MOSCOW (MRC) -- A US bankruptcy judge raised concerns that Limetree Bay refinery on the Virgin Islands may not have enough money to get through the early days of its Chapter 11 restructuring, reported Reuters.
"I'm very worried it's not enough money," Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge David R. Jones said during a hearing on Tuesday.
Jones, who is based in Houston and a veteran of a number of refinery restructuring in the southern district of Texas, added that his liquidity concerns are among the worst he has ever had.
The refinery is due to receive up to USD25 million in interim financing as it tries to restructure nearly USD2 billion in debt. Jones approved the financing.
As MRC wrote previously, Limetree filed for Chapter 11 protection on Monday after spending more than USD4 billion trying to restart the refinery on St. Croix. But lawyers for Limetree say the refinery needs at least USD150 million in funding to maintain operational capabilities, complete ongoing repairs and retrofitting, fund necessary repairs identified by the US Environmental Protection Agency and establish a reserve for potential expenses.
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 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC