PP imports to Russia up by 19% in Jan-Jul 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polypropylene (PP) imports into Russia rose in the first seven month of 2021 by 19% year on year to 145,400 tonnes. Propylene copolymers accounted for the main increase in imports, according to MRC's DataScope report.

Last month, Russian companies virtually maintained June quantities of PP purchases in foreign markets, imports were 23,200 tonnes. Thus, overall PP imports into Russia reached 145,400 tonnes in January-July 2021, compared to 122,000 tonnes a year earlier. Procurement of propylene copolymers in foreign markets increased, whereas imports of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) decreased.

Overall, the structure of PP imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.


July imports of homopolymer PP were slightly over 9,600 tonnes versus 7,500 tonnes a month earlier, shipments of injection moulding homopolymer PP from Azerbaijan grew significantly. Thus, overall imports of homopolymer PP totalled 54,500 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, compared to 51,100 tonnes a year earlier.

Last month's imports of block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) were 6,600 tonnes versus 7,600 tonnes in June, demand for European injection moulding Psubsideed from Russian companies. Imports of PP block copolymers into Russia reached 42,800 tonnes in January-July 2021, compared to 33,300 tonnes a year earlier.

July imports of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymer) dropped to 3,400 tonnes from 5,000 tonnes a month earlier, with pipes producers accounting for the main reduction in shipments due to an increase in supply of domestic material. Overall imports of this grade of propylene copolymers were 24,700 tonnes in January-July 2021, compared to 19,400 tonnes a year earlier.

Imports of other propylene polymers totalled 23,400 tonnes over the stated period versus 18,200 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

Wdiespread flooding and power outages stall oil firms efforts to resume operations after Hurricane Ida

Wdiespread flooding and power outages stall oil firms efforts to resume operations after Hurricane Ida

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Widespread flooding from Hurricane Ida and power outages slowed efforts on Tuesday by energy firms to assess damages at oil production facilities, ports and refineries, reported Reuters.

Nearly all of Louisiana lost electrical power on Monday after one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the region downed transmission lines and flooded communities. Coastal areas were swamped by a storm surge so great it reversed the flow of the Mississippi River.

Analysts said it could take two to three weeks to restart producing platforms and fully resume output at Louisiana refineries. Restoring power, critical to refineries, also could take weeks, utilities officials said.

"This restoration is not going to be a likely quick turnaround," said Rod West, head of utility operations at Entergy Corp. "This was a significant catastrophic wind event, whereas Katrina was a water event by comparison."

Disruptions at oil infrastructure are testing the country's fuel distribution systems. Operators shut offshore oil and gas pipelines that feed processing plants, and the largest line that connects with the fuel-thirsty East Coast was shut for days.

Phillips 66 has not been able to begin damage assessments at its 255,600-barrel-per-day refinery on the Mississippi River in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, a spokesman said. The plant, which was put up for sale last week, was swamped from a failed levee in Alliance.

Floods have also been reported at other facilities in Louisiana. Nine refineries have reduced production or shut-in operations, including Exxon's 520,000-bpd Baton Rouge, taking offline 2.3 million bpd of capacity or 13% of the country's total, the US Department of Energy estimated.

Offshore, 95% of the Gulf's oil production and 94% of its gas output remained shut on Monday, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said. A total of 288 production platforms and 11 rigs remained evacuated.

Trying to avoid over-costs of getting imported gasoline or domestic fuel shipped in tankers, some consumers are relying on the country's key pipelines to fully restart soon, especially since many ports have not reopened, traders said.

Pipeline operator Enbridge temporarily suspended some contacts under force majeure, while Energy Transfer informed shippers that its Stingray Pipeline, which brings gas from the US Gulf to Louisiana, would not accept deliveries. Nearly a dozen ports from New Orleans to Pascagoula, Mississippi, remained closed on Monday, including Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest US privately-owned crude export and import terminal.

As MRC informed earlier, Colonial Pipeline, the nation's largest fuel line, has restarted its main gasoline and distillate lines after it shut the lines as a safety precaution ahead of Hurricane Ida.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

NKNK profit increased six times in the first half of the year

NKNK profit increased six times in the first half of the year

MOSCOW (MRC) - PJSC "Nizhnekamskneftekhim" (NKNKh, part of TAIF) received 27.6 billion rubles in the first half of the year. net profit under the international financial system (IFRS) against 4.6 billion rubles. a year earlier, according to Kommersant.

This is six times more than the same period last year. Revenue in the reporting period increased 1.7 times - up to Rb121.5 bn. Income from operating activities amounted to Rb30.3 bn against Rb10 a year earlier.

Profit before tax rose to Rb34.6 bn against Rb5.8 bn in the same period last year.

Earlier it was noted that Nizhnekamskneftekhim continues construction of the Ethylene-600 olefin complex in accordance with the schedule, despite the claims of Rostekhnadzor due to the adjustment of the project documentation, the general director of the company Ayrat Safin said in April this year at the international forum on energy efficiency and ecology in Kazan.

The construction of the olefin complex is carried out within the framework of a memorandum of strategic cooperation concluded in June 2017 between TAIF Group, which includes Nizhnekamskneftekhim, and the German company Linde AG. The basic agreement on the design, supply of equipment and the provision of services for the commissioning of the first stage of the future plant was signed between Nizhnekamskneftekhim and the Linde Engineering division. In February 2019, a contract for construction and installation work was signed with the Turkish company Gemont.

