Tianjin Bohai to restart PDH plant in China later this week

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tianjin Bohai Chemical is expected to restart its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant later this week, reported S&P Global.

Previously, in early February, Tianjin Bohai Chemical decided to postpone the restart of its PDH plant by another 19 days to February 29 due to sluggish demand for propylene. This came after the facility, located in northeastern China, had delayed the restart of its 600,000 mt/year propylene plant to February 10, from February 6, extending the Lunar New Year holidays in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Tianjin Bohai uses 720,000 mt/year of propane when at full capacity.

The company originally planned to shut its 600,000 mt/year PDH plant for 30 days maintenance starting from December 28, 2019.

Located in Tianjin, China, the PDH plant has a propylene capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, the company last shut this plant for an unscheduled turnaround from 1 to 11 November, 2019.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

Tianjin Bohai is a state owned enterprise, with over 100 subsidiaries and 35,000 employees. It has joint venture relationships with a number of foreign partners, including: LG Chem, Solvay, Akzo Nobel, Clariant, Veolia, Air Liquide and Vopak.
MRC

HDPE imports to Russia up by 25% in Jan-Feb 2020

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of high density polyethylene (HDPE) into Russia grew in January-February 2020 by 25% year on year to 56,600 tonnes. Pipe grade and film and extrusion blow moulding grade polyethylene (PE) accounted for the greatest increase in imports, according to MRC's DataScope report.

February imports of high density polyethylene increased to 28,900 tonnes compared with 27,700 tonnes in January. Overall HDPE imports reached 56,700 tonnes in January-February 2020 versus 45,200 tonnes a year earlier. HDPE deliveries in all processing sectors increased, but the largest increase in imports came from pipe and blow HDPE.

The structure of PE imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

February film HDPE imports exceeded 9,300 tonnes from 8,800 tonnes a month earlier, shipments from Uzbekistan and USA increased. Overall external supply of HDPE in the country grew to 18,100 tonnes in the first two months of 2020, up by 12% year on year.

February imports of extrusion blow moulding HDPE rose to 6,400 tonnes, compared with 6,300 tonnes in January. Total imports of blow moulding HDPE in the country reached 12,700 tonnes in Jan-February 2020, up 56% year on year.

February injection moulding HDPE imports increased to 5,500 tonnes from 4,600 tonnes a month earlier. Overall injection moulding HDPE imports totalled 10,100 tonnes in the first two months of the year, up by 21% year on year.

February imports of pipe HDPE into the country increased to 3,000 tonnes, compared with 5,100 tonnes in January. on a stronger purchases of natural HDPE from Turkmenistan. The overall imports of other ethylene polymers reached 8,100 tonnes over the stated period versus 5,300 tonnes a year earlier.

Overall imports of other grades of HDPE to Russia were 7,600 tonnes in January-February 2020 compared to 7,200 tonnes year earlier.

MRC

Valero Meraux, Louisiana, refinery employee tests positive for virus

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An employee at Valero Energy Corp’s Meraux, Louisiana, refinery tested positive for the coronavirus, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with the matter.

Valero is following US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for cleaning up the individual’s work area. Fellow employees were informed on Thursday about the infected employee, the sources said.

Valero spokeswoman Lillian Riojas said the company “will not publicize individual cases of COVID-19” to protect employee privacy.

“Our pandemic response in the case of a positive test, however, include compliance and cooperation with the Center for Disease Control and local health authorities, deep cleaning or sterilization of affected areas, communicating with employees in ‘close contact’ with the affected employees followed by implementation of appropriate quarantines, communication with our employees at the site, and, most importantly support of all affected employees," Riojas said.

She declined to discuss the status of operations at the 125,000 barrel-per-day Meraux refinery, which the sources said continues to operate.

About 300 people are employed at the refinery, located southeast of New Orleans along the Mississippi River.

The sources did not know if other workers at the refinery were required to go into quarantine because of exposure to the virus.

This is the second case of a U.S. refinery employee testing positive for the coronavirus.

