of 100% of nutrients, compared to 2.05m tonnes in March.

In general, January-April production of mineral fertilizers in Russia was about 8.02m tonnes, up 5.2% year on year.

The most significant increase took place in the production of nitrogen fertilizers, with an increase to the previous year of 7%.

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