U.S. refiners bringing diesel stocks under control

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. oil refiners are starting to make progress towards eliminating excess stocks of middle distillates by restraining crude processing and switching equipment to maximize gasoline production, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

U.S. distillate fuel oil inventories stood at 176 MM barrels at the end of last week, which was 37 million barrels or 21% above the five-year seasonal average. In absolute terms, stocks are unchanged from early June, when they were also 176 MM barrels. But the surplus over the five-year average has shrunk from 42 MM barrels, or 29%.

Refiners have stabilized bloated distillate stocks over the summer and into early autumn, a time when they would normally be rising, accumulated as a by-product of driving-season gasoline production plans.

Refinery processes and equipment have been reconfigured to maximize production of gasoline and minimize output of mid-distillates such as fuel oil and jet kerosene. Last week, refiners produced 1.77 times as much gasoline as distillate fuel oil and jet fuel combined, one of the highest gasoline ratios for a quarter of a century.

Gasoline-distillate ratios have only approached similar levels a few times, including 2010, 2005 and 1998, when distillate stocks were also far above normal. Even more importantly, refiners have trimmed total crude processing to reduce the production and supply of all fuels (in effect cutting everything to bring distillate stocks under control).

U.S. refiners held crude processing 16% below the five-year average last week and by the same proportion over the last four weeks as a whole. By comparison, the total volume of petroleum products supplied to the domestic market, a proxy for actual consumption, was 10% below the five-year average last week and 13% below average for the last four weeks.

The result is that distillate production has been reduced in line with consumption, while gasoline has been under-supplied for months, leading to a sustained drawdown in stocks. Gasoline stocks have fallen by 36 million barrels since late April, when they were 12% above the five-year average, and are now less than 1% above average.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

Merck KGaA appoints new chairman, CEO

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Merck KGaA says that Stefan Oschmann, the company’s chairman and CEO since 2016, will hand over his responsibilities to Belen Garijo on 1 May 2021, said Chemweek.

Garijo has been appointed Merck’s new chair and CEO by the company’s board of partners. Garijo is currently vice chair of Merck’s board and deputy CEO, as well as CEO of the company’s healthcare business. Oschmann will leave the company as planned after 10 years on the board, five of them as chairman and CEO, to turn to other tasks, the company says.

Johannes Baillou, chairman of Merck's board of partners, says that Garijo “has done excellent work in transforming our healthcare business sector. Belen Garijo and Stefan Oschmann have been collaborating closely and trustfully for many years. This will ensure a seamless transition and continuity in corporate management,” he says.

Peter Guenter will join the Merck board, effective 1 January at the latest, the company says. He will assume board responsibility for the healthcare business sector and be located at Merck's Darmstadt, Germany, headquarters. Matthias Heinzel will also join the company’s board, effective 1 April 2021 at the latest, Merck says. He will assume board responsibility for Merck’s life science business sector and be located at Burlington, Massachusetts, and Darmstadt.

Kai Beckmann and Marcus Kuhnert will remain board members, Merck says.

As MRC wrote previously, Merck KGaA has announced the opening its M Lab Collaboration Center in Shanghai, China. Merck Innovation Hub, the first in China, started in late 2019, with the company announcing a 100 million renminbi (USD14 million) seed fund injected into the China Innovation Hub.

We remind that Merck celebrated the opening of its new packaging center at the science and technology company’s headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, in October, 2018. The new 161,458-square-foot facility is dedicated to the packaging and shipping of Merck’s current portfolio of pharma medicines in more than 90 countries and help meet increasing patient needs for flagship medicines Glucophage, Concor and Euthyrox in the areas of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and thyroid disorders respectively. It will also provide capacity for potential future pharma products currently in clinical development such as evobrutinib in the area of neurology-immunology or tepotinib in the area of oncology.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

Siemens to assist with expansion, digitization of UK fine chemicals site

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Siemens says that its digital industries business is teaming up with Lianhetech Seal Sands (Middlesbrough, UK), a contract manufacturer of fine chemicals for use in the crop protection, pharmaceutical, and performance chemicals industries, to double the overall capacity of the Lianhetech plant at Seal Sands near Middlesbrough. Lianhetech Seal Sands is a subsidiary of Lianhetech (Taizhou, China), said Chemweek.

