Asian Markets

October 29, 2023

Wind Turbine Prices Fall

Profit At China’s Top Wind Firm Slumps 98%

by Tyler Durden

Friday, Oct 27, 2023 – 05:00 AM

By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com

Lower prices for turbines amid a price war in China have resulted in a 98% plunge in the net profit of the top Chinese wind turbine maker, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co.

While investments in renewable energy projects in China are booming, intensified competition has led to a race to the bottom for wind turbine prices—a race that has dented profits at the biggest Chinese manufacturer.

Goldwind booked $1.28 million in net income for the third quarter of 2023, down by a massive 98% compared to the same period of 2022, a company statement quoted by Bloomberg showed on Thursday.

Chinese clean energy technology manufacturers have also come under EU scrutiny as the bloc fears cheaper products from China would undermine the European Union’s goals of having a strong EU clean energy manufacturing industry.

Globally, the wind power industry faces additional challenges. Offshore projects are being scrapped amid rising costs and interest rates and supply chain issues.

In August, Siemens Energy initiated a review of its wind business after taking a large hit to earnings and expected full-year revenues and profits due to problems at its unit Siemens Gamesa, one of the largest wind turbine makers in the world. At the end of June, Siemens Energy withdrew the profit guidance for the company due to problems with wind turbines at Siemens Gamesa.

“Following a substantial increase in failure rates of certain wind turbine components, an extended technical review suggested that significantly higher costs will be incurred than previously assumed to reach the targeted quality level,” Siemens Energy said in August.

On Thursday, October 26, Siemens Energy shares plunged by more than 30% to an all-time low after the company said it is in preliminary talks with different stakeholders, including banking partners and the German government, to ensure access to guarantees for long-term projects. More than $3 billion of Siemens Energy’s market value was wiped out by the early afternoon in Frankfurt today.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/profit-chinas-top-wind-firm-slumps-98

October 16, 2023

TDI in China

TDI Market is Poised to Take Off Amidst Intensive Maintenance Plans

PUdaily | Updated: October 13, 2023

Not long after the restart of Wanhua Chemical’s facility in Yantai, several TDI facilities have started or are about to undergo maintenance. The maintenance plans of TDI suppliers in the fourth quarter of this year are intensively scheduled.

Table 1: Recent TDI Facility Maintenance Plans in China and South Korea

Juli ChemicalMaintenance started on September 25, expected to last about 40 days.
Wanhua ChemicalRumored to start maintenance on October 6, expected to last about 15 days.
Yinguang ChemicalTemporary shutdown for maintenance on October 9.
HanwhaMaintenance started on October 13, expected to last about 25 days.
Cangzhou DahuaMaintenance scheduled to start on October 20, expected to last for 1 month.
Covestro ShanghaiMaintenance to start in mid-November, expected to last about 40 days.
BASF KoreaMaintenance to start on November 17, expected to last about 25 days.

Although TDI suppliers have typically concentrated their maintenance plans in the fourth quarter in previous years, this year the maintenance at Wanhua Chemical and Yinguang Chemical have exceeded industry expectations, and Cangzhou Dahua did not undergo maintenance last year. The maintenance duration of the facilities at Juli Chemical and Covestro is also longer than in previous years.

Amidst the contradiction between intensive maintenance plans and the recovery of demand, TDI suppliers, especially Covestro, have frequently raised their guide prices:

  • On October 7, Covestro raised its opening price for October and only offered 50% of supplies to distributors in November, while providing 80% to direct customers.
  • On October 8, Covestro stopped trading due to strong demand and extremely low inventory.
  • On October 9, the price offered by the North China plant was raised to CNY 20,000/tonne. Covestro raised its fixed price to CNY 19,200/tonne.
  • As of the latest update on October 11, Covestro has stopped trading again due to tight supply…

Looking back at October last year, the price of TDI surged from CNY 19,000/tonne to surpass CNY 26,000/tonne due to tight supply. And in the same period this year, with the same supply significantly reduced, the price level remains the same… Stay tuned for the subsequent market trend!

https://www.pudaily.com/Home/NewsDetails/41010

October 12, 2023

Shell Fire at Singapore POSM Plant

Shell’s Singapore Petrochemical Unit Puts Out Fire; Styrene Impact Likely — OPIS Update

Provided by Dow Jones

Oct 11, 2023 9:39 AM EDT

Singapore’s Shell Jurong Island (SJI) has extinguished a fire that broke out at one of its petrochemical unit manufacturing site on Jurong Island, according to market sources.

