RZD places new ban on propane, butane shipments to Kazanorgsintez to Feb 15
MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) - Russian Railways (RZD) has once again banned the shipment of propane and butane for Kazanorgsintez , an RZD telegram says.
The ban was imposed on February 9 and will continue until February 15 inclusive.
The ban was imposed on the request of Kazanorgsintez and Gorky Railways "due to the arrival of a massive amount of cargo and continued maintenance works at the company." The rail monopoly is hoping to avoid unproductive idle time for railcars.
As well as butane and propane the ban extends to butane blends and butane-butylene and propane-propylene fraction from Kirishi Station (Leningrad region), Kauchuk Station (Udmurtia), Lapshinskaya (Volgograd region), Novokuybyshevskaya, Syrzan (Samara region), Kulsharipovo, Biklyan, Sobolekovo (Tatarstan), Tuimazy, Priyutovo (Bashkortostan), Osentsy (Perm region), Tobolsk (Tyumen region), Tyulpan (Orenburg region), Novoya Elovka (Krasnoyarsk territory) to Vosstanie Station.
The same ban was in place from January 29 to February 4 and was also imposed at the request of Kazanorgsintez and Gorky Railways.
OJSC Kazanorgsintez said earlier it would start receiving propane and butane by rail, as planned, on February 5.
"Reduced consumption of liquefied hydrocarbon gases propane and butane (LPG) is linked to technological needs and increased ethane processing. There were no emergency stoppages in production," it told Interfax.
"There are no LPG consumption norms, the volume of processing is planned based on the economic viability in a specified period," the company said when asked about propane and butane consumption volumes.
An overstock did occur, a company spokesman said. This happened because of additional ethane supplies from OJSC Tatneft (supplies climbed from 10 tonnes to 18 tonnes per hour from last year). In addition, there was an increase in supplies from OJSC Gazprom .
The source from the company said that supplies from the gas concern exceed the plans and are not guaranteed. Additional supplies enabled 85% of pyrolytic production capacity to be utilized. "The company is well supplied with its key raw material - ethane," he said. Because of this the consumption of propane, which is also used in production, fell.
The company will start receiving propane on February 5. However, the company will discuss on Tuesday whether it will ask Russian Railways (RZD) again to stop sending LPG if unplanned ethane deliveries keep arriving.
A source close to the company's raw materials suppliers said pyrolysis at Kazanorgsintez was stopped for a week for routine maintenance and caused lower than average output while LPG was supplied as usual. "There is likely to be another routine maintenance in February so some pressure on output could remain," the source said.
Earlier OJSC RZD said that it was stopping butane and propane shipments to Vosstanie Station (Tatarstan) for Kazanorgsintez until February 4. The restriction was imposed on January 9 on the request of the company's management and Gorky Railway. The ban was introduced to prevent carriages from standing idly.
Apart from butane and propane it applies to butane mixes and butane-butylene and propane-propylene fraction.
Kazanorgsintez produces over 38% of Russia's polyethylene and is a major exporter. It produces polyethylene pipes for gas pipelines, phenol, acetone, cooling liquids and chemical reagents for oil and natural gas. Every year it produces over 1 million tonnes of products.
Gazprom is contracted to provide 300,000 tonnes of ethane to Kazanorgsintez annually. Minnibaev gas processing plant, part of the Tatneft group, plans to increase ethane deliveries to the company 20% in 2013 to 146,000 tonnes.