Petronas to resume Pengerang polymer test runs

Malaysia's state-owned Petronas is expected to resume test runs at its new polymer units in Pengerang, a month after an explosion at its associated refinery.

The blast on 12 April hit the refinery's 140,000 b/d atmospheric residue desulphurisation unit.

Petronas is now in the market to purchase spot olefins and gradually ramp up its polymer production. It is expected to buy feedstock either from southeast Asia or the Middle East.

Once its cracker is fully operational later this year, Petronas will be able to get access to its own feedstock. The cracker, linked to petrochemical units, can produce 1mn t/yr of ethylene, 1.37mn t/yr of propylene, 180,000 t/yr of butadiene and 165,000 t/yr of benzene.

The Pengerang complex in southern Malaysia's Johor state, a joint venture between Petronas and Saudi Arabia's state-owned Saudi Aramco, will be able to produce 900,000 t/yr of polypropylene (PP) and 750,000 t/yr of polyethylene (PE). Its start-up is expected to make Petronas a dominant supplier to neighbouring southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

Petronas prior to the April explosion carried out test runs of its polymer units, producing limited quantities of on-specification product. Polymer production is expected to hit full or near-full capacity in the third quarter or early fourth quarter this year.

Petronas is likely to carry out the new test runs during a period of downtrend in the southeast Asian spot PE and PP market. Polymer demand in Asia is softening because of the escalation in the US-China trade war and oversupply from the US.