MOSCOW (MRC) -- US oil refiner Phillips 66 has suspended business travel to China due to the coronavirus outbreak, reported Reuters with reference to a spokesman for the company.
The company said it is monitoring the outbreak and updates from the World Health Organization.
As MRC informed before, independent refineries in China’s eastern Shandong province, who collectively import about a fifth of the country’s crude, have slashed output by 30% to 50% in just over a week as the coronavirus outbreak hit fuel demand and distribution, reported Reuters earllier with reference to executives and analysts. Utilisation rates dropped below 50% by the end of January at key plants, from around 66% a week earlier, the lowest since at least 2015, according to surveys of around 40 plants conducted by local consultancies JLC Network Technology and Longzhong Information Group.
We remind that Phillips 66 remains open to developing another ethane cracker for its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) joint venture, the refiner's CEO said in March 2018.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC