ChemAnalyst

As the terrible phase of the shipping industry owing to acute shortage of containers continues to extend its wrath with each passing day, the trade of petrochemical olefins in the Asian region gets botched leaving the producers to stare into the abyss. Asian ports are seen laden with stranded cargoes coming from the United States, Europe, Oceania, and Africa. Singapore port has become a common dumping spot for cargoes, which is intensifying the container backlog issue across the intra-Asia trade route due to the chain effect. The cargo backlogs are causing the imports of ethylene to slim down in Asia. While the ethylene exporting companies find themselves helpless as they are struggling to send shipments on time, thereby failing to take advantage of the firm olefin demand across the Asia Pacific and the regions in the west. Ethylene is the most notable petrochemical product obtained from oil and natural gas feedstocks upon their thermal cracking. It is widely used as a feedstock fo...

Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) prices in the USA have been falling with mild fluctuations since the past four to five months now. The prices are expected to continue the downward path for the upcoming month also as the demand appears to be stagnant and the prices of feedstock ethylene are falling in the USA. The prices of LDPE were assessed at USD 1995 per tonne in the last week of June, the prices fell to USD 1945 per tonne in the month of July, with the prices falling further to USD 1880 per tonne in the month of August. The prices for the month of October and November are USD 1790 per tonne and USD 1690 per tonne respectively. The demand has been stagnant due to the declining demand of packaging for online orders after the easing of coronavirus related lockdowns in the USA. Prices of Ethylene have also been falling consistently since July. LDPE is a versatile, semi-rigid thermoplastic made from monomer Ethylene. LDPE is highly resistant towards moisture and chemicals, that mak...

The prices of Polypropylene are expected to remain stable for the upcoming week since the prices of feedstock polymer grade propylene have been stable for the past month and the demand also appears to maintain the current levels. The prices of Polypropylene were assessed at USD 2580 per tonne for PP Copolymer Injection Molding grade, and USD 2495 per tonne for PP Homopolymer Injection Molding grade in the first of week of November. The prices for both the grades have not changed much this month and the prices are expected to remain stable for the upcoming week also. The prices of polymer grade propylene were assessed at USD 1630 per tonne in the first week of November. The prices of polymer grade propylene have also maintained a stable trend. The demand for Polypropylene is also buoyant and is able to match the supply hence the prices will tend to stabilize around the current levels. Polypropylene is a thermoplastic and is a colourless solid with a glossy surface. Polypropylene has ...

USA-based multinational, refiner and energy producer, Phillips 66, has planned to commence repair works at its storm-hit two units at Alliance, Louisiana refinery , that had remained shut after the landfall made by Ida in late August. The repair activity, set to begin in January 2022, will be covering a 250,000-bpd day crude distillation unit, a 120,000-bpd fluidic catalytic cracking unit for gasoline production, a 33,000-bpd reformer, and a 70,000-bpd diesel hydrotreater. In addition, the damaged electrical system will also be put under repair to enable the power supply to all the equipment. The Alliance refinery is an attractive midstream asset that receives pipeline transported domestic crude oil from the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. light oil is supplied to it by marine transport. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port enables the transport of foreign crude oil through a pipeline to the Alliance refinery. The company has opened doors to the sale of the refinery post-repair or might consider ...

China’s Ministry of Commerce, in the last week, issued an order stating its approval to apportion PetroChina, Sinopec, and CNOOC with an additional quota on 1 million metric tonnes of domestically produced bunker crude export for bonded bunkering at China ports this year. Moreover, the ministry has also given approval to the state-owned refinery Sinopec to use its allocated 230,000 metric tonnes of bunker fuel export quota for exporting gasoil, gasoline, and jet fuel in 2021. China produced 9.2 million metric tonnes of bunker fuel in the January-August period. The additional quota on bunker crude makes the total export volume of bunker fuel quota reach 11.77 million metric tonnes. On the other hand, the volume of gasoil, gasoline and jet fuel falling under the export quota after the transfer of Sinopec’s quota reached 27.23 million metric tonnes in 2021, registering a considerable increase from 33.70 million metric tonnes of quota volume in the January-September period. Bunker fuel o...

The demand for crude oil in major consuming regions, China and India, demonstrated weak demand in quarter-three of 2021, causing the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to revise its crude oil market forecast for 2021 to a reduced value of 96.4 million barrels per day. The reasons identified by OPEC for sluggish demand in these countries primarily includes the ongoing energy crisis that has led to the slowdown of the economies. In addition to the unrelenting energy crunch, China also witnessed the squelching of the property sector in the third quarter that further crippled the country’s economy. While in India, the post-COVID19 pandemic recovery dawdled due to decreased workforce, low operating efficiencies and disrupted supply-chain network. Crude Oil is a hydrocarbon composed fuel that is extracted by drilling from the natural reservoirs deep down the earth. Crude oil plays a highly significant role in the economic development of any country owing to its appli...

Poland’s leading refiner Orlen Poludnie, from the parent organisation PKN Orlen group, has commissioned a USD 100 million green propylene glycol production plant at the Trzebinia biorefinery. The unit is touted to be Europe’s largest and Poland’s first green propylene glycol manufacturing facility with 30,000 tonnes annual capacity which is 10,000 more than the only other plant of this kind in Belgium. The plant shall cater to 75% of the domestic demand thereby adding USD 12.6 million to the company’s yearly EBITDA. The production complex that also houses Poland’s first hydrogen hub fortifies Poland’s resolute to reduce carbon emissions in Southern Poland. The new plant which began construction in the second half of 2019, has also contributed to providing jobs to a workforce of 670 people after its completion. The green propylene glycol is a vital bio-based product that is typically used as a food additive for locking moisture and dissolving added colours and flavours. It is also us...

India’s chemical industry representative body, the Indian Chemical Council (ICC), which focusses on the industry’s growth, promotion and policymaking, has ushered in filing an appeal to the Government of India (GoI) to consider the inclusion of chemical products under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme while highlighting the adversities being borne by the chemical industry on RoDTEP denial. The appeal by ICC has been submitted to the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, GoI, following the release of a product-wise rate list by GoI via notification number 19/2015-2020 dated August 17, 2021, which reveals government’s refrain from the allocation of RoDTEP rates to chemicals and allied products. RoDTEP reform, which has been introduced in lieu of the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), is a WTO compliant scheme devised to promote India’s exports and market competitiveness by benefitting ex...

The prices of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) in the European export market for the exports to Eurasian countries have risen amid increasing power costs and ethylene prices. The prices for November shipments to CIS markets were discussed in the range of Euros 1650-1710 per tonne. The export price rose by almost Euros 95-100 per tonne for the shipments in November. The negotiations for the November prices began in the middle of the last week. The November ethylene contract was assessed to be up by Euros 92 per tonne as compared to the previous month. This has led to an overall rise of Euros 47 per tonne in the cost of PVC production in Europe. With the high ethylene prices, the electricity costs have also been supporting a price rise in PVC. The power costs have been rising for the past few months. Other reasons for a rise in the prices are disruptions in operations and related scheduled shutdowns for maintenance at several production sites in Europe and low imports of PVC from the USA. Thi...

The price trend of Vitamin C in China has been on a downward trajectory since September with the prices being $7065 per tonne in mid-September lowering to $6728 per tonne in the first week of October which further fell down to $6300 per tonne in the last week of October. The prices are expected to stabilize to pre September levels as the demand fundamentals are picking up and the supply scenario has been weak due to the dual control policy and recent power outages in China. The prices are expected to flatten due to the fading effects of the dual control policy and power outages. Another reason for the downward trend is that several manufacturers stopped offering quotations at the spot market with the inventory levels remaining sufficient. Despite the positive market outlook, the producers did not raise offered quotations for Vitamin C spot market. The upstream corn market has been affected due to the power rationing and dual control policy in China. The prices of the raw material ar...

The USA’s crude oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is planning to resume its Ida hurricane struck Norco, Louisiana facility accountable for generating 230,611 barrels per day of crude oil, by the end of this week. The units that will be resurrected this week include a DU-5 crude distillation unit of 240,000 barrels per day capacity, a 112,000 barrels per day capacity of gasoline-producing residual catalytic cracking unit, a 40,000 barrels per day capacity of diesel-producing hydrocracker, a coker unit with 25,000 barrels per day capacity, and a reformer of 40,000 barrels per day capacit The Norco refinery had been shut down on August 28, a day before the hurricane thrashed Norco city, inflicting damages to Shell’s refinery. After conducting repair works at the damaged facilities, the company is restarting the units housed in the refinery in phases. It has already got done with the starting of two sulphur recovery units and a diesel hydrotreater having 55,000 barrels per day capacity. Crude...

ALPLA group revealed in a recent announcement that the group will be constructing an injection molding plant in Kansas City. The plant is a part of group’s continued growth strategy in the injection molding market. As ALPLA is one of the leaders in the packaging sector, the plant will help the group to enhance innovation and facilitate the demand of the business. The upcoming new plant will be ALPLA’s fourth site in Missouri and the first dedicated to injection molding. The group will be utilizing cutting edge technologies to produce innovative packaging solutions, bottles, caps, and injection molded parts for a wide range of industries. The project is expected to begin in late 2021 and the plant is expected to become operational by the fourth quarter of 2022. The materials which will be used for injection molding parts include mainly Polypropylene, ABS, and other plastics. Polypropylene is a polymer which is used mainly in rigid packaging and injection molding applications. The glo...

The crude oil inventories, in the USA, capped off the third week closing with unforeseen gains of around 2.3 million barrels reversing the sky-rocketing oil prices in the country on Wednesday. The price of Brent oil on Wednesday was recorded to be USD 85.12 per barrel after registering a degradation of 1.42% from the price recorded on Tuesday. As per the American Petroleum Institute data, the stockpiles of gasoline and distillates also showed an increase of 530,000 barrels 986,000 barrels respectively. The higher stockpiles were realised at the largest crude oil storage capacity of the world, NYMEX delivery point of Cushing, Oklahoma, accountable for 16% of the total USA crude oil capacity. The prices of crude oil were seen to drop in Europe as well, following the rise in USA crude oil stockpiles. The ICE Brent oil futures contract settled at USD 1.15 per barrel after showing a decline of 1.33%. Crude oil is a mix of liquid hydrocarbons and is extracted from underground reservoirs...

The world’s leading petrochemical major and the USA’s largest crude oil producer, Shell, is expecting to restart its Mars and Ursa oil and gas facilities in the first half of November which is ahead of the anticipated revival time (in the start of 2022) owing to the ramped-up recovery operations undergoing in the Mars Corridor. The restart of the plant operations is subject to the completion of repair activities, at the West Delta 143 transfer facility, due in the November first half, which will be responsible for transferring oil and gas for processing at offshore terminals from three major fields. Shell was one of the most impacted oil producers from the hurricane Ida that pummelled through the Gulf of Mexico in late August idling millions of crude oil barrels in the region. The Ursa and Mars facilities producing 100,000 and 60,000 barrels of oil per day, respectively, had been ceased down post major disruptions caused by Ida. The sour crude produced from these fields are comparable ...

In a recent announcement made by Neste and Ravago it was revealed that the companies will be joining hands for a major chemical recycling joint venture in Netherlands. The facility is targeted to be the starting point of the companies’ joint global chemical recycling activities. The technology for the chemical recycling facility will be based on thermochemical liquefaction technology of the USA based Alterra Energy which is an innovative chemical recycling company. The strategic partnership will be combining Ravago’s expertise in the mechanical preparation of plastic waste and Alterra Energy’s proprietary liquefaction technology coupled with the Neste’s expertise in the processing of hydrocarbons. Both the companies are aiming for a chemical recycling facility in North Sea port in Vilissingen. The annual production capacity of the proposed chemical recycling facility is being said to be about 55 kilotons of plastic waste. The long term plan of both the chemical majors is to signifi...

The stearic acid price trend in India took an abrupt turn in the start of August and continued rising unabated throughout the September and the running October month. The sharply rising stearic acid price in the August third-week was recorded to be USD 1209 per tonne after registering a growth of 45% from the July prices. On gaining further hike the price of stearic acid in the September third-week stood at USD 1341 per tonne which further leaped high to a value of USD 1533 per tonne in the October third-week. The stearic acid prices triggered off following the inexorably spiralling palm oil feedstock prices in the past few months on the back of acute shortage of palm oil supplies to the downstream sectors. The palm oil feedstocks in India are primarily imported from Indonesia and Malaysia, which account for over 84% of the total global palm oil production. Since palm oil is produced from the fruits of oil palm trees, its production hugely depends on weather conditions and other far...