US PBF mulls $550m renewable diesel project at Chalmette refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PBF Energy is considering a USD550m project that would retrofit an idled hydrocracker to produce renewable diesel at its Chalmette refinery in Louisiana, said Ogj.

PBF Energy Inc. is considering a major investment to implement a renewable diesel project at subsidiary Chalmette Refining LLC’s 185,000-b/d dual-train coking refinery in Chalmette, St. Bernard Parish, La., outside of New Orleans.

As part of the potential project to ensure ongoing competitiveness and employment for the refinery’s current 516 employees, PBF Energy would invest USD550 million to retrofit an existing hydrocracking unit idled since 2010 with new technology to enable renewable diesel production at the site, Louisiana Economic Development (LED) and the operator said.

The project, which would support an additional 200 jobs during its execution, also would include construction of a pretreatment unit at the manufacturing site to allow Chalmette Refining to process renewable materials such as soybean oil, corn oil, and other biogenically derived fats and oils into feedstocks for the revamped unit.

The proposed unit conversion comes as part of PBF Energy’s recovery efforts from economic impacts sustained as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the company’s plan to prepare the refinery for a green energy transition, said Steven Krynski, PBF Chalmette’s refinery manager.

To secure the project, which aligns with goals of Louisiana’s Climate Initiatives Task Force initiative to pursue lower greenhouse gas emissions, the LED has offered PBF Energy incentives that include solutions of its FastStart state workforce training program, as well as access to Louisiana’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP).

Granting of ITEP incentives, however, remain subject to final approval of the project by St. Bernard Parish local officials, which is due sometime later this summer, LED said. PBF Energy said it plans to reach final investment decision on the planned Chalmette renewables conversion following St. Bernard Parish local taxing bodies consider the project.

The Chalmette refinery—which PBF Energy acquired from ExxonMobil Corp. and Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) in 2015—is equipped with flexibility to source and process a mix of light and heavy crudes to produce mostly gasoline, distillates, and specialty chemicals for distribution locally and abroad via connecting pipeline and maritime assets.

As per MRC, PBF Energy will shut most refining units at its Paulsboro, New Jersey, refinery, the company's chief executive said in a letter to employees that cited the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on fuel demand.

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) - US crude oil inventory draws likely extended in the week ended June 25 against a backdrop of rising refinery demand, reported S&P Global.

Total commercial crude oil stocks are expected to have declined 4.7 million barrels to around 454.4 million barrels, analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts said. The draw would put inventories at the lowest since March 2020 and leave them 6.3% behind the five-year average of US Energy Information Administration data, opening the widest deficit to that average since August 2008.

The draw comes as analysts expected refinery utilization to have pushed to around 92.9% of capacity in the week ended June 25, up 0.7 percentage point from the week prior and the highest since early January 2020.

Refinery margins turned higher last week, with US Gulf Coast WTI MEH cracking margins averaging USD11.86/b in the five days ended June 24 up from USD10.63/b seen the week prior.

Refinery margins were likely supported by strong refined product demand. US Transportation Security Administration data show nearly 2 million passengers per day crossed checkpoints last week, up 4% from the week prior and more than 250% above year-ago levels.

Total refinery net crude demand is expected to have averaged 16.35 million b/d in the week ended June 25, S&P Global Platts Analytics data shows, from an EIA-reported 16.11 million b/d during the week prior.

Total gasoline inventories are expected to have declined around 700,000 barrels to 239.04 million barrels, analysts said, putting them nearly 1% behind the five-year average. Notably, while overall gasoline stocks have tightened in recent weeks, inventories in high demand regions such as the US Atlantic Coast and Midwest have been trending higher.

Following five consecutive weekly builds, USAC gasoline stocks were 1.4% above average in the week ended June 18, EIA data shows, while during the same period Midwest stocks climbed for a third week to just 6% behind average, the narrowest deficit since early January.

Distillate inventories are expected to have climbed 100,000 barrels to 138 million barrels, analysts said. In contrast to gasoline inventories, USAC diesel stocks remain very tight despite steadily building since late May.

As MRC informed before, crude oil futures ticked higher in mid-morning trade in Asia June 23 after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a large draw in US crude inventories as the market awaited the July 1 OPEC+ meeting,

We remind that 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) -- Canadian recycling technology developer GreenMantra Technologies is expanding its relationship with art tools and toy supplier Crayola by now using Crayola’s discarded plastic feedstock for recycling into specialty polymers, said Canpastics.

“Mixed plastic marker streams present challenges for traditional mechanical recycling, but they are a natural fit for [our] advanced recycling technology,” officials with Brantford, Ont.-based GreenMantra said in a news release. “[We] will now recycle both pre- and post-consumer plastic markers from across all of North America, expanding our feedstock stream for producing our specialty polymer additives."

The discarded plastic markers can be turned into high-value polymers that can then be used in the production of industrial products to enhance critical infrastructure applications (things like asphalt roads, roofing products, and plastic drainage pipes), while also enabling increased use of recycled content in those applications, the company said.

Easton, Pa.-based Crayola recently implemented 100 per cent renewable energy for its U.S. manufacturing operations, and has partnered with GreenMantra since 2014 through its ColorCycle Program, which enhances product circularity for Crayola’s line of markers.

