U.S. fuel oil imports from Latin America jump ahead of Russia wind-down

MRC) -- Record volumes of fuel oil from Latin America landed in the U.S. in March, customs data showed, as refiners snapped up alternatives to Russian feedstocks ahead of Washington's April 22 deadline to end U.S. imports of Russian oil, said Hydrocabonprocessing.

U.S. Gulf Coast refiners that use fuel oil to supplement heavy crude went hunting for new supplies last month after U.S. President Joe Biden placed a ban on Russian crude and refined products with a 45-day wind-down period.

Russia accounted for about a quarter of the 524,400 bpd of fuel oil the U.S. imported last year. It also supplied some 200,000 bpd of crude mostly to U.S. East Coast refiners.

Russia's share fell to 20% last month while Latin American countries - driven mainly by Mexico - provided 35% of imports of fuel oil, blendstock for fuel oil and vacuum gasoil (VGO), up from 20% last year, customs data showed.

Middle East suppliers' share of U.S. fuel oil imports are also set to rise, to about 17% from 5% a year ago. Record Latin American fuel oil flows of nearly 216,000 bpd come as U.S. and Venezuelan officials have discussed a potential easing of sanctions that could return Venezuelan oil to the U.S. after a three-year pause. The U.S. imported 4% of its fuel oil needs from Venezuela in 2018, before the sanctions.

Mexico, which has expanded fuel oil exports for the past three years, accounted for 26% of the U.S. imports of the fuel in March, compared with 18% in 2021, customs data showed.

State-run oil company Pemex reported a slight increase in its overall fuel oil exports to 175,300 bpd in February, from 170,600 bpd the previous month. Pemex plans to maintain shipments between 175,000 and 200,000 bpd in the coming months, according to a person familiar with the matter.

At least three tankers from Mexico carrying fuel oil and oil byproducts have discharged at U.S. ports this month and another was on its way, customs and Refinitiv tanker monitoring data showed. Pemex did not reply to a request for comment.

Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras said demand for Brazilian fuel oil from U.S. Gulf Coast refiners has grown. Brazil, Mexico, Algeria and Saudi Arabia are taking over from Russia as main suppliers of fuel oil for the Gulf Coast, the company said.

Petrobras said it has been developing new customers in the U.S. Gulf Coast fuel oil market. It said it has sold around 500,000 tpy of Brazilian fuel oil on a spot basis to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries. One cargo arrived in the U.S. Gulf in February and another similar cargo is due to discharge in April, U.S. customs and Refinitiv cargo tracking data showed.

The U.S. could also see an increase in oil imports from Ecuador if state-run Petroecuador agrees to medium-term contracts with refiners.

As per MRC, consumption of ethane has grown every year since 2010 in the US, and more ethane is now consumed in the country than either jet fuel or propane. Consumption of ethane, which the EIA estimates using product supplied, grew by 50,000 bpd in 2021, according to data from its March 2022 Petroleum Supply Monthly. The EIA forecasts that by 2023, US consumption of ethane will grow by another 340,000 bpd.
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Plastic recycler Morssinkhof-Rymoplast will build a 30,000 tonne/year flexible recycled low density polyethylene (R-LDPE) plant in Markranstadt, Germany, said the company.

The new unit is scheduled to come onstream in Q1 2023. Once the plant is onstream it will bring Morssinkhof-Rymoplast’s overall R-LDPE flexible pellet capacity to more than 100,000 tonnes/year. The company is investing EUR30m in the new unit.

The R-LDPE flexible pellet market remains structurally short, and consumption from the packaging sector high - despite concerns of an impact on demand from any economic downturn created by the cost of living crisis.

There has been talk this month of delays to the onboarding of new capacity in the market from 2023 to 2024 because of delays to equipment delivery and building schedules because of wider backlogs in the construction industry. Some sellers are already sold out of material for the remainder of 2022.

As per MRC, PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) shut its No. 2 linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant in Map Tai Phut complex last week after encountering an unexpected technical issue. At present, it is unclear on the restart schedule for this plant with the production capacity of 400,000 mt/year LLDPE. The company also operates No. 1 LLDPE plant at the same site, which has an annual output of 410,000 mt/year. Overall, PTT has a total capacity of 800,000 mt/year of high density polyethylene (HDPE), 345,000 mt/year of LDPE and 800,000 mt/year of LLDPE at the same site.

As MRC reported earlier, PTTGC was in plans to undertake a brief shutdown for maintenance at its LDPE plant in October, 2021. However, the exact dates of the turnaround were not given.

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MRC) -- The Lubrizol Corporation announces a global collaboration project with Suzano, the world’s leading eucalyptus pulp and paper producer, according to Kemicalinfo.

This market-leading partnership will co-develop natural-based ingredients using renewable materials to the beauty, personal and home care markets.

The new relationship combines Lubrizol science, formulation, and market expertise with Suzano knowledge in all varieties and applications of eucalyptus bioproduct cellulosic biomaterials.

This collaboration allows the combined technical teams the ability to explore, innovate, and grow the combined portfolio of offerings for the beauty, personal, and home care markets.

“We are excited to partner with Suzano to bring sustainable innovation to our customers,” said Bernardo Medeiros, Vice President, Beauty and Home for Lubrizol. “This is another step in our journey to develop high-performing ingredients and become a leader in delivering naturally derived, biodegradable, and sustainable solutions.”

Working with Suzano will bring complementary technologies and synergies to our current portfolio and ecosystem of partners, the company said.

These actions are part of Lubrizol’s strategy to become a leading supplier of sustainable solutions, leveraging our expertise and combining technologies to bring innovation to the marketplace.

As MRC reported before, this summer, Lubrizol announced the next phase of its staged, multi-million dollar investment in thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) capacity and capabilities to serve the rapidly growing global Paint Protection Films (PPF) market. This comes on top of investments of over USD20 million over the last three years in capacity, application and testing capabilities, and market insights.

We remind that more than 5,250 tons of chemicals, oil and fuel additives burned in a massive fire at US specialty chemical firm Lubrizol in Rouen, France, in late September, 2019. Lubrizol managed to resume operations at its plant at Rouen in northwest France after the fire only in late December, 2019.

The Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is an innovative specialty chemical company that apart from its production develops and supplies technologies to customers in the global transportation, industrial and consumer markets. Lubrizol is providing innovative solutions for its customers high-performance application needs and remains committed to ongoing investment in its CPVC capabilities that support future growth. With headquarters in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 8,000 employees worldwide.
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MRC) -- Linde announced it is expanding its La Porte, Texas, facility, effectively doubling the facility’s merchant liquid production capacity, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Starting up in 2024, the increased capacity will help Linde to meet growing demand from the petrochemicals, clean energy, manufacturing, food and aerospace sectors in the U.S. Gulf Coast. It will also supply Linde’s existing Gulf Coast pipeline system, which includes nitrogen and oxygen pipelines extending from the Houston ship channel south to Freeport, Texas.

“This investment will further strengthen our robust supply capabilities in the U.S. Gulf Coast, allowing Linde to take advantage of growing demand,” said Jeff Barnhard, Vice President South Region, Linde. “This project provides significant productivity benefits by building on the unique infrastructure Linde has already established in the U.S. Gulf Coast."

Linde has signed a long-term agreement with BASF to supply BASF’s planned hexamethylenediamine (HMDA) project in Chalampe, France, with hydrogen and steam. As part of the contract, Linde will design, build, own and operate a new hydrogen production facility at Chalampe, doubling its capacity there. The new Linde plant is expected onstream in the first half of 2024. Financial details were not disclosed.

We remind, BASF, SABIC and Linde have signed a joint agreement to develop and demonstrate solutions for electrically heated steam cracker furnaces. The partners have already jointly worked on concepts to use renewable electricity instead of the fossil fuel gas typically used for the heating process.

As per MRC, JSC SIBUR-Neftekhim and JSC Linde Gas Rus signed an agreement on the utilization of carbon dioxide formed in the technological process of SIBUR.

Linde is a global leader in the production, processing, storage and distribution of hydrogen. It has the largest hydrogen liquefaction capacity and gaseous hydrogen pipeline distribution system anywhere in the world. The company operates the world's first high-purity hydrogen storage cavern plus pipeline networks totaling approximately 1,000 kilometers globally, to reliably supply its customers. Linde is at the forefront in the transition to clean hydrogen and has installed 200 hydrogen fueling stations and 80 hydrogen electrolysis plants worldwide. The company offers the latest electrolysis technology through its world class engineering organization, key alliances and partnerships.
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India’s state-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and renewable energy player ReNew Power have announced a joint venture (JV) company to develop the nascent green hydrogen sector in India, according to Kemicalinfo.

The tripartite venture is a synergistic alliance that brings together the strong credentials of L&T in designing, executing, and delivering EPC projects, IndianOil’s established expertise in petroleum refining along with its presence across the energy spectrum, and the expertise of ReNew in offering and developing utility-scale renewable energy solutions.

Additionally, IndianOil and L&T have signed a binding term sheet to form a JV with equity participation to manufacture and sell Electrolyzers used in the production of Green Hydrogen.

SN Subrahmanyan, chief executive officer and managing director of L&T, said the JV would focus on developing the projects in a time-bound manner to supply green hydrogen at an industrial scale.

“While L&T will bring its strong EPC credentials to the table, IOC being India’s premier oil refiner with extensive capabilities in chemical processes and refining has established deep R&D capabilities in many aspects of the green hydrogen value chain. ReNew Power has in a short time established itself as a leading renewable energy supplier and has built itself a very strong reputation,” he said.

Additionally, IndianOil and L&T have signed a binding term sheet to form a JV with equity participation to manufacture and sell electrolyzers used in the production of green hydrogen.

“Both these JVs aim to enable the nation’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ mission to rapidly build, expand, and bring in economies of scale to make green hydrogen a cost-effective energy carrier and a chemical feedstock for many sectors,” Subrahmanyan said.

The planned JVs aim to enable India’s transition from a grey hydrogen economy to a greener economy that increasingly manufactures hydrogen via electrolysis powered by renewable energy.

The central government in February notified the Green Hydrogen policy aimed at boosting production of green hydrogen and green ammonia to help the nation become a global hub for the environmentally friendly version of the element.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries recently announced setting up a facility to produce green hydrogen. Adani Enterprises also announced a new company - Adani Petrochemicals - to venture into green fuels.

As MRC informed before, IOC, the country's top refiner, will increase crude purchases from Iraq by 11.5% in 2022 to 390,000 bpd, partly to make up for a shortfall from Mexico and a possible supply cut from Kuwait. Iraq is the top supplier of oil to India and its market share there is set to rise as another refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. will also buy more crude from the Middle Eastern nation. India is the world's third biggest oil importer.

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 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
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