PP imports to Belarus down by 0.8% in Q1

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of polypropylene (PP) into Belarus decreased to about 26,900 tonnes in 2020, down 0.8% year on year, compared to the same period of 2020. The greatest increase in imports accounted for homopolymer PP, according to MRC DataScope.

March PP imports into Belarus rose to 10,200 tonnes from 9,100 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies increased their purchases of injection moulding propylene copolymers in Russia and in Middle East. Total PP imports into the country reached 26,900 tonnes in January - March, compared with 27,100 tonnes year on year. The demand only for homopolymer PP increased, but demand for propylene copolymers decreased.

The structure of PP imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

March imports of homopolymer PP increased to 6,900 tonnes from 6,700 tonnes a month earlier, purchases of injection moulding homopolymer PP in Russia increased. Overall imports of homopolymer PP reached 19,500 tonnes in the first three months of the year, up by 0.4% year on year.

March imports of propylene copolymers to Belarus were about 3,300 tonnes versus 2,400 tonnes a month earlier, local companies increased significantly their procurement of injection moulding block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) from Russian and Middle Eastern producers. Thus, overall imports of propylene copolymers reached 7,300 tonnes in January-March 2021, down by 4% year on year.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Belarus totalled 14,300 tonnes in the first three months of 2021, up by 39% year on year, according to MRC's DataScope report.

According to the statistics committee of the Republic of Belarus, local converters raised their purchasing of PVC in March 2021 on the back of a seasonal growth in demand for finished products, total imports were 5,300 tonnes, whereas this figure was 4,900 tonnes a month earlier. Russian resin accounted for the main increase in procurement.

Thus, imports of unmixed PVC reached 14,300 tonnes in January-March 2021, compared to 10,300 tonnes a year earlier.
Russian producers with the share of about 92% of the Belarusian market were the key suppliers of resin to Belarus over the stated period. Germain producers were the second largest suppliers.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp.'s Mumbai refinery will start full scale operation at a higher capacity of 190,000 barrels per day (bpd) by end-June or in July, reported Reuters with reference to the company's chairman M. K. Surana's statement.

HPCL had fully shut the 150,000 bpd Mumbai refinery in western Maharashtra from April 1 for maintenance and capacity expansion, Surana said at a press conference to announce March quarter earnings.

"One crude unit of 3.5 million tonnes (70,000 bpd) is under commissioning and we are revamping the second unit to add capacity," he said. The state-run refiner aims to add 40,000 bpd capacity to the second crude unit.

He also said the company is operating its 166,000 bpd Vizag refinery in southern India at full capacity. Meanwhile, HPCL is in process of raising the capacity of the Vizag refinery to 300,000 bpd. Surana said the expansion will be completed in this fiscal year to March 2022 while the residue upgradation facility at the Vizag plant is also likely to be completed in 2022.

In addition, HPCL is building a 180,000 bpd refinery and petrochemical plant in desert state of Rajasthan.

As MRC informed previously, India's HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited, or HMEL, will start a new 500,000 mt/year polypropylene (PP) plant in Bhatinda in 2021. The company has an existing 440,000 mt/year PP unit at the same site.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Four US Gulf Coast refineries slowed production on Tuesday as heavy rains fell, flooding areas across East Texas and Louisiana this week, reported Reuters.

Heavy rainstorms and tremendous lightning are forecast this week to continue to strike the US Gulf Coast, which is home to about half of the United States' oil refining capacity.

Total SE's 225,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery was restarting on Tuesday after the entire plant was knocked out of production by a brief power loss on Monday, sources familiar with plant operations said.

A Total spokeswoman declined to comment.

At Motiva Enterprises' (MOTIV.UL) 607,000-bpd Port Arthur refinery, the nation’s largest, a coker was restarting on Tuesday after being knocked out by a transformer blowout on Monday.

Motiva declined to comment.

A catalytic reformer shut down at Valero Energy Corp’s (VLO.N) 335,000-bpd Port Arthur refinery on Monday, according to energy industry intelligence service Genscape. More than eight inches (20 cm) of rain fell on Monday in Port Arthur, according to forecaster Weather Underground.

Valero did not reply to a request for comment from Reuters.

On Tuesday, a small crude distillation unit was shut at ExxonMobil Corp’s (XOM.N) 502,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery, for 30 days of planned work, according to two sources familiar with plant operations. Rainfall totals this week in Baton Rouge have been about 6 inches with up to 10 inches falling in areas outside the city, according to Weather Underground.

“Weather is not impacting operations at Baton Rouge,” said Exxon spokeswoman Julie King.

As MRC wrote before, in April, 2021, ExxonMobil, the largest private US company, floated a proposal for a public-private carbon storage project that would collect planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from US petrochemical plants and bury them in deep under the Gulf of Mexico. The plan would require "USD100 billion or more" from companies and government agencies to store 50 million metric tons of CO2 by 2030, with capacity potentially doubling by 2040, Joe Blommaert, president of Exxon's Low Carbon Solutions business, said in an interview.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Africa's oldest crude oil refinery, the 120,000 barrel per day plant operated by Engen (Enref), will be converted into a new storage facility because the refinery is no longer sustainable in the long term, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The refinery, situated on the eastern coast in the city of Durban, has been shut down since a fire in December damaged the plant that supplies around 17% of the country's fuel production and is South Africa's second largest crude refinery. "The conclusion of the strategic assessment is that the Engen refinery is unsustainable in the longer-term," Engen's CEO Yusa Hassan said in a statement.

Engen is majority-owned by Malaysia's oil and gas firm, Petronas. Hassan said a globally challenging refining environment with supply surplus, depressed demand and low refining margins had placed Engen in "financial distress".

Hassan added that unaffordable costs to meet the government's cleaner fuel drive by upgrading refineries was another reason to convert the refinery operating since 1954.

The South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA), which represents operators such as BP (BP.L) and Shell (RDSa.L), said in January that local refinery operators were less likely to invest 40 billion rand (USD2.8 billion) for these upgrades after the coronavirus pandemic.

Africa's most industrialised economy has five other refineries. It is a net importer of petroleum products.Hassan said the new import and storage terminal was expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2023. He did not provide any cost estimates for converting the refinery.

As per MRC, crude oil futures were rangebound during mid-morning Asian trade May 20, following an overnight slide, on increasing prospects of the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the strengthening US dollar and bearish Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. At 10:49 am Singapore time (0249 GMT), the ICE Brent July contract rose 5 cents/b (0.08%) from the May 19 settle at USD66.71/b, while the June NYMEX light sweet crude contract was up 6 cents/b (0.09%) at USD63.41/b.

As MRC wrote earlier, Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world's third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC