Russia: Beijing based ChemChina and Moscow based oil company, Rosneft signed a MoU regarding Far-Eastern Petrochemical Co. (FEPCO) project. During the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China on Sep 4, 2016, an agreement was signed between the president of ChemChina and CEO of Rosneft to initiate development of previously planned FEPCO project in Nakhodka city situated in far eastern Russia. Rosneft would control 60% share in the joint venture and remaining shares would be controlled by ChemChina. The project would commence operations by 2022 and would produce around 1.4 million metric tons of ethylene and 600,000 metric tons of propylene annually. Furthermore, production of 850,000 metric tons of polyethylene, 800,000 metric tons of polypropylene, 200,000 metric tons of butadiene, 230,000 metric tons of benzene and 700,000 metric tons of ethylene glycol are estimated annually.

TechSci Research depicts that the implementation of FEPCO petrochemical project in Russia would help ChemChina and Rosneft to extend their services and offerings to the Europe and Asia Pacific market. Also, polyethylene and butadiene produced through downstream production will be used in the manufacturing of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) and Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT), which will boost the India PET and PBT market as well.

According to the recently published report by TechSci Research, “India PET & PBT Resins Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2020”, the PET & PBT resins market in India is expected to surpass USD1.9 billion in 2015. PET is predominantly used for packaging of bottled drinking water, carbonated soft drinks, edible oils, juices, alcoholic beverages, etc., while PBT is majorly used in electrical and electronics industry. Increased demand for PET resin is driven by replacement of traditional packaging materials like glass, aluminum, paper, metal and growth in FMCG sector while the factors like thermal stability, high heat resistance, superior electrical properties are the reasons for increased demand for PBT resin. With the increasing government focus on domestic manufacturing with “Make in India” tag the demand for PET and PBT resins is further expected to increase in India.