Ethane carrier STL Qianjiang, which usually moves between the US and China, has been diverted for delivery to final purchaser Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL; Mumbai) at Dahej port, India, said Chemweek.
The ship was loaded at Energy Transfer's Nederland terminal in the US for China as the delivery destination. Later, on June 11, the carrier signaled Dahej port as its destination, according to sources and ship tracking data from S&P Global Commodities at Sea (CAS).
Amid a clear diversion from the usual route, there were assumptions that the cargo could be moved to India, which was acknowledged by a source at RIL on condition of anonymity.
“Total three ships carrying ethane going to China were canceled. One of these carriers was then booked by us,” said the company source, without commenting on the price or discount availed for the diverted cargo.
The other two cargoes heading to Lianyungang, China, have so far not changed their destinations, according to CAS data.
The very-large ethane carrier Gas Jessamine, which arrived at Energy Transfer's Orbit terminal in Texas on May 22, departed on May 23 with a cargo of ethane bound for Satellite Chemical’s Lianyungang, according to CAS data, while the Seri Elbert arrived at Orbit on May 26 and departed for Lianyungang on May 28.
Notably, Reliance also maintains its own six ethane carriers that are used to source the feedstock from the US, sources said on June 12.
Platts had reported on June 5 that neither of the US' two ethane exporters, Energy Transfer and Enterprise Products Partners, would be allowed to load ethane for shipments to China without first securing a license from the Bureau of Industry and Security, part of the US Department of Commerce.
China has about 4 million metric tons per year of ethane-based ethylene capacity — almost all independently owned — that requires about 248,000 b/d of ethane feedstocks, according to Commodity Insights’ calculations. The capacity is spread across five plants in eastern China’s Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces.
mrchub.com