As per MRC, Ineos Styrolution is partnering with Recycling Technologies, a Swindon, UK-based specialist in plastic recycling technology, to advance the development of polystyrene (PS) recycling in Europe.

According to MRC's ScanPlast, the estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics in Russia amounted to 187,320 tonnes in the first four months of this year, which is 20% more than last year's consumption for the same period. The estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics in April amounted to 49,370 tonnes, which is 35% higher than in the same month of 2020 (36,620 tonnes).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro is working towards innovative and more sustainable material solutions and recycling technologies to meet these requirements and build a Circular Economy, and will be showcasing them at the VDI PIAE 2021 international trade congress on September 8 and 9, said the company.

"Our aim is to introduce the world's first climate-neutral polycarbonate plastics this year," Jochen Hardt, Marketing Mobility Covestro, told media representatives. "This is an important step in achieving our vision of becoming fully circular. At the same time, we offer products and solutions that combine outstanding performance, cost efficiency and sustainability designed to help our customers in the mobility industry succeed in achieving their sustainability goals."

The polycarbonates are climate neutral "from the cradle to the factory gate1" thanks to the introduction of raw materials sourced from mass-balanced biowaste and residues2, as well as renewable energy accumulated during the production process. Covestro is already offering ISCC Plus-certified polycarbonates, which are attributed to renewable raw materials using the mass balance approach and enable a considerable reduction in the carbon footprint.

By incorporating renewable energy, Covestro will probably fully reduce CO? emissions from the cradle to the factory gate for these selected products. The products have the same high quality and performance as fossil-based polycarbonates and are a drop-in replacement without having to change existing processes or workflows.

Covestro has also collaborated with partners to develop polyurethane raw materials in which up to 20 percent of the petroleum-based raw materials previously used are replaced by the climate gas. Applications of such polyols, called cardyon®, are also currently being developed in the automotive sector. Partially bio-based precursors for automotive clear coatings from the Desmodur® N range also contribute to circularity as alternative raw materials.

Plastics recyclates are an important building block in significantly reducing a car's carbon footprint from raw material and component production through the use phase to recycling. In addition, Covestro is increasingly driving forward the development of chemical recycling technologies. A decisive factor in the success of such developments is that the products satisfy the high quality requirements and specifications of the automotive industry. Covestro supports the mechanical and chemical recycling of plastics through its role as a member in associations such as the Circularise Plastics project group. This group's goal is to establish a new standard for the traceability of plastics back to the raw material.

With 2020 sales of EUR 10.7 billion, Covestro is among the world’s leading polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative, sustainable solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. In doing so, Covestro is fully committed to the circular economy. The main industries served are the automotive and transportation industries, construction, furniture and wood processing, as well as electrical, electronics, and household appliances industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry itself. At the end of 2020, Covestro has 33 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,500 people.

As MRC informed previously, earlier this month, DSM completed the sale of the resins & functional materials businesses to Covestro for EUR1.6 billion (USD1.9 billion), including EUR1.4 billion in cash.

We remind that Covestro closed the sale of its European polycarbonates (PC) sheets business to the Munich-based Serafin Group effective January 2, 2020. This includes key management and sales functions throughout Europe as well as production sites in Belgium and Italy.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus) totalled 34,000 tonnes in the first four months of 2021, up by 11% year on year (30,500 tonnes a year earlier).

Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG. Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating, insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc. With 2020 sales of EUR 10.7 billion, Covestro has 33 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,500 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel is to further expand its long-term position in South and Central America after reaching an agreement to acquire Colombia-based paints and coatings company Grupo Orbis, as per the company's press release.

Completion is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected by end of this year, or in early 2022.

Financial details were not disclosed.

Present in ten countries in South America, Central America and the Antilles, Grupo Orbis has consolidated revenue of around COP USD1,200 billion (EUR260 million). The transaction includes the Pintuco paints and coatings business, Andercol and Poliquim (resins) and Mundial (distribution and services).

“This is an excellent intended acquisition which aligns perfectly with our Grow & Deliver strategy of creating leading global positions and driving growth in emerging markets,” explains AkzoNobel CEO, Thierry Vanlancker. “It will expand our long-term position across South America by establishing us as a frontrunner in the Andean region and in Central America, where several countries are high on the global growth rankings for the next decade.”

In addition to creating value from global and regional product and service innovation, the intended acquisition will enable AkzoNobel to better serve customers across more geographies, as well as accessing new markets.

Both companies also share a strong belief in the transformative power of color and a highly committed approach to sustainability. It’s therefore expected that joining AkzoNobel’s “Let’s Colour” program with the expertise of the Pintuco Foundation will provide fresh impetus for further improving the quality of life for people in local communities throughout the region.

The intended transaction follows on from a series of recent acquisitions by AkzoNobel across the paints and coatings industry over the last 18 months, which have included Titan Paints in Spain and New Nautical Coatings in the US.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in March 2021 by 5.4% year on year. Thus, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 6.7% in the first moths months of 2021.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, AkzoNobel is active in over 150 countries and employ around 33,000 people who deliver the high-performance products and services customers expect.
MRC