BASF expands dispersion portfolio in Huizhou, South China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plastic additive manufacturer BASF has extended its dispersion portfolio at its facility in Huizhou, South China, said Packaging-gateway.

The expansion will enhance the company’s production capacities in Shanghai which caters the East China region.

This will not only allow the company to better cater the growing packaging markets in South China but also benefit the customers as lead-times decrease with increased proximity to material supply.

It will also see reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions. BASF Asia Pacific business management, resins and additives vice-president Sylvain Huguenard said: “Moving closer to our growing customer base in South China is part of our corporate strategy.

"It will improve our flexibility to better and quicker serve our customers, also help our customers reduce logistic costs and increase productivity. “Our customers in South China have appreciated the move and are working closely with us to qualify the products from the Huizhou plant."

We remind that BASF 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 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 267,630 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 20% year on year. Homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers 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 EUR59 billion in 2019.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ukraine's polypropylene (PP) imports to the Ukrainian market totalled 47,700 tonnes in the first five months of 2020, down by 16% year on year. Shipments of virtually all grades of propylene polymers decreased, according to a MRC's DataScope report.

May PP imports into Ukraine rose to 8,700 tonnes from 8,100 tonnes a month earlier, which was still lower than in the previous years. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 47,700 tonnes in January-May 2020, compared to 56,500 tonnes a year earlier. Demand for all grades of propylene polymers decreased, but propylene block copolymers (PP block copolymers) accounted for the largest reduction.

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

May imports of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) to the Ukrainian market grew to 6,600 tonnes from 5,800 tonnes a month earlier, shipments of injection moulding homopolymer PP from Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia were resumed after the pause in April. Overall imports of homopolymer PP imports totalled 37,000 tonnes in January-May 2020, compared to 44,100 tonnes a year earlier.

Last month's imports of PP block copolymers were slightly over 700 tonnes, compared to 800 tonnes in April, local companies reduced their purchasing of injection moulding PP. 4,100 tonnes of PP block copolymers were imported in the first five months of 2020 versus 5,400 tonnes a year ealier.

May imports of propylene statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) remained at the level as of a month earlier, totalling 1,200 tonnes, local companies reduced their purchasing of pipe grade material, whereas demand for injection moulding PP random copolymer increased. Overall imports of PP random copolymer reached 5,800 tonnes in January-May 2020, compared to 6,400 tonnes a year earlier.

Overall imports of other propylene copolymers totalled slightly less than 800 tonnes over the stated period.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Belarus totalled 12,800 tonnes in the first four months of 2020, which corresponds to the same figure a year earlier, according to MRC's DataScope report.

According to the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus, local converters reduced their purchasing of PVC in April 2020 under the pressure of weaker demand for finished products because of the coronavirus pandemic, overall imports totalled 2,600 tonnes versus 3,500 tonnes a month earlier.

Thus, imports of unmixed PVC into the country reached 12,800 tonnes in January-April 2020, which corresponds to the last year's figure.

Russian producers with the share of about 82% of the Belarusian market were the key suppliers of resin to Belarus over the stated period. Producers from Germany and Ukraine with the share of approximately 7% each were the second and third largest suppliers, respectively.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- More than 13% of crude oil production in the US Gulf of Mexico remained offline on June 11 after Tropical Storm Cristobal swept through the region during the weekend, bringing the region closer to normalcy during what's expected to be a busy hurricane season, reported S&P Global.

Nearly 200,000 b/d of crude came back online from June 10 to June 11, according to daily updates from the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Almost 35% of the US Gulf production was shut-in in advance of the storm. After a peak of 635,781 b/d was shut in, BSEE said 242,681 b/d remained down on June 11, or 13.12% of total US Gulf oil production.

BSEE decreased its gas shut-in estimate from 619 MMcf/d down to 241 MMcf/d, keeping just 8.89% of the offshore gas volumes offline.

BP, Occidental Petroleum and other producers that shuttered some volumes have said they were working to resume operations and production volumes.

"We have safely returned staff to all of our central and eastern (US Gulf) facilities that were affected by Tropical Storm Cristobal, and we are in the process of carefully ramping back up production and resuming normal operations," Oxy said in a statement late June 9.

Ahead of Cristobal's move onshore, BSEE said, operators evacuated 188 platforms and rigs in the US Gulf - roughly 30% of the region's total platforms with working personnel - and relocated several drillships. BSEE said 20 platforms, or 3%, remained evacuated on June 11.

BP reduced output at its Thunder Horse, Atlantis and Na Kika platforms in the US Gulf. Those three BP-operated platforms churn out more than 200,000 boe/d. BP's Mad Dog platform was not affected.

"BP has started to resume normal operations at its four operated platforms in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico," BP said in a June 8 statement, declining to give further updates.

Others such as Shell and Chevron said they had not reduced their US Gulf production volumes during the storm.

Cristobal battered southern Mexico and shut down ports over the past week, before moving through the Gulf of Mexico and depositing heavy rainfall from Louisiana to Florida. The storm hit just as oil prices were moving up, with the OPEC+ group agreeing to extend deeper production cuts at least through July and front-month NYMEX WTI flirting with $40/b for the first time since early March.

Total US Gulf oil production was nearly 2 million b/d before the coronavirus pandemic cratered global demand and oil prices. BSEE was estimating US Gulf oil production at closer to 1.85 million b/d before Cristobal.

However, S&P Global Platts Analytics data estimates that US Gulf crude production will fall to an estimated 1.62 million b/d average for June as some producers reduced their volumes because of lower prices.

In Mexico, Pemex had to shutter production at some of its wells in the area struck by storms Amanda and Cristobal for 10 working days between May and June, CEO Octavio Romero said during a press conference June 7.

Romero did not say how many wells were affected or where they are located. Amanda hit Mexico on May 31, passing through the states of Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Veracruz. Only Chiapas does not have Pemex oil or gas infrastructure.

As MRC informed earlier, Total SA cut production at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery to 70% of its 225,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity with a reduction in the operating level of the large crude distillation unit (CDU), said Gulf Coast market sources in mid-May, 2020.

We also remind that Total has recently 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 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

1. China is stockpiling crude oil and exporting fuel, not boosting consumption

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The rebound in China’s crude oil refinery processing and record imports of the fuel in May would seem to be bullish indicators that the world’s second-largest economy is recovering strongly after the hit from the coronavirus lockdowns, said Hydrocarbonprocessing. For sure, the numbers are robust. But there are some other factors within the data that give rise to caution against becoming too optimistic about the real strength of the crude oil sector in China. The two main factors worth looking at are the amount of crude flowing into commercial and strategic storage tanks, and the amount of crude that is ultimately being exported back out of China in the form of refined fuels.


MRC