On March 11, an employee at Marathon Petroleum Corp’s Los Angeles refinery, the largest in California, tested positive for the virus. The employee and several colleagues who worked nearby were quarantined.

As MRC informed earlier, Valero Energy Corp restarted the small CDU at its Port Arthur refinery after repairing a valve on 25 September 2019.

And in late October 2019, Valero Energy Corp shut the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Port Arthur refinery. The 75,000-bpd AVU 147 CDU was shut to repair a heat exchanger.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.
MRC

Chemical and oil companies to slash capital spending, slowing investment wave

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In the wake of the coronavirus and collapse in crude oil prices, chemical, oil and gas, and midstream companies will all slash capital spending (capex) for growth projects to preserve cash. As a result, the U.S. and global chemical investment wave looks to slow considerably in the years ahead, said Canplastics.

While major U.S. chemical projects under construction should continue, the fall in Brent crude oil prices and the shrinking of the Brent/US Henry Hub natural gas ratio from the 30s to the mid-teens “puts into question the economics long term”, said Kevin Swift, chief economist of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) speaking on an ICIS webinar on the economic outlook on March 19. “This creates an awful lot of uncertainty, and decision-makers don’t like uncertainty,” he added.

This year, US-based Dow had already taken down its capex plan to USD1.5bn for 2020 from USD2bn in 2019. However, on a March 16 appearance on CNBC’s Mad Money program with Jim Cramer, CEO Jim Fitterling said the company would struggle to meet even the lowered USD1.5bn capex target because of limitations on the movement of contractors and engineers given the coronavirus outbreak.

On March 18, Shell announced the temporary suspension of work on its 1.5m tonne/year cracker under construction in Monaca, Pennsylvania to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. No timeframe was given for when work would resume. For Dow, after having paid down around USD2bn in debt in 2019, it would like to pay off another USD500m-USD1bn in debt in 2020, said Fitterling. At the end of 2019, Dow had net debt of USD14.6bn.

Dow is in the process of starting up its Texas-9 cracker expansion adding 500,000 tonnes/year of ethylene capacity in Freeport by mid-Q2. Among other project plans are a 130,000 tonne/year ethylene expansion in Western Canada by H1 2021 and a 600,000 tonne/year polyethylene (PE) plant on the U.S. Gulf Coast for an H2 2022 start-up.

Canada-based Methanex on March 16 said it is evaluating all capital and operating spending, including its planned Geismar 3 project in Louisiana which would add 1.8m tonnes/year of methanol capacity. Construction on the plant started in late 2019 with planned start-up for mid-2022.

In late January, Methanex announced it was broadening its search for a strategic partner for Geismar 3.

As MRC informed earlier, operations at Italian petrochemical producer Versalis (part of Eni) have not affected by emergency quarantine measures in the country. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte extended its emergency coronavirus measures Wednesday evening and announced the closure of "non-essential" commercial businesses. This follows the announcement of a nationwide lockdown on Monday, limiting movement for around 60 million people. Under these measures people will only be allowed to leave their homes for work or health reasons. Versalis has three steam crackers in Italy, capable of producing 1.675 million mt of ethylene, 750,000 of propylene and 285,000 mt of butadiene a 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 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.
MRC

Ultrapar looking for strategic partner for Petrobras refineries

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s Ultrapar Participacoes SA is looking for a strategic partner to bid for refineries put on the block by state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, CEO Andre Dias told analysts in a conference call, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Dias said the conglomerate, with activities ranging from retail to fuel distribution, is attentive to all opportunities in Petrobras’ divestiture program.

As MRC wrote previously, in October 2017, Petrobras’s minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica was excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree published in Brazil’s Official Gazette. The decree prevented Petrobras from immediately selling its minority stake in Braskem, which had been announced last year. A new decree will be required to release the stock sale.

As MRC wrote earlier, the chief executive of Brazilian state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro said in December 2019 he wants to sell the company's stake in petrochemical company Braskem within 12 months.

We also remind that Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.

MRC