Lianhetech has committed to a multimillion-pound expansion of its site and the collaboration with Siemens will help it to carry out digitization on a large-scale expansion at the site, which will enable Lianhetech to create a digital production facility that uses data to drive decision making and share real-time information with its customers; double its fine chemical manufacturing capacity to meet demand from customers in the UK, Europe, and worldwide; improve production efficiency and quality; and futureproof the plant, which employs more than 350 people, Siemens says.

Lianhetech is taking a modular approach to design and commissioning of the project to achieve its target opening of May 2021, Siemens says. There are also longer-term plans to expand into other parts of the site, which could quadruple production capacity, it says. The development is expected to create 80 jobs, Siemens says.

"For decades the industry has become increasingly reliant on a supply chain from the east—China and India—which has led to a huge decline in UK manufacturing,” says Julian Lightwing, operations director at Lianhetech Seal Sands. He notes that “we currently have four production buildings, the large expansion on the existing site, and land we can expand onto. It means we can start from scratch at grassroots level to create a digital enterprise building, and involve Siemens from day one."

Siemens has a long-standing relationship with the Seal Sands facility through the site's previous owner Fine Organics, prior to its acquisition by Lianhetech two years ago.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

China oil hub urges refiners to make payments to government risk fund

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The tax office in China’s Shandong province has urged refiners in the oil hub to make payments to a government risk reserve fund to cover periods when oil prices fell below USD40 a barrel this year, in line with government policy, said Hydrocarbonprocesing.

Global oil prices held below that level for more than three months and the payments due are estimated to be in the billions of yuan. Beijing set a policy in 2016 that required refiners to pay their profit margins to the central government fund whenever crude fell below USD40 a barrel, which is the floor price for retail gasoline and diesel.

If the payments are made, analysts say they would likely cut into the already narrowing margins of the mostly independently run plants and curb their appetite for crude imports for the rest of the year. “All companies that are registered in Shandong, but not including Qingdao city, and produce or process gasoline and diesel are obliged to make payment to the risk reserve fund,” the Shandong tax bureau said in a statement.

The central government has direct control of taxes in Qingdao. Companies that choose to pay quarterly will have to submit payments for the first two quarters before the end of October and those that opt for annual payments will have to complete the process by the end of February next year, it said.

The fund aims to improve fuel quality, help firms to reduce emission and ensure the national oil supply, but analysts worry the payments will put a short-term burden on refineries. "Refining margins have declined sharply since the third quarter due to tepid fuel demand. The fund collection is another pour of cold water," said Wang Yanting, Shandong-based analyst at consultancy JLC.

State refiner PetroChina said in August it would have to pay nearly 13 billion yuan (USD1.9 billion) to the government fund for the first half of 2020.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

Wacker to increase prices of dispersions in North America

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wacker Polymers is to raise prices for vinyl acetate-ethylene and ethylene-vinyl chloride-based copolymer dispersions of the VINNAPAS® and VINNOL® brands in North America, said the company.

As customer contracts allow, effective October 16, 2020, prices will be raised by up to 10 percent. This measure has been necessitated by the increase in logistic and raw material market costs.

The price adjustment enables Wacker Polymers to continue providing customers with a wide range of innovative quality products and comprehensive technical, sales and customer support services, along with supporting investment to secure the capability for future growth across our focus markets.

Dispersions of the VINNAPAS® and VINNOL® brand are applied in a broad variety of industries, ranging from adhesives, caulks, non-wovens, paints and coatings to paper, carpet and textiles.

According to MRC's DataScope report, last month"s SPVC imports to Russia dropped to 7,400 tonnes from 10,900 tonnes in July. The increased supply from domestic producers and high prices in foreign markets were the main reasons for lower imports. Thus, overall imports were 32,000 tonnes in January-August 2020, compared to 36,900 tonnes a year earlier, with resin from China and the United States accounting for the main decreased in imports.

Wacker Polymers is a leading producer of state-of-the-art binders and polymeric additives based on polyvinyl acetate and vinyl acetate copolymers and terpolymers. These take the form of dispersible polymer powders, dispersions, solid resins, and solutions. They are used in construction chemicals, paints and surface coatings, adhesives, sealants, carpet applications and nonwovens, as well as in fiber composites and polymeric materials based on renewable resources. WACKER POLYMERS has production sites in Germany, China, South Korea and the USA, as well as a global sales network and technology centers in all major regions.
MRC