Tosoh completes maintenance at Yokkaichi cracker

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan's Tosoh Corp has brought on-stream its naphtha cracker following a planned outage, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that, the company resumed operations at the cracker on April 20, 2020. The cracker was shut for maintenance on March 4, 2020.

Located at Yokkaichi in Japan, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 527,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 315,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, Tosoh Corp restarted its 527,000 tpa naphtha cracker in Yokkaichi, central Japan, in mid-Apirl, 2016, after planned maintenance. The cracker was shut on 8 March, 2016.

The company runs two low-density polyethylene (LDPE) lines with a combined production capacity of 56,000 mt/year and a 43,000 mt/year LDPE/ ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) swing plant at the same site. It also runs 120,000 mt/year high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Tosoh is one of the largest chlor-alkali manufacturers in Asia. The company supplies the plastic resins and an array of the basic chemicals that support modern life. Tosoh's petrochemical operations supply ethylene, polymers, and polyethylene.
MRC

EPCA cancels annual meeting due to COVID-19 pandemic, transitions to virtual format

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European Petrochemical Association (EPCA; Brussels, Belgium) says that, “as a result of the severe global disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the EPCA board has unanimously decided to cancel the 54th EPCA annual meeting, which had been due to take place in Budapest, Hungary, on 4-7 October 2020, reported Chemweek.

EPCA says it has decided instead to hold the event in a “virtual” format on the same dates.

“Even in the event that the various pandemic lockdown measures were to be lifted, the potential participation of several thousand individuals would create an undue risk to delegates, speakers, staff members, and external suppliers as well as to the citizens of Budapest,” EPCA says.

The virtual event will have a revised program, details of which will be disclosed before the summer, EPCA says.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, dozens of tankers holding jet fuel and gasoline are at anchor in sea lanes around Europe’s main storage hubs, unable to discharge their cargoes as onshore tanks are full to capacity following the collapse in demand linked to the coronavirus crisis. Nearly 1 million tonnes of refined products are parked on around 30 tankers off Europe’s coast, Reuters calculations found. According to shipping data and trade sources, tankers have dropped anchor near to the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub and across parts of the Mediterranean as their cargo owners struggle to find buyers or storage tanks.

Earlier this year, BP said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40 per cent in 2020, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.

We also remind that, in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

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

Eni see fuel sales in Italy rise after COVID-19 infection rates peak

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eni is seeing an uptick in fuel demand in Italy from lows during March when the country's lockdown hit pump sales by up to 80%, reported S&P Global with reference to Eni's CEO Claudio Descalzi's statement Friday.

In March, Eni saw its fuel sales reduced on average by 70-80% from normal levels, with gasoline sales hit more sharply than diesel consumption as many delivery trucks were still operating, Descazli told a quarterly earnings call.
"The good news is that is improving, by some percentage points, but it's improving," he said referring to Eni's transport fuel consumption.

"We think, by the end of May, the critical phase is finished and we will start gradually to recover the consumption and go to a possible normal situation by the end of the year."

The Italian government locked down the country - one of the world's hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic -- in early March but is expected to start easing restrictions in the coming weeks after the number of people confirmed as infected recently peaked.

Reporting Q1 earnings Friday, Eni said its retail fuel sales in Italy totaled 1.12 million mt, down by 19% year-on-year, with a notable fall in motorway fuel sales and consumption declining from February.

As MRC informed before, Italy's Eni on Friday lowered its production guidance for 2020 and announced at least a 30% cut in planned capex for 2020 and 2021, in response to the collapse in oil prices and the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The Rome-based major said it expects oil and production to average between 1.75 million–1.80 million b/d of oil equivalent in 2020, down from initial forecasts of around 1.9 million boe/d for the year.
Eni said it will also cut Eur2.3 billion from 2020 capex, 30% lower than the initial targets, and anticipates further reductions of 30%-35% lower than original plans in 2021.

Eni said in early April that most of its oil refineries in Italy were working at around 60% of their capacity as the coronavirus emergency continues. The pandemic has shut down large parts of economies across the globe and prompted many governments to slap tough restrictions on travel, triggering a steep fall in the demand for refined oil products. In emailed comments, Eni said its biggest refinery Sannazzaro, in northern Italy, was running at around 50% of its capacity since it was also impacted by planned maintenance work.

Earlier, in mid-March, the company said all its refineries in

At the same time, operations at Italian petrochemical producer Versalis (part of Eni) have not affected by emergency quarantine measures in the country at that period. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte extended its emergency coronavirus measures in mid-March and announced the closure of "non-essential" commercial businesses. This follows the earlier announcement of a nationwide lockdown, limiting movement for around 60 million people. Under these measures people werel only 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 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

Big Oil investors to look past earnings pain and focus on dividends

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Investors already braced for poor first-quarter earnings from major oil and gas companies will focus on how executives plan to save cash and whether they will cut dividends following the collapse in oil prices, said Hydrocarbonprocesiing.

The five biggest U.S. and European firms, known as the Oil Majors, have announced spending cuts averaging 23% in a rapid response to the precipitous fall in oil demand because of the coronavirus pandemic and a 65% slump in crude prices.

With the rout likely to extend for months, the pressure on balance sheets remains extreme as very few parts of oil company businesses make money at the current oil price of USD20 a barrel. “This remains a brutal business environment,” BP (BP.L) Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney said on Thursday.

From Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) to Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), companies have put projects on hold, slashed production in U.S. shale fields and reduced operations at refineries to deal with the double whammy of a drop in demand and a supply glut.

But more steps are likely to be needed and investors will be watching closely for changes to output forecasts and to see how companies plan to manage dividends, the most important incentive for shareholders worth more than USD40 billion combined last year.

“The look back into what was a weak first quarter seems almost irrelevant. The game plan for dealing with the next three months and the next 18 months is going to be the focus,” said Jefferies analyst Jason Gammel.

BP will be the first Oil Major to report first-quarter results on Tuesday, with Shell on Thursday, Exxon and Chevron (CVX.N) on Friday and France’s Total on May 5.

Italy’s ENI (ENI.MI) reported a 94% slump in net profit on Friday and lowered its spending and production forecasts while Norway’s Equinor will report on May 7.

As MRC informed earlier, Eni on Friday lowered its production guidance for 2020 and announced at least a 30% cut in planned capex for 2020 and 2021, in response to the collapse in oil prices and the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The Rome-based major said it expects oil and production to average between 1.75 million–1.80 million b/d of oil equivalent in 2020, down from initial forecasts of around 1.9 million boe/d for the year.
Eni said it will also cut Eur2.3 billion from 2020 capex, 30% lower than the initial targets, and anticipates further reductions of 30%-35% lower than original plans in 2021.

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

Lukoil European refineries only processing Russian oil

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European refineries of Russia’s No.2 oil producer Lukoil are now only processing Russian oil, reported Reuters with reference to the Interfax news agency, quoting CEO Vagit Alekperov's statement on Monday.

As MRC informed previously, Stavrolen (part of Lukoil), Russia's major polyolefins producer, resumed its polypropylene (PP) production in Budennovsk after a long scheduled turnaround. The plant's customers said Stavrolen had fully resumed its PP production after the long scheduled maintenance by 15 October 2019. The outage began on 6 September. The start-up of the plant"s high density polyethylene (HDPE) production took place with a week delay.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Lukoil is one of the leading vertically integrated oil company in Russia. The main activities of the company include operations for exploration and production of oil and gas, production and sale of petroleum products. Lukoil is the second largest private oil Company worldwide by proven hydrocarbon reserves. Lukoil's structure includes one of the largest Russian petrochemical plant - Stavrolen.
MRC