BASF had chorine gas leak at Ludwigshafen

MOSCOW (MRC) -- At noon, three workers sustained injuries in a chlorine gas accident in the southern part of BASF, said RNF.

According to the company, the employee of an outside company had to be transported to a hospital for treatment.

The other two, who also breathed in chlorine gas, were discharged symptom-free after the initial care. It is said that a small amount of chlorine gas was released in the accident.

The cause has not yet been clarified.

Because of the general disposition to Corona about public events of the city of Ludwigshafen, BASF canceled the experience Saturday on March 14th and the planned start of the event series "On an espresso with". The visitor center at Gate 2 remains closed on this day.

As MRC wrote earlier, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, has restarted its No. 1 steam cracker following a maintenance turnaorund. Thus, the company resumed operations at the plant on September 30, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance in mid-August, 2019. Located at Ludwigshafen in Germany, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 235,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 125,000 mt/year.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing 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).

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of around EUR63 billion in 2018.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Inner Mongolia Yigao Coal Chemical Technology Co Ltd, has brought on-stream its monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit last week, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that, the company resumed operations at the unit on March 3, 2020. The unit was shut on February 4, 2020 owing to transportation disruption caused by outbreak of coronavirus in wuhan region.

Located In Ordos, Inner mongolia China, the unit has a production capacity is 120,000 mt/year.

As per MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Russia decreased by 16% year on year in December 2019. Russia's overall estimated PET consumption totalled 696,810 tonnes in 2019, up by 1% year on year (690,130 tonnes in 2018).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Losing more than a quarter of their value, oil prices were set for their biggest daily rout since the first Gulf War, after Saudi Arabia cut its official prices in a market already reeling from the impact of the coronavirus on global demand, reported Reuters.

Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling prices and made plans to ramp up crude output next month after Russia balked at making a further steep output cut proposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to stabilize oil markets.

Brent LCOc1 crude futures were down USD11.38, or 25%, at USD33.89 a barrel by 0732 GMT, after earlier dropping to USD31.02, their lowest since Feb. 12, 2016. Brent futures were on track for their biggest daily decline since Jan. 17, 1991, when prices dropped at the start of the first Gulf War.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 fell by USD11.12, or 27%, to USD30.16 a barrel, after touching USD27.34, also the lowest since Feb. 12, 2016. The US benchmark was potentially heading for its biggest decline on record, surpassing a 33% fall in January 1991.

"The timing of this lower price environment should be limited to a few months unless this whole virus impact on global market and consumer confidence triggers the next recession," said Keith Barnett, senior vice president strategic analysis at ARM Energy in Houston.

The disintegration of the grouping called OPEC+ - made up of OPEC plus other producers including Russia - ends more than three years of cooperation to support the market.

Saudi Arabia plans to boost its crude output above 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in April after the current deal to curb production expires at the end of March, two sources told Reuters on Sunday.

The world’s biggest oil exporter is attempting to punish Russia, the world’s second-largest producer, for not supporting the production cuts proposed last week by OPEC.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major producers last battled for market share like this between 2014 and 2016 to try to squeeze out production from the United States, which has grown to become the world’s biggest oil producer as flows from shale oil fields doubled over the last decade.

"The deal was always destined to fail," said Matt Stanley, senior broker at Starfuels in Dubai.

"All that happened was, and all that has consistently happened since the inception of the cuts, has been that US shale producers have gained market share."

Saudi Arabia over the weekend cut its official selling prices for April for all crude grades to all destinations by between USD6 and USD8 a barrel.

"The prognosis for the oil market is even more dire than in November 2014, when such a price war last started, as it comes to a head with the signi?cant collapse in oil demand due to the coronavirus," Goldman Sachs said.

Meanwhile, China’s efforts to curtail the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted the world’s second-largest economy and curtailed shipments to the biggest oil importer.

And the spread of the virus to other major economies such as Italy and South Korea and the growing number of cases in the United States have increased concerns that oil demand will slump this year.

Goldman Sachs and other major banks such as Morgan Stanley have cut their demand growth forecasts, with Morgan Stanley predicting China will have zero demand growth in 2020. Goldman sees a contraction of 150,000 bpd in global demand.

Goldman Sachs cut its forecast for Brent to USD30 for the second and third quarters of 2020.

In other markets, the dollar was down sharply against the yen, Asian stock markets sharply lower, and gold rose to its highest since 2013 as investors fled to safe havens.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, state-owned PetroChina shut its Guangxi Petrochemical in southern Guangxi province on February 9, 2020, for scheduled 50-day maintenance. The maintenance should help the refinery to offset stock pressure after product demand slumped due to the coronavirus outbreak.

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) -- At least one person has died in an explosion at a chemical plant in the Barcelona neighborhood of La Verneda, local emergency services said in a tweet, as per Reuters.

The emergency services said they were coordinating with the fire service and the company to determine what type of products have been affected by the blast.

As MRC informed earlier, explosion in Barcelona is the second deadly accident the Catalan chemicals industry has suffered in less than two months, after a blast at Iqoxe's facilities in Tarragona on 14 January left three people dead. Ethylene oxide (EO) supply in Europe has been tight after the blast in Tarragona, which chemical park is one of the hubs for petrochemicals production in Spain.

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).

Proquibasa is a privately-owned chemicals producer serving a wide range of industries, from coatings and adhesives to detergents and personal care.

It also produces some chemicals for the lubricants industry and for industrial cleaners as well as some pharmaceutical active ingredients and food additives.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis has started to produce polypropylene (PP) based on Neste-produced renewable feedstock in its production facilities in Kallo and Beringen, Belgium, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This marks the first time that Borealis has replaced fossil fuel-based feedstock in its large-scale commercial production of PP. The Belgian plants were recently awarded by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) organization with ISCC Plus certification for its renewable PP.

Taking its commitment to the next level for advancing the circular economy, Borealis once again furthers its EverMinds ambitions. This path breaking venture in sustainable production is being driven in close collaboration with upstream and downstream value chain partners such as Neste and Henkel. It also aligns with the Borealis’ aim to ensure that 100% of its consumer products are recyclable, reusable, or produced from renewable sources by 2025.

Borealis and its upstream partner Neste are moving the industry closer to a circular economy of plastics thanks to the production start in December 2019 of renewable PP. After producing renewable propane using its proprietary NEXBTL technology, Neste sells the renewable propane to the Borealis propane dehydrogenation plant in Kallo. Here it is converted to renewable propylene, then subsequently to renewable PP at Kallo and Beringen plants.

The recently finalized audits carried out by an independent third party have resulted in an ISCC Plus certification for the renewable PP produced at both Kallo and Beringen plants. This certification encompasses the entire value chain scope and verifies that the renewable feedstock used is certified as being 100% renewable and sustainably produced, including traceability to point of origin.

Downstream partners from a variety of industries such as consumer packaging, automotive, healthcare, and appliance industries can now commercialize their end-use products with a lower carbon footprint based on renewable propylene and PP produced at Borealis’ Belgian plants. In response to increasing demand, Borealis is working with value chain partners to expand availability.

Henkel, a global market leader in the adhesives sector and known for its strong brands in Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care, has already embraced the values of the circular economy. Having made the use of sustainable materials a key pillar in its packaging strategy, Henkel is committed to work with its value chain partners to drive sustainable packaging solutions. Including renewable PP content in the packaging of a major Henkel brand over the course of the year marks another step in its efforts to significantly reduce its use of fossil fuel-based virgin plastics.

"Producing renewable PP based on renewable feedstock for the first time in history is another concrete step towards a more sustainable carbon future,” says Lucrece Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Innovation and Circular Economy Solutions. “Working closely with partners like Neste and Henkel, who share our EverMinds™ mind-set, is key to shaping a better tomorrow. Thinking circular means capitalising on growth opportunities that accelerate the transformation to a circular economy."

"It is great to see, for the first time in history, a propane dehydrogenation facility using renewable propane to replace fossil feedstock, enabling Borealis to produce mass balance certified renewable polypropylene for sustainability-focused brands like Henkel. This is an exceptional example of collaboration across the value chain making a positive sustainability impact in the polymers sector,"' says Mercedes Alonso, Executive Vice President, Renewable Polymers and Chemicals, Neste.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, in early October 2019,, Austrian polyolefin supplier Borealis AG lifted a force majeure declared in the previous months at its production site in Kallo. On 2 Sep, 2019, the company declared force majeure on refinery grade propylene and propane from its production site in Kallo, Belgium, as a consequence of “unforeseen technical issues."

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).

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC