Stepan acquires Louisiana fermentation plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Stepan Co. (Northfield, Ill.) has closed on the acquisition of a fermentation plant located in Lake Providence, Louisiana. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, said Chemweek.

"Fermentation is a new platform technology for Stepan Company as we look to commercialize next generation surfactants. Bio-surfactants, produced via fermentation, are attractive due to their favorable biodegradability, low toxicity, and in some cases, unique antimicrobial properties,” said F. Quinn Stepan Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Stepan Company.

Bio-surfactants can be an attractive formulation option for customers in the agriculture, oilfield, personal care and household, industrial and institutional cleaning markets. In March 2020, Stepan closed on the acquisition of NATSURFACT, a rhamnolipid-based line of bio-surfactants derived from renewable sources. NATSURFACT’s rhamnolipid technology provides an important new option as customers across markets seek new sustainability targets for their products.

"The acquisition of an industrial scale fermentation plant represents the latest step in our bio-surfactant commercialization efforts. With additional investment, we expect to be able to produce 20,000 metric tons per year of bio-surfactants from the site. We look forward to working with our customers to bring these next generation surfactants to the market," Stepan said.

As MRC informed before, Stepan conducted planned maintenance at its 90,000 tonnes/year phthalic anhydride (PA) plant Millsdale, Illinois, US, from early October to end-October, 2020.

Phthalic anhydride is widely used in for the production of paints and varnishes and plasticizers for PVC products. In a small amount it is used in the manufacture of rubber products, tires. In addition, it is used in the light, pharmaceutical and electrical industries.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Texas energy companies began preparing to resume oil and gas production after days of frozen shutdowns as electric power and water service slowly resumed at darkened oilfields and refineries, said Reuters.

It will take several days for oilfield crews to deice valves, restart systems and begin oil and gas production. U.S. Gulf Coast refiners are assessing damage to facilities. They face five- to seven-day restarts with low water pressure continuing to hamper operations even as power is being restored, said people familiar with the matter.

No additional outages were reported overnight, said the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which runs the state's electric grid. It reported sufficient power for morning demand and predicted it would be out of emergency condition later in the day. Millions of people across Texas shivered in the dark this week after a severe winter storm laid siege to the state, with demand for natural gas spiking and supplies needed to power electric generators and heat homes drying up.

Estimates vary, but the unusually cold weather in Texas and the Plains states curtailed up to 4 million barrels per day of crude oil production and 21 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas, according to analysts. Texas refiners halted about a fifth of the nation's oil processing amid power outages and severe cold.

Goldman Sachs analysts estimate a 700,000-bpd average decline in U.S. onshore crude production in February, excluding Alaska. Only a minority of wells could face troubles restarting, it said. U.S. Gulf Coast refineries are potentially less prepared for extremely cold weather than for seasonal storms, Goldman said, creating risks of "more prolonged refining downtime."

The freeze offs, which can occur when water in the gas turns to ice, led utilities to call for conservation measures from California to West Virginia. Ford Motor Co halted production in Kansas City, Missouri, because of a lack of natural gas. Mexico, which imports large volumes of natural gas from the United States, experienced blackouts in northern states bordering Texas, with some factories reporting billions in losses on limited natural gas supplies from Texas.

Texas on Wednesday ordered gas producers to halt exports needed by state utilities through Sunday, sparking Mexico to call the U.S. envoy to press for natural gas supplies. Pipeline gas exports from the U.S. to Mexico rose to 5.1 bcf on Friday after dropping to a 13-month low of 3.8 bcf per day on Tuesday, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

In the United States, the move did not appear to affect deliveries to other states. California's power exchange and the MISO, an exchange that handles 15 U.S. states, both said they had not seen any impact. More natural gas will soon be flowing. Chevron Corp and ConocoPhillips have begun restoring shale output, and Chevron will prioritize natural gas production. Texas oil and gas regulators and a DiamondBack Energy executive also reported that power was being restored to west Texas, where oil production was shut by record snowfall and power outages.

"The majority of our Permian and Eagle Ford volumes remain offline," said Conoco spokeswoman April Andrews, referring to the two major Texas shale fields. Conoco, the top U.S. independent oil producer, is ready to bring back full operations across its U.S. operations outside of Alaska once power and other infrastructure outages end, she said.

As per MRC, a winter storm has brought unusually cold temperatures, snow, and freezing rain to Texas and western Louisiana, forcing a large share of US light olefins production offline. As of the evening of Tuesday, 16 February, IHS Markit had confirmed the shutdown of at least 61% of US ethylene capacity, 59% of US chemical- and polymer-grade propylene (CGP, PGP) capacity, and 22% of US fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) capacity. Many plants that remained online were running at reduced capacity.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Africa's Environmental Ministry said on Wednesday it would investigate whether petrochemical company Sasol's Secunda operations could be the source of a sulphur smell experienced in parts of Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces since the weekend, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries said the smell was likely a combination of elevated levels of sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide.

