PE imports to Russia decreased by 13% in January-July

MOSCOW (MRC) - The imports of polyethylene (PE) to Russia decreased by 13% in January-July of this year and reached the level of 337,100 tonnes. The largest decrease in imports accounted for high-density polyethylene (HDPE), according to MRC's DataScope.

July PE imports exceeded 53,000 tonnes against 43,200 tonnes a month earlier, with HDPE and linear polyethylene (LLDPE) imports increased most of all. In general, the total volume of imports of ethylene polymers amounted to 337,100 tonnes for seven months of this year against 388,400 tonnes a year earlier. The main decrease in imports accounted for HDPE, and supply of linear polyethylene also significantly decreased.

The structure of HDPE imports by processing technologies for the period under review was as follows.

July imports of HDPE rose to 19,800 tonnes against 15,300 tonnes a month earlier, supplies of film and pipe polyethylene increased. In general, in January - July of this year, the total volume of external supplies of this type of polyethylene amounted to 118,200 tonnes, which is 29% less than a year earlier. The largest decrease in supplies accounted for film and blow moulding HDPE.

Last month, imports of low-pressure polyethylene (LDPE) did not exceed 9,500 tonnes, while in June this figure was 8,700 tonnes. During the period under review, the total volume of LDPE imports to Russia reached the level of 66,000 tonnes, which is 6% more than a year earlier.

July imports of linear polyethylene reached the level of 13,900 tonnes against 10,100 tonnes a month earlier, increased external purchases of film polyethylene in Europe and Saudi Arabia. The total volume of LLDPE imports amounted to 89,600 tonnes in the seven months of this year, down 15% year on year.

Last month, imports of other ethylene polymers, including ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), amounted to 9,900 tonnes against 9,200 tonnes in June. In general, for the period under review, the total volume of external supplies of other ethylene polymers reached the level of 62,000 tonnes against 55,000 tonnes a year earlier.
MRC

1. Asian recyclers of film grade HDPE operate at low rates due to COVID-19

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Recyclers in Southeast Asia were heard operating with low capacity utilisation in the film grade high density polyethylene (HDPE) market due to COVID-19-led lockdown measures, reported S&P Global. Market sources also said persistent bottlenecks at ports in Asia and some maintenance-related plant closures are likely to hurt the supply of petrochemicals during the week of Aug. 30-Sept. 3.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Recyclers in Southeast Asia were heard operating with low capacity utilisation in the film grade high density polyethylene (HDPE) market due to COVID-19-led lockdown measures, reported S&P Global.

Market sources also said persistent bottlenecks at ports in Asia and some maintenance-related plant closures are likely to hurt the supply of petrochemicals during the week of Aug. 30-Sept. 3.

As MRC informed earlier, Southeast Asian polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling companies will continue facing challenges with the availability of raw materials, due to the low collecting and processing rate, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, June estimated HDPE consumption in Russia decreased to 125,900 tonnes from 128,300 tonnes a month earlier. Domestic producers raised their exports, while some producers' output decreased. Russia's overall HDPE shipments to the Russian market totalled 675,670 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, down by 6% year on year. Production increased by 12%, whereas imports fell by 33%.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tight supplies of gasoline on the US East Coast are being pressured by refinery outages from Hurricane Ida and the shutdown of a major pipeline that supplies fuel to the Southeast, reported Reuters.

At least nine refineries in Louisiana that account for 13% of US processing capacity on Monday had reduced or halted production, according to the US Department of Energy. Those plants process 2.3 million barrels per day of crude oil into gasoline and other fuels.

US retail gasoline prices could rise between 5 and 15 cents a gallon, estimated Patrick DeHaan, petroleum analyst at fuel tracker GasBuddy.

How much prices increase depends on how quickly refiners and the Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the United States, can restore operations. Colonial on Sunday halted fuel transport from Houston to Greensboro, North Carolina.

The pipeline company said on Monday, as MRC wrote earlier, it expects to resume full service once the company assesses the impact of Hurricane Ida on operations. It is releasing fuel from storage terminals along the supply route to the Southeast.

Traders are monitoring Ida's effect on East Coast fuel markets. Gasoline stocks are 15% lower than the five-year average. "No amount of barrels of fuel the US can import can fill the gap of the Colonial pipeline," one fuel trader said.

Refiners said they have cut processing in part due to the power utility losses. Utilities across Louisiana and Mississippi cut power to nearly 1.2 million homes and businesses, according to tracking service PowerOutage.com.

As MRC informed previously, six refineries that process 1.92 million barrels per day of oil into gasoline and other petroleum products, either shut or curtailed some production, sources. That includes two Valero Energy plants in Louisiana that combined process 335,000 barrels per day and Phillips 66's 255,000 bpd Alliance, Louisiana, refinery.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Colonial Pipeline plans to restart fuel flows late Aug. 30 after completing safety assessments in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, restoring the nation's primary fuel artery for much of the Southeast and the East Coast, reported S&P Global.

Colonial Pipeline had temporarily shut down its Lines 1 and 2 systems from Houston to Greensboro, North Carolina ahead of Category 4 Ida. Colonial's Lines 3 and 4 from North Carolina to New Jersey never ceased operations.
Colonial said service to Lines 1 and 2 should be restored the evening of Aug. 30, pending successfully completion of all restart protocols, one day after Ida swept through Louisiana.

"We want to express our sympathy and concern for the many people who have suffered tremendously because of this hurricane," said Wes Dunbar, Colonial vice president of operations, in a statement. "I also want to thank those who are helping get Colonial back in service as quickly and safely as possible. We know the fuels delivered by our pipeline are important to emergency responders, as well as to our daily lives. We are thankful for the coordination from our local, state and federal partners for their assistance as we work to restore our pipeline into service."

Colonial Pipeline typically delivers more than 100 million gal/d of fuels. Colonial stretches more than 5,500 miles from the Houston refining hub to New York Harbor, supplying about 45% of all the gasoline and diesel fuel consumed on the East Coast. Product typically moves at 3 to 5 mph through the pipeline.

Assuming Colonial comes back online as scheduled, there will not be any fuel shortages unless supplies are exacerbated by panic buying, said fuel analyst Patrick DeHaan of GasBuddy.com.

Category 4 Hurricane Ida devastated much of southern Louisiana and Mississippi on Aug. 29, leaving well more than 1 million electricity customers without power for the foreseeable future.

In advance of the storm, about 95% of the US Gulf's oil and gas production was shut-in, and roughly 2.2 million b/d of oil refining capacity was closed.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, the fourth-largest US refiner Phillips 66 said earlier this month that it put the smaller of its two Louisiana refineries up for sale amid continued losses and an uncertain future for motor fuels. The company is holding talks with a potential buyer on the sale of its 255,600 barrel-per-day (bpd) Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, according to two people familiar with the matter. The identity of the potential buyer could not immediately be learned. US refiners have closed or sold oil processing plants as the COVID-19 pandemic slashed demand for gasoline and jet fuel, generating losses for the industry.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC