US EPA to slash biofuel waiver program, mulls other measures to help refiners

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Trump administration has decided to drastically scale back the US Environmental Protection Agency's program exempting small oil refineries from the country's biofuel regulations after a court case cast doubt on the legitimacy of the program, reported Reuters with reference to a person familiar with the matter.

The agency, meanwhile, is discussing the possibility of instituting a cap or other restrictions on the price of biofuel blending credits, called RINs, that refiners must acquire to show compliance with the biofuel regulations, two other sources said. Such a move would serve as compensation to the oil industry if the lucrative waiver program went away.

The sources said the possibility of price controls was discussed in an EPA meeting earlier this week with officials from the White House, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Agriculture, but it was unclear if the administration would ultimately adopt the idea.

An EPA spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The potential changes mark the latest twist in the controversial US biofuel program, which has driven a wedge between the oil industry and Big Corn - two crucial political constituencies for Republican President Donald Trump as he seeks reelection.

The US Renewable Fuel Standard requires refineries to blend billions of gallons of biofuels such as ethanol into the country's fuel pool, or buy credits from those that do, something that has created a valuable market for corn but which refiners say is too costly.

Since the adoption of the RFS, the EPA has granted waivers to small refiners exempting them from their obligations if they prove compliance would cause them financial distress. The Trump administration has roughly quadrupled the number of exemptions since it took office.

In January, the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit cast doubt on the program, saying the EPA overstepped its authority to grant several waivers in the states where it has jurisdiction because the refineries had not received exemptions the previous year.

The court said the RFS wording requires that any exemption granted to a small refinery after 2010 must take the form of an extension.

The bulk of waivers granted to oil refineries by the EPA in recent years do not meet that standard. According to EPA data, the agency granted seven biofuel waivers in 2015. That number rose to 35 in 2017 - meaning 28 waivers were handed out without having been given in a previous year.

Senators representing the oil industry have urged the EPA to appeal the decision, saying that if the court's opinion is applied nationally, only two refineries would qualify for waivers.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler had told lawmakers during a hearing on Wednesday morning that the agency expects to make an announcement on the waiver program soon and that he hoped the decision would "quell" the market for RINs.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ACC reiterated its support for bipartisan policies aimed at modernizing our national recycling infrastructure in testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change, said ACC.

Keith Christman, ACC’s managing director of plastics markets, told the Subcommittee that plastics producers are deeply committed to ending plastic waste in the environment and have set goals to reuse, recycle or recover all plastic packaging in the United States by 2040 and to make all plastic packaging recyclable by 2030.

"We believe these challenges, while significant, are ultimately solvable," said Christman, noting that recent disruptions have also led to significant domestic opportunities.

"In less than three years, we have seen more than USD4.2 billion in new investments in mechanical and advanced plastics recycling with potential to convert 6 billion pounds of plastics into new products,” Christman said. “These technologies offer significant economic and environmental potential."

ACC projects that the United States could support up to 260 advanced recycling facilities, generating 39,000 jobs and nearly USD10 billion in economic output. Christman told the Subcommittee that unlocking further opportunities will require a range of actions from bipartisan policies to innovation and public-private investments.

ACC and America’s plastics makers strongly support the Save Our Seas Acts, the RECOVER Act, the RECYCLE Act, and the PLASTICS Act. “But we must oppose proposals that would ban many plastic products, or impose a moratorium on new plastics facilities,” Christman told the Subcommittee members. “Those policies would increase environmental impacts."

Recent studies have shown that replacing plastics with alternative materials would result in increased greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and waste. A study by Trucost found that the environmental costs of alternatives to plastic in 16 consumer goods sectors were nearly four times greater than the environmental cost of plastic.

ACC’s members, who include the nation’s largest plastic producers, are leading in the deployment of system improvements and technology advances to convert a variety of used plastics into resources to make new plastics and other valuable materials. Last year companies from across the globe and throughout the plastics value chain, from manufacture through disposal, announced the creation of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, a nonprofit that is committing USD1.5 billion over five years to help end plastic waste especially in areas where it is needed most.

