Natgas pipeline fire near Citgo Corpus Christi refinery extinguished

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A natural gas pipeline fire that began on Monday morning near Citgo Petroleum Corp’s (PDVSA) 157,500-barrel-per-day refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, was extinguished, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement.

"At approximately 8:37 a.m. (local time), a pipeline owned by a third party caught fire outside the Citgo Refinery East Plant and was extinguished at 10:40 a.m. without injury," it said in a statement, adding that the incident does not pose any threat to the community and employees.

Operations at Citgo’s Corpus Christi refinery were not immediately affected by the pipeline fire, sources familiar with plant operations said earlier.

Investigation is underway to determine who owns the natgas pipeline, a city spokesman said.

As informed before, in May 2019, Citgo restarted larger reformer at its US Corpus Christi 52,000 bbl/day refinery with capacity 225,000 benzene; 180,000 toluene tonnes/year.

Benzene is a feedstock for the production of styrene monomer (SM), which, in its turn, is a feedstock for manufacturing polystyrene (PS).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics was 46,260 tonnes in December 2019, up by 8% year on year. The estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics totalled 500,660 tonnes in 2019, down by 1% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- NOVA Chemicals Corporation (Calgary, Alberta), a leading supplier of polyethylene in the Americas, has announced the appointment of Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Chief Executive Officer, Petroleum & Petrochemicals for Mubadala Investment Company to the position of Chairman, NOVA Chemicals Board of Directors, according to GlobeNewsWire.

Al Kaabi succeeds His Excellency Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy & Industry who has served as chairman for nearly five years. Faris Al Mazrui, Head of Moscow Office, Mubadala Investment Company, and Tim Breen, Executive Director, Technology, Mubadala Investment Company, have also joined NOVA Chemicals Board of Directors.

Musabbeh Al Kaabi said, "I am proud and honored to have been appointed as chairman. I would like to thank H.E. Suhail Al Mazrouei for his insightful leadership during a time of growth and transformation at NOVA Chemicals. I look forward to continuing to work with NOVA’s management team to deliver the current slate of investment projects and build on the company’s position as a leading player in the North American petrochemicals market."

As MRC reported earlier, in January 2017, NOVA Chemicals announced the start up of its new world-scale linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) gas phase reactor at its Joffre, Alberta site.

Besides, NOVA Chemicals expanded ethylene production capacity by 20% at its cracker in Corunna, Ontario from the previous capacity of about 839,000 tpy. The expansion occurred between 2014 and 2018 and was part of a wave of expansions and upgrades to NOVA's existing facilities near Sarnia, Ontario. Other upgrades in the plan included a debottlenecking of the Moore low-density polyethylene (LDPE) line and a retrofit of the Moore high-density polyethylene (HDPE) line.

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).

NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a plastics and chemical company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is wholly-owned ultimately by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China will grant exemptions on retaliatory duties imposed against 696 US goods, the most substantial tariff relief to be offered so far, as Beijing seeks to fulfill commitments made in its interim trade deal with the United States, reported Reuters.

Tuesday's announcement comes after the Phase 1 trade deal between the two countries took effect on Feb. 14 and is the third round of tariff exemptions China has offered on US goods.

China has committed to boosting its purchases of goods and services from the United States by USD200 billion over two years as part of the agreement, and has already rolled back some additional tariffs on US imports after the deal was signed.

US goods eligible for tariff exemptions include key agricultural and energy products such as pork, beef, soybeans, liquefied natural gas and crude oil, which were subject to extra tariffs imposed during the escalation of the bilateral trade dispute.

The coronavirus epidemic that emerged late last year in China has raised concerns about its ability to meet the purchasing targets, however. Authorities throughout the country imposed major restriction on travel and transportation to curb the spread of the virus, which has killed nearly 1,900 and infected more than 70,000 in the country.

The containment efforts have kept factories shut or operating with drastically reduced staff, hitting production. The public has also been discouraged from leaving their homes or going to public places, also stunting consumption.

White House adviser Larry Kudlow said earlier this month that Chinese President Xi Jinping told US President Donald Trump during a recent call that China will still meet its Phase 1 trade deal purchasing targets.

Beijing's announcement on Tuesday emphasised that Chinese firms will submit applications for tariff exemptions based on market conditions and commercial considerations.

"Unless the state forcefully asks firms to apply for tariff exemption and buy US soybeans, crushers would still go for Brazilian beans, based on market free will," said a trader, adding that Brazilian beans are of good quality and price this year.

Other products subject to exemption on additional tariffs imposed include denatured ethanol and wheat, corn and sorghum. Some medical devices and metals including copper ore and concentrates, copper scrap and aluminium scrap are also subject to exemption.

Pharmaceutical products such as recombinant human insulin and some antibiotics are also among US products eligible for tariff exemptions.

Firms can start submitting their applications on March 2, and any exemptions granted will be valid for one year.

As MRC informed earlier, in H2 2019, tariffs sharply reduced exports of two grades of US polyethylene (PE) amid the ongoing US-China trade dispute. As new US startups brought more high density and linear low density polyethylene production (HDPE and LLDPE) on line, flows into China, the largest global demand center, retreated since China imposed 25% tariffs on those grades in August last year. Those tariffs, like the rest China imposed on the US products, were in response to tariffs the US first imposed on Chinese products.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US propylene inventory had fallen for four consecutive weeks, decreasing 18,000 barrels week on week to 5.451 million barrels in the week that ended February 7, reported S&P Global with reference to the Energy Information Administration's statement.

We reminad that, as MRC informed before, Enterprise Products Partners' Mont Belvieu propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Texas restarted from planned maintenance in the first week of December, 2019. The PDH unit went offline for maintenance on November 13. That day, the company said in a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that the RAC "B" turbine shut down, which resulted in flaring. The flaring was estimated to last 72 hours. The unit has a capacity of 750,000 mt/year, according to Platts data.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the 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).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) will be halting the production of Ultem polymers in its mega production complex in Cartagena, Spain, this year, said the company.

The move is part of the strategy to optimise global operations, the state-owned enterprise said in a bourse filing on Tuesday.

SABIC is the world’s fourth-biggest petrochemicals company. Saudi Aramco has announced a deal to buy a 70 percent stake in SABIC from the Public Investment Fund in March last year.

SABIC assured that the rest of the operations at the Cartagena facility will continue, although it is expecting the suspension to result in a “non-cash financial impact" of approximately 700 million Saudi riyals.

It also assured that it remains committed to meet the product requirements of its existing Ultem customers through its other assets.

"The decision has no direct impact on the other remaining operations at the Cartagena facility," SABIC said.

The Saudi conglomerate has a complex in Cartagena, home to a few plants that specialise in the production of polycarbonate and polyetherimide resins. In September 2010, the company opened the doors to its second Ultem resin plant in the Cartagena complex. The investment costs 300 million euros.

Earlier last year, SABIC took off-stream its SABIC Olefins 4 cracker owing to technical issues on May 10, 2019. Further details on duration of the shutdown could not be ascertained. Located in beek, the Netherlands, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 690,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 360,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC