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Global Chemicals Quick Review
South Africa's Sasol Corporation has shifted its investment focus to specialty chemicals
In the future, Sasol will focus on investing in specialty chemicals and looking for joint venture partners
in the field of refining raw materials and basic chemicals.
Bongani Nqwababa, co-president and CEO of the company, said in an interview with Axis Syns: "We are not going to expand aggressively in basic chemicals or invest in new refining capacity because global production is close to peak and then there will be a decline
.
We may establish joint ventures in basic chemicals, where partners can focus on basic chemicals and we can focus on specialty chemicals
.
In the field of specialty chemicals, we have a competitive advantage
.
Once the Lake Charles project is fully completed and operational, we will consider investment projects
in the field of specialty chemicals.
”
EU chemical production declined in 2018
The European Chemical Commission (Cefic) released a chemical trend report that the EU's chemical industry production fell by 0.
9% in 2018, with basic chemicals being the most affected; Total chemical sales increased by 3.
7 percent
.
In the first 11 months of 2018, total EU chemical sales amounted to €529.
5 billion and internal sales to €379.
6 billion, up 3.
1% year-on-year; Exports of chemicals amounted to 149.
9 billion euros, an increase of 5.
1% from 142.
6 billion euros in the same period of the previous year; Imports rose 9.
3% year-on-year to 107.
8 billion euros, of which EU imports from China increased by 17.
6%, second only to the United States and the rest of Europe, while chemical imports from the United States declined
.
International investment banks predict higher oil prices in 2019
In February, the world's major investment banks' overall forecasts for oil prices in 2019 were unchanged from January, and they widely expected oil prices to continue to rise in the first half of the year due to OPEC-led production cuts and geopolitical risks to
global supply.
According to a Wall Street Journal survey of 11 investment banks, the average price of global oil benchmark Brent crude oil in 2019 is expected to continue to be above $
67 a barrel.
The average price of U.
S.
crude standard West Texas Intermediate (WTI) this year is close to $
60 a barrel.
The banks expect the average price of Brent and WTI to reach $68 and nearly $63 per barrel, respectively
, by 2020.
The new IMO 2020 regulations will have a significant impact on the refining industry
On January 1, 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will implement the IMO 2020 new regulation
on the sulphur content of ship fuels worldwide.
The new regulations, part of the UN's efforts to reduce pollution from ships, aim to regulate the use of ship fuels and will reduce the sulphur limit on ship fuels from 3.
5 per cent to 0.
5 per cent
in most offshore and international waters.
This has led to a lot of discussion
about its impact on shipping operations and lubricants for ocean-going vessels.
An industry observer said the regulation could have a broad and significant impact on the refining business and would directly or indirectly affect base oils, potentially leading to a significant decline in base oil refining capacity and accelerating the shift
to API Class II and III base oil production.
