Huntsman expands distribution partnership with Azelis in the Americas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Huntsman’s Advanced Materials business is proud to announce the expansion of our Pan-American business relationship with our preferred distribution partner, Azelis Americas CASE, LLC in the US and Azelis Canada, Inc. in Canada, said the company.

With this agreement, Azelis will lead the distribution arm of the Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants & Elastomers (CASE) business for Advanced Materials, both in the United States and Canada. This differentiated customer offer includes all of Huntsman’s legacy CASE business and CVC Thermoset Specialties product lines acquired in April of 2020.

“Huntsman and Azelis have enjoyed a successful business relationship for almost 40 years. One of their primary strengths is a commitment to unparalleled customer service throughout the sales process,” said Peter Huntsman Jr., Commercial Director, Americas for Huntsman’s Advanced Materials business. “This expanded agreement strengthens our reach to our target markets in the United States and Canada, and we believe that Azelis will continue to establish Huntsman as the leading provider of material solutions that creates mutual value for our customers and our stakeholders."

Azelis is a leading distributor of specialty chemicals and food ingredients present in over 50 countries across the globe, with approximately 2,200 employees. Their knowledgeable teams of industry, market and technical experts are each dedicated to a specific market within Life Sciences and Industrial Chemicals. They offer a lateral value chain of complementary products to about 40,000 customers, creating a turnover of USD2.37 billion (2019). In the United States they operate under several renowned co-brands that cater to the various markets in the region.

Huntsman expects to complete formal agreements with Azelis in the coming weeks. Azelis will be fully prepared to service their expanded territory by October 1, 2020.

As MRC reported previously, in April 2020, to further aid in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, LyondellBasell (LBI) donated a key ingredient to Huntsman Corporation to produce hand sanitizer for US first responders.

We remind that, in January 2020, Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global chemical producer, completed its acquisition of Huntsman’s world-class integrated oxides and derivative businesses, including a large flagship site on the US Gulf Coast (USGC) at Port Neches, as well as Chocolate Bayou and Dayton in Texas, Ankleshwar in India, and Botany in Australia, as per IVL's press release.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical Co. (SSTPC), a 50-50 joint venture of Sinopec and SABIC,has brought on-stream its naphtha cracker following a turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that, the company resumed operations at the cracker July 12, 2020. The cracker was shut for maintenance on May 9, 2020.

Located at Tianjin, China, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 1 million mt/year and propylene capacity of 540,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2019, SSTPC began construction on an ethylene expansion project in Tianjin Province, China. The project will boost the company's ethylene capacity to 1.3-million t/y from 1-million t/y currently. Cost and a schedule for the project were not given.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group"s key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world"s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world"s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As Texas prepares for heavy rains and possible gale force winds this weekend brought on by Tropical Depression 8 currently in the central Gulf of Mexico, the US Coast Guard has begun to restrict port activities, reported S&P Global.

The National Hurricane Center on June 23 issued a tropical storm watch from Port Mansfield, Texas, just above the Mexico border, to High Island, just north of Galveston, but noted that tropical storm warnings could be issued later today as the storm progresses westward towards land.

The NHC said that slow strengthening of the depression is expected and has the possibility to become a tropical storm to be named Hanna - in the next 12 to 24 hours.

"On the forecast track, the center of the depression is expected to move across the northwestern Gulf of Mexico today and Friday and make landfall along the Texas coast on Saturday," according to the NHC advisory 3, the latest issued on June 23.

As a precautionary measure, the US Coast Guard has issued Port Condition Whisky for the ports of Corpus Christi, as well as for the Houston-Galveston and the Freeport region. The ports remain open to both commercial and recreational activity but are on alert that gale force winds up to 39 mph are predicted to arrive in 72 hours.

The NHC said the storm is expected to bring between 3 and 5 inches of rain, with some portions of Texas and Louisiana receiving as much as 8 inches, which could result in flash flooding in some regions.

Flooding is expected to be the main concern of Tropical Depression 8, which could impact some refineries in Texas, home to about 30% of total US refining capacity, and refiners are keeping an eye on the storm.

Refiners like Phillips 66, which has Texas coastal refineries, are keeping a close eye on the weather.

"Phillips 66 closely monitors tropical storms, hurricanes and other weather events that could threaten our operations," a company spokesperson said July 23.

Tropical Storm Gonzalo is expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico early Monday, the NHC said, but impacts on the Windward Islands in the eastern Caribbean are expected on Saturday.

