Bottleneck of fuel tankers grows at Mexico's ports

MOSCOW (MRC) -- More than 20 vessels loaded with fuel have waited a week or more to discharge gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas at Mexico’s ports, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, as demand craters due to coronavirus-related lockdowns, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Mexico imports most of its fuel and has very limited storage capacity. State oil company Pemex and about a dozen independent importers typically discharge at least two gasoline cargoes per day, mostly coming from the United States.

In January, the United States exported 1.17 million barrels per day (bpd) of refined products to Mexico, in line with the 2019 average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Pemex, which mostly imports on the spot market, has not declared force majeure over fuel purchases even though gasoline retail demand declined 60% and diesel demand fell 35% in the two first weeks of March, according to the country’s fuel retail association Onexpo.

In total, 56 tankers loaded with fuel are waiting to enter Mexican ports, of which 21 have been in line for more than a week. The total volume contained in the 21 vessels would be at least 4.2 million barrels, enough for about three days of pre-lockdown demand in Mexico.

Pemex did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Most of the vessels waiting to discharge are anchored near Pajaritos, the main port of entry of imported fuel into Mexico. There are also bottlenecks off Manzanillo and Tuxpan ports, according to the data.

Long waiting times for tankers to discharge typically imply the payment of demurrage fees, which are about USD20,000 per day depending on the vessel size, contract terms and freight tariff agreed.

As MRC wrote previously, in 2016, Pemex shut its steam cracker at its Cangrejera complex for maintenance on February 15. The cracker was idle for about 14 days. The conducted repairs at the cracker were a part of planned maintenance.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF Corp., the North American affiliate of German chemical maker BASF SE, has begun producing hand sanitizer from two of its plants in the U.S. to help meet the increased demands needed to safely combat the COVID-19 pandemic, said Canplastics.

The company is providing the states of New Jersey and New York with hand sanitizer manufactured at its facility in Washington, N.J. free of charge. BASF said that it does not regularly produce hand sanitizer at its New Jersey location, but a team of BASF scientists and engineers worked on a compressed timeline to develop a safe and high-quality product.

The New Jersey plant is the first BASF location in the U.S. to supply hand sanitizer. The facility will produce approximately 3,500 gallons of hand sanitizer to be distributed to health care systems and government agencies in New Jersey and New York, and other BASF locations in the U.S.

And the BASF Corp. site in Wyandotte, Mich. has created and produced a hand sanitizer, HandClasp, with the first 1,000 gallons in the U.S. donated to the Henry Ford Health System.

The Wyandotte facility is home to one of BASF’s largest research and development centres and manufacturing sites in North America with more than 1,200 employees. As at the Washington, N.J. site, BASF does not regularly produce hand sanitizer at the Wyandotte location, however the facility received authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to temporarily produce a safe and high-quality sanitizing product. The facility has produced over 8,000 gallons of hand sanitizer being distributed to the Henry Ford Health System, and other health care systems in Michigan, Texas, Louisiana, Mexico and Canada, as well as other BASF locations in the U.S.

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 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.

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 American Chemistry Council (ACC) reported that with the effects of COVID-19 fully affecting in the U.S. economy, U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes fell 5.0 percent in March, accelerating from a 0.5 percent decline in February, said ACCA.

Of the 28 specialty chemicals segments ACC monitors, only three expanded in March, down from 13 in February. Twenty-five markets declined in March, with large market volume gains (1.0 percent and over) occurring in cosmetic additives and flavors and fragrances. On a sequential basis, diffusion was 11 percent, down from 48 percent in February and 63 percent in January.

During March, the overall specialty chemicals volume index was down 4.4 percent on a year-over-year (Y/Y) basis. The index stood at 111.4 percent of its average 2012 levels in March. This is equivalent to 7.29 billion pounds (3.31 million metric tons). On a Y/Y basis, there were gains in only four market and functional specialty chemical segments. Compared with last year, volumes were down in 23 segments, while one was flat. On a year-earlier basis, diffusion was 16 percent, much worse than February.

Specialty chemicals are materials manufactured on the basis of the unique performance or function and provide a wide variety of effects on which many other sectors and end-use products rely. They can be individual molecules or mixtures of molecules, known as formulations. The physical and chemical characteristics of the single molecule or mixtures along with the composition of the mixtures influence the performance end product. Individual market sectors that rely on such products include automobile, aerospace, agriculture, cosmetics and food, among others.

Specialty chemicals differ from commodity chemicals. They may only have one or two uses, whereas commodities may have multiple or different applications for each chemical. Commodity chemicals make up most of the production volume in the global marketplace, whereas specialty chemicals make up most of the diversity in commerce at any given time, and are relatively high value with greater market growth rates.

This data set is the only timely source of market trends for twenty-eight market and functional specialty chemical segments. Chemistry directly touches over 96 percent of all manufactured goods, and trends in these specialty chemical segments provide a detailed view of trends in manufacturing. The data also shed light on how various consumer end-use markets are performing compared to others in the marketplace.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR will supply epidemiological kits for medical personnel to various regions of Russia to satisfy the needs of healthcare institutions, said the company.

This decision was taken by SIBUR's Committee for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Social Investments.

Over 40,000 protective suits will be provided as the main part of this delivery. The overall suits are made of polymeric material and have the necessary level of barrier protection to prevent medical personnel from contracting the coronavirus from infected patients.

"We need to stand together to beat the coronavirus and protect the people who are now on the frontline in this war and are therefore most vulnerable," said Alexey Kozlov, SIBUR’s Management Board member, Managing Director, and Chairman of the Committee for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Social Investments.

On top of anti-crisis aid, SIBUR continues the Formula for Good Deeds charitable programme, keeping its scope intact. The Company works together with its partners and grantees to transform 2020 projects and ensure their successful implementation in line with the current requirements on organisers' and attendees' safety.

As MRC informed earlier, SIBUR will develop a feasibility study for the construction of a gas processing plant near Kazan by July 2020. Based on the feasibility study, the company"s shareholders will decide on the construction of the enterprise.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.

SIBUR Holding PJSC is the largest petrochemical company in Russia and Eastern Europe with full coverage of the industry cycle from gas processing, production of monomers, plastics and synthetic rubbers to plastics processing. The main shareholder of SIBUR Leonid Mikhelson controls 48.48% of the company, Gennady Timchenko - 17%, Kirill Shamalov - 3.88%, the current and former management of the company (including SIBUR chairman of the board Dmitry Konov and head of Gazprom Neft Alexander Dyukov) - 10.6%, Chinese Sinopec and the Silk Road Fund - 10% each.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS and Plastic Energy have agreed to collaborate in constructing a new plant to convert waste plastic into raw material to make new plastic, reported Kemicalinfo.

The new facility would be operational by the end of 2023.

Plastic Energy’s proprietary Thermal Anaerobic Conversion (TAC) technology turns previously unrecyclable plastic waste into TACOIL. The resulting material is then used for replacement of conventional oil-derived raw materials in INEOS crackers to produce virgin plastic for use across medical products, food packaging, lightweight automotive parts and pipes for safe water transportation.

First product results from the new advanced recycling process at Plastic Energy have been completed. At the INEOS cracker at Koln, Germany, the new raw material was successfully converted into virgin polymer. Selected consumers and brands will now use the plastics made from this trial to highlight the benefits of the process.

Advanced recycling allows the finished product to be manufactured with an equivalent specification to virgin material. It eliminates all contamination so that the resulting polymers can be used in food and medical packaging where highest degree of product purity is required for safety standards.

Rob Ingram CEO INEOS Olefins & Polymers Europe said, “This represents the delivery of another important milestone in the INEOS sustainability strategy. To take plastic waste back to virgin plastic is the ultimate definition of recycling and will create a truly Circular Economy solution. This will enable us to offer another opportunity for our customers to help them meet their pledges and commitments in this area.’

Carlos Monreal Founder and CEO of Plastic Energy said, “We will work jointly to bring this new solution on to the market and respond to the growing demand for high quality recycled content and the growing imperative to increase recycling rates and move towards a circular future for plastics.”

As MRC informed previously, earlier this month, INEOS, one of the world’s largest manufacturing companies, announced that it is to build a fourth hand sanitiser plant. The plant to be built in Etian will be located to serve the hard hit hospitals in Paris and North Eastern France as well as meet the needs of Belgium. The company has also announced that it has met its ten-day target to build a hand sanitiser plant in Lavera France and has today started production of 1 million hand sanitisers a month.

We remind that in January 2019, INEOS announced Antwerp as the location for its new petrochemical investment. The EUR3 billion investment will be the biggest ever made by INEOS and is first cracker to be built in Europe in 20 years. The investment is a game changer for the chemical sectors and will bring huge benefits to the Belgium and wider European economies.

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.

INEOS is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products employing 22,000 people. It has 34 businesses, with a production network spanning 183 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries.
MRC