Borealis declares force majeure on phenol, acetone at Porvoo following power outage

MOSCOW (MRC) - Borealis has declared force majeure on phenol and acetone production from its site in Porvoo, Finland, following a power outage on 15 December, reported Chemweek with reference to a company spokesperson's statement to OPIS Thursday.

"On 15 December 2020, Borealis declared force majeure on its phenol and acetone production after a power outage, an incident outside the scope of its control," the spokesperson said. "At this point in time it is unclear when the force majeure will be lifted."

The Porvoo site includes a 190,000-metric tons/year phenol plant and 118,000-metric tons/year acetone facility. A Borealis source dismissed reports that Borealis had declared force majeure on its 380,000-metric tons/year steam cracker, also in Porvoo. "Our cracker in Porvoo is fine, we only declared force majeure on our phenol and acetone production in Porvoo," the Borealis source said.

Borealis had declared force majeure on the Porvoo cracker on 11 November because of a technical failure. The cracker was then shut down for necessary repair work and operations restarted on 30 November.

Borealis produces 150,000 metric tons/year of benzene and 245,000 metric tons/year of cumene at Porvoo, IHS Markit data show.

OPIS is an IHS Markit company.

As MRC informed before, the 380,000-metric tons/year steam cracker at Porvoo, Finland, operated by Borealis, resumed normal operations in early December after the company declared force majeure following a technical failure on 11 November. The cracker was shut down to allow necessary repair works, according to Borealis. The company began restart operations on 23 November, 2020. The force majeure was also lifted after the cracker reached full capacity utilisation.

Phenol is derived from benzene and largely used to produce bisphenol A (BPA), used in the manufacture of plastics such as polycarbonate (PC) and epoxy resins. It is also used in the production of phenolic resins for the construction industry.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus) rose in January-October 2020 by 21% year on year to 79,500 tonnes (65,600 tonnes a year earlier).

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of polypropylene (PP) in Kazakhstan grew to 33,300 tonnes in first ten months of this year, up 8% compared to the same period of 2019. PP exports decreased by 6%, reported MRC analysts.

October PP shipments to Kazakhstan grew to 3,700 tonnes from 2,500 tonnes a month earlier, local converters increased their purchasing of homopolymer PP in Russia. Total PP imports into the country exceeded 33,300 tonnes in January - October 2020, compared with 31,000 tonnes in the same time a year earlier. At the same time, the forced shutdown for a turnaround at the local producer's production capacities led to lower export sales.

October imports of homopolymer PP and propylene copolymers increased to 2,300 tonnes and 1.4 tonnes, respectively, versus over 1,700 tonnes and 820 tonnes a month earlier, local companies significantly increased their PP purchases from Russia. Overall imports of homopolymer PP and propylene copolymers reached 26,300 tonnes and 7,000 tons, respectively, in January-October 2020, compared to 24,500 tonnes and 6,500 tonnes a year earlier.

Kazakhstan's PP exports over the first ten months dropped to 19,800 tonnes, whereas this figure was 21,000 tonnes a year earlier. Such a significant decrease in export volumes was due, among other things, to the long shutdown of the local producer, the Neftekhim LTD Company in April- June of the current year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Michael Regan, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and former member of the federal government's air quality office, to lead EPA, according to Chemweek with reference to multiple media outlets' reports.

Regan was previously Associate Vice President, US Climate and Energy & Southeast Regional Director and worked in the federal EPA during the Clinton and Bush administrations, reaching National Program Manager of EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards.

ACC president and CEO Chris Jahn congratulated Regan on the appointment. “Our industry looks forward to engaging with him and the dedicated civil servants at the agency to help ensure the nation’s key environmental statutes are administered in a way that protects human health and the environment, especially among the most vulnerable people and places in America,” he says, adding that ACC and its members have “a particular interest” in the full, effective and efficient implementation of the 2016 amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act as Congress envisioned.

“We look forward to working with Mr. Regan and the Biden Administration as well as other stakeholders to protect human health and the environment while enabling our industry to continue to innovate, create jobs and grow the economy,” Jahn adds.

As MRC wrote before, in October, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a federal strategy for addressing marine litter that includes broad efforts to incentivize recycling and build infrastructure both domestically and overseas. “Internationally, up to 28 billion pounds of waste makes it into our oceans every year, harming marine life and coastal economies,” says EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Marine litter is a top priority for this Administration, and working together with our global partners, we aim to solve the current growing marine litter problem in our shared oceans.” According to EPA, five countries in Asia - China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam - account for over half of the plastic waste input into the ocean. The majority of marine litter comes from land-based sources, such as littering and the mismanagement of waste, and the most effective way to combat marine litter is to prevent and reduce land-based sources of waste from entering the oceans in the first place.