Hurricane watches could be expanded across all the Windward Islands but there is "significant uncertainty" in how strong Gonzalo will be when it moves across the islands and into the US Gulf of Mexico.

Gonzalo appears to have lost strength and is unlikely to make it into US Gulf Coast oil producing regions or near enough to the coast to impact US refineries.

"Looking at its current path of the storm, it does not look to be hitting major refineries," said Lennie Rodriguez, analyst with S&P Global Analytics, adding that impact on Venezuelan refining operations would be "minimal" because most Venezuelan refining capacity is offline.

As MRC informed earlier, US-based Phillips 66 remains open to developing another ethane cracker for its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) joint venture, the refiner's CEO said in March 2018.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Chemical restarted three polyethylene (PE) plants it shut in April on improving demand after widespread economic shocks in April and May, reported S&P Global with reference to a company spokeswoman's confirmation July 23.

"Based on current demand, the polyethylene production units have restarted," spokeswoman Ashley Mendoza said in an email.

The company confirmed in late April it had shut PE units in Freeport and Seadrift, Texas, and another in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, as well as two elastomers units in Plaquemine, Louisiana, in response to lower demand amid the global spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The shutdowns represented about 10% of the company's global capacity for packaging and specialty plastics.

The elastomers units, which produce more durable materials for which demand remains sluggish, have yet to restart.

"Dow continues to monitor the demand in automotive and other durable sectors and as conditions improve in those markets, is bringing those units online where needed," Mendoza said.

Dow CEO Jim Fitterling said during the company's second-quarter 2020 earnings call on July 23 that the unit shutdowns, as well as reduced operating rates across systems, sought to keep inventories in check when pandemic fallout siphoned demand.

He said Dow expects to see a gradual improvement in sectors that use durable plastics such as the automotive, construction and electronics segments as well as continued consumer-driven demand for non-durable items like food packaging, health and hygiene uses.

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Stockpiles of refined oil products at the UAE's east coast port of Fujairah declined to a two-month low as of July 20, led by the biggest weekly plunge in seven months for fuels used for marine bunkers and power generation, reported S&P Global.

Inventories stood at 25.342 million barrels, down 5.7% on the week and the lowest since April 27, according to data released July 22 by the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone. Heavy distillates and residues, used in marine bunkers and for power generation, tumbled 14% to 14.09 million barrels, the biggest weekly drop since Dec. 2, 2019, and the lowest since April 27.

Global oil demand is on a "recovery path," Saudi Arabia's energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on July 15 after the OPEC+ decision to ease record production cuts. Seasonal consumption by many OPEC countries in the Middle East, where power generation for air conditioning is peaking, will further tighten the market, he said.

Saudi Arabia itself is focusing on direct crude burning for fuel oil in the current environment of depressed refining margins, according to Kevin Wright, lead Asia Pacific analyst in Singapore at data intelligence firm, Kpler. Middle East suppliers have been focused on their own domestic consumption of fuel oil, along with small export volumes to Pakistan from the UAE, he said.

Marine bunkers, by contrast, are not showing much of a pick up in this region, according to Apurva Mali, founder of Masc Co. DMCC, a broker in bunker fuels in Dubai. Because marine bunkers are sold on credit, it will not be known until later in the year how demand has been affected by the economic slowdown due to the pandemic, he said.

Total stockpiles have dropped for four consecutive weeks, the longest decline since the five-week slump from May 27 to July 1, 2019. Inventories have now dropped 17% from the record 30.71 million barrels set on June 1, as the coronavirus pandemic crippled demand for all kinds of oil products.

Middle distillates, which include gasoil, diesel, marine bunker gasoil, jet fuel and kerosene, were among the hardest hit from the demand slump as stockpiles more than doubled in April and May. Now they are falling, with middle distillates inventories down 9% in the latest week to 3.941 million barrels.

Light distillates jumped 17%, the biggest increase since April 27, to 7.311 million barrels, a three-week high. Products in the category are gasoline, gasoline blending components such as reformate, and naphtha and other light petrochemical feedstocks.

As MRC wrote before, Middle East crude producers Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) will likely raise the official selling price differentials of their respective crude for the third consecutive month on the back of a strong uptick in the region's crude structure. Aramco is expected to raise the OSP differential of its Arab Light crude bound for Asia in August by between 80 cents/b to USD3/b.

We remind that in late July 2019, ADNOC said its Ruwais refinery west cracker was offline for maintenance.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC