German media reports blast in Leverkusen, smoke seen at Bayer site

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An explosion was heard in Leverkusen on Tuesday, and witnesses reported seeing plumes of smoke at chemicals maker Bayer’s site in the western German city, said Reuters.

The explosion occurred at a chemical plant in the city of Leverkusen at 9.40 am local time. Five staff members went missing, several were injured, two were seriously injured, and Leverkusen residents were told to stay indoors with the air conditioning turned off and the doors and windows closed. Regional emergency services arrived at the scene. According to eyewitnesses, the explosion occurred at one of the sites of the chemical and pharmaceutical concern Bayer.

The Cologne Fire Department, which also dispatched brigades to the site, said that sections of numerous highways in the area had been closed.

Bayer is headquartered in Leverkusen and several other companies including LANXESS, BASF and Covestro also own factories in the area.

Earlier it was reported that Bayer and Lanxess sold their stakes in the Currenta chemical park to funds managed by infrastructure investor Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA). Both companies signed related agreements with MIRA in August 2019.

Earlier it was reported that the German concern BASF, the world leader in the production of chemical products in the world, keeps the capacity utilization at the expandable polystyrene (PSV-S) plant at its complex in Ludwigshafen (Ludwigshafen, Germany) at a reduced level in July due to technical problems , the letter says to the company. Thus, a technical malfunction at the reactor of one of the lines of this enterprise with a capacity of 200 thousand tons of PSV-S per year, discovered on July 11, led to a reduction in the production of Styropor F95, Peripor and F15 grades. It is currently unknown how long this line will remain underutilized.

According to MRC's ScanPlast, EPS consumption in Russia amounted to 40,690 tonnes in the first five months of this year, an 18% increase over the same period last year. In May, the consumption of EPS in the country increased by 35% compared to the same month a year earlier and amounted to 8,790 tonnes.
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1. Dow sees strong petrochemical demand in a number of end-markets

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Chemical, one of the largest US petrochemical companies, saw packaging, construction materials and coatings, industrial and electronics markets surge in the second quarter amid strong demand and higher chemical and resin pricing, reported S&P Global with reference to CFO Howard Ungerleider's statement July 22. "Strong consumer trends continue in retail, housing, and the manufacturing sectors and inventory levels remain low across most of our value chains," Ungerleider said during the company's Q2 earnings call. "We expect these dynamics to continue to support price strength in (Q3) as the industry works to fulfill pent-up demand." The company reported USD1.9 billion in profits, up from a USD225 million loss in Q2 2020, when demand cratered for many products amid the height of coronavirus pandemic-related shutdowns in many global regions.


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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were higher during mid-morning trade in Asia July 27 as a weakened US dollar prompted buying activity, but upside was limited as the rising number of COVID-19 cases globally sapped market sentiment, reported S&P Global.

At 11:17 am Singapore time (0317 GMT), the ICE September Brent futures contract was up 46 cents/b (0.62%) from the previous close at USD74.96/b, while the NYMEX September light sweet crude contract rose 35 cents/b (0.49%) at USD72.26/b. The ICE Brent and the NYMEX light sweet crude markers had edged up 0.54% and down 0.22%, respectively, on July 26, following a directionless trading session.

The uptick in prices comes amid the depreciation of the US dollar ahead of the US central bank's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, with the ICE US dollar index trading at 92.61 at 11.00 am, down 0.35% from the July 23 close.

A weaker US dollar makes dollar denominated assets such as oil futures more attractive for buyers holding foreign currency, and whips up appetite for such assets.

Meanwhile, analysts said the rapid spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus has created significant downside risk for the oil market, as it has raised the prospect of extended and more stringent mobility restrictions. Citing the spread of the delta variant both domestically and internationally, US White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on July 26 that the country will maintain its existing coronavirus travel restrictions, resisting pressure from the travel industry and US allies to ease them, media reports said.

A similar trend of rising cases has been seen all over the world, including in the UK, which boasts one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff, Helge Braun, said July 25 that COVID-19 infections in Germany could surge to 100,000 a day in two months unless more people get vaccinated.

"New COVID-19 cases have been rising in Asia for a few weeks now, but sentiment in the oil market is starting to deteriorate as infections rise in the heavy energy-consuming countries of the west," Avtar Sandu, senior commodities manager at Phillips Futures, said July 27.

As MRC informed earlier, Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude oil exporter, will supply full contractual volumes of August-loading crude to at least five Asian customers. However, Saudi Aramco has turned down two of the buyers' requests for extra barrels.

We remind that Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), said in June he expects the company's deal with Saudi Aramco to materialise this year. Meanwhile, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of Saudi Aramco and the Governor of the Public Investment Fund, joined the board of Reliance as an independent director.

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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBassel's La Porte, Texas, cracker was heard to be offline again after a short-lived restart, reported S&P Global with reference to sources familiar with operations' statement on July 23.

The cracker had been confirmed as back online July 20, but, according to one market source, it was shut again not long after.

The 1.5 million mt/year cracker was heard to be shut during the last week of June. It was originally estimated to resume operations within one to two weeks, but a source familiar with LyondellBasell operations said a startup scheduled for the weekend of July 10-11 was unsuccessful. Sources estimated July 20 that production had resumed over the weekend between July 16-18.

However, the market source said the unit only remained only for about six hours before it was shut again. The source said it was online long enough for word of the restart to spread.

LyondellBasell did not respond to requests for comment.

As MRC informed before, LBI reported an equipment failure at its La Porte linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant, which forced the company to shut down the 355,000 tons/year unit without a return schedule, according to the company's official letter to its customers on 17 June 2021.

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 density 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.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hyosung Vina Chemicals Co Ltd plans to bring online its new No. 2 polypropylene (PP) plant in Southern Vietnam in August 2021, according to CommoPlast.

Besides, a new 600,000 tons/year propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit is also scheduled for a start-up at the same site next month.

Thus, the start-up of the company's new PDH unit will enable the launch of its second PP plant with a capacity of 300,000 tons/year.

The company already operates No. 1 PP plant in Southern Vietnam with the same production capacity, using external sources of propylene. It was shut down on 9 July, 2021, due to an unspecified technical issue and is expected to remain off-line between three to four weeks.

As MRC informed before, following the start-up at the newly constructed PP plant in Vietnam on 12 February 2020, it was reported that Hyosung reached on-spec cargoes approximately in mid-February. The first prime grade parcels were homo-PP yarn grade F501N with a melt index of 3.7.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Hyosung Corporation is a Korean industrial conglomerate, founded in 1957. It operates in various fields, including the chemical industry, industrial machinery, IT, trade, and construction.
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