Agilyx appoints new CEO, chairman

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemical recycling and post-use plastics specialist Agilyx (Tigard, Oregon) has announced the appointment of Tim Stedman as its new CEO, effective 17 August, reported Chemweek.

He joins from Trinseo, where he was senior vice president/strategy and corporate development.

The current CEO of Agilyx, Joe Vaillancourt, will assume the role of president at Cyclyx International, an affiliated company launched recently by Agilyx to advance its plastics feedstock management business, it says. Peter Norris, chairman of Virgin Group, has assumed the position of board chairman at Agilyx after having served on the company’s board since 2014.

Stedman and Vaillancourt "provide a world-class combination of skills in waste management and the chemical and plastics industries, central pillars to Agilyx’ long-term strategy to transform global plastic recycling rates," Norris says.

As MRC informed earlier, Agilyx Corp. has licensed its technology to Toyo Styrene Co. for use in a new facility to be built in Japan that will recycle post-use polystyrene (PS) back to styrene monomer (SM). The plant, which will be located near Toyo Styrene's existing facility in China Prefecture, will have a processing capacity of up to 10 t/d of post-use PS. Agilyx and Toyo have begun engineering and development of the project. Operations are expected to begin in early 2022.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, May total estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics in Russia was 29,990 tonnes versus 41,780 tonnes a year earlier, down by 28% year on year. Russia's overall estimated consumption decreased in the first five months of 2020 by 10% year on year to 186,670 tonnes.
MRC

Pucheng Clean Energy resumes production at MTO plant in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Pucheng Clean Energy Chemical Company, has restarted its Methanol-to-olefins (MTO) plant in Weinan, Shaanxi, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that, the company completed turnaround at the plant on 27 June, 2020. The plant was shut for maintenance on May 8, 2020.

Located at Weinan, Shaanxi, China, the MTO plant has an ethylene production capacity of 300,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

Pucheng Clean Energy also operates linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit, which can produce 300,000 mt/year, and polypropylene (PP) unit, which has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/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 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

US exports of LPG to drop as COVID-19 dents oil output

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) production in the US is likely to be lower in the next few years as crude oil and associated gas production are expected to be weighed down by the effects of COVID-19, based on IHS Markit forecasts, reported Chemweek.

"The global LPG market growth, the trajectory of the growth, is being reset by the pandemic situation," Yanyu He, executive director at IHS Markit, said in an online presentation on Wednesday at the IHS Markit Asia NGLs and Naphtha conference.

Global refinery production of LPG and natural-gas-processing–related output over the next few years are likely to be lower than previous IHS Markit forecasts, he said.

In the US, crude oil production in 2023 is currently estimated at about 10 million b/d, down by about 4 million b/d from an earlier IHS Markit forecast, a chart in the presentation slide showed. "According to IHS Markit upstream colleagues, we're losing US crude oil production by almost 4 million b/d in the next few years. This year, we're not seeing too much of it, but really the biggest cut is still to come," and this would lead to a slowdown in associated gas output, He said.

As a result, total US natural gas liquid (NGL) production in 2023 is expected to drop to about 5 million b/d, down about 1 million b/d from IHS Markit's previous forecast, a chart in the presentation slides showed. "Now out of this 1-million (b/d)] overall NGL production, about two-thirds are LPG so roughly 600,000-b/d level, which is a huge amount. That number translates into roughly 20 million metric tons per year. If you recall, last year, the US exported 40 million metric tons," he said. "If indeed this is how much we're losing, we're going to lose a lot of exports from the US in the coming years."

Turning to LPG demand in Asia, China is likely to see an increase in propane consumption over the next few years as new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) projects come onstream. "In the coming years, China is expecting to add another dozen or so PDH projects. If all materialize, we should expect another 7-8 million metric tons of propane consumption in the coming 3-4 years," he said.

As MRC wrote previously, LPG intake by coastal steam crackers in northwest Europe plunged to a three-year low in June, although a widening discount of propane to naphtha has drawn a fresh deluge of US imports to the region for July.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

Crude oil futures in Asia mixed awaiting fresh drivers

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were mixed during mid-morning trade in Asia July 6 as the market awaits for fresh drivers to kick start the week, reported S&P Global.

At 10:40 am Singapore time (0200 GMT), ICE Brent September crude futures were up 14 cents/b (0.33%) from the July 3 settle at USD42.94/b, while the NYMEX August light sweet crude contract was down by 28 cents/b (0.66%) at USD40.37/b.

"Crude oil prices rose last week as optimism of a V-shaped economic recovery was strengthened by positive economic data, though some gains were pared on Friday. Falling inventories in the US and stronger US job data boosted positive market sentiment," according to a July 6 note by ANZ analysts.

Nonetheless, rising cases of coronavirus in the US, which led to several states re-introducing movement restrictions continued to dampen the demand outlook. In Florida, new infections rose by more than 10,000 in a day on July 5, for the third time in the last week, pushing the state's total number of infected cases past 200,000. Meanwhile, the situation remains equally dire in Texas, with more than 8,000 new cases on July 4, a new record high, according to media reports.

The newly reported coronavirus case counts and mobility data coming out of the July 4 long holiday weekend in the US will be keenly watched by market participants, which in turn, might determine the short-term direction of crude prices this week.

"The July 4th holiday weekend presents a fat tail risk for oil with gasoline inventories rising last week. If the weekend mobility data suggests muted activity, even if it is only in the Sunbelt states, you will be able to buy barrels cheaper this week," Stephen Innes, chief global markets analyst at AxiCorp, said in a July 6 note.

On the supply front, OPEC+ production, which is at its lowest since 1991, has helped to support oil market sentiment and fundamentals. However, the current record production cuts of 9.7 million b/d, which is set to expire at the end of July and ease into curbs of 7.7 million b/d in August, will likely keep traders cautious. The next OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, or JMMC, meeting is scheduled for July 15.

"My view on the JMMC outcome is based on the fact OPEC+ is using more sophisticated models for production targeting, including the oil market curve. If the forward slope does not move into backwardation, I suspect OPEC+ will be more inclined to extend the 9.7 million b/d production cut accord beyond July," Innes added.

As MRC informed before, global oil consumption cut by up to a third in Q1 2020. What happens next in the oil market depends on how quickly and completely the global economy emerges from lockdown, and whether the recessionary hit lingers through the rest of this year and into 2021.

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 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 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

Total Port Arthur refinery operating at 60% capacity

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total SA’s Port Arthur, Texas, refinery is operating at about 60% of its 225,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity, said sources familiar with plant operations, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The refinery is running at reduced capacity because of the loss of demand during the coronavirus pandemic, the sources said.

As MRC informed earlier, Total Petrochemicals, Europe’s third largest producer of crude oil, announced an increase in polypropylene (PP) prices for US shipments in August. So, the price increase will come into force on 1, August of the current year and will be 3 cents per pound or USD66/tonne, or according to the terms of current contracts.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC