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Light olefins
Overview
The global light olefins market is made up of ethylene and propylene monomers. These product markets can be affected by a great many factors.
Ethylene is the most widely used commodity chemical and is produced globally in all major regions. It is converted into many products used in daily life like plastic packaging, durable goods, hygiene products and other consumer items. The ethylene market is driven primarily by regions of low production cost and regions of high demand growth. Polyethylene, ethylene’s largest derivative, represents about 65pc of global ethylene demand. Anyone involved in the ethylene industry – directly or indirectly – needs market and pricing insight to anticipate supply shortages and potential swings in pricing.
Propylene is the second most widely used commodity chemical and is produced globally in all major regions. Propylene is a volatile commodity because of its predominantly co-product nature and unpredictable supply, but recently the industry has been trending to more on-purpose production. It is converted into many products used in daily life like plastic packaging, durable goods, automotive products, and woven fabrics. Polypropylene, propylene ’s largest derivative, represents about 70pc of global propylene demand. Anyone involved in the propylene industry – directly or indirectly – needs market and pricing insight to anticipate supply shortages and potential swings in pricing.
Our light olefins experts will help you determine what trends to track and how to stay competitive in today’s ever-changing global market.
Latest light olefins news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global light olefins industry.
China's Wanhua starts up polyolefin elastomer unit
China's Wanhua starts up polyolefin elastomer unit
Shanghai, 12 July (Argus) — Chinese producer Wanhua Chemical has started up its new 200,000 t/yr polyolefin elastomer (POE) unit on 29 June, with its first batch of POE loaded and dispatched on 10 July. This is China's second POE unit after Hainan Beiouyi's 30,000 t/yr unit, which started operations in December 2023. The POE produced by domestic producers uses ethylene and 1-butene as feedstock, as the mass production of feedstock 1-octene has not yet been achieved in China. Wanhua Chemical has started building the second phase of the POE project, with a production capacity of 400,000 t/yr, at Penglai, Shandong province. It is expected to start operations by the end of 2025, bringing the company's total POE capacity to 600,000 t/yr. Wanhua Chemical is a state-owned company in Shandong, with businesses covering polyurethane, petrochemicals and fine chemicals, among others. Wanhua Chemical owns and operates a 450,000 t/yr high-density/linear low-density polyethylene (HD/LLDPE) unit, a 350,000 t/yr HDPE unit, and a 300,000 t/yr polypropylene unit. China's new POE production capacities t/yr Company Location Capacity (t/yr) Start-up date Wanhua Chemical Yantai Shandong 200,000 29-Jun-24 Wanhua Chemical Yantai Shandong 400,000 End 2025 Lianyungang Petrochemical (Zhejiang Satellite) Lianyungang Jiangsu 100,000 2025 Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical Maoming Guangdong 50,000 2025 Shandong Jingbo Petrochemical Binzhou Shandong 100,000 2025 Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Inovyn mothball two of four lines at Newton Aycliffe
Inovyn mothball two of four lines at Newton Aycliffe
London, 11 July (Argus) — PVC producer Inovyn has mothballed two of four production lines at its Newton Aycliffe site in Durham, England. A company source said that the two largest lines at the site are still operating. The plant can produce 280,000 t/yr of suspension PVC (s-PVC). Market sources confirmed the closure to Argus . The PVC market in Europe is currently affected by low demand with weak construction figures in a lengthy market. The Aycliffe site manufactures dry blend, rigid, flexible and medical grades of PVC. The site is not fully integrated and imports vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) from another Inovyn site in Rafnes, Norway. The smaller lines impacted mainly produce non-standard s-PVC grades. By George Barsted Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Olin declares Freeport chlor-alkali FM from hurricane
Olin declares Freeport chlor-alkali FM from hurricane
Houston, 10 July (Argus) — US-based chlor-alkali producer Olin declared a force majeure (FM) on 10 July for its Freeport, Texas, plant after Hurricane Beryl caused significant damage. The company said the force majeure was for all its chlor-alkali and derivative vinyl products produced at the site. Olin said it was having difficulty accessing power, raw materials, feedstocks, and other crucial services which made managing logistics and production challenging. The company was conducting a comprehensive inspection and assessment of its facility, but there was no timeline for an end to the outage. In addition to caustic soda and chlorine, the site produces several other derivative products. The company sells spot ethylene dichloride (EDC) from Freeport to overseas vinyl producers, epoxy resin, and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) that it supplies to Shintech by direct pipeline. Shintech buys VCM from Olin under contract to support its own polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in Freeport, which produces roughly 1.45mn tons of PVC per year. Shintech indicated earlier in the week it did not see any significant damage to its facility after the storm and was intending to restart its operations in short order. The Olin force majeure could hinder Shintech's Freeport operations, but Shintech has not provided a timeline for its own restart and did not respond to a request for comment. Olin also supplies Dow Chemical with chlorine by direct pipeline to run Dow's isocyanate plant in Freeport. By Aaron May Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US Gulf polymer plants assessing damage: Update
US Gulf polymer plants assessing damage: Update
Updates paragraph 2 with information from Dow Houston, 9 July (Argus) — Multiple US Gulf coast polymer plants are assessing damage to see if they can safely restart following shutdowns prior to Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall Monday near Matagorda Bay, Texas. Dow kept its plants in Deer Park, Sabine, Texas City and Beaumont, Texas, running through out the storm, a company official said. However "high sustained winds damaged local electrical infrastructure, which is impacting some assets at our site in Freeport," the official said. The company's Seadrift, Texas, site was shut down prior to the storm's landfall, and the company has begun the restart process for that unit, the company said. Dow has approximately 1.7mn t/yr of PE capacity at its site in Freeport, Texas, as well as nearly 1mn t/yr of additional PE capacity at sites in Seadrift, Victoria, and Orange, Texas. Baystar was heard to be running two out of its three units at its Bayport, Texas, polyethylene (PE) plant, but the company was dealing with some interruptions in rail service at the site, a source said. That site has a total capacity of around 1.03mn t/yr of PE. Formosa Plastics pre-emptively shut down operations at its Point Comfort, Texas, site, which includes approximately 1.8mn t/yr of PE and 917,000 t/yr of polypropylene (PP) production. The company is monitoring the situation to assess any hurricane impacts and to "expedite the process of resuming full operations as soon as it is safe to do so," according to a release. Ineos Olefins and Polymers also shut down its PE and PP units at its Deer Park, Texas; Cedar Bayou, Texas; and Chocolate Bayou, Texas, sites, in advance of the storm. The company is currently assessing impacts to the plants themselves, as well as impacts to transportation infrastructure before restarting those units, the company said in a letter to customers. Ineos has approximately 1.1mn t/yr of PE capacity at its Deer Park and Cedar Bayou sites, as well as 586,000 t/yr of PP capacity at its Chocolate Bayou and Deer Park sites. Lyondellbasell was heard to have shut down its approximately 821,000 t/yr high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in Matagorda, Texas, in advance of the storm. The company did not respond to requests for comment on the operational status of those and other Gulf coast units. The status of multiple other PE and PP units in the region was not immediately available. Market participants said they expect it could be a slow start-up process for many of the polymer units as facilities and many plant employees are still without power, and as companies also deal with rail and other transportation interruptions. By Michelle Klump Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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