US Supreme Court agrees to hear biofuel waiver case

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Supreme Court agreed to review a lower court ruling that severely limited the government's powers to exempt small refineries from the nation's biofuels law, rekindling a long-running dispute between the oil and corn industries, reported Reuters.

The decision came after appeals by refining companies that argued the 10th Circuit Court's decision last year had improperly deprived them of a method to avoid financial hardship granted by Congress.

Under the Renewable Fuel Standard, refiners must blend billions of gallons of corn-based ethanol and other biofuels into their fuel or buy credits from those that do - a law meant to help farmers and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

But small facilities under financial stress can also seek waivers from the obligation, and the Trump administration has dramatically ramped up the number of such exemptions granted to the industry - angering biofuel producers that claim the waivers undercut demand for their products.

After a challenge from biofuel industry groups, the 10th Circuit ruled last January that the US Environmental Protection Agency can only grant the so-called Small Refinery Exemptions to facilities that have received them continuously each year since 2010. That decision cast doubt over the entire waiver program, since most of the refineries securing waivers in recent years have not secured them continuously.

"We are disappointed in the Supreme Court's decision to review the case but will continue to vigorously pursue a resolution to the damage that small refinery exemptions do to the biodiesel industry," said Kurt Kovarik, spokesman for the National Biodiesel Board.

The Fueling American Jobs Coalition, which advocates on behalf of refiners, cheered the Supreme Court's decision, saying the review comes at an "urgent time" for refiners battered by the economic downturn.

The court is expected to hear the case in April, and a ruling could take several months.

As MRC wrote before, in October, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a federal strategy for addressing marine litter that includes broad efforts to incentivize recycling and build infrastructure both domestically and overseas. “Internationally, up to 28 billion pounds of waste makes it into our oceans every year, harming marine life and coastal economies,” says EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Marine litter is a top priority for this Administration, and working together with our global partners, we aim to solve the current growing marine litter problem in our shared oceans.” According to EPA, five countries in Asia - China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam - account for over half of the plastic waste input into the ocean. The majority of marine litter comes from land-based sources, such as littering and the mismanagement of waste, and the most effective way to combat marine litter is to prevent and reduce land-based sources of waste from entering the oceans in the first place.

We remind that Braskem has formed first partnership for removing household plastic waste from landfill in Greater Sao Paulo last year. The partnership forged between Braskem and Tecipar, the Brazilian company specializing in environmental engineering, will avoid some 2,000 tons of plastic waste annually from being discarded in the landfill of Santana do Parnaiba, a city in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo. This volume is equivalent to 36 million units of plastic packaging made from polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). The partnership reinforces Braskem's commitment to the Circular Economy and is aligned with the business strategy of the company, which is engaged in supporting the development of the recycling chain and its market.

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Corning and PPG industries say they are working to register an antiviral paint product with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; Washington, DC) that contains Corning Guardiant, a glass-ceramic technology that has proven efficacy in killing the COVID-19 virus, reported Chemweek.

The technology’s efficacy was demonstrated in tests approved by EPA.

The product contains copper, which has shown antimicrobial efficacy when applied to surfaces, according to Corning. “Our scientists have developed this unique paint additive using our highly engineered glass-ceramic technology,” says Corning chairman and CEO Wendell Weeks. “We are excited about the new lab results and look forward to working with our valued partner PPG.”

PPG’s antiviral paint product will be called Copper Armor. “Following registration with the EPA, we look forward to launching a paint product in the coming months that contains Corning Guardiant, providing customers with an additional safeguard from (COVID-19) in areas that pose a higher health risk,” says PPG chairman and CEO Michael McGarry.

Corning is collaborating with paint and coating makers globally, including PPG, to develop coatings that include the Guardian technology and meet regulatory requirements around the world, the company says.

As MRC wrote previously, in February 2020, PPG said it had completed its acquisition of Industria Chimica Reggiana (ICR, Reggio Emilia, Italy), a maker of automotive refinish products. Financial terms of the deal, including purchase price, were not disclosed. The deal was announced on 8 January. ICR was founded in 1961 and employs about 180 people. ICR manufactures automotive refinish products, including putties, primers, basecoats and clear coats. It also makes a range of coatings, enamels and primers for light commercial vehicles and other light industrial coatings applications. ICR employs about 180 people and sells its products in more than 70 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the US and Latin America.

