Hurricane Delta impacts on chemical facilities appear less serious than Laura

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hurricane Delta appears to have wreaked minimal damage to chemical facilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana, just six weeks after Hurricane Laura blew through the region, severely damaging major electricity transmission lines that left facilities offline for weeks, reported S&P Global.

Westlake Chemical said in a statement on Oct. 12 that initial assessments after Delta's Oct. 9 landfall showed "very limited physical damage" to its Lake Charles complex, and facilities were "in the process of restarting."
The timing of those restarts depends on restoration of electrical power, industrial gases and other feedstocks and utilities, the company said.

Sasol said Oct. 12 that its Lake Charles complex "did not experience significant damage" and that sufficient industrial-level power had been restored to resume startups of some facilities." Additional plants will startup once full load power is restored," the company said in a statement.

"We will resume the coordinated startup sequence of Sasol's Lake Charles facilities when it is safe to do so," the company said, noting, like Westlake, that startups depend on availability of electric power and feedstocks.

LyondellBasell and Lotte Chemical did not immediately respond to inquiries about the status of their Lake Charles operations on Oct. 12.

Delta came ashore as a Category 2 storm with 100 mph winds in early evening Oct. 9, weakening as it swiftly moved inland on a path near Hurricane Laura's Aug. 27 landfall.

Laura was a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds, and came ashore about 15 miles east of Delta's landfall. Laura severely damaged major electricity transmission lines in Lake Charles, leaving major chemical facilities there shut down in September, awaiting restoration of full load power to allow comprehensive damage assessments of their systems.

Force majeures declared in Laura's aftermath remained in effect on Oct. 12.

Entergy, the power provider that serves southwest Louisiana, said on Oct. 12 that power should be restored for the Sulphur and Westlake areas of Calcasieu Parish by Oct. 13-14, and in the Lake Charles area Oct. 15-16.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,496,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of all ethylene polymers increased, except for linear low desnity polyethylene (LLDPE). At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ufaorgsintez (UOS, Bashneft’s petrochemical asset) has resumed its polypropylene (PP) production after a shutdown for maintenance, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's customers said Ufaorgsintez had resumed its PP output since 13 October after the shutdown for a scheduled turnaround. The outage was quite long and started on 12 September. Ufaorgsintez's overall PP production capacities are 120,000 tonnes/year.

It is also worth noting that Poliom shut its production with the capacity of 230,000 tonnes per year on 2 October.

PJSC Ufaorgsintez produces phenol, acetone, synthetic ethylene-propylene rubber, high and low pressure polyethylene, polypropylene, more than 30 types of petrochemical products and over 25 consumer products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Zhongke Refinery and Petrochemical has unexpectedly taken its No. 1 polypropylene (PP) unit in Guangdong Province offstream on 12 October 2020 - just a week after recovering from the earlier explosion at the ethylene oxide (EO) line that affected the entire complex, reported CommoPlast.

The No. 1 PP line has an annual capacity of 350,000 tons/year.

Meanwhile, the No. 2 PP unit with 200,000 tons/year output are operating at stable rates.

Zhongke Refinery and Petrochemical has been attempting to start-up the newly constructed plant since June 2020. The producer might need more time to reach stable production.

As MRC wrote previously, Sinopec Zhongke Refinery and Petrochemical started selling first lots of on-spec PP materials in the open market with limited quantity from its new plant in China in early September, 2020. The company successfully completed the trial run at its newly constructed PP plant, consisting of two lines, and proceeded to commercial production within the month of August.

Thus, No. 1 PP unit with an annual capacity of 350,000 tons/year started producing commercial cargoes on 18 August 2020. The initial output might be homo-PP yarn before the company switches to PP fiber grades. And No. 2 PP line with nameplate capacity of 200,000 tons/year was scheduled to produce commercial cargoes on 24 August 2020, making homo-PP injection and high MI PP copolymer.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group"s key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA; Helsinki, Finland) has welcomed the European Commission’s EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and says it looks forward "to supporting its implementation," according to Chemweek.

With its scientific and technical competency, the ECHA can play a key role in the various actions outlined in the strategy to work towards a toxic-free environment to protect people and the environment from hazardous chemicals, it says.

The ECHA can play its part in making the strategy a success by "supporting the Commission and EU member states, together with our stakeholders," says Bjorn Hansen, executive director at ECHA.

The agency can contribute in three areas in particular, namely collecting, publishing and evaluating data on chemicals to stimulate innovation towards safer alternatives; ensuring that laws are implemented more efficiently and consistently; and speeding up chemicals risk management in the EU, Hansen says.

As MRC wrote before, on 15 October, The European Commissionadopted the EU's chemicals strategy for sustainability, describing it as the first step towards a zero-pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment announced in the European Green Deal.

We remind that in mid-July, 2020, The European Commission approved PKN Orlen’s acquisition of Grupa Loto. The approval is conditional on full compliance with a commitments package offered by PKN Orlen.

We also remind that n H1 September 2019, Honeywell announced that PKN ORLEN had licensed the UOP MaxEne process, which can increase production of ethylene and aromatics and improve the flexibility of gasoline production. The project, for the PKN Orlen facility in Plock, Poland, currently is in the basic engineering stage. Honeywell UOP, a leading provider of technologies for the oil and gas industry, first commercialized the UOP MaxEne process in 2013. The process enables refiners and petrochemical producers to direct molecules within the naphtha feed to the processes that deliver the greatest value and improve yields of fuels and petrochemicals.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,496,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of all ethylene polymers increased, except for linear low desnity polyethylene (LLDPE). At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- North American chemical rail traffic continued to strengthen during the week ending 10 October, narrowing the year-over-year (YOY) gap with respect to both the four-week moving average (4wma) and the year-to-date total, said Chemweek.

On a four-week basis, volume was down 1.2% from 2019 and 3.3% from 2018, versus shortfalls of 2.8% and 5.9%, respectively, during the period ending 3 October (chart). Year-to-date, volume was down 4.3% from 2019 and 5.6% from 2018, versus respective shortfalls of 4.4% and 5.8%, respectively, for the year through 3 October.

Weekly volume totaled 43,633 carloads, up 3.4% YOY on gains in Canada and Mexico, and down 3.0% from the previous week, according to data released on 14 October by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Chemical railcar traffic in the United States contributed 31,035 carloads to the total, up 0.5% YOY and down 1.1% from the previous week. For the year to date, US chemical railcar traffic was down 5.0%.

Canadian chemical rail traffic totaled 11,620 carloads, up 11.0% YOY and down 8.3% from the previous week. For the year to date, Canadian chemical railcar traffic was down 2.2%.

Chemical railcar traffic in Mexico totaled 978 carloads, a YOY increase of 13.1% and a sequential increase of 3.7%. For the year to date, Mexican chemical railcar traffic was down 5.8%.

As MRC informed earlier, Chemical railcar traffic in North America held stable during the week ended 19 September. Volume totaled 42,933 carloads, up 2.7% from the previous week and down 3.8% year over year (YOY). On a four-week basis, volume was down 3.4% from 2019 and 5.8% from 2018, improving over respective shortfalls of 3.8% and 6.6% recorded the previous week (chart). For the year to date, chemical railcar traffic in North America was down 4.5% from 2019 and 5.8% from 2018, equal to the previous week’s figures.

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