Sasol said in a statement on its website on Tuesday that its Secunda operations did not have any operational incidents that could have resulted in an increase in sulphur emissions.

The company said it had also started an investigation to assist in identifying the area of origin of the sulphur odour experienced in the region. Sasol said it could not immediately comment further.

The ministry said it would decide on any further course of action once the investigations were completed.

As MRC wrote previously, Sasol's world-scale US ethane cracker with the capacity of 1.5 mln tonnes per year reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol's new cracker, the heart of Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP), is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities to come online and will provide feedstock to the company's six new derivative units at its Lake Charles multi-asset site.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 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.

Sasol is an international integrated chemicals and energy company that leverages technologies and the expertise of our 31 270 people working in 32 countries. The company develops and commercialises technologies, and builds and operates world-scale facilities to produce a range of high-value product stream, including liquid fuels, petrochemicals and low-carbon electricity.
MRC

1. U.S. winter freeze hits global olefins market

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A winter storm has paralyzed U.S. petrochemical production and disrupted 15% of the global olefins market, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing. Unplanned US outages have combined with a strong consumption backdrop with the return of China from the Lunar New Year, seasonally higher demand patterns in Q2, and recovery in global demand moving through the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic. The stage is looking set for a period of tightness and volatility in global olefins balances and prices, according to Wood Mackenzie.

MRC

MOCOW (MRC) -- Chemical production along the US Gulf Coast (USGC) remained largely offline Friday morning, but with the winter storm passing and temperatures on the rise, producers will be turning their attention to restoring operations. The precise timing will be difficult to gauge, however, said Chemweek.

"Restarting the production units will depend on different factors, ranging from fixing damage caused by the cold weather, restoring utilities, regaining access to natural gas and power supplies, or even just affording the natural gas and electricity spot prices that have rocketed during the storm," notes IHS Markit's Global Aromatics Weekly Market Report.

Temperatures in the Houston area are forecast to reach 55?F on Saturday and 65?F. The cold has had a much more severe impact than many of the Category 4–5 hurricanes that have hit the region in over past decades. "It is likely to be at least early next week before refinery and petrochemical facilities … can return to operations," says IHS Markit.

IHS Markit estimates that about 76% of US toluene capacity has been either shut down or operating at reduced rates. At least 74% of US benzene production capacity has been either shut down or curtailed, and the figures are even higher for derivativesaۥ79% of styrene capacity, 89% of cumene capacity, and 100% of cyclohexane capacity. The picture is similar for olefins, with 62% of US ethylene capacity offline and 66% of US polymer/chemical-grade propylene offline.

Facilities located in Louisiana have generally fared better than those in Texas. In the case of styrene, Americas Styrenics (AmSty) kept its two lines at St. James Parish, Louisiana, online the entire time. Westlake briefly idled its line at Sulphur, Louisiana, on Wednesday after a boiler went down, but the issue was resolved by Thursday. One of Cosmar's two lines at Carville, Louisiana, was already offline before the storm hit, but the other continued to operate, constrained only by the supply of feedstock ethylbenzene.

By contrast, the two styrene producers located in Texas Ineos Styrolution at Pasadena and Texas City, and LyondellBasell at Channelviewa shut down, and both have declared force majeure. Cosmar had declared force majeure long before the storm owing to an unplanned ethylbenzene outage.

"In general, the Louisiana plants appear to be better prepared to restart than the Texas plants," says IHS Markit. "In Texas, there are severe shortages of key utilities such as nitrogen, and to avoid overloading the utility infrastructure, plant startups are expected to be prioritized. We assume the styrene units will have to wait until the refineries and steam crackers restart. Until the styrene units can be assured of their raw material supply, benzene and ethylene, they will not restart. Our expectation is that the Texas units will be able to restart in about 10–14 days from this coming weekend."

IHS Markit says the vast majority of polyethylene and polypropylene lines have been down since Sunday, and they are not expected to return to service until the middle of next week. At least half of chlor-alkali and vinyls capacity on the USGC could be out of service.

As per MRC, a winter storm has brought unusually cold temperatures, snow, and freezing rain to Texas and western Louisiana, forcing a large share of US light olefins production offline. As of the evening of Tuesday, 16 February, IHS Markit had confirmed the shutdown of at least 61% of US ethylene capacity, 59% of US chemical- and polymer-grade propylene (CGP, PGP) capacity, and 22% of US fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) capacity. Many plants that remained online were running at reduced capacity.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 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.
MRC