The fire occurred at around 3:00 hours Singapore time on Oct.10 and was extinguished with no reported casualties, according to the source.

Market sources said that the fire would most likely impact Shell’s styrene monomer (SM) production.

“The specific impact of the styrene plant is still being evaluated by Shell. We will have to wait and see how serious the damages are,” said a China-based SM broker.

A Shell spokesperson confirmed the incident and said no injuries were reported.

“Our emergency response team is currently monitoring the situation closely. Safety is a key priority to Shell,” the spokesperson said.

At its site, SJI can produce a total of 1,040 million metric ton (mt) per year of SM and 490,000 mt/year propylene oxide (PO) between its two POSM lines, according to its website.

Operations at Shell’s cracker on the same site do not appear to have been disrupted, sources said.

“Besides PO and SM, there should be no disruption to the other chemical production,” added the SM broker.

 

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

 

–Reporting by Hazel Kumari, hkumari@opisnet.com; Editing by Hanwei Wu, hwu@opisnet.com

https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202310115167/shells-singapore-petrochemical-unit-puts-out-fire-styrene-impact-likely-opis-update

October 10, 2023

Chinese PMDI Import and Export Flows

China PMDI Import & Export in August 2023

PUdaily | Updated: October 5, 2023

PMDI Export

According to China customs data, in August 2023, China’s polymeric MDI exports were 96,700 tons, down 12.8% from the previous month and up 24.6% year-on-year. From January to August 2023, China’s polymeric MDI accumulated exports of 781,500 tons, compared with January to August last year, an increase of 12.2%.

Average export price:

The average export price of polymeric MDI in August was US $1,542/ton, down 32.1% year-on-year, the decline widened.

Table: China’s polymeric MDI export volume and average export price from January to August 2023

From January to August, the United States was the largest export destination of China’s polymeric MDI, and the cumulative PMDI export volume from China to the United States was 184 thousand tons, an increase of 8.4%. In August, PMDI export from China to the United States were 22.5 thousand tons, up 77.3% year-on-year and up 22.6% month-on-month. Secondly, the main destinations of China’s polymeric MDI from January to August are Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium and Turkey.

PMDI Import

According to China customs data, in August 2023, China’s polymeric MDI (including crude MDI) imports of 28.2 thousand tons, down 11.5% month-on-month, an increase of 66.8%. From January to August 2023, China’s aggregate MDI cumulative imports of 199 thousand tons, compared with January to August last year, an increase of 10.9%.

In August, China imported 8,238 tons of polymeric MDI from the Netherlands and 7,004 tons of polymeric MDI from Saudi Arabia. The polymeric MDI and crude MDI imported from Japan was 6,885 tons, and the 200 ktpa MDI facility of Tosoh Japan has shut down for maintenance from early September, so their supply to China market was tight again.

https://www.pudaily.com/Home/NewsDetails/40787

October 5, 2023

Tosoh Plans MDI Splitter in Vietnam

Japan’s Tosoh to build MDI splitter in Vietnam

Published date: 02 October 2023

Japanese petrochemical producer Tosoh plans to build a methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) splitter in south Vietnam’s Ba Ria–Vung Tau province, targeting to begin commercial operations by October 2026.

Tosoh plans to operate the splitter, which will have manufacturing capacity of 100,000 t/yr of monomeric and polymeric MDIs, using crude MDI as a feedstock. MDI is used as feedstock to produce polyurethane. It aims to start construction from November 2024 and complete the splitter by June 2026.

The company will bring the crude MDI from Japan to the splitter in Vietnam. Tosoh produces 400,000 t/yr of crude MDI at its Nanyo plant in south Japan’s Yamaguchi prefecture.

Tosoh has an 85,000 t/yr splitter in China and another at its Nanyo plant of undisclosed output capacity, although its said annual production is 400,000t. Its MDI production will be unchanged even after the launch of the Vietnamese splitter, as Tosoh plans to modify manufacturing in Japan and China based on demand.

It also plans to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary Tosoh Vietnam Polyurethane by January next year to enhance MDI sales in southeast Asia.

By Nanami Oki

https://www.argusmedia.com/en//news/2494727-japans-tosoh-to-build-mdi-splitter-in-vietnam?backToResults=true