Japanese refiners restart shipments after Typhoon Hagibis

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan’s biggest refiner, JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, said on Tuesday it had resumed land shipments at its Negishi refinery, near Tokyo, in the wake of Typhoon Hagibis, while other refineries said sea shipments have been renewed, reported Reuters.

The country’s refineries remained in operation during the typhoon, the worst to hit Japan in decades, and there was no damage to facilities, refiners said.

Typhoon Hagibis made landfall on Japan’s main island of Honshu on Saturday evening, leaving large areas of towns in central and eastern Japan under water. The death toll reached 66 on Tuesday and many homes remained without power or water.

JXTG Nippon, which is a unit of JXTG Holdings Inc (5020.T), temporarily halted land shipments at the Negishi refinery due to flooding, but shipments had been restarted on Tuesday, a company spokeswoman said.

Refiners including Idemitsu Kosan, Cosmo Oil, a unit of Cosmo Energy Holdings, and Fuji Oil said sea shipments had been temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure, but all shipments had been resumed by Tuesday.

As MRC informed before, in December 2018, JXTG Nippon Oil and Energy undertook an unplanned shutdown at its cracker in Kawasaki. The company halted operations at the cracker on December 10, 2018 for maintenance work. The cracker remained off-line for around 8-10 days. Located at Kawasaki in Japan, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 448,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 273,000 mt/year.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,436,390 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.
MRC

Imports of Chinese injection moulding PET chips to Russia decreased almost four times in September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Import deliveries of Chinese injection moulded PET chips to the Russian market decreased in September this year by 72% compared to the same month last year - to 4,430 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

The same indicator in August 2018 amounted to 15,640 tonnes. Shipments from China increased by 15% to 100,000 tonnes in the nine months of this year. The share of imports from China amounted to 90% against 86% for the same period last year. The leading Chinese suppliers to the Russian market were producers Yisheng, Wankai and Sinopec.Imports of injection moulded PET chips to the Russian market in September decreased by 70% compared to September 2018 and amounted to 5,000 tonnes (excluding supplies from Belarus). Imports reached 8,910 tonnes in August of this year, up 44% year on year.

Nevertheless, the total volume of imports of bottle grade PET grew by 10% to 111,000 tonnes in January-September of this year against 101,000 tonnes in the same period last year.
MRC

Two killed at Saudi Aramco SASREF refinery during maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi refiner SASREF, owned by state oil giant Saudi Aramco, said two contractors had died and two more were injured in “an incident” during maintenance work on Sunday, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement on Tuesday.

It said maintenance work will continue as planned. The 305,000 barrel per day SASREF refinery, located in Jubail on Saudi’s east coast, had until September been a joint venture between Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell.

Aramco bought it as part of a strategy to expand its downstream operations.

As MRC informed before, in June 2019, Sahara International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) signed a hydrogen supply agreement with SASREF. The agreement is to supply SASREF with the hydrogen gas that is required in SASREF’s future production operations starting in 2020 for an initial term of twenty years.

Besides, we remind that Saudi Aramco and France's Total are considering building a mixed-feed cracker and derivatives in Jubail, near their joint refining complex. The cracker is expected to have a capacity of 1.5 MMtpy, said a source familiar with the plans, who described them as at an initial stage.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,436,390 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
MRC

Honeywell to protect workers from noise-related injuries


MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell announced a new smart hearing solution that combines cloud-based software and connected, protective headsets to monitor sound in real time and analyze patterns to help companies better protect workers from noise-induced hearing loss, said the company.

The VeriShield Smart Hearing Solution comprises a protective headset that reduces background noises to safe levels within the headset, allowing workers to communicate more clearly and easily. The headsets continuously collect and transmit noise-related data to Honeywell Safety Suite, a cloud-based service that automates and streamlines the collection and reporting of critical safety intelligence. Supervisors and workers can monitor and view noise exposure data, including noise peaks, patterns and unusual occurrences, on their smartphone or mobile computer using the Honeywell VeriShield mobile app.

Exposure to unsafe noise levels on jobsites adversely affects millions of workers and accounts for 16% to 24% of all hearing-loss cases reported worldwide, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Honeywell's software allows a safety manager or plant operator to remotely monitor noise levels and worker exposure across multiple teams. The software also provides new insights into noise exposure, enabling managers to view and log noise levels and patterns on a visual dashboard. It also can automatically generate records that help companies meet compliance regulations and reduce timely administrative procedures.

