Market players have reported that NOVA Chemicals, a Canadian petrochemical producer, has once again decided to postpone the startup of a 454,000-tpy LLDPE plant on its Rokeby site in St Clair Township, Ontario Province, Canada, for unclear reasons. The facility is expected to come on stream in Q3 2023 now. Most PE producers across North America have heavy PE stocks, with most of them are running their plants at 75—85% capacity now to prevent substantial oversupply in the market and operations at a loss amid moderate domestic and lacklustre overseas demand. Some market players are sure that the decision was made in view of the local market glut and the economic recession across North America rather than some technical problems that may arise during the commissioning process. The company deferred the startup from Q4 2022 to H1 2023 in October 2022 for unknown reasons as well. NOVA Chemicals announced in H2 December 2022 that it had completed the construction of an LLDPE plant and the expansion of its Corunna cracker.

The company will produce LLDPE with its advanced SCLAIRTECH technology. It will use the ethylene from the Corunna cracker located nearby to manufacture LLDPE on the Rokeby site. The Corunna site capacity will increase by over 50% after the expansion comes on stream in H1 2023 according to the current schedule. It is unknown whether the company will postpone launching the ethylene plant along with the LLDPE one though. NOVA Chemicals produces 820,000 tpy of ethylene and about 115,000 tpy of co-products now. The facility also provides feedstock to the Moore and the St Clair River sites with the combined annual PE capacity of 625,000 t. Several on-site unit operations were already in the startup phase in Rokeby in H2 December 2022. The work on the ethylene capacity expansion and the new LLDPE plant began in late 2017.

 

Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC, a North American petrochemical division of the multinational oil and gas giant Shell Plc, closed all three PE plants in its Shell Polymers Monaca Complex. The company operates one 1.5 million-tpy ethylene cracker, two 550,000-tpy gas-phase HDPE and LLDPE units and a slurry reactor unit capable of manufacturing 500,000 tpy of HDPE there.

In early April, Shell notified the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection of its plans to close the facilities for repairs. The company held a virtual town hall meeting with local residents in late April where it announced the halt of PE operations but did not specify the startup dates. One of the company’s representatives mentioned that neighbours would see flaring when the launch has occurred. Shell also held an earning call in early May where one of its representatives stated that Shell Polymers Monaca’s full startup was going slower than expected and they faced the malfunctions typical when bringing plants to their full capacity. A few customers, however, reported that the company had been supplying C4-LLDPE from the complex this year.

Market players think that the shutdowns may have been caused by the company’s flaring and wastewater treatment issues. The company received seven notices of violation from the state Department of Environmental Protection and reported 13 malfunctions since its opening in November 2022, according to the media. Two gas-phase units will stand idle for three to four months and come back on stream sometime in Q3 2023, according to market players. They also said that the slurry reactor would probably be shut for 10 months minimum as one of its parts that is difficult to obtain needs to be replaced.

Shell completed the construction in August 2022 and announced the successful startup of the complex in November 2022. The company initially planned to bring it to full capacity by Q1 2023. Shell hopes now that Polymers Monaca Complex will reach it this year. It also predicts the annual earnings of around $1 billion due to the unique location of the complex and cheap feedstock. The complex located close to its source of ethane and within 700 mi (1,100 km) from the largest markets for plastic resins in the USA, including the Northeast and the Midwest. The company will compete with Gulf Coast operators that transport plastics to these regions by rail.