We remind that Russia"s output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-November 2020 output. November production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.
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1. Pandemic hastens threat of closure for struggling oil refineries

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The collapse in oil demand from the COVID-19 pandemic is hastening the reckoning for those refiners already struggling as new capacity overtakes demand, posing an existential threat to many, particularly Europe’s ageing plants, said Chemweek. Even before the pandemic struck, which at its height destroyed over 20% of global oil demand, analysts expected global refining capacity would have to rationalize, particularly in Europe. According to consultants WoodMac, 1.4 million barrels per day, or around 9%, of refining capacity is under threat of rationalization in Europe in 2022-2023. WoodMac declined to name specific refineries, but in a list sent to its clients and seen by Reuters, BP’s 377,000 bpd Rotterdam refinery, Total’s 102,000 bpd Grandpuits refinery in France and Petroineos’ 200,000 bpd Grangemouth refinery in Scotland were among 11 plants mentioned. The three companies did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment. Last week, energy trader Gunvor said it was considering mothballing its loss-making Belgian refinery.


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MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL), will shut its 226,000 barrels per day (bpd) Bathinda refinery in northern Punjab state for about 40 days from end-January for maintenance, two sources said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

During the shutdown HMEL will also carry out work to be able to hook petrochemical units, including a 1.2 million tons a year ethylene cracker, sources with knowledge of the plan said.

The 40-day shutdown is expected to start around Jan. 25-26, said one of the sources, adding the company plans to commission petrochemical units in September-October.

The sources declined to be named as they are not authorized to speak to media. HMEL's chief executive Prabh Das said 'no comments' when asked about the shutdown plan.

Indian refiners have turned their focus to raising production of petrochemicals to cater for rising demand and help hedge against lower refined fuel margins.

State-refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Mittal Energy Investments Pvt Ltd own 49 percent stake each in the project.

As per MRC, HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL) plans to commission a new polypropylene (PP) plant in Bhatinda, Punjab, India in 2021. The capacity of the new enterprise will be 500,000 tonne/year of PP. The company already operates an operating PP plant with a capacity of 440,000 tonnes per year at this site, which was launched in 2012.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 090,900 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rohm (Darmstadt, Germany) has put methyl methacrylate (MMA) and all its other methacrylate monomer products in Europe on sales control with immediate effect, said Chemweek.

The sales control measure has been imposed due to a shortage of raw material, it says. The company has also separately announced it will carry out planned maintenance on four of its MMA and methacrylate production facilities in Germany, China, and the US in the first half of 2021.

Rohm’s plant at Worms, Germany, is scheduled to be shut down from 10-22 March, while its facility at Fortier, Louisiana, will also be closed in March but with no specific start date given for the two-week maintenance program. The MMA plant at Wesseling, Germany, is scheduled to be shut down from 19 May-26 June, with Rohm’s MMA plant at Shanghai, China, planned for a 10-day closure starting “mid-June,” it says.

In December 2020 Rohm raised its prices for MMA and other methacrylate monomer products, effective as of 1 January 2021. It also hiked prices for the same products in October and November.

In a market update earlier in December it highlighted a tightening of the MMA market, with “prices surging in Asia and continuously firming in Europe” on strong demand in critical end-user applications such as coatings, construction, and healthcare. The market was also suffering from production and supply issues that are limiting availability, with prices for raw materials such as acetone also on the rise, it said.

In October 2020 Rohm lifted sales control in Europe for MMA after resuming production following annual maintenance at its Worms plant, having imposed it mid-September due to increased demand and limited availability of raw materials. The Worms plant has a production capacity of 225,000 metric tons/year of MMA, while the Wesseling facility has a nameplate capacity of 95,000 metric tons/year of MMA.

As per MRC, despite the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in Russia did not decrease at the end of 2020, but actually remained at the level a year earlier. At the same time, prices hit record highs and continue to rise.
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