Reliance Industry shut FCCU unit at Jamnagar refinery, exports may be delayed

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's private refiner Reliance Industry said a secondary unit at its export-focused refinery in the western state of Gujarat has been shut since June 6, which may delay the shipment of some product cargoes, said Reuters.

The refinery, which has the capacity to process 704,000-bpd, is part of the world's biggest refining complex in the city of Jamnagar in Gujarat state.

Reliance did not give a reason for the "emergency shutdown" of the refinery's fluidized catalytic cracking unit (FCCU). "The FCCU unit is being repaired on top priority and is expected to be restarted expeditiously," the company said in a stock exchange filing. "Consequently, some product shipments may get delayed and we are working to minimize the impact on our customers," it said.

A source familiar with the matter said that the unit will be fixed in a week's time. The refining complex in Jamnagar has two refineries. The plant is adjacent to the 330,000 bpd refinery that mostly sells products in the local market.

As per MRC, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), the Indian energy and petrochemical giant and the largest polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer in the country, decreased its PVC offerings in the Indian market late last week amid declining demand for the material.

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Report, PVC prices in Russia broke another historic record in May, but this factor did not affect demand. The key issue was whether the seller had enough resin. Some companies began to work out options for providing themselves with raw materials for July, a period of stoppages for repairs of two manufacturers.

Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian petrochemical company, the largest holding in the country. The company is engaged in a wide range of activities, from oil and gas production to the production of polyester and polymer products, including the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall polypropylene (PP) imports into Belarus only grew in the first four months of 2021 by 7% year on year to 38,700 tonnes. Demand for all grades of propylene polymers increased, according to MRC's DataScope report.

April PP imports into the Republic of Belarus rose to 11,800 tonnes from 10,200 tonnes a month earlier. Local companies raised their purchasing of homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) in Azerbaijan and Russia. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 38,700 tonnes in January-April 2021, compared to 36,200 tonnes a year earlier, demand for all grades of propylene polymers increased, with homopolymer PP accounting for the greatest growth in demand.

The supply structure by PP grades looked the following way over the stated period.

April imports of homopolymer PP rose to 8,400 tonnes from 6,900 tonnes a month earlier, purchases of injection moulding homopolymer PP in Russia and Azerbaijan increased. Overall imports of homopolymer PP reached 27,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 9.1% year on year.

April imports of propylene copolymers into Belarus were 2,800 tonnes versus 2,600 tonnes a month earlier, local companies significantly increased their procurement of injection moulding block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) from Russian producers. Thus, overall imports of propylene copolymers reached 8,800 tonnes over the stated period, up by 1% year on year.

MRC

1. Honeywell to supply zeolites to accelerate setting up of MOP in India to address the ongoing pandemic

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell is partnering with Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR–IIP), Government of India, to supply molecular sieve adsorbents (zeolites) to accelerate setting up of Medical Oxygen Plants (MOP) in the country to address the ongoing pandemic, said Hydrocarbonprocessing. Honeywell UOP has assured a timely supply of adsorbents to enable the country to produce sufficient medical grade oxygen to meet the increased demand, and has partnered with DRDO and CISR-IIP and their associates to identify and supply alternative adsorbents to optimize cost and streamline supply-related logistics without compromising output from plants.



MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices are set to remain on a bullish course this year given the strong recovery in global demand following the COVID-19 pandemic-induced slump, reported Reuters with reference to the head of the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ).

"Global crude demand is expected to further recover in the second half of this year, given the convergence of the pandemic and the revival of economic activity in the United States and Europe," PAJ president Tsutomu Sugimori told a news conference.

Middle East crude benchmark prices in Dubai are expected to remain in the USD70s per barrel for a while, he said.

The world will need a lot more oil from OPEC+ as global demand is on track to return to pre-pandemic levels at the end of next year, the International Energy Agency said last week, just a few weeks after saying long-term oil production must decline to reduce emissions.

Sugimori, who also serves as chairman of Japan's biggest refiner, Eneos Holdings Inc, said fuel demand in Japan was expected to pick up later this year.

Japan's gasoline demand in May rose 14% from the same month a year earlier but it was still down 12% from May 2019, he said, adding that the figure in June is expected to fall 5% from a year earlier and decline 9% from June 2019.

As MRC wrote previously, ENEOS restarted its Sendai refinery in northeast Japanon 18 May, 2021. This refinery was hit by an earthquake on 1 May, 2021. Besides, on 18 May, the company shut down its Sakai refinery in western Japan for maintenance.

We remind that ENEOS Corporation restarted its naphtha cracker in Kawasaki on 1 February 2021. The company shut this cracker with an annual capacity of 515,000 tons/year of ethylene, 300,000 tons/year of propylene, and 105,000 tons/year of butadiene on 4 December, 2020, for repairment after a technical issue reported at the butadiene separation unit and initially planned to resume operations on 28 December, 2020.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.

Japan's largest refiner JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy was renamed ENEOS Corporation on 25 June, 2020, as part of a wider re-organization of the parent company JXTG Holdings. The move, which also involved renaming the parent company to ENEOS Holdings upon approval at its annual shareholders meeting in June 2020, comes as it strives to be a more comprehensive energy and materials company under its 2040 vision announced in May, 2019. JXTG Holdings was formed as a result of a merger between JX Holdings and TonenGeneral in April 2017. This followed the establishment of JX Holdings as a result of the merger between Nippon Oil and Nippon Mining Holdings in April 2010.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures fell in mid-morning trade in Asia June 17 as a hawkish slant from the US Federal Reserve sent the US dollar soaring, but markets remained supported by bullish data from China's National Bureau of Statistics and the US Energy Information Administration, reported S&P Global.

At 10:17 am Singapore time (0217 GMT), the ICE August Brent futures contract was down 77 cents/b (1.04%) from the previous settle at USD73.62/b, while the NYMEX July light sweet crude contract was down 72 cents/b (1.00%) at USD71.43/b.

Market analysts attributed the downward trajectory in oil prices to a stronger US dollar, which IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said was fueled by hawkish signals from the latest Federal Reserve meeting concluded June 16.

"The Fed may have delivered a more hawkish message for markets than many would have expected, with Fed officials leaning towards two rate increases by the end of 2023 based on median estimates, he said in a June 17 note. "With the more hawkish tilt in the Fed's dot plot, the US dollar has broken out of its previous consolidation zone, jumping to its six-week high," he added.

At 10:17 am Singapore time, the ICE US Dollar Index was trading at 91.32, up 0.9% from its previous settle. Strength in the US dollar makes dollar-denominated assets like oil futures more expensive for investors holding foreign currencies, and hence dents the demand for such assets.

The fall in crude prices in early Asian trade came despite support from National Bureau of statistics data June 16 that showed China's crude throughput in May rose 4.4% year on year to a record high of 60.5 million mt.

May marked the first time China's monthly crude throughput has crossed 60 million mt, and analysts said throughput was expected to remain high until year end, when demand seasonally slows down as winter approaches and independent refineries run out of crude import quota.

Data from the EIA was also shoring up sentiment in the market, showing that US commercial crude stocks fell 7.35 million barrels in the week ended June 11 to a four-month low of 466.67 million barrels.

The strong refinery runs underpinning the draw also led to US gasoline inventories rising 1.95 million barrels to 242.98 million barrels in the week, leaving them above the five-year average for the first time since mid-February. US distillate inventories fell 1.02 million barrels over the same period to 136.19 million barrels, the data showed.

The EIA data echoed the market's expectation of strong downstream products demand in the US amid the country's rising vaccination rates and easing mobility restrictions.

We remind that as MRC informed earlier, Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world"s third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC