Regan confirmed as EPA head

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Michael Regan has been confirmed as EPA administrator and is expected to play a large role in President Biden’s climate agenda as well as in strengthening environmental protections following rollbacks by the Trump administration, according to Chemweek.

Regan, who is the first black EPA administrator, was formerly secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and former member of the federal government’s air quality office. Regan’s resume includes leading negotiations that resulted in the cleanup of the Cape Fear River, which had been contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS), as well as the creation of North Carolina’s first Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board to address societal disparities exacerbated by environmental issues.

“[The selection] cements the Biden administration’s commitment to environmental justice, a concept in search of execution in practice,” Lynne L. Bergeson, managing partner at Bergeson & Campbell (Washington, DC), told CW in December upon Regan’s nomination. “He seems to be highly regarded and solicitous of broad stakeholder engagement when faced with challenging issues.”

American Chemistry Council says it looks forward to working with Regan to “help ensure the nation’s key environmental statutes are administered in a way that protects human health and the environment.”

As MRC reported earlier, in January 2021, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted three waivers to oil refiners that exempt them from US biofuel blending obligations, a last-minute move before President Donald Trump left office. The agency granted two waivers for the 2019 compliance year and one waiver for the 2018 compliance year. The announcement followed four years of controversy around the waiver program under the Trump administration, but left many questions unresolved. Some 30 waiver requests remain outstanding for 2019 and 15 for 2020, which the incoming administration of Joe Biden will need to deal with.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Power generation company Uniper (Dusseldorf, Germany) and the Port of Rotterdam Authority say they are studying the potential construction of a large-scale green hydrogen production plant at Uniper’s existing site in the Maasvlakte area of Rotterdam, Netherlands, reported Chemweek.

The parties aim to build a plant with an initial capacity of 100 megawatts (MW) by 2025, with plans to then expand capacity to 500 MW. The feasibility study will be completed this summer, they say. The proposed facility would utilize renewable energy from offshore wind farms to carry out water electrolysis for the production of hydrogen. No potential investment figure has been given.

The proposed project has already successfully prequalified for the EU’s IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) program, with the conceptual design and technical dimensions of the hydrogen plant to be developed over the next few months, says Uniper. The potential market for sustainable hydrogen, both in the Rotterdam port area and in Germany, will also be studied. The project team is also looking at options for import, storage, and export at Maasvlakte, it says.

As MRC wrote previously, in January, 2021, Vopak (Rotterdam, Netherlands) said its new 63,000-cubic meter styrene storage hub at Botlek, Rotterdam, will be operational for customers in February 2021.

Styrene is the main feedstock for the production of polystyrene (PS).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, January 2021 estimated consumption of polystyrene (PS) and styrene plastics in Russia rose by 12% year on year, totalling 45,640 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kuraray says that its certain production sites at Texas have been suspended since mid-February because of the big freeze in the United States. The company says that its affected sites at La Porte, Bayport, and Pasadena are in preparation for the resumption of operations and are presently undergoing inspection, according to Chemweek.

Kuraray has temporarily stopped the production of vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) and poval resin at La Porte; poval resin at Bayport; and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) and thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) at Pasadena.

The company says that it is evaluating the financial impact of the closure of the sites. Kuraray will announce the findings if the financial impact is found to have been significant, it adds.

According to the data by IHS Markit, Kuraray at La Porte produces VAM with a production capacity of 330,000 metric tons/year; EVOH, Pasadena 58,000 metric tons/year; and TPE, Pasadena 25,000 metric tons/year.

The company in February increased the price of its Eval brand EVOH resin.

As MRC reported earlier, in October 2019, Kuraray took off-stream its VAM production in Okayama, Japan) for a scheduled maintenance. This production with a capacity of 160,000 mt/year was shut for about one month.

VAM is the main feedstock for the production of ethylene-vynil-acetate (EVA).

According to MRC's DataScope report, January EVA imports to Russia rose only by 0,07% year on year to 3,084 tonnes from 3,087 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation dropped in January-December 2020 by 3,41% year on year to 38,170 tonnes (39,520 tonnes in 2019).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Plastics Corp (part of Formosa Petrochemical) is planning to carry out maintenance works at its plant in Jenwu, Taiwan in March 2021, reported CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

Affected units including a 546,000 tons/year polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant, 480,000 tons/year vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant and the 400,000 tons/year ethylene dichloride (EDC) line.

It is unclear on the exact shutdown date at the time of this report, however, all of the units would remain offline for three weeks.

As MRC informed before, in March 2020, Formosa Plastics emerged from a turnaround at its 798,000 mt/year PVC plant and upstream 753,000 mt/year VCM unit at its Point Comfort, Texas, complex.

According to MRC's DataScope report, imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Russia slightly exceeded 500 tonnes in January, down by 68% year on year. At the same time, exports decreased by 15%. January SPVC imports to Russia fell to 500 tonnes from 1,600 tonnes and 6,000 tonnes in January and December 2020, respectively. High PVC prices in the foreign markets and long New Year holidays put serious pressure on import purchases of PVC from Russian companies.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company"s plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian state refiners' gasoline sales in the first two weeks of February fell below pre-pandemic levels, the first decline in about six months, preliminary industry data showed, as record high retail prices hit consumption, reported Reuters.

Diesel sales, which are related closely to economic growth and account for about 40% of overall refined fuel sales in India, fell by 8.6% in the first half of February, the largest decline since August last year, the data showed.

Gasoline and gasoil prices in India have risen to a record high, mirroring global markets. Taxes account for about 61% of retail gasoline prices and about 56% of diesel prices.

State fuel retailers sold 1.03 million tonnes of gasoline and 2.84 million tonnes of diesel from Feb. 1-15, the data provided by an industry source showed.

"Definitely sales of petrol and diesel have declined in the last few days. People are feeling the pinch of high oil prices," said Ajay Bansal, president of the All India Petroleum Dealers Association.

State companies - Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum - own about 90% of India's retail fuel outlets.

"First area where the customers vent their anger or show their grievance is the petrol pump to our staff and we have been seeing it," Bansal said.

Rising diesel and petrol prices could push up inflation, making it harder for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to continue its accommodative monetary policy.

"Pump prices of petrol and diesel have reached historical highs. An unwinding of taxes on petroleum products by both the centre and the states could ease the cost push pressures," the RBI said in its policy document earlier this month.

State retailers sold 1.2 million tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas in the first half of this month, 5.4% higher than last year, while jet fuel sales declined by 41.3% as curbs on air travel remained in place, the data showed.

As MRC informed before, Indian Oil has just announced plans to expand the capacity of its refinery at Panipat, India, from 15 million metric tons/year (MMt/y), to 25 MMt/y. The company will also build a polypropylene (PP) unit and a catalytic dewaxing unit at the site. The cost of the project is 329.46 billion Indian rupees (USD4.45 billion). The plan is the latest in a series of projects approved by Indian Oil to improve integration with petrochemicals at the company's refinery sites. The capacity of the planned PP facility has not been disclosed.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC