Earthquake offshore Japanese Fukushima shuts ENEOS Sendai plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- All units at ENEOS' 145,000 b/d Sendai refinery in northeast Japan automatically shutdown after a strong earthquake offshore Fukushima late Feb. 13, reported S&P Global with reference to a spokesman at the country's largest refiner's statement early Feb. 14.

A few unidentified units at ENEOS' 270,000 b/d Negishi refinery in Tokyo Bay also shutdown due to a power outage triggered by the earthquake, he added.

It was not immediately clear when ENEOS will be able to restart the Sendai and Negishi refining units, the spokesman said.

The earthquake hit offshore Fukushima at a depth of 55 km at 11:07 pm local time (1407 GMT) Feb. 13, and the magnitude was revised tentatively to 7.3 from a preliminary 7.1, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

As MRC informed before, ENEOS Corporation (formerly known as JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy) restarted its naphtha cracker in Kawasaki on 1 February 2021. The company shut this cracker with an annual capacity of 515,000 tons/year of ethylene, 300,000 tons/year of propylene, and 105,000 tons/year of butadiene on 4 December, 2020, for repairment after a technical issue reported at the butadiene separation unit and initially planned to resume operations on 28 December.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.

Japan's largest refiner JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy was renamed ENEOS Corporation on 25 June, 2020, as part of a wider re-organization of the parent company JXTG Holdings. The move, which also involved renaming the parent company to ENEOS Holdings upon approval at its annual shareholders meeting in June 2020, comes as it strives to be a more comprehensive energy and materials company under its 2040 vision announced in May, 2019. JXTG Holdings was formed as a result of a merger between JX Holdings and TonenGeneral in April 2017. This followed the establishment of JX Holdings as a result of the merger between Nippon Oil and Nippon Mining Holdings in April 2010.
MRC

Kem One declares force majeure on PVC supply from France

MOSCOW (MRC) -- France’s Kem One declared a force majeure (FM) on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) supplies from its Saint-Fons site, France on February 3, reported NCT with reference to a source from the company.

Rising water levels on Rhone River, which interrupted the transportation of feedstock VCM, was cited as the reason behind the FM.

The interrupted navigation on Rhone River prevented the company from transporting vinyl chlorie monomer(VCM) to its Saint-Fons site and forced it to slow down production of PVC there. Internal stocks could not be replenished enough due to very high demand from customers, the source added.

Meanwhile, PVC production at the Balan site has been put under allocation for the same reason.

Saint-Fons site can produce around 210,000 tons/year of PVC, while the company’s Balan plant has a PVC production of 300,000 tons/year.

As MRC wrote before, in late July, 2020, ferric chloride leaked from Kem One’s (Lyon, France) PVC production site at Berre, France, into the Mediterranean Sea. Several reports quoted then a Kem One spokesperson, who confirmed that the leak came from a storage tank and that the liquid was discharged into the sea via a storm sewer. The company said the incident caused no injuries.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.

Kem One, a fully integrated vinyl production company, was established mid-2012 following the acquisition of Arkema's vinyl products division by the Klesch Group. The company employs 2,600 people at 22 manufacturing sites, primarily in Europe but also in Asia and North America. Europe’s second-largest producer of PVC with revenues in excess of one billion euros, Kem One continues to grow and build on its numerous strengths with a view to becoming market leader for integrated vinyl solutions.
MRC

PVC production in Russia down by 2% in January 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall production of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) totalled 89,800 tonnes last month, down by 2% year on year. At the same time, two producers managed to increase their PVC output, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

January production of unmixed PVC was 89,800 tonnes versus 91,300 tonnes and 82,900 tonnes in January and December 2020, respectively. RusVinyl and Kaustic (Volgograd) reduced their capacity utilisation. Overall output of polymer totalled 976,500 tonnes in 2020 versus 975,000 tonnes a year earlier.

The structure of PVC production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.


RusVinyl produced 31,100 tonnes of PVC in January, with emulsion polyvinyl chloride (EPVC) accounting for 2,600 tonnes of the whole production volume, compared to 32,400 tonnes of PVC in January 2020 and 27,400 tonnes in December 2020. RusVinyl's overall output reached 332,900 tonnes in 2020, compared to 339,800 tonnes in 2019.

SayanskKhimPlast maintained a high level of capacity utilisation last month and produced 27,900 tonnes of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC), which virtually corresponded to the figures in January and December 2020. The Sayansk plant managed to produce 299,500 tonnes of SPVC in 2020 versus 294,500 tonnes a year earlier.

Bashkir Soda Company produced 23,500 tonnes of SPVC in January 2021, compared to 23,600 tonnes in January 2020 and 23,100 tonnes in December 2020. The Baskhir plant's overall production of PVC reached 267,600 tonnes in 2020, up 2% year on year.

Kaustik, Volgograd produced 7,400 tonnes of SPVC last month, whereas this figure was at 7,500 tonnes in January 2020 and 6,900 tonnes in December 2020. The plant's overall output of resin reached 76,500 tonnes in 2020, compared to 77,500 tonnes in 2019.

MRC

PP supply remains tight in North America

MOSCOW (MRC) -- North American polypropylene (PP) supply has been extremely tight since the summer of 2020, when the industry saw a number of plant outages, followed by Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta, which damaged LyondellBasell's massive PP facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana, reported Chemweek with reference to market participants.

Just this week, LyondellBasell lifted its PP force majeure declaration from those events.

Three other US suppliers - Ineos, Formosa, and Total - still have PP force majeure (FM) declarations. In addition to plant issues and scheduled maintenance, the PP industry is facing a monomer shortage that shows no sign of easing in the near term.

Tight monomer supply has played a role in limiting PP operating rates. North American PP capacity utilization was at 90%-91% in November and December as average producer inventory days dropped into the high 20s, according to data from the ACC Plastics Industry Producers' Statistics Group.

As MRC informed earlier, LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) declared force majeure on PP supplies from France on 2 December, 2020. The reason for the force majeure was not disclosed at the time of press. The FM was lifted in the first week of February.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

U.S. pipeline operator Energy Transfer to tap into alternative energy projects

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Energy Transfer LP said it had created a new business to ramp up efforts to develop alternative energy projects, as the pipeline operator aims to reduce its carbon footprint, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Traditional oil and gas companies are under increasing pressure to invest more in renewable energy and carbon-capture technology to battle climate change.

Energy Transfer's Alternative Energy Group will focus on renewable energy projects including solar and wind farms, either as a power purchaser or in partnership with third party developers, and will be led by the company's general counsel, Tom Mason.

The company said it would also look to develop renewable diesel and renewable natural gas opportunities, adding that these potential projects could involve the utilization of Energy Transfer's pipeline system.

As per MRC, Energy Transfer Partners agreed to acquire independent refiner Sunoco in a USD5.3 billion deal that would greatly expand the reach of Energy Transfer's pipeline system but could also saddle the company with aging refineries. Sunoco has been trying to sell itself since late 2011 after posting losses for much of the past two years because of high oil prices and decreasing fuel demand.

Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. and Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. announced that they have entered into a merger agreement providing for the acquisition of ETP by SXL in a unit-for-unit transaction.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
MRC