Ethylene prices witness a rise in Asia

Ethylene prices were assessed higher in Asia on Wednesday, said Polymerupdate.

An industry source in Asia informed a Polymerupdate team member, Prices increased on the back of higher crude values coupled with healthy buying trends in the Asian region.

On Wednesday, CFR North East Asia ethylene prices on Wednesday were assessed at the USD 865-875/mt levels, a gain of USD (+5/mt) from Tuesday.

CFR South East Asia ethylene prices were assessed at the USD 925-935/mt levels, a rise of USD (+5/mt) from Tuesday's assessed levels.

In plant news, Sinopec Hainan Petrochemical is likely to shutdown its high density polyethylene (HDPE) unit for maintenance in early September 2024. The unit is slated to remain offline until mid-September 2024. Located in Yangpu, Hainan in China, the HDPE unit has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.
mrchub.com

Invista (Wichita, Kansas) has completed its nylon 66 expansion at Shanghai, China, said the company.

The USD240 million project has doubled the site’s nylon 66 capacity to 400,000 metric tons per year.

Invista broke ground on the expansion in November 2022, shortly after completing construction of a USD1 billion 400,000 metric tons per year adiponitrile plant at the same site.

Adiponitrile is used to produce hexamethylenediamine (HMDA), feedstock for nylon 66. Last month, Invista announced plans to recommission an HMDA plant at Ontario that has been idle since 2009.

mrchub.com

The startup of Shintech Inc.’s new 380,000 metric tons per year polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant at Plaquemine, Louisiana, has been pushed back several months.

Construction will be completed this fall, and the plant will go online by the end of 2024, parent Shin-Etsu (Tokyo, Japan) said during its quarterly earnings call on July 26. Shin-Etsu earlier this year said the project would be completed during summer.

In a summary of the earnings call posted on Aug. 6, Shin-Etsu identified several factors behind the delay, including severe weather. “Furthermore, although our company has done a considerable number of in-house construction projects in the US and has been making preparations accordingly, securing personnel for construction work has become quite challenging in the US. We’ve been able to come this far with some ingenuity, but significant delays are also occurring in other companies’ large projects.”

Equipment delays have also slowed progress, the company said. “We design our processes with a certain margin built in, but events have occurred that exceed it. This has been the case all over the world; in connection with the introduction of renewable energy and so on, delivery dates for electrical equipment and machinery are being extended.”

Shintech (Houston) currently has 890,000 metric tons per year of PVC capacity at Plaquemine and another 2.1 million metric tons per year of capacity divided between Addis, Louisiana, and Freeport, Texas.

mrchub.com

Russia's Finance Ministry, pursuant to instructions issued by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak at a meeting on July 8, has drafted a bill to extend the application of an investment supplement to the "reverse" excise on oil until January 1, 2033.

Novak also gave instructions to ensure the possibility of applying the investment supplement after January 1, 2027 even if the fixed assets that are the subject of an investment agreement between an oil refinery and the government are not put into operation.

The text of the published bill shows that the Finance Ministry proposed to allow such payments to continue if the taxpayer meets criteria set by the Russian president.

This bill also repeals the rule where the damper subsidies for gasoline and diesel fuel are simultaneously reduced to zero if prices for just one of these fuels exceed set maximum thresholds.

The bill is expected to go into effect on January 1, 2025.

We remind, Demand for motor fuel on the domestic market is being met, the Russian Energy Ministry said. Gasoline shipments to the domestic market are now 5% higher than last year's level, and diesel fuel is up 8%. In addition, enough fuel has been stockpiled to supply the domestic market.
mrchub.com

Kazakhstan's national oil company KazMunayGas (KMG) and American technology company LanzaJet could team up to produce sustainable aviation fuel in Kazakhstan, said Interfax.

KMG chief Askhath Khasenov and LanzaJet discussed a strategic partnership with Jimmy Samartzis, CEO of the American technology company LanzaJet, to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Kazakhstan, KMG's press service said.

"Given the increasing global demand for SAF, our company is exploring the possibility of producing sustainable and environmentally friendly SAF in Kazakhstan," Khasenov said. Samartzis said LanzaJet was committed to providing full technological support for this initiative. The two signed a memorandum of understanding following their meeting.

Previously, KMG, LanzaJet, and Japanese investment firm Mitsui had been exploring the possibility of SAF production in Kazakhstan. "A pre-feasibility study for the SAF production facility in Kazakhstan has been completed through a joint initiative by KMG and Air Astana, with financial support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The next step is to create a detailed feasibility study for the project," KMG said earlier.

Air Astana is considering SAF for its fleet. According to the low-carbon development concept of the state fund Samruk-Kazyna, SAF consumption by the airline is expected to gradually increase to 5% by 2040, 15% by 2050, and 25% by 2060. Additionally, KMG's three major refineries are preparing to produce Jet A-1 fuel, which could be blended with SAF in the future.

LanzaJet has recently commissioned its LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels plant in the U.S., which aims to produce 1 billion gallons of SAF by 2030. LanzaJet's technology enables the conversion of industrial emissions and recycled natural gas into sustainable aviation fuel, according to KMG.

KazMunayGas is Kazakhstan's national operator for the exploration, extraction, processing, and transportation of hydrocarbons, representing the state's interests in the oil and gas sector.

mrchub.com