The smart headsets provide workers with a hear-through function allowing them to hear critical conversations and alarms while being protected from unwanted noise. Additional protections include visual and audible alerts that notify workers when they are nearing and surpassing their daily dose limits. The headsets also include fit testing that will notify the user or safety manager if the device is not properly fitted or worn correctly.

As MRC informed earlier, in September 2019, Honeywell announced that Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co., Ltd. is using Honeywell UOP’s C3 OleflexTM technology to produce 450 000 tpy of polymer-grade propylene for a new petrochemicals complex in China. This is the second C3 Oleflex unit now operating with Satellite. Honeywell UOP delivered Satellite’s first Oleflex unit in 2014.

Propylene has historically been produced as a by-product of refining fuels, but demand for propylene has exceeded the supply from refining processes. Propane dehydrogenation such as the Oleflex process can bridge this gap by producing ‘on-purpose’ propylene from propane that is derived from natural gas as well as from refining processes.

Propylene is the main feedstock for producing polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated consumption of PP in the Russian market totalled 694,210 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 14% year on year. The supply of propylene block copolymers (PP-block) and propylene homopolymers (PP-homo) increased.

Honeywell is an industry-leading provider of intelligent safety solutions and personal protective equipment that help organizations keep workers safe and healthy. The company serves a multitude of industries with the broadest range of hearing protection solutions, from innovative earplugs to intelligent earmuffs, personalized fit-testing centers and educational resources.

Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions (SPS) provides products, software and connected solutions that improve productivity, workplace safety and asset performance for our customers across the globe. We deliver on this promise through industry-leading mobile devices, software, cloud technology and automation solutions, the broadest range of personal protective equipment and gas detection technology, and custom-engineered sensors, switches and controls.
MRC

Sinopec weighs output cuts due to freight rate surge

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asia’s largest refiner, Sinopec, is weighing plans to cut oil imports in December and reduce output at its refineries after a surge in global tanker freight rates hit margins, reported Reuters with reference to four sources.

The cost of shipping crude to Asia has surged in the past two weeks after companies stopped using nearly 300 tankers for fear of violating US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.

Refining margins have yet to catch up with the jump in freight rates, forcing refiners to absorb the costs for now.

"Refineries are facing strong pressure as spot premiums are high and freight rates have jumped, so it’s not economical to import crude," one of the sources said, adding that Sinopec was considering drawing down crude inventories to manage its needs.

A second source said Sinopec was studying whether it could reduce import volumes and see which cargoes from suppliers in the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East it could cut among those due to arrive in China in December.

"The cargoes have been purchased so it’s still unsure whether the volume, especially for long-haul cargoes, can be cut," he said.

"Freight rates have jumped to USD8-USD9 a barrel, up by USD7 a barrel. It’s eaten up a chunk of the (refining) margins," he added.

In a sign the company was already trying to unload some excess supply in the spot market, Sinopec’s trading arm Unipec UK offered four west African crude cargoes last week, but failed to sell them, traders said.

Sinopec declined to comment.

As MRC wrote earlier, in mid-September 2019, SIBUR Holding (SIBUR) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) signed a framework cooperation agreement to produce SEBS (styrene, ethylene and butylene-based block copolymers). SEBS is a pelletised modifier for thermoplastics used to impart elasticity to plastic materials or as a primary polymer to produce elastic components. SEBS boasts excellent durability and is leveraged across a variety of industries such as plastics and bitumen modification, adhesives, modification compounds, and toys. Under the agreement, SIBUR and Sinopec will establish a 50/50 joint venture (JV) in Russia to produce at least 20 ktpa of SEBS.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,436,390 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its principal business includes: exploring, developing, producing and trading crude oil and natural gas; producing, storing, transporting and distributing and marketing petroleum products, petrochemical products, synthetic fiber, fertilizer and other chemical products. Its refining capacity and ethylene capacity rank No.2 and No.4 globally. Sinopec listed in Hong Kong, New York, London and Shanghai in August 2001. Sinopec Group, the parent company of Sinopec Corp., is ranked the 5th in Fortune Global 500 in 2012.
MRC