As MRC reported, NKNK's revenue in 2020 amounted to Rb153.989 bns, which is Rb24.981 bn less than in 2019. The spread of the new coronavirus infection had a significant impact on the financial performance of Nizhnekamskneftekhim. Quarantines have been introduced in many countries of the world, restrictions have negatively affected economic growth and demand and, as a result, economic results.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased.

PJSC "Nizhnekamskneftekhim" (NKNKH) is one of the largest Russian producers of petrochemical products. The production complex of the company includes ten factories of the main production and ten departments (railway transport, main ethylene pipelines, etc.). NKNKh produces over 120 types of chemical products, including synthetic rubber, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, surfactants. Nizhnekamskneftekhim is part of TAIF Group.
MRC

Phillips 66 refinery sale offers test of investors views on pace of transition to electric vehicles

Phillips 66 refinery sale offers test of investors views on pace of transition to electric vehicles

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US refiner Phillips 66's decision to market a Louisiana oil processing plant offers a key test of investors' views on the pace of the transition to electric vehicles, reported Reuters with reference to refinery industry experts.

Phillips 66, the fourth largest US refiner, on Tuesday said it has put its 255,600 barrel per day (bpd) Alliance plant on the market, citing "the evolving energy landscape." The 50-year-old plant makes gasoline, diesel and jet fuel for US and Latin American markets.

Reuters on Tuesday reported Phillips 66 is in talks with a potential buyer. A spokesman declined to comment, calling any talks confidential.

Analysts said potential buyers may be willing to make a contrarian bet on motor fuel demand, pointing to private equity firms and rival Gulf Coast refiners Motiva Enterprises, Valero Energy Corp and PBF Energy.

Motiva, Valero and PBF did not reply to messages asking about interest in the Alliance refinery.

"While there are a lot of uncertainties out there - mainly regulatory in terms of climate change or COVID mandates - the economic dust has settled so buyers are likely to get more serious again," said Garfield Miller, chief executive of investment banker Aegis Energy Advisors.

A private equity firm might consider buying Alliance as the anchor for a move into motor fuel, seeing Phillips 66 and other oil companies exit as an opportunity, he said.

As MRC informed previously, Worley has been recently awarded a front-end engineering services contract by Phillips 66 to convert its San Francisco refinery in Rodeo, California, USA into a renewable fuels-manufacturing facility. Under the contract, Worley will provide front-end engineering design services for the facility, which will be executed by Worley’s North America West team with support from Worley’s Global Integrated Delivery team.

Besides, in October 2020, Phillips 66 said it plans to reconfigure its refinery in Rodeo, California to produce renewable fuels from used cooking oil, fats, greases and soybean oils.

We remind that US-based Phillips 66 remains open to developing another ethane cracker for its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) joint venture, the refiner's CEO said in March 2018.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Phillips 66 is a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company. With a portfolio of Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties businesses, the company processes, transports, stores and markets fuels and products globally. Phillips 66 Partners, the company’s master limited partnership, is integral to the portfolio. Headquartered in Houston, the company has 14,300 employees committed to safety and operating excellence. Phillips 66 had USD55 billion of assets as of Dec. 31, 2020.
MRC

US EPA recommends reducing biofuel mandates for 2020 retroactively

US EPA recommends reducing biofuel mandates for 2020 retroactively

MOSCOW () -- The US Environmental Protection Agency has recommended retroactively lowering biofuel blending mandates for 2020, two sources familiar with the matter said, after the agency sent a proposal on the mandates to the White House for review, reported Reuters.

The move could provide immediate relief to oil refiners that have to comply with the blending requirements. It also is likely to drag the Biden administration further into a clash between oil refiners and the biofuels industry over the requirements.

Under the US Renewable Fuel Standard Program, oil refiners must blend billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation's fuel mix, or buy tradeable credits, known as RINs, from those that do.Farmers and biofuel producers argue that reducing mandates harms demand for their products, though refiners reject that claim and say the costs of the program puts blue-collar refinery jobs at risk.

The EPA confirmed on Thursday that the agency had sent the biofuel blending proposal to the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). "The proposal aims to get the (Renewable Fuel Standard) program back on track while addressing challenges stemming from decisions made under the prior administration," an EPA spokesperson said in a statement.

The agency was also expected to recommend to the White House reducing mandates for 2021, while boosting mandates for 2022 above the previous two years, Reuters reported earlier this month, citing sources. The agency did not provide details on the proposal or confirm Reuters' reporting.

Lowering mandates retroactively for 2020 could benefit in particular merchant refiners such as PBF Energy and Delta Air Lines' Monroe Energy, which slowed or halted purchases of renewable fuel credits this year as they lobbied the Biden administration for regulatory relief.

Those refiners and others had amassed earlier this year a more than US1 billion shortfall in the credits they need to comply with the mandates, an apparent bet that the Biden administration would let them off the hook or that the credit prices would fall.

The deadline for refiners to prove compliance with the 2020 requirements was extended in April to Jan. 31, 2022. Reducing the mandates would help refiners who have outstanding obligations for that compliance year.

As MRC informed earlier, in April 2021, the US Environmental Protection Agency asked industry groups for their input on the future of the nation's biofuel policy after it ends its current phase in 2022. The consultations will provide a new opportunity for the oil, corn and biofuel lobbies to reshape the regulation, called the Renewable Fuel Standard, which has bitterly divided the two industries for more than a decade. Under the RFS, oil refiners must blend increasing billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation's fuel mix each year or buy trade able credits from those that do.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC