INEOS signs worldwide agreement to use Antea software for sites and businesses around the world to streamline compliance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Antea, a global leader for 32 years in risk-based asset integrity management (AIM) software with 3D digital twin integration, has officially entered into a worldwide frame agreement with leading chemical company, INEOS, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

INEOS sought a worldwide multi-business agreement that could provide RBI and IDMS software for sites and businesses around the world to streamline compliance. They determined the Antea Platform, with its certified API 581-compliant RBI and comprehensive IDMS module, to be a robust, reliable solution that adheres to their requirements.

The contract takes effect on April 1, 2021 and will be valid for at least 3 years. INEOS ultimately placed their faith in Antea for the fair pricing, globally trusted presence, extensive and flexible software functionalities, and professionalism of the team.

As MRC informed before, in January 2019, INEOS announced Antwerp as the location for its new petrochemical investment. The EUR3 billion investment will be the biggest ever made by INEOS and is first cracker to be built in Europe in 20 years. The investment is a game changer for the chemical sectors and will bring huge benefits to the Belgium and wider European economies.

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 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

1. Manufacturing industry in Canada continues to lose millions because of border issues due Covid-19

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The survey was conducted by the Canadian Tooling & Machining Association (CTMA), in partnership with the Canadian Association of Moldmakers, (CAMM), Automate Canada, and the Niagara Industrial Association (NIA), said Canplastics. It was the second conducted by the groups to measure the effects of border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic within the manufacturing industry. This updated study, which received 91 responses, was to compare the results to the previous survey about common border crossing issues that have been experienced by those in the industry, who have identified that many of their businesses rely on travel between the U.S. and Canada. The first survey was taken in December 2020.





MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were steady during the mid-morning trade in Asia June 24 on unchanged fundamentals, with the US Energy Information Administration's report of a draw in US crude inventories coming in line with earlier data released by the American Petroleum Institute, reported S&P Global.

At 10:14 am Singapore time (0214 GMT), the ICE August Brent futures contract was down 4 cents/b (0.05%) from the previous settle at USD75.15/b while the NYMEX August light sweet crude contract was down 3 cents/b (0.04%) at USD73.05/b.

EIA data released late June 23 showed US crude inventories falling by 7.61 million barrels to 459.06 million barrels in the week ended June 18. The draw, however, did not spur a rally during Asian trading, as it offered little new information, merely corroborating the American Petroleum Institute's earlier report of a 7.2 million-barrel draw.

The data also showed distillate stockpiles climbing 1.75 million barrels to 137.95 million barrels in the same period, with the build more bearish than the build of 992,000 barrels estimated by API data.

The EIA data, however, differed from the API in its estimate of the change in the US gasoline inventories. The EIA data showed an unexpected fall in US gasoline inventories of 2.93 million barrels to 240.05 million barrels in the week ended June 18. It was hence more bullish in this aspect than the API data, which had shown a 959,000-barrel rise in gasoline inventories in the same period.

The EIA data release feeds right into the demand recovery narrative that underpinned the recent rally in oil prices. Total products supplied, EIA's proxy for demand, ticked up nearly 1% to 20.75 million b/d in the week to June 18 and the closely watched gasoline products supplied metric rose commensurately to 9.44 million b/d, testing highs last seen in February 2020 prior to the first wave of pandemic lockdowns.

The uptick in gasoline demand comes as more Americans take to the road amid easing mobility restrictions and rising vaccination rates. Apple Mobility data showed that US driving activity jumped six percentage points to a fresh record of around 164% of the index's January 2020 baseline in the week ended June 18.

Analysts said that in addition to strong demand, leaner supply in the US was also offering support to the market.

Moving away from the US market, oil demand in Europe and key economies in Asia is also expected to strengthen, as these regions emerge from the shadow of pandemic lockdowns.

We remind that as MRC informed 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 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- NOVA Chemical has declared force majeure (FM) on ethylene shipments from its cracker in Geismar, Louisiana due to an unexpected production shutdown, reported S&P Global.

The 885,000 mt/year of ethylene and 45,000 mt/year of propylene cracker in Geismar was shut on 14 June for unplanned repairs owing to a technical issue.

The cracker is expected to remain off-line until end-June, and FM will also remain in effect for about two weeks.

As MRC informed earlier, NOVA Chemicals restarted its cracker in Geismar in mid-October 2020. It was shut in mid-September for unplanned maintenance unrelated to storms in the USA. The company postponed the restart until after Delta passed, the storm impacts were minimal.

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 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a plastics and chemical company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is wholly-owned ultimately by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Plastics USA, part of Formosa Petrochemical, plans to restart its No. 3 cracker in Point Comfort, Texas by the end of the week,reported S&P Global.

The Formosa OL3 cracker with the capacity of 1.25 mln tonnes of ethylene per year was shut on June 4, 2021, owing to technical issues.

As MRC informed before, Formosa Plastics' new 1.5 million mt/year cracker in Point Comfort came online in H1 January, 2020, and was seen ramping up through January.

We remind that Formosa Plastics USA started up its 400,000 tons/year low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in Point Comfort, Texas, US, on 30 November, 2020.

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 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

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