Crude runs rate in Japan at 71.8%, highest in 16 weeks

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan's crude run rates in the week of Aug. 8-15 shot up to 71.8%, the highest in 16 weeks during the country's peak summer holiday season, supported by the rise in gasoline and jet fuel demand for travel, reported S&P Global.

The Aug. 8-15 crude throughput was up from 64.4% over August 2-8 as Japanese refiners boosted their crude throughput volume by 11.6% week on week to 2.53 million b/d in the week to Aug. 15, data released Aug. 19 by the Petroleum Association of Japan showed.

The crude run rates were the highest since the week of April 19-25 when it stood at 70.1%.

The higher crude throughput and run rates came as Japan's estimated gasoline shipments jumped 23% week on week to 5.47 million barrels, with jet fuel shipments surging 82.7% week on week to 489,809 barrels, according to S&P Global Platts calculations based on the PAJ data.

Japan's largest refiner, Eneos, also restarted its sole 145,000 b/d crude distillation unit at the Sendai refinery in the northeast on Aug. 12, following a recent shutdown as a result of glitches at secondary units.

On Aug. 19, PAJ released two sets of weekly petroleum statistics for August 2-8 and August 9-15 after the country's summer holiday season.

As MRC wrote previously, Eneos Corporation (formerly known as JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy) restarted its fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) unit in Japan on 14 August, 2020. Initially it was scheduled to resume operations on 10 August. The company halted operations at this unit on July 28, 2020. Located at Sendai, Japan, the FCC unit has a propylene capacity of 100,000 mt/year.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's DataScope report, 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) -- Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Cos (MGC), is likely to take off-stream its methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant for a turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that, the company is likely to halt operations at the plant on August 24, 2020. The plant is expected to remain off-line for about two months.

Located at Niigata in Japan, the MMA plant has a production capacity of 40,000 mt/year.

We remind that, as MRC reported before, Rohm (Darmstadt, Germany) says it will shut down its MMA plant at Worms, Germany, for over three weeks in September for planned maintenance. The plant will be closed on 7–30 September. Located in Worms, Germany, the plant has a production capacity of 225,000 mt/year.

The principal application, consuming approximately 75% of the MMA, is the manufacture of polymethyl methacrylate acrylic plastics (PMMA). Methyl methacrylate is also used for the production of the co-polymer methyl methacrylate-butadiene-styrene (MBS), used as a modifier for polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PVC production reached 557,000 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only three Russian producers managed to increase their output.

Mitsubishi Chemical, a Japanese integrated chemical company, was formed on October 1, 1990 through the merger of Mitsubishi Kasei and Mitsubishi Petrochemical Co. Due to its wide range of activities, it is one of the ten leading chemical companies in the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lummus Technology announced the successful start-up of its CDTaee unit for Hellenic Petroleum’s refinery in Aspropyrgos, Greece. For this start-up, the existing CDTame unit was revamped to the latest generation of CDTaee technology for bio-ethers production, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new CDTaee unit will not only help Hellenic meet its biofuel requirements in Greece, but also resolve blending constraints and produce a high-octane gasoline-blending component, TAEE (Tertiary Amyl Ethyl Ether). Hellenic Petroleum has now started to use the TAEE product in their gasoline blends that it sells in their respective markets.

"The start-up of our latest generation CDTaee technology is an excellent example of how Lummus offers innovative sustainability solutions to our customers,” said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. “We help our customers such as Hellenic Petroleum produce cleaner fuels that are more efficient and perform at a higher level to meet stringent environmental standards."

The latest generation of the CDTaee process is part of Lummus’ etherification technology portfolio, where the company has a leading position with over 140 references. In the CDTaee process, TAEE is formed by the reaction of isoamylenes, which are present in light FCC naphtha, with bio-ethanol. The CDTaee process is unique in that extremely high isoamylene conversion can be achieved through a proven, novel process design.

As MRC informed earlier. Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL), a flagship company of The Chatt­erjee Group (TCG), alo­ng with its international partner Rhone Capital has acquired US-based Lummus Technology at an enterprise value (EV) of USD2.725 billion (around Rs 20,590 crore) from McDermott International. In the joint acquisition, HPL’s share is at 57 per cent, the balance would be held by Rhone Capital. Under the new dispensation, Lummus Technology wou­ld function as a ‘standalone’ autonomous entity.

As MRC informed earlier, in late March 2020, India's private-sector Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) shut its naphtha cracker after ports in the country declared force majeure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nouryon says that as part of an expansion project announced last year, it will build a facility at Green Bay, Wisconsin, to produce the company's expandable microspheres, with the brand name Expancel, said Chemweek.

The new plant strengthens Nouryon's position in expandable microspheres, complementing its production sites in Sweden, Brazil, and China, the company says. Further details about the investment have not been disclosed.

"This new plant will meet the fast-growing demand for Expancel…to better serve our customers throughout the Americas as well as other parts of the world,” says Sylvia Winkel Pettersson, vice president for Expancel at Nouryon. “The first step will be the start of initial production in Green Bay in October 2020; this will be followed by further increases over the next several years."

Expandable microspheres are used to make customers’ end products lighter, and reduce costs as well as environmental impacts by requiring less raw material, Nouryon says.

As MRC wrote previously, in February 2019, Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals) announced that it would license its innovative continuous initiator dosing (CiD) technology to Karpatnaftochim, Ukraine’s largest polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer. Nouryon’s patented CiD technology allows PVC producers to increase reactor output by up to 40 percent, improve product quality, and make the production process intrinsically safer - all with minimum capital expenditure.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of chemical products rose in June 2020 by 2.6% year on year. However, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 4.9% in the first six months of 2020. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the output in January-June. Production of benzene was 106,000 tonnes in June 2020, compared to 110,000 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of this product reached 721,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 3.9% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., the UAE's biggest energy producer, has informed its term customers it will reduce all four grade nominations in September by 5%, a source familiar with the matter told S&P Global in end July.

ADNOC informed customers which lift contracted monthly volumes - known as term lifters - that it would cut the quantity of volumes available for export over September by 5% for its more popular Murban and Upper Zakum grades and for Umm Lulu and Das Blend, the source said.

It follows the same 5% cut that ADNOC made for August and July. June term volumes of Murban and Upper Zakum had been slashed 20%, with Das Blend and Umm Lulu down 5%, as the UAE joined Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman in enacting voluntary additional cuts from their OPEC+ quotas for that month only.

OPEC+ members will start relaxing their output cuts down to 7.7 million b/d on Aug. 1 from the historic 9.6 million b/d that was implemented May through July.

The UAE, OPEC's third biggest oil producer, will see its quota rise from 2.446 million b/d in May to 2.590 million b/d in August, according to the OPEC+ agreement.

As MRC reported earlier, ADNOC confirms significant progress made on its “Crude Flexibility Project” (CFP), with 73% project delivery of ADNOC’s ongoing upgrade of refining capabilities in Ruwais and strengthening the role of Ruwais as a critical driver for industrial growth for Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

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