In the isocyanates market, many producers find the power consumption of HCl electrolysis to be prohibitive. Sumitomo HCl oxidation technology, licensed exclusively by TechnipFMC, offers a better approach to converting HCl to chlorine with a very low power consumption compared to HCl electrolysis. This commercially proven technology uses a fixed bed reactor system containing a highly active and thermally stable catalyst, operates at a high HCl conversion, and produces a chlorine of high purity at a competitive capital cost. The low steam and power consumption of the HCl oxidation technology results in a green and sustainable process for chlorine production.

The global post-consumer PET collection rate in 2017 reached 55% with a few countries such as Japan, China, and Germany collecting. However, the recycle content of PET packaging is only about 7%. Most of the collected PET is downcycled to less stringent applications particularly staple fibers. Increasing public awareness on the growing problem of plastic waste has led to major brand owners such as Coca-Cola, packaging manufacturers, and government bodies to target much higher recycling contents in packaging. There has been an urgent drive for innovation in plastic recycling to meet these recycling targets. Chemical recycling of PET can be used to recover PET raw materials or produce new raw materials. This presentation will provide an overview of PET chemical recycling technologies, commercial status and production economics. We will compare the economics of bottle-grade PET produced with recycled material with virgin PET.

Successive waves of disruption across industries brings constant change, and this also brings opportunity. We’ve entered a new era where truth isn’t subjective, but collective—where radical transparency is uprooting how we interact, transact and drive growth. Leading organizations and consortia in many verticals are rapidly unleashing the exponential business value of Blockchain. More than a new technology, it’s a whole new playing field spanning supply chains, global trade, payments, trade finance and many other industries. Discover creative ways Blockchain is being applied today across industries and value chains to break down barriers and build newfound trust. 

· How does data quality impacts customer experience in the petrochemical industry? 

· How can petrochemical companies increase their service levels to clients through supply chain visibility? 

· What mechanism reduces operational costs while increasing customer delivery experience? 

· How can petrochemical companies optimize inventory levels through accurate information and data provided through real time visibility? 

· How accurate data/information and predictions in ocean freight support e2e supply chain visibility? 

There are now dozens of green ammonia pilot plants operating or under development around the world. This presentation will introduce these projects and describe the forces – technologies, markets, economics, and regulations – that are driving the expansion of green ammonia from pilot-scale demonstrations to industrial-scale commercial production.

Today's industrial ammonia plants cause 1% of total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including the carbon dioxide temporarily embedded in urea. Some within the fertilizer industry are among the first movers exploring transition pathways to green ammonia, motivated by the need to reduce emissions. However, the drivers behind the shift to green ammonia come primarily from outside the fertilizer sector and represent new markets for ammonia, creating new risks and opportunities for incumbent ammonia producers. 

Sulphur is more than just a co-product of oil and gas production. It is actually an essential element in most of our daily lives; from the foods we eat, to the batteries that enable the electrification of our societies. As the world moves towards a sustainable future, Sulphur will have an increasingly significant role.

As the 4th major plant nutrient, Sulphur fertilization can help to maximize crop yields and crop quality. It is a key player in balanced fertilization practices that will enable the global population to attain food security sustainably. Demand for Sulphur enhanced fertilizers will increase as less and less sulphur is deposited to soils atmospherically.

Shell Sulphur Solutions will share an integrated marketer perspective on Sulphur’s role in agriculture. Understanding the full potential of Sulphur by staying connected to the end to end lifecycle ensures maximum contribution to society while preserving value for Sulphur producers. 

This Panel will explore current state of recycling and infrastructure challenges and implications from various perspectives.

The Genius Exchange is open to all WPC delegates Tuesday, 24 March to Thursday, 26 March 2020.
Presentations and speeches will occur during the networking breaks.

The Genius Exchange is open to all WPC delegates Tuesday, 24 March to Thursday, 26 March 2020.
Presentations and speeches will occur during the networking breaks.

The Genius Exchange is open to all WPC delegates Tuesday, 24 March to Thursday, 26 March 2020.
Presentations and speeches will occur during the networking breaks.

The phenolics industry is in a constant state of change and challenges: New capacity startups in Asia are changing supply and demand requirements, multiple anti-dumping duty investigations are leading to new phenol and acetone shipping routes, and the circular economy and plastics sustainability is starting to impact the derivative industry. Phenol and acetone prices and margins have reversed in 2019, but what is the outlook going forward? Feedstock cost fluctuations are a constant challenge for phenolics producers in a low-margin profile. What are the prospects for each product in every corner of the world?

Refer to schedule for Genius Exchange presentations and speakers.

Major new capacity for paraxylene and terephthalic acid (PTA) has been added in China during 2019 and more is to come in 2020, tipping these global markets into an oversupply again. Prices have collapsed and some producers are losing margin leading to rationalizations, with the potential for more closures this year. Although this is not new-- paraxylene producers often turn down plant rates in times of poor profitability, especially when gasoline markets are strong -- this downcycle marks the start of China’s journey towards self-sufficiency in paraxylene, having reached a peak of 16 million metric tons of necessary imports in 2018. The new plants being built in China mainland are the first of the crude-to-chemicals complexes, with 4 million metric tons of paraxylene capacity at each site. The closures by other global producers, who normally export their paraxylene to China, may ultimately need to be permanent, forcing a radical restructuring of the global paraxylene and PTA markets in an accelerated period of time. The presentation will examine how fast the industry consolidation may take place and which producers are likely to be impacted.

Refer to schedule for Genius Exchange presentations and speakers.

The last year has been a challenging environment for polyurethane feedstocks. Isocyanates have seen prices and margins crash to some of their lowest levels, propylene oxide has often been at the mercy of co-product economics, and polyether polyols demand has slowed as global economic issues have hit end-users. Trade flows have been altered as tariffs and federal policy changes market dynamics and products, prompting producers in all regions to fight for position in the future market. The industry is at a crossroads as once-specialty products move into the commodity sector and with further investment still on the horizon, could we be looking at a more sustained downturn in the years ahead?

Refer to schedule for Genius Exchange presentations and speakers.

Refer to schedule for Genius Exchange presentations and speakers.

The paths of rivers are constantly changing, sometimes rapidly from floods and sometimes gradually. Like a raging river, a significant flux in the chlor-alkali market in 2019 altered the course of the global caustic soda market. But will the changes continue to be dramatic, or will the market settle back into a quiet evolution? This discussion will explore the reasons for the rapid change in the caustic soda market in 2019 and will outline expectations for the global market over the coming 5 years. Factors considered will include regional and global economic activity as well as dynamic forces from individual demand sectors and capacity expectations.

In the globally competitive vinyls industry, scale, integration and access to low-cost feedstocks are key ingredients for long-term survival. Some geographic regions are better positioned than others with respect to competitiveness. This presentation will critically analyze the impact on PVC competitiveness of scale, integration and feedstocks, with particular focus on feedstocks. The discussion will include regional and global considerations. The global vinyls supply / demand balance is projected to tighten; considerations for the industry’s ability to attract competitive feedstocks is critical, especially because PVC is at a different point in the investment cycle than most other polymers. Positive and negative ramifications of the unique position of PVC in the investment cycle will be discussed.

Refer to schedule for Genius Exchange presentations and speakers.

In 2019, caustic soda consumption in South America accounted for about 8% of total global caustic soda demand in 2019, excluding China. However, installed chlor-alkali capacity in the region falls well below demand and there are no significant capacity additions planned in the next 5 years. Thus, South America is a key caustic soda importing region. Inasmuch, caustic soda flowing into South America is a key component of global trade and supply / demand balances. The industry on the continent is driven by rich natural resources that position alumina and pulp and paper as key caustic soda demand sectors. Despite the natural resource wealth, South American caustic soda demand has been tempered by regional socio-economic issues that continue to prevent the region from reaching its full potential. Weighing all factors at play, we will discuss expectations for South America's chlor-alkali supply and demand growth, as well as its potential impact on export markets, the global supply/demand balance, and the outlook for the recognized powerhouse regions.

This presentation will explain the reasons why the chlorine market behaves the way it does by looking at its derivatives, and provide  a global chlorine market outlook for the next five years. The presentation will deliver a critical analysis of supply/demand dynamics for chlorine in the three key regions and will enable a better understanding of the drivers of downstream industries behind the different chlorine demand sectors, besides the most traditional ones. It will briefly discuss industries such as flame retardants, paints & coatings, and water treatment, among others. Finally, it will outline leading indicators that correlate best and that are meaningful to fully understand chlorine demand. 

Refer to schedule for Genius Exchange presentations and speakers.

China has dominated soda ash capacity additions in recent decades, adding 22 million mt of mostly synthetic capacity since 2000, primarily to meet its own domestic demand. The trend changed to some extent in 2009 when new natural soda ash capacity was added in Turkey. Further additions in Turkey followed. The US, home to the biggest natural soda ash capacity and a low-cost process, is the largest soda ash exporter in the world. However, the net change in US capacity over the last two decades has only been 134,000 mt. Recently, unprecedented capacity additions have been announced for the US, close to 8 million mt. At the same time China is scheduled to add 7 million mt of natural soda ash capacity. In this presentation we will discuss the various expansions – timing, permits, technology employed etc. In addition, we will discuss how the new capacity will compete and shape a market that is oversupplied today. 

The wave of capacity for ethylene is coming in the short run but what messages can be gleaned from the unseen factors?

Nameplate operating rates have been a key metric to determine supply/demand imbalances and ethylene chain margin strength. But more important are the unseen factors that hold back production, driving to a lower effective capacity to produce ethylene and by contrast, a higher effective operating rate. Not all the signals are obvious and sorting through these factors can offer a slightly different message on where the chain sits.

The relationships among the family members of propylene supply will drive the global balances into surplus

Despite the rise in on-purpose production, the unbreakable links among gasoline production, cracker operating rates and olefin supply will continue to have a lasting influence over the propylene market, inasmuch as to drive the global balance into oversupply. This presentation will not only explore the interdependencies of the propylene production sources, but also investigate whether the market will repeat the historical cycle of excess supply motivating higher consumption.

Refer to schedule for Genius Exchange presentations and speakers.

Massive capacity builds have developed across the globe as a historically cyclical industry compelled by strong demand and global margin strength predictably overbuilds. The profitability enjoyed in recent years began to erode in 2019 just ahead of unprecedented additional global production capacity additions and the prospect of declining demand. How will the industry respond to this pending capacity excess and can the industry adapt to forces that are reshaping the role of polyethylene and plastics in society? 

While we have seen periods of overbuild throughout history, what we are expecting in 2020 regarding new builds, led by China, is unprecedented. The challenge for global producers is that China is not the only part of the world starting up new plants. Large capacity additions in 2020 are quickly changing the narrative for global PP, which has been very positive since 2014 thanks to strong demand exceeding capacity additions. Thus, for the first time in many years, we expect the production cost curve to be tested to remove production from the forecast, through a combination of temporary cutbacks of production rates along with permanent rationalization of higher cost, smaller, older assets focused on commodity markets. The overall near- to medium-term forecast for PP producers appears challenging, while buyers look to benefit as their prices will be at levels not seen in quite some time.

Global olefins feedstocks are dominated by naphtha, ethane and LPG. Adjusting for seasonality, global LPG benchmark prices have generally weakened vs. crude oil from the fall of 2017 through the end of 2019. Naphtha also trended down vs. crude oil during that period, albeit less markedly. Meanwhile, ethane prices that had cratered following the recession of 2008/9 rose above the equivalent energy value of natural gas in 2017, and have struggled to remain only marginally above their thermal values. These feedstocks are mostly produced as byproducts of oil and gas production and refining. The shale boom has changed the dynamics of feedstock production and availability around the world, and has thereby influenced feedstock prices as well. With a glut of both NGLs and most refined products available, how low can these feedstock prices go? How long is this situation likely to last?

Massive expansions coupled with softening demand caused by the global economic slowdown are weighing on the Asian olefins market. Additional excess monomer and polymer capacities from other regions will be shipped to Asia in 2020, and cracker margins in Asia have already tumbled to a minimum level in early 2020. A different strategy is required (or rather, different strategies are required) for Asian crackers to survive and stay ahead of the market over the next few years. This presentation will focus on the Asian olefins market forecast based on historical information and new developments in the industry.

Over the past few years, Europe and the Middle East have shifted into investment mode with numerous projects under consideration throughout the region. However, following a period of record industry profitability, projects are lining up at a faster rate than the world can absorb and the opportunities that looked so enticing just recently are now fraught with risks. Although the desire to grow ethylene and propylene supply has been seen globally, the drivers within each region have been different. For this region, weakened earnings and uncompetitive construction costs have raised the barriers to investment. But, has the door been closed to future investment or are there still chances for the industry to grow?

Refer to schedule for Genius Exchange presentations and speakers.

Is climate change real, and if yes, what can be done about it? How much time is left to stop global warming? This paper will present fact-based information on global warming and outline ways to tackle climate change on an industrial and individual level. Options to reduce aerial carbon dioxide content will be evaluated, including a reality check on the actual timeframe needed to get there. An assessment of the different pathways for carbon capture, storage and utilization will be presented. This creates several business opportunities for the chemical and related industries. The presentation will conclude with a quantification of these opportunities in terms of volume, cost, benefits and timeframe.

The term water-soluble polymer (WSP) encompasses a wide range of synthetic, semisynthetic, and natural materials. These structurally diverse polymers share an important attribute: all are soluble in water under some conditions. Because of this property, WSPs are broadly useful in most applications that involve water.

Water treatment is a major end use for synthetic WSPs, especially polyacrylamide and polyacrylic acid. Oil field applications (such as drilling muds) also consume substantial amounts of WSPs, but demand from this sector can be volatile. Consumption of guar gum is strongly linked to hydraulic fracturing activity, which in turn is linked to crude oil prices. Food applications—another major end use for WSPs—are dominated by natural polymers, including gelatin, xanthan gum, and gum arabic. As dietary fibers, these WSPs help reduce cholesterol levels; as functional ingredients, they serve as thickeners and stabilizers in yogurt and chocolate milk. 

Refer to schedule for Genius Exchange presentations and speakers.

Linear alpha-olefins (LAO) are key intermediates in the manufacture of a variety of consumer and industrial products that continue to show attractive, global growth rates over the coming years. Growth in demand, particularly as comonomers for polyethylene, high performance plastomers and elastomers, polyalphaolefin lubricants and surfactant chemicals, continue to drive new investments that require corresponding investments in LAO intermediates. Balancing the demand and supply of the various LAO chain lengths required for the numerous applications remains challenging for the industry. Discover how LAOs play an important role in these and other applications, and how the industry is investing in multi-purpose and on-purpose LAO facilities to meet demand over the next five years.

Refinery products are the life blood of the modern world as they enable vital functions ranging from transportation to pharmaceuticals. Operators of refineries are facing two problems –a highly variable starting material and constant changes on the demand side. The flexibility to address those two problems depends on the usage of catalysts, which can transform undesired crude oil components into valuable products or optimize the yield of such. Since the 1920s, research and development of catalysts has revolutionized the refining business and is still the most important force to drive and improve the refining processes.

Refer to schedule for Genius Exchange presentations and speakers.

Latin America’s petrochemical industry faces challenges as the new decade commences. Much needed infrastructure investment is unlikely in the short-term as the regional governments and populist policies test investor confidence. The global economic slowdown, lower commodity prices, and trade policy uncertainty, also undermine the region’s growth. Its largest economies are either in or close to recession.

The region’s economic forecast is one of acceleration -albeit mild- for major economies such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru; we expect more efficient public spending and policies, and while there are many risks on the short term horizon none of them is assumed to materialize in the baseline scenario. Investment opportunities are abundant and as market players see the recovery taking shape, these will reinforce a virtuous cycle.

As dependence on US NGL export grows, geopolitics will inevitably collide with domestic policies, increasing risk factors to Latin America’s NGL prices.

“Trade tensions raise questions about what will happen with US LPG sales to China and whether the rest of the world could pick up the slack. Regionally, the Brazilian pre-salt deposits have yet fulfilled their promise. Meanwhile, in Mexico, the future of the energy reform and the fate of Pemex remain uncertain. In Argentina meanwhile, it is still too early to assess how the new government will allocate its expenditure in infrastructure –crucial if Vaca Muerta’s production is to reach export markets,” Calcaneo says.

New Challenges Facing The Chemical Industry in Latin America

Dealing with disruptors is inherent to the petrochemical industry. Managing risk, attaining a dependable supply chain, producing and delivering better products in less time, all these issues have inspired the sector's competitiveness in the past.

In this new decade, sustainable development is one of the top disruptors on the list. In Latin America, the petrochemical industry has embraced sustainability as an opportunity: to raise economic, environmental, and human principles, while achieving cost-competitiveness.

The challenge calls for a new economic model, one that addresses resource scarcity and tighter environmental standards. Circular Economy has proven to be a unique path to the future, one which the petrochemical industry must embrace, leading in the efforts and or sponsoring initiatives.

This presentation will outline the development and changes in China's chemical industry in the past 20 years and the drivers behind the change. It will delve into issues including the reasons for the rapid development of China's downstream sector despite insufficient upstream supply. It will also explore the rationale behind the globalisation of Chinese companies, and the strategies employed by multinational corporations and Chinese enterprises to manage fierce competition in the Chinese market.