The Urethane Blog

Everchem Updates

VOLUME XXI

September 14, 2023

Everchem’s Closers Only Club

Everchem’s exclusive Closers Only Club is reserved for only the highest caliber brass-baller salesmen in the chemical industry. Watch the hype video and be introduced to the top of the league: read more

February 19, 2021

LyondellBasell Update

February 19, 2021
Subject: Update Regarding Severe Winter Storm Freeze impact on Supply

Dear Valued Customer,


As we have communicated over the past several days, all of our Gulf Coast facilities have been adversely impacted by the winter storm that is currently affecting much of the United States. As a result of this
adverse weather event, we were forced to declare force majeure on the supply of most of our intermediate and derivative products.


Plant personnel have returned to each of our facilities, are working through thorough site assessments, and are preparing plans for restart as quickly as possible while ensuring the safety of our employees, our service providers, and our communities.


We wanted to provide the following update to keep you informed of our facilities and logistics status.


 Transportation: Loading of trucks, rail cars, and marine vessels has slowed due to challenges presented from the storm. In addition, the storm has led to lengthened lead-times and limited availability of transportation and terminal capacity.


 Allocation of Product: We are working though our allocation assessment for each facility, and anticipate communicating a product allocation plan next week. Allocation plans will be developed as soon as the anticipated outage period for each facility has been determined and a facility restart schedule developed.


We understand the burden this adverse weather event puts on your company. Rest assured, we are making every effort to return back to normal production as quickly as possible, and we will continue to keep you
updated on our continued site assessments and restart efforts.


We value the trust you place in LyondellBasell as a supplier, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have on your business. As always, your Account Manager is available to address more specific questions you may have that pertain directly to your business and any order status inquiries.

Indian ministry says petrochemical, polymer sectors to witness growth

20
Feb ’21

Pic: Shutterstock

Pic: Shutterstock The increased outlay for healthcare and the fund for vaccination in the budget will boost polymer consumption with requirements of syringes and other polymer based healthcare products, and in general, the requirement of petrochemicals and polymers, required in a range of sectors, will also increase and boost domestic demand with increased government spending.

The roll out of the production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for key end-use sectors will boost petrochemical consumption in the country, the ministry of chemical and fertilizers said in a press release.

Among the sectors earmarked, seven sectors—including mobile phone manufacturing, auto and components, medical devices, textile products—use significant quantity of petrochemicals. The estimated outlay of ₹1.41 lakh crores augurs well for the petrochemical industry growth, the ministry said.

The massive emphasis on infrastructure spending is expected to result in additional consumption of petrochemicals like polymers and specialty chemicals. Also, Agriculture focused measure like doubling of outlay for micro-irrigation to ₹10,000 crores will further fuel demand for polymer based irrigation products and services.

The synthetic industry has welcomed increase in import duty on raw cotton. This will support farmers to get better remuneration on cotton production and also eliminate cheap imports coming from neighboring countries. As such India is surplus of cotton and rather than exporting cotton.

Industry also welcomes increase in basic customs duty on silk and silk products. Synthetic Industry will be able to substitute silk products silk products by supplying silk like products out of synthetic fibres.

On methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), duty has been increased from zero to 7.5 per cent. It is used in the production of polyurethanes for many applications, like spandex yarn. The revised custom duty will attract investments in India given the rising demand of polyurethanes and presence of no domestic players.

https://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/indian-ministry-says-petrochemical-polymer-sectors-to-witness-growth-272493-newsdetails.htm

Indian ministry says petrochemical, polymer sectors to witness growth

20
Feb ’21

Pic: Shutterstock

Pic: Shutterstock The increased outlay for healthcare and the fund for vaccination in the budget will boost polymer consumption with requirements of syringes and other polymer based healthcare products, and in general, the requirement of petrochemicals and polymers, required in a range of sectors, will also increase and boost domestic demand with increased government spending.

The roll out of the production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for key end-use sectors will boost petrochemical consumption in the country, the ministry of chemical and fertilizers said in a press release.

Among the sectors earmarked, seven sectors—including mobile phone manufacturing, auto and components, medical devices, textile products—use significant quantity of petrochemicals. The estimated outlay of ₹1.41 lakh crores augurs well for the petrochemical industry growth, the ministry said.

The massive emphasis on infrastructure spending is expected to result in additional consumption of petrochemicals like polymers and specialty chemicals. Also, Agriculture focused measure like doubling of outlay for micro-irrigation to ₹10,000 crores will further fuel demand for polymer based irrigation products and services.

The synthetic industry has welcomed increase in import duty on raw cotton. This will support farmers to get better remuneration on cotton production and also eliminate cheap imports coming from neighboring countries. As such India is surplus of cotton and rather than exporting cotton.

Industry also welcomes increase in basic customs duty on silk and silk products. Synthetic Industry will be able to substitute silk products silk products by supplying silk like products out of synthetic fibres.

On methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), duty has been increased from zero to 7.5 per cent. It is used in the production of polyurethanes for many applications, like spandex yarn. The revised custom duty will attract investments in India given the rising demand of polyurethanes and presence of no domestic players.

https://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/indian-ministry-says-petrochemical-polymer-sectors-to-witness-growth-272493-newsdetails.htm

U.S. Gulf Coast storm outages rise, send ripples round global markets; Area plant status list update included

by WILL BEACHAM, Deputy Editor, ICIS Chemical Business

February 19, 2021

The US polar storm has now shut down 90% of US polypropylene (PP) capacity, 67% of ethylene and devastated other important products, sending ripples around global chemical markets prices soaring.

Image 1.png

More chemical plants and refineries across the Gulf Coast region have been hit by prolonged power and feedstock outages caused by freezing weather, snow and ice which have also halted logistics networks. More bad weather, forecast for later in the week, may prolong the disruption.

So far, ICIS has reported more than 60 plant outages as a result of the storm, with analysis using data from the ICIS Supply & Demand database showing that a wide swathe of the Gulf petrochemical sector has now been severely impacted.

Worst hit in volume terms is ethylene, with 26m tonnes of capacity offline, representing 67% of the US total. Around 11m tonnes, or 50%, of propylene capacity is also offline, with many of the region’s oil refineries also seeing curtailed production. More than 2m bbl/day of US oil refining capacity is shut down.

In percentage terms, the major commodities worst affected are epichlorohydrin (ECH) (100% of US capacity offline), propylene oxide (PO) (100%), toluene diisocyanate (TDI) (100%), ethylene glycol (EG) (90%), polypropylene (PP) (90%), propylene glycol (88%), acrylonitrile (ACN) (73%) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) (71%). 

The outages are tightening global markets which were already suffering shortages of material and rising prices. Problems with the global container shipping system, plant outages plus healthy downstream demand have caused tightness, notably down the propylene and polyethylene (PE) chains.

Propylene and PP are likely to be one of the hardest-hit by the storms because the market was already in turmoil.  The coronavirus pandemic has reduced demand for transport fuels, and led to oil refineries closing or cutting production, particularly in Europe and the US.

These closures had a knock-on effect on the supply of propylene and PP, leading to price spikes. With US PP production capacity so highly concentrated on the Gulf Coast, even temporarily constrained production capabilities will have a massive effect on an already tightly supplied market.

US propylene prices are at 10-year highs and inventories are roughly half of what they were a year ago. Consumption has outpaced production due to reduced propylene production over the last year.

PP inventories in the US hit seven-year lows in late 2020, partially driven by rebounding demand and partially driven by limited monomer availability. Some PP production issues also preceded this weather event.

The situation is less dramatic in PE. Constrained supply and demand for packaging has sustained global markets through the pandemic, with logistics challenges and outages causing shortages and price spikes in 2021.

With almost two thirds of US ethylene capacity now offline, global PE markets are likely to tighten further.

US methyl methacrylate (MMA) supply is also expected to be further constrained thanks to the storm, as Lucite has taken down its plant in Beaumont, Texas. Severe constraints in feedstock acetone continue to limit production. Due to high costs, a producer is heard to be levying a temporary acetone surcharge on orders starting this month.Expand

Image 2.png

With the Chinese New Year holidays coming to an end from 17 February, demand is picking back up in the world’s largest chemicals market. ICIS reported today that a supply shortage and improving demand after the holidays, supported China’s polyolefins market, leading to a surge in futures and spot prices.

Futures prices in China also rose sharply for styrene, mono ethylene glycol (MEG), polyester and polypropylene.

Prior to the holiday, domestic petrochemical trading had been robust accompanied by sharp price increases as market players anticipated strong post-holiday demand. Surging oil prices provided additional impetus for the uptrend.

In Africa, PE and PP sellers, from all origins, have withdrawn their offers in anticipation of disruption to US exports and a strong return post-holiday market.

Asia’s monoethylene glycol (MEG) prices surged on Thursday by 11% – the biggest daily gain on record – underpinned by tightening global supply, as the Chinese markets re-opened after a week-long holiday.

There are fears that US exports to Asia of key commodities such as ethylene could be disrupted by the storm-related outages.