Earlier it was reported that in January of this year, the index of production of chemicals in the Russian Federation grew by 3% compared with the same month a year. Over the past year, the release of basic chemicals showed an increase of 3.4%. The largest increase in production in January came in primary form polymers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Liberia suspended the licences of all fuel importers, including France's Total, on Friday to conduct performance reviews after some of the companies overdrew from reserves in state-run facilities, leading to gasoline shortages, reported Reuters.

Officials say importers who store their fuel in communal tanks had taken beyond their quotas, leaving the government to suddenly realize in January that it only had a quarter of the 4.4 million gallons of gasoline it thought it had.

For four weeks, long queues at pumps brought much of the country to a standstill, raising prices for transport and basic goods and stoking anger against authorities amid economic stagnation and high inflation.

The shortages have since been resolved, and the government says there is now enough fuel to last several months. But President George Weah's office said in a statement he was suspending the importers' licenses so authorities could verify that they are fit to operate.

Information Minister Eugene Nagbe told Reuters the suspension included Total, the largest importer, but said its review could be fast-tracked. The company stocks its reserves in privately-owned facilities.

Total was not immediately available for comment.

The presidency's statement said importers who borrowed beyond their quotas would have 90 days to pay for what they took.

It also announced the sacking of the deputy managing director of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company, which operates the state's reserve tanks, “for gross negligence and fraudulent activities".

The official, Bobby Brown, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As MRC informed earlier, in November 2019, Total disclosed that it is evaluating construction of a new gas cracker at its Deasan, South Korea, joint venture (JV) with Hanwha Chemical.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) - Export deliveries of injection moulding PET chips from Belarus in January-December increased by 16% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 17,500 tonnes against 15,100 tonnes year on year, according to MRC DataScope.

At the same time, exports of injection moulding PET remained at the level in December 2019 against the same month of the previous year and amounted to 2,400 tonnes.

In November of last year, material from the country was exported in the amount of 1,700 tonnes.

Supply to Russia decreased by 47% (8,200 tonnes) in January-December from the total exports against a share of 75% (11,300 tonnes) in the same period last year.

The share of exports to Russia from Belarus in December reached 56% (1,300 tonnes), in November it amounted to 68% (1,100 tonnes).

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) to the Belarusian market grew in 2019 by 1% year on year to 7,150 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was at 7,070 tonnes in January-December 2018.

December 2019 ABS imports to Belarus fell by 46% year on year. Thus, imports of material into the country were 457 tonnes over the stated period versus 848 tonnes in December 2018. Imports were at 6560 tonnes in November 2019.

South Korea, Russia and Belgium are the main countries-importers of ABS to Belarus.

Imports of Korean material to the Belarusian market increased last year by 2 times year on year: from 1,400 tonnes in January-December 2018 to 2,800 tonnes. The share of ABS imports from South Korea in the total shipments to the country rose significantly in 2019 to 39% from 20% a year earlier.

December 2019 shipments of Korean ABS into the Republic of Belarus were only 86 tonnes versus 250 tonnes in November 2019, whereas imports of material were 343 tonnes in December 2018.

Deliveries of Russian material into the county decreased in 2019 by 31% year on year: from 2,800 tonnes to 1,900 tonnes. The share of Russian companies' ABS in the overall imports to the country dropped last year to 27% from 39% a year earlier. Shipments of Russian material to Belarus were 158 tonnes in December 2019 versus 153 tonnes in November 2019, whereas imports of Russian material were 286 tonnes in December 2018.

Last year's imports of material from Belgium also decreased. Thus, shipments of Belgian ABS to the country fell by 28% year on year: from 2,300 tonnes to 1,700 tonnes. December 2019 ABS imports from Belgium went down by 25% from November to 132 tonnes.

MRC