MEGlobal nominates ACP for March 2022 at USD890 per tonne

MEGlobal nominates ACP for March 2022 at USD890 per tonne

MOSCOW (MRC) -- MEGlobal has announced its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) to be shipped in March 2022, according to the company's press release.

Thus, on 15 February, 2022. the company said ACP for MEG would be at USD890/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival in March 2022, up by USD10/tonne from the previous month.

The March 2022 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.

As MRC reported earlier, MEGlobal announced its February ACP for MEG at USD880/MT CFR Asian main ports, up by USD30/tonne from January.

MEG is one of the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, PET prices continued to be steady in the Russian spot market. February spot prices remained at the level of the second half of January. The current spot prices are expected to remain the same until the end of the month.

MEGlobal is a fully integrated supplier of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), collectively known as ethylene glycol (EG).
MRC

IRPC to shut its PP plant in Thailand for turnaround in March

IRPC to shut its PP plant in Thailand for turnaround in March

MOSCOW (MRC) -- IRPC Public Company Limited, a PTT Plc subsidiary, is in plans to take off-stream its polypropylene (PP) plant in Rayong, Thailand for maintenance, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The turnaround is expected to last about 15 days in March, 2022.

The company, being the third-largest PP producer in Southeast Asia, operates four PP lines in the Rayong complex, with a combined capacity of 635,000 tons.

The company has been limiting spot selling to build up inventory ahead of the shutdown.

As MRC informed earlier, IRPC took off-line PP lines in June, 2020, for routine maintenance. There was no additional information on how long the plant remained shut.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC

Lotte Chemical to begin construction of its new petrochemical complex in Indonesia in 2022

Lotte Chemical to begin construction of its new petrochemical complex in Indonesia in 2022

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lotte Chemical has recently informed that that company has decided to proceed with the 5 trillion won (USD4.4 billion) petrochemical project in Cilegon, Indonesia after the previous delay due the pandemic. The project named Lotte Chemical Indonesia New Ethylene (LINE) is to commence construction in 2022, according to CommoPlast with reference to the company's bourse filing.

Lotte Chemical aims to bring the new complex online in 2025.

LINE consists of a mixed feeds cracker that could product 1 million tons/year of ethylene and 520,000 tons/year of propylene, and downstream polyethylene (PE) plants.

“However, the final investment and plant design might be larger than the initial plan,” a Lotte Chemical official said.

On 28 October 2021, Lotte Chemical awarded two contracts worth USD1.64 billion involving engineering and construction work for the new project to Lotte Engineering & Construction Co Ltd (LEC).

Lotte Chemical has already established presence in Indonesia via PT Lotte Chemical which operates a non-integrated 450,000 tons/year PE plant and uses ethylene feed from its sister company in Malaysia.

As MRC informed before, in January, 2019, Lotte Chemical Titan announced plans to add a naphtha-fed steam cracker with an ethylene production capacity of 1 million mt/year to its petrochemical facility in Merak of Banten province, Indonesia, by 2023, making it an integrated petrochemical complex.

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 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

Alpek announced its fourth quarter 2021 results

Alpek announced its fourth quarter 2021 results

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexican polyester producer Alpek reported a decline in Q4 consolidated net income because of the shutdowns at two plants and higher taxes, said the company.

The company shut down its caprolactam operations in Salamanca, Mexico and its stable fibres operations in Cooper River in South Carolina state, US. Alpek shut down the plants because of an extended period of low margins that were caused by high raw-material costs. In addition, the outlook for the two industries was unfavourable, Alpek said.

Q4 gross profit rose year on year because sales grew faster than costs. The following table shows the company's Q4 financial performance.

For Polyester, volumes rose quarter on quarter because of the resolution of a drought at Altamira, Tamaulipas state in Mexico. Quarter on quarter, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) benefited from inventory and carry-forward effects. These were partially offset by plant shutdowns.

The Polyester segment produces purified terephthalic acid (PTA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyester fibres. For Plastics & Chemicals, volumes fell quarter on quarter because of planned maintenance at a plant in the US that make expandable polystyrene (EPS).

Earnings fell quarter on quarter because of plant shutdowns. The segment makes EPS and polypropylene (PP).

As per MRC, Alpek has signed an agreement to acquire Omani polyethylene terephthalate (PET) producer Octal Petrochemical. Alpek to acquire 100% stake in Octal for USD620 million Octal owns a petrochemical complex in Salalah, Oman, with an annual virgin PET capacity of 850,000 tons per year. Alpek said the deal will bring the company's capacity to more than 1 million tonnes.

It was previously reported that Alpek and its joint venture partners may restart construction of their polyethylene terephthalate (PET) project in Texas in 2022. Production could start in two years, which means a launch in early 2024.

Alpek is the largest petrochemical company in Mexico and the second largest in Latin America. Its business is divided into two main segments: "polyesters" (terephthalic acid, polyethylene terephthalate and polyester fibers) and "plastics and chemicals" (polypropylene, expanded polystyrenes, caprolactam, polyurethanes and other specialty and industrial chemicals). Alpek is the world's leading manufacturer of purified terephthalic acid and PET; it owns the largest expanded polystyrene plant on the continent and one of the largest polypropylene plants in North America. Alpek currently has 19 factories in Mexico, USA and Argentina. Alpek is part of the Mexican conglomerate Grupo Alfa. Alpek also owns DAK Americas.
MRC

Demand for residual fuel oil peaks in the USA in late 2021

Demand for residual fuel oil peaks in the USA in late 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In November 2021, more residual fuel oil was consumed in the US, measured as product supplied, than during any month since January 2017, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Residual fuel oil has several uses, but it is primarily consumed as bunker fuel in the maritime shipping sector. Consumption in December 2021 was at its highest end-of-year level since 2012, according to the EIA's weekly petroleum status report.

On January 1, 2020, tighter regulations from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on maritime fuel sulfur specifications became effective. Before 2020, marine fuel could have a sulfur content as high as 3.5%, which is considered high-sulfur fuel oil. The IMO now requires ships to switch to fuels with a 0.5% sulfur content or less, forcing ships to use a more processed, and more expensive, variety of residual fuel oil called very-low-sulfur fuel oil.

Ships comply with the IMO specification as long as their actual emissions meet the target sulfur emissions level, regardless of the specification of the fuel they use. Ship owners can install sulfur scrubbers on board to reduce sulfur emissions while still consuming high-sulfur fuel oil and remain compliant. Ship scrubbers are expensive and require ongoing maintenance, but vessels can lower operating costs by purchasing high-sulfur fuel oil instead of higher-priced very-low-sulfur fuel oil or low-sulfur marine gas oil.

The IMO regulation applies to global shipping. Marine vessels operating within the North American or US Caribbean Sea Emission Control Areas were already required to meet 0.1% sulfur content while operating within those waters.

Since spring 2020, overall production of residual fuel oil has decreased because of substantially less refinery production resulting from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As MRC reported earlier, EIA forecasts that crude oil prices will fall in 2022 and 2023 from 2021 levels, according to its January 2022 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). In the fourth quarter of 2021, the price of Brent crude oil, the international pricing benchmark, averaged USD79 per barrel (b). EIA forecasts that the price of Brent will average USD75/b in 2022 and USD68/b in 2023. The declining prices are driven by a shift from global petroleum inventory declines during 2021 to inventory increases in 2022 and 2023. Global petroleum inventories decline when consumption is greater than production and increase when production is greater than consumption.

We remind that oil supply will soon overtake demand as some producers are set to pump at or above all-time highs, said EIA, while demand holds up despite the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
MRC