Malaysia to implement B30 biodiesel mandate in transport sector before 2025

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Malaysia will implement a B30 biodiesel programme in the transport sector by 2025 or even earlier, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday at the launch of the country's National Automotive Policy plan, said Reuters.

The policy will provide supporting measures including the development of testing and research standards to facilitate the adoption of biodiesel with a 30% palm oil content, Mahathir said.

Malaysia's primary industries ministry has previously said it plans to test a B30 programme in June.

As MRC infromed earlier, the price of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, averaged USD64 per barrel (b) in 2019, USD7/b lower than its 2018 average. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, averaged USD57/b in 2019, USD7/b lower than in 2018.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fund Energy has taken off-stream its polypropylene (PP) unit for a turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that, the company has halted operations at the unit on February 18, 2020. The unit is likely to remain under maintenance for about two weeks.

Located at Zhejiang, China, the PP unit has a production capacity of 440,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, Ningbo Fund Energy restarted its PP unit in China in end-August, 2019, following an outage. The unit was shut in mid-August, 2019. Located at Ningbo in Zhejiang, China, the PP unit has a production capacity of 440,000 mt/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

Ningbo Fund Energy Co. Ltd. manufactures and distributes petrochemical products. The Company produces ethylene glycol, polypropylene, and other products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan's UPC Technology Corp has undertaken a planned shutdown at its maleic anhydride (MA) unit, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that, the company has started a turnaround at the unit on February 12, 2020. The plant is expected to remain off-line till end-February, 2020.

Located at Panjin in China, the MA unit has a production capacity of 60,000 mt/year.

MA is a fundamental component of polymers, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and coatings used in the construction, automotive, marine, and energy industries.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, contrary to seasonal factors, Russian producers of unmixed PVC have maintained a high level of capacity utilisation. Overal PVC output totalled 91,700 tonnes in January 2020, up by 4% year on year.

UPC Technology Corporation is primarily engaged in the research, development, and manufacture of petrochemical products. It's products include acid & anhydride, plasticizers, UPR, polyol, fatty ester, epoxy resin and other specialty chemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Portuguese oil company Galp Energia said on Tuesday it will kick off its green business by installing renewable energy capacity of 10 gigawatts in the decade ahead, reported Reuters.

Galp, which last month bought solar power projects from Spain's ACS for 2.2 billion euros (USD2.38 billion), hopes to install 3.3 gigawatts of solar energy in Portugal and Spain alone by 2023, generating more than 10% in equity returns.

Fossil fuel companies are racing to adapt to investor-demands for more sustainable business models as public awareness of climate change grows.

Galp sees itself as well-placed to "build a competitive renewable business" from its location on the Iberian peninsula with its 1,800 solar hours per year.

From this year onwards, it said that more than 40% of Galp's capital expenditure, between 1 billion to 1.2 billion, will be spent on the energy transition, which includes renewable energy and a natural gas project in Mozambique.

Galp is the largest oil and gas group in Portugal, where it distributes gas and sells petrol.

Traditionally an oil refinery, Galp attracted interest from investors due to its growth prospects in oil and gas production in projects in Angola, Mozambique and Brazil, where China's Sinopec has 30% of its assets.

Globally, it competes with majors such as Royal Dutch Shell , BP, Total and Exxon.

BP last week set one of the oil sector's most ambitious targets for curbing emissions, although some environmental campaigners accused it of greenwash and said it had not given enough detail on how it would achieve its targets.

As MRC reported before, in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) --- LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, has just announced that it has declared a dividend of USD1.05 per share, as per the company's press release.

The dividend is to be paid March 9, 2020 to shareholders of record March 2, 2020, with an ex-dividend date of Feb. 28, 2020.

As MRC wrote previously, iin September 2016, LyondellBasell selected its La Porte, Texas, manufacturing complex as the site for a new high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant. The plant will be the first commercial plant to employ LyondellBasell's new proprietary Hyperzone PE technology and will have an annual capacity of 1.1 billion pounds (500,000 metric tons). Construction began in early 2017 with start-up planned for Q1 2020.

According to MRC's DataScope report, HDPE imports into Russia grew in January-December 2019 by 44% year on year, reaching 363,100 tonnes. Pipe grade and film grade polyethylene (PE) accounted for the greatest increase in imports.

LyondellBasell is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies. The company manufactures products at 57 sites in 18 countries. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC