OMV halts olefins production at Schwechat after operational hitch

OMV AG (Vienna) has paused production of ethylene and propylene at its 192,000 b/d Schwechat crude oil refinery in Austria, the company said on April 15, as per Chemweek.

The petrochemical plant at the integrated refining and petchems site experienced an operational disruption at 10 am local time (0800 GMT) and as an immediate measure a high-level flare operation was initiated, following all necessary safety precautions at the refinery, a spokesperson told Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

“Repair work to restart the petrochemical plant at OMV’s Schwechat refinery is currently ongoing,” the spokesperson said, without specifying when that process will finish. The operational disruption is affecting production of ethylene and propylene at the plant.

The production of fuels at the refinery is not affected, and fuel deliveries continue to be fully guaranteed, the spokesperson said.

Platts assessed chemical grade propylene in Northwest Europe on a free delivery (FD) basis at €827 per metric ton on April 14, down from €885 per metric ton a week earlier. Platts assessed ethylene on an FD basis in Northwest Europe at €816.50 per metric ton, down from €867 per metric ton the previous week.

The price dip comes despite previous force majeure on ethylene supply, as declared by BASF SE at two steam crackers on April 2, and a short downtime at Shell’s Moerdijk cracker in the week of April 11. European ethylene markets have faced limited disruptions overall amid limited trading activity, traders in the region said.

Downstream demand has been poor before and during the current international tariff conflict. “Everybody is in a wait-and-see mode. Paralyzed, if I can say, nobody knows what the right thing to do is. People are only buying what they need; demand is still not great,” a polyethylene distributor said.

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The deal will see Clearpoint supply recycler Enviroo with feedstock for its upcoming waste plastics recycling plant at the Protos Park in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, as per Chemweek.

Once the site opens in 2027, the waste management company will deliver more than 30,000 tonnes of PET material to the facility annually.

The plant will convert waste plastics into certified food-grade recycled PET (rPET) to meet the growing demand in the global market.

England is set to launch a deposit return scheme (DRS) in October 2027 which will include PET bottles. Clearpoint said that the facility is set to be one of only three food-grade rPET facilities in the UK.

Mark Garrett, managing director at Clearpoint Recycling, said: “The plant is a much-needed outlet for PET to be converted into certified food-grade rPET, which the UK market is crying out for.

“We look forward to working with our existing partners and invite offers from other suppliers to feed into the plant.

“With Clearpoint responsible for the supply of feedstock into the facility and the sales out it places us at the centre of the circular economy. “This will enable Clearpoint Recycling to continue to remain independent while investing in high-skilled roles across all business units.”

Ahmed Detta, CEO of Enviroo, added: “This landmark agreement with Clearpoint Recycling is a significant step forward in strengthening the UK’s circular economy.

“By securing a consistent, high-quality supply of PET material, we are ensuring that our facility at Ellesmere Port will play a crucial role in turning waste into valuable, certified, food-grade recycled PET.

“This partnership not only underscores our commitment to sustainability but also contributes to job creation in the community and innovation in the recycling sector. “Together, we are driving a more sustainable future for the UK and beyond.”

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KH Neochem Co. (Tokyo) said that the impact on its exports to the US is currently limited, Chemweek.

According to the company, the total sales to the US were 4% of its group revenue of CNY119.8 billion (USD837 million) in 2024. The company said many of the products sold to the US, such as feedstocks for refrigeration lubricants like isononanoic acid and 2-ethylhexanoic acid, fall outside the scope of the tariff measures.

“Therefore, we recognize that most of our exports from Japan to the US are exempt from these measures,” it added.

Its business units include basic chemicals, performance materials and electronic materials.

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The volume of Russian oil exports continues to decline for a third week amid the trade war between the United States and China, Bloomberg reports.

The gross value of crude oil supplies from Russia fell by 6%, to $1.29 billion. This is the amount Russia last received from the sale of raw materials in July 2023.

On April 9, the price of Russian Urals oil fell below $50 for the first time since June 2023. But the next day, amid the US decision to suspend the bulk of the previously announced “mutual” duties, the brand again rose above this mark.

Oil exports from all Russian ports in the four weeks ending April 13 fell to 3.13 million barrels per day, the lowest since February. According to ship tracking data and port agent reports cited by Bloomberg, from April 7 to 13, a total of 29 tankers loaded 21.93 million barrels of Russian crude oil. A week earlier, 22.23 million barrels of oil were loaded onto the same number of ships.

According to data from the Argus pricing agency, the price of Russian Urals oil from Primorsk (Baltic Sea) fell by about $9.10 per barrel over the week, while the cost of loading in the Black Sea fell by $9.40 per barrel. Russian ESPO oil (ESPO), traditionally classified as a premium category, fell by about $9.70. Prices for deliveries to India fell by about $9.

Russian oil deliveries to customers in Asia fell to 2.9 million barrels per day in the four weeks leading up to April 13. The statistics also included vessels that did not specify a specific destination, Bloomberg notes. Russia delivered an average of about 210 thousand barrels of oil per day to Turkey during the specified period.

Oil prices began to decline in early April amid the introduction of tariffs by the United States and retaliatory measures by China. The fall in the market was exacerbated by the unexpected decision of OPEC+ to increase production volumes more than previously expected, writes RBC.

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Exxon Mobil Corp. (ExxonMobil; Spring, Texas) has successfully commenced operations of a 1.6 million metric tons per year ethylene unit at its Huizhou petrochemicals complex in Guangdong Province over the weekend, with the core ethylene unit achieving on-spec production in its first trial run, said Chemweek.

The unit's startup is expected to boost China's demand for feedstock naphtha, market sources told Platts. ExxonMobil had already obtained 2.08 million metric tons (MMt) of naphtha import quotas in the first batch for 2025, up from 150,000 metric tons in the same batch for 2024, another source with knowledge about the matter told Platts.

China’s oil demand growth in 2025 will be mainly driven by naphtha, jet fuel and LPG, with S&P Global Commodity Insights projecting China’s oil demand to grow 300,000 b/d on the year in 2025 and a further 170,000 b/d year over year in 2026.

The new cracker was originally designed to use naphtha as feedstock, added the source. The unit is also capable of processing a mix of naphtha and LPG as feedstock, the company said on its official WeChat account.

The unit will provide key feedstock for the complex’s downstream petrochemicals units, including two linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) units with a combined capacity of 1.2 MMt/y.

In February, ExxonMobil started up its 730,000 metric tons per year LLDPE No. 1 unit that uses purchased ethylene as feedstock.

The $10 billion petrochemicals complex, located in the Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park, is one of the few megaplants wholly owned by foreign companies. The facility — designed to produce high-end petchems products — was set up to meet growing demand in China.

The Huizhou cracker was one of the few Chinese ethylene projects planned to commence operations this year. In early April, Wanhua Chemical Group started up its phase 2 project of a 1.2 MMt/y ethylene plant at its Yantai Industrial Park on April 3, Platts reported earlier.

China is expected to add a combined 8.75 MMt/y of ethylene capacity this year, bringing the total installed capacity to 63.9 MMt/y, according to data from the Economics and Technology Research Institute, part of state oil company China National Petroleum Corp.

Most of China’s new ethylene capacity will use naphtha as feedstock, according to the ETRI. Alternative feedstock like ethane has been hit hard amid the US-China trade standoff, given that the US supplies nearly all bulk ethane shipments globally.

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