German firms Bayer and BASF fight USD265m US fine over weedkiller

MOSCOW (MRC) -- German chemical giant Bayer is to appeal against a Missouri court's award of USD265m (203m) to a US peach grower who blamed a herbicide for crop damage, said BBC.

Farmer Bill Bader sued Bayer and BASF, alleging that dicamba weedkiller drifted onto his orchard from nearby fields, destroying them. It is the first ruling in some 140 US cases against dicamba, a herbicide blamed for extensive crop damage.

Bayer says its herbicides pose no unreasonable risk if used correctly. The US agrochemical giant Monsanto, bought by Bayer for $63bn in 2018, sells dicamba-based herbicide and a similar, much-criticised product, Roundup.

US lawsuits against Monsanto's weedkillers may cost Bayer billions of dollars in damages.

It is not yet clear how Bayer and BASF may share the cost of the Missouri damages. BASF said it would "use all available legal resources" to fight Saturday's ruling by a federal district court in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

The firms were ordered to pay Mr Bader USD15m in actual damages and USD250m in fines. He argued that his 1,000-acre (405-hectare) orchard was destroyed by dicamba. In a statement on Monday, Bayer said it "clearly disagrees with the jury's verdict and is very disappointed".

"We will swiftly appeal the decision. While we have great empathy for any farmer who suffers from crop losses, in the case of Mr Bader there was no competent evidence presented which showed that Monsanto's products were present on his farm and were responsible for his losses."

Dicamba-based herbicides have been blamed for damage to thousands of hectares of crops in US Midwestern states. In November 2018 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) imposed restrictions on dicamba use, because of the farmers' concerns.

Bayer insists that Monsanto herbicides are safe and "valuable tools for growers". The herbicides "do not pose any unreasonable risk of off-target movement when used according to label directions", the firm says.

As MRC wrote earlier, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, has restarted its No. 1 steam cracker following a maintenance turnaorund. Thus, the company resumed operations at the plant on September 30, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance in mid-August, 2019. Located at Ludwigshafen in Germany, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 235,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 125,000 mt/year.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing 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).

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of around EUR63 billion in 2018.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking White House guidance on the future of its controversial biofuel waiver program after a court ruling cast doubt over its legitimacy, and aims to announce a decision by early next month, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In late January the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit said the EPA must reconsider some waivers it gave oil refineries exempting them from the nation's biofuel blending laws

The exemption program has saved oil refineries hundreds of millions of dollars in regulatory costs. But it has infuriated the corn and biofuel industries, which say the Trump administration has overused the exemptions in a way that undermines demand for corn-based ethanol. The oil industry refutes that the exemptions hurt ethanol demand.

The EPA will announce a response to the court's decision by March 9 after consultations with the White House, according to the source, who asked not to be named. "EPA and (the Department of Justice) are reviewing the decision and carefully considering its potential impact on the program," EPA spokeswoman Molly Block said in a statement.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler had told reporters this month that the ruling "has the potential of completely, of changing the small refinery program." Under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the nation's oil refineries are required to blend billions of gallons of biofuels such as ethanol into the nation's fuel pool, or buy credits known as RINs from those that do.

But the EPA can waive refiners' obligations if they prove compliance would cause them financial distress. According to the court's decision, the EPA overstepped its authority to grant waivers in the past for HollyFrontier's Woods Cross and Cheyenne refineries and CVR Energy's Wynnewood refinery because the refineries had not received exemptions in the previous year.

The court said the RFS is worded in such a way that any exemption granted to a small refinery after 2010 must take the form of an "extension." "This decision would deprive EPA of a critical tool used to help small refineries disproportionately impacted by the RFS," Chet Thompson, president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers trade group said. "We hope the EPA will appeal this ruling and at the very least limit its impact to the 10th Circuit."

According to EPA data, the agency granted seven biofuel waivers in 2015. That number rose to 35 in 2017 – meaning 28 waivers were given without having been given in a previous year. The EPA does not name the refineries that receive the waivers, arguing the information is confidential, but Reuters has reported that some have gone to small facilities owned by large companies like Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp .

Market participants are awaiting clarity on how the EPA will address the court's ruling. U.S. renewable fuel prices have more than doubled since the Jan. 24 court decision.

As MRC informed before, in September 2019, ExxonMobil announced plans to spend GBP140 million over the next two years in an additional investment program at its Fife ethylene plant, which has a capacity of more than 800,000 t/y.

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).

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's Jan natgas consumption sees first contraction in 2 years, said Reuters.

China's natural gas consumption in January saw its first year-on-year contraction in at least two years, data compiled by Chongqing Petroleum and Gas Exchange, a government-backed energy trading platform, showed on Monday.

Last month, the country consumed 31.6 billion cubic metres (bcm), down 1% from a year earlier.

The decline was stoked by a 14% fall in demand from industrial users and a 10% drop from power utilities, offsetting an increase from city gas users and chemical producers.

Several analysts have cut their forecasts for gas demand in China, the world's top gas importer, as the coronavirus outbreak in the country is expected to depress industrial, commercial and transportation appetite for the fuel over the next few months.

The total natural gas supply, not including stored gas, reached 29 bcm, with domestic gas output up 1% on-year and gas imports down 3.2%, according to the Chongqing Exchange.

The bourse also expects a supply glut in the natural gas market in February and March, with average daily consumption down 6.2% and 11.2%, respectively, from a year earlier.

Official data release on China's gas imports for January has been postponed until March.

As MRC informed earlier, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) announced in a statement that it would offer force majeure certificates to Chinese businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

As MRC informed earlier, BP said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40% this year, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan's largest refiner JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy has decided to terminate its refining operations at the 115,000 b/d Osaka refinery in western Japan and turn the facility into an asphalt-fueled power plant in October 2020, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's statement.

As MRC informed earlier, JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy bbrought on-stream, its fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) unit in Japan in early-August, 2019. The unit was shut for maintenance, on June 10, 2019. Located at Sendai, Japan, the FCC unit has a propylene capacity of 100,000 mt/year.

Propylene is a feedstock for production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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).

The Nippon Oil Corporation, or NOC or Shin-Nisseki is a Japanese petroleum company. Its businesses include the exploration, importation, and refining of crude oil; the manufacture and sale of petroleum products, including olefines (ethylene, propylene) and aromatics.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC0 -- Japan's JXTG Nippon Oil and Energy Corp Monday shut the sole 120,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its Marifu refinery in western Japan for scheduled maintenance on January 20, reported S&P Global with reference to a company official's statement.

The turnaround will last until late March, the official said.

As MRC wrote before, JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy bbrought on-stream, its fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) unit in Japan in early-August, 2019. The unit was shut for maintenance, on June 10, 2019. Located at Sendai, Japan, the FCC unit has a propylene capacity of 100,000 mt/year.

Propylene is a feedstock for production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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).

The Nippon Oil Corporation, or NOC or Shin-Nisseki is a Japanese petroleum company. Its businesses include the exploration, importation, and refining of crude oil; the manufacture and sale of petroleum products, including olefines (ethylene, propylene) and aromatics.
MRC