We remind that Braskem has formed first partnership for removing household plastic waste from landfill in Greater Sao Paulo. The partnership forged between Braskem and Tecipar, the Brazilian company specializing in environmental engineering, will avoid some 2,000 tons of plastic waste annually from being discarded in the landfill of Santana do Parnaiba, a city in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo. This volume is equivalent to 36 million units of plastic packaging made from polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). The partnership reinforces Braskem's commitment to the Circular Economy and is aligned with the business strategy of the company, which is engaged in supporting the development of the recycling chain and its market.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The supervisory board of BASF has today appointed Melanie Maas-Brunner as a member of the company’s executive board, effective 1 February 2021, under a wider redistribution of BASF's executive responsibilities, said Chemweek.

She will succeed Wayne Smith, who is leaving the company on 31 May 2021. Maas-Brunner has been with BASF since 1997 and has headed the company’s nutrition and health division since 2017. She will also take over the position of chief technology officer from BASF chairman Martin Brudermuller and assume responsibility for the three research divisions: advanced materials and systems research, bioscience research, and process research and chemical engineering, as well as the BASF New Business operation on 1 February.

Smith has been with BASF for 16 years and been a board member since 2012. He is currently responsible for North America and the monomers, performance materials, petrochemicals, and intermediates divisions, as well as process research and chemical engineering.

Michael Heinz will take over Smith’s responsibilities in North America on 1 June 2021 after a transition period and retain his responsibilities for South America. Maas-Brunner will additionally take over the the European site and Verbund management responsibilities, as well as global engineering services and corporate environmental protection, health, and safety, and the role of industrial relations director from Heinz on the same date.

Effective 1 June, Brudermuller will also be responsible for corporate legal, compliance, tax, and insurance; corporate development; corporate communications and government relations; corporate human resources; and corporate investor relations. BASF vice chairman, CFO, and chief digital officer Hans-Ulrich Engel will additionally be responsible for corporate finance, corporate audit, global business services, global digital services, and global procurement.

BASF’s other board members are Saori Dubourg and Markus Kamieth. From 1 June, Dubourg will be responsible for agricultural solutions, nutrition and health, care chemicals, and Europe. Kamieth will be responsible for dispersions and pigments, catalysts, coatings, and performance chemicals; Greater China, south and east Asia, Asean, and Australia/New Zealand; and mega projects in Asia.

We remind that BASF restarted its No. 1 steam cracker following a maintenance turnaround 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 polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global capex spending on renewables is poised to bounce back in 2021, rising 8.5% to USD255 B—in line with 2019 levels, according to Roger Diwan, vice president, financial services and the IHS Markit Energy Advisory Service, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Annual spending is expected to remain at those levels through 2025. This adds up to a USD1.3 T cumulative 2021-2025 spend—a 9% increase over cumulative capex in 2015-2019. At the same time, sharply declining capital costs across renewable technologies mean that just a 9% increase in spending will be associated with a 45% increase in cumulative gross renewable capacity additions in 2021-2025 vs. 2015-2019.

The findings are part of the new IHS Markit Energyview – Climate and Cleantech and Climate and Cleantech Advisory Briefing services. The expected recovery follows a 2020 that saw the renewables sector hit by supply chain disruptions and construction delays stemming from COVID-19 lockdowns and mobility restrictions, among other factors. IHS Markit expects 2020 global non-hydro renewables capex will be USD235 B, down 7% from 2019 levels.

IHS Markit expects the global benchmark capital cost for solar PV (both utility scale and distributed generation) in 2025 to be roughly 40% below 2017 levels. Meanwhile, global benchmark capital costs for onshore wind and offshore wind in 2025 are forecast to be 20% and 15% below 2017 levels, respectively.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) will continue to account for the majority of cumulative global new investment and gross capacity additions in 2021-2025. IHS Markit expects solar PV to account for approximately 54% (nearly USD700 billion) of global cumulative investment in the renewables sector.

Global offshore wind investment will accelerate swiftly during the 2021-2025 period. Cumulative investment of USD170 billion is expected—a nearly threefold increase from cumulative 2015-2019 levels.

Meanwhile, onshore wind capex is forecast to slow, reflecting a deceleration in onshore wind installations globally post-2021. Cumulative investment in offshore wind is expected to be USD320 billion for 2021-2025, down from the 2015-2019 level of nearly USD365 billion.

The overall growth in capex and capacity additions is expected to push combined global wind and solar PV installed capacity beyond that of global installed natural gas-fired capacity in 2023 and installed coal-fired capacity in 2024. In terms of global electricity generation, renewables will rise to an 18% share in 2025, up from 11% in 2019.

As per MRC, Australia has moved into the three most attractive countries in the world for renewables investment for the first time due to rapid solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment, research shows. In a bi-annual index of the top 40 renewable energy markets worldwide by consultancy EY, the United States held on to top spot, followed by China. Australia rose to third place, from fourth in the last ranking in May, while India climbed to fourth from seventh due to record low solar tariff bids and a new target for renewables generation, EY said.

We remind that the light-feed 625,000-metric tons/year Borealis steam cracker at Stenungsund, Sweden, is expected to restart operations in the fourth quarter this year after a fire broke out at the plant in May, 2020. The cracker has been under force majeure ever since after the blaze at the plant on 10 May, which was subsequently brought under control the following day.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and PP.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC