US to investigate dumping of epoxy resins after petition by Olin, Westlake

On April 3, 2024, antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) petitions were filed against imports of certain epoxy resins from China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, said Harris-sliwoski.

The petitions were filed by the U.S. Epoxy Resin Producers Ad Hoc Coalition, consisting of two U.S. producers, Olin Corporation and Westlake Corporation.

Epoxy resins are used in a wide range of applications, including protective coatings, paints, construction (flooring), composite materials, electrical and electronics laminates, and adhesives.

South Korea and Taiwan account for over 60 percent of the total U.S. imports of epoxy resins. Epoxy resins from China are already subject to China Section 301 tariffs. The petitioners believe that a significant volume of Chinese epoxy resins is being imported into the United States through Canada.

These AD/CVD investigations will be conducted by two federal agencies. The International Trade Commission (“ITC”) will investigate whether the subject imports are a cause of injury. The U.S. Department of Commerce (“DOC”) will investigate whether the subject imports are being sold to the United States at less than fair value (“dumping”) or benefit from unfair government subsidies. Both agencies have to make affirmative findings of injury or threat of injury (ITC) or of dumping or subsidies (DOC) in order for AD/CVD duties to be imposed on the subject imports.

The petition proposed the scope definition for this case that identifies the physical characteristics of the products covered, and also identifies certain exclusions from the scope.

We remind, based on projected net cash income for 2030, 121 of the 465 refineries audited are at risk of closure. Combined, this amounts to 20.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity, or 21.6% of global capacity by 2023.

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Chevron New Energies (CNE), a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., announced a lead investment in ION Clean Energy (ION), a Boulder-based technology company that provides post-combustion point-source capture technology through its third-generation ICE-31 liquid amine system, said the company.

ION raised $45 million in Series A financing led by CNE. The capital raised will continue to fund ION’s organizational growth and commercial deployment of its ICE-31 liquid amine carbon capture technology for hard-to-abate emissions.

CNE looks to use ION’s ICE-31 technology to service customers with high volume and low concentration CO2 emissions. This investment also provides CNE with the opportunity to partner with ION customers on projects to scale the technology sooner.

“We continue to make progress on our goal to deliver the full value chain of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) as a business, and we believe ION is a part of this solution. ION has consistent proof points in technology performance, recognition from the Department of Energy, partnerships with global brands, and a strong book of business that it brings to the relationship,” said Chris Powers, vice president of CCUS & Emerging with CNE. “ION’s solvent technology, combined with Chevron’s assets and capabilities, has the potential to reach numerous emitters and support our ambitions of a lower carbon future. We believe collaborations like this are essential to our efforts to grow carbon capture on a global scale.”

“We have truly special solvent technology. It is capable of very high capture efficiency with low energy use while simultaneously being exceptionally resistant to degradation with virtually undetectable emissions. That’s a pretty powerful combination that sets us apart from the competition. This investment from Chevron is a huge testament to the hard work of our team and the potential of our technology,” said ION founder and Executive Chairman Buz Brown. “We appreciate their collaboration and with their investment we expect to accelerate commercial deployment of our technology so that we can realize the kind of wide-ranging commercial and environmental impact we’ve long envisioned.”

In conjunction with this investment, ION also announced Timothy Vail will join the company as Chief Executive Officer. Vail was previously CEO of Arbor Renewable Gas, LLC. He was also Founder and CEO of G2X Energy, Inc., and serves as an Operating Partner for OGCI Climate Investments, LLP.

“With this investment, we are well positioned to grow ION into a worldwide provider of high-performance point source capture solutions.” said Vail. “This capital allows us to accelerate the commercial deployment of our carbon capture technology.”

This investment in ION expands Chevron’s technology portfolio to include conventional amine-based capture technology while complementing an existing portfolio of CCUS technologies. CIBC Capital Markets served as the exclusive financial advisor to ION for the raise.

We remind, Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), and the Fab Foundation today announced the official opening of Fab Labs at Fort Valley State University and Florida A&M University (FAMU).

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Oil India plans to start its 180,000 bpd Numaligarh refinery in the northeastern state of Assam by December 2025, its chairman Ranjit Rath said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company will set up a trading desk as the refinery would process 110,000 bpd of imported crude, Rath said, adding that the remaining crude requirement would be met through local production.

Oil India, which operates exploration and production assets mostly in the northeastern part of the country, would export refined fuels to Bangladesh from the Numaligarh refinery, he said.

Oil India's production rose to a record 6.5 million ton oil equivalent (mtoe) last fiscal year from 6.36 mtoe in fiscal 2023, Rath said.

The company is looking to further raise its output and would spend 135 billion rupees ($1.62 billion) in the current fiscal year, up from 115 billion rupees in the previous year, he said.

Oil India aims to drill 61 wells this fiscal year compared to 45 in 2023/24, he added.

We remind, India has initiated an anti-dumping investigation on imports of Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) Resin (suspension grade) from seven countries - China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), under the Commerce and Industry Ministry, has launched this probe in response to a petition filed by three of the five domestic producers of 'PVC Suspension Resins' in India.

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Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical restarted operations at the port at its Mailiao oil refinery after closing it as a precautionary measure following a powerful earthquake, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

FPCC has also restarted operations at a crude distillation unit (CDU) at Mailiao, company spokesperson K.Y. Lin said.

"There was no major impact on the refinery. One CDU tripped, and already resumed operation this afternoon," said Lin. The port was closed as a precautionary measure, and it reopened at noon, Lin added, saying that "there will not be any shipping delay due to the earthquake that happened this morning."

FPCC operates three 180,000-barrels per day (bpd) crude distillation units at its Mailiao refinery, which is in Yunlin county in western Taiwan. Four people died and more than 700 were injured after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the island's remote east coast, away from most of its power and oil infrastructure.

At least one fuel product vessel, the Harrisburg, is waiting to berth at Mailiao port, Kpler ship tracking data showed. The Harrisburg is scheduled to load jet fuel and gasoil with a sulfur content of 500 parts per million in the next two days, the data showed.

Two chemical tankers and one clean products tankers are currently berthed at Mailiao port, the data showed. On the crude oil front, the refiner is scheduled to receive one Saudi-origin cargo on April 8, sources said.

Seperately, state-owned refiner CPC Corp MOEATA.ULsaid it is still investigating the impact of the quake on its refinery and port operations.

Some operational and safety checks are ongoing at CPC Corp's Taoyuan refinery units given its proximity to the quake's epicenter, but so far crude runs have not been affected significantly, one source familiar with the matter said.

CPC Corp operates a 200,000-bpd refinery at Taoyuan in northern Taiwan and a 450,000-bpd refinery at Talin, in southwest Taiwan. Refinery operations at the company's Talin site are unaffected so far, a second source said.

We remind, Taiwan's biggest earthquake in at least 25 years killed nine people on Wednesday and injured more than 900, while 50 workers travelling in minibuses to a hotel in a national park were missing. Some buildings tilted at precarious angles in the mountainous, sparsely populated county of Hualien, near the epicentre of the 7.2 magnitude quake, which struck just offshore at about 8 a. m. (0000 GMT) and triggered massive landslides.

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Last year, Bloomberg caused quite a stir in energy circles when it predicted that global demand for road fuel will peak in 2027, said Oilprice.

According to Bloomberg, demand for road fuel will hit an all-time high of 49 million barrels per day just three years from now before entering terminal decline. Bloomberg says that rapid adoption of electric vehicles, shared mobility and ever-improving fuel efficiency are the biggest bear catalysts for oil, with EVs expected to displace a staggering 20 million barrels per day in oil demand by 2040, or 10x the current estimate.

Bloomberg also reported that demand for gasoline and diesel for road transport has already peaked in the U.S. and Europe, and is set to do so in China in the current year. Meanwhile, demand in India will start shrinking in the 2030s.
Well, we have just completed the first quarter of 2024 and all eyes are on the world’s biggest consumer of fossil fuels: China. Chinese crude oil imports jumped by 5.1% Y/Y in January and February, driven by increasing fuel demand during the Lunar New Year holiday. According to Reuters’ calculations based on data reported by the Chinese General Administration of Customs. China’s oil cargo arrivals climbed to a total of 10.74 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first two months of 2024, compared to 10.4 million bpd in last year’s corresponding period. However, the Jan-Feb clip represents a considerable slowdown from 11.39 million bpd crude arrivals in December 2023. It’s hard to predict how demand will unfold in the coming months although Chinese refiners, in recent years, have stepped up purchases when prices are relatively low and pumped the brakes when oil climbs above $80 per barrel.
Related: Reuters Survey Shows OPEC Output Reduced in March.

China’s oil market is closely watched by energy experts not only due to its sheer size but also because of the ongoing EV revolution in the Middle Kingdom. According to Lu Ruquan, president of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp.'s Economics & Technology Research Institute, EVs will displace more than 20 million metric tons of crude demand this year, good for 10% of the country’s gasoline and diesel consumption. China's sales of battery-powered EVs rose 18.2% in January-February, a lower growth clip compared to 20.8% for all of 2023. However, together with plug-in hybrids, China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) sales jumped 37.5% in the two-month period, versus 36.2% for 2023. NEVs accounted for 33.5% of total car sales in January-February versus 28.3% in the same period a year earlier. Further, intense price wars have led to some EVs achieving price parity with ICE vehicles sooner than projected, putting further pressure on oil demand.

We remind, based on projected net cash income for 2030, 121 of the 465 refineries audited are at risk of closure. Combined, this amounts to 20.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity, or 21.6% of global capacity by 2023.

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