Europe prices have also been buoyed by the storms. Rising upstream prices and bullish sentiment sent benzene prices up, and styrene prices are now at highs not seen since April 2018.Expand

Plant status.png

Area plant status

Additional reporting by: Lucy Shuai, Pearl Bantillo, Ben Lake, Judith Wang, Felicia Loo, Nurluqman Suratman, Amanda Hay, Tom Brown, Yashas Mudumbai, Helena Strathearn and Tarun Raizada,

https://www.bicmagazine.com/departments/operations/us-gulf-coast-storm-outages-rise-send-ripples/

U.S. Gulf Coast storm outages rise, send ripples round global markets; Area plant status list update included

by WILL BEACHAM, Deputy Editor, ICIS Chemical Business

February 19, 2021

The US polar storm has now shut down 90% of US polypropylene (PP) capacity, 67% of ethylene and devastated other important products, sending ripples around global chemical markets prices soaring.

Image 1.png

More chemical plants and refineries across the Gulf Coast region have been hit by prolonged power and feedstock outages caused by freezing weather, snow and ice which have also halted logistics networks. More bad weather, forecast for later in the week, may prolong the disruption.

So far, ICIS has reported more than 60 plant outages as a result of the storm, with analysis using data from the ICIS Supply & Demand database showing that a wide swathe of the Gulf petrochemical sector has now been severely impacted.

Worst hit in volume terms is ethylene, with 26m tonnes of capacity offline, representing 67% of the US total. Around 11m tonnes, or 50%, of propylene capacity is also offline, with many of the region’s oil refineries also seeing curtailed production. More than 2m bbl/day of US oil refining capacity is shut down.

In percentage terms, the major commodities worst affected are epichlorohydrin (ECH) (100% of US capacity offline), propylene oxide (PO) (100%), toluene diisocyanate (TDI) (100%), ethylene glycol (EG) (90%), polypropylene (PP) (90%), propylene glycol (88%), acrylonitrile (ACN) (73%) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) (71%). 

The outages are tightening global markets which were already suffering shortages of material and rising prices. Problems with the global container shipping system, plant outages plus healthy downstream demand have caused tightness, notably down the propylene and polyethylene (PE) chains.

Propylene and PP are likely to be one of the hardest-hit by the storms because the market was already in turmoil.  The coronavirus pandemic has reduced demand for transport fuels, and led to oil refineries closing or cutting production, particularly in Europe and the US.

These closures had a knock-on effect on the supply of propylene and PP, leading to price spikes. With US PP production capacity so highly concentrated on the Gulf Coast, even temporarily constrained production capabilities will have a massive effect on an already tightly supplied market.

US propylene prices are at 10-year highs and inventories are roughly half of what they were a year ago. Consumption has outpaced production due to reduced propylene production over the last year.

PP inventories in the US hit seven-year lows in late 2020, partially driven by rebounding demand and partially driven by limited monomer availability. Some PP production issues also preceded this weather event.

The situation is less dramatic in PE. Constrained supply and demand for packaging has sustained global markets through the pandemic, with logistics challenges and outages causing shortages and price spikes in 2021.

With almost two thirds of US ethylene capacity now offline, global PE markets are likely to tighten further.

US methyl methacrylate (MMA) supply is also expected to be further constrained thanks to the storm, as Lucite has taken down its plant in Beaumont, Texas. Severe constraints in feedstock acetone continue to limit production. Due to high costs, a producer is heard to be levying a temporary acetone surcharge on orders starting this month.Expand

Image 2.png

With the Chinese New Year holidays coming to an end from 17 February, demand is picking back up in the world’s largest chemicals market. ICIS reported today that a supply shortage and improving demand after the holidays, supported China’s polyolefins market, leading to a surge in futures and spot prices.

Futures prices in China also rose sharply for styrene, mono ethylene glycol (MEG), polyester and polypropylene.

Prior to the holiday, domestic petrochemical trading had been robust accompanied by sharp price increases as market players anticipated strong post-holiday demand. Surging oil prices provided additional impetus for the uptrend.

In Africa, PE and PP sellers, from all origins, have withdrawn their offers in anticipation of disruption to US exports and a strong return post-holiday market.

Asia’s monoethylene glycol (MEG) prices surged on Thursday by 11% – the biggest daily gain on record – underpinned by tightening global supply, as the Chinese markets re-opened after a week-long holiday.

There are fears that US exports to Asia of key commodities such as ethylene could be disrupted by the storm-related outages.

Europe prices have also been buoyed by the storms. Rising upstream prices and bullish sentiment sent benzene prices up, and styrene prices are now at highs not seen since April 2018.Expand

Plant status.png

Area plant status

Additional reporting by: Lucy Shuai, Pearl Bantillo, Ben Lake, Judith Wang, Felicia Loo, Nurluqman Suratman, Amanda Hay, Tom Brown, Yashas Mudumbai, Helena Strathearn and Tarun Raizada,

https://www.bicmagazine.com/departments/operations/us-gulf-coast-storm-outages-rise-send-ripples/