Tampa:
Genscape reported a sulfur recovery unit (SRU) turnaround planned for later in April at Marathon’s refinery in St. Paul Park, Minn. Union employees have been on strike at the plant since Jan. 21. Marathon restarted a 20,000 barrel/d hydrotreater at the facility on April 11, while a ramp-up of an 11,000 barrel/d catalytic reformer was noted in progress during the week.
PBF Energy on April 9 shut the 110,000 barrel/d Crude 7 CDU at its refinery in Paulsboro, N.J. PBF on April 9 restarted a 43,000 barrel/d catalytic reformer at its Delaware City, Del., facility. The unit was taken offline on April 5.
The second-quarter Tampa molten contract was settled at $192/lt CFR, up $96/lt from $96/lt CFR in Q1.
U.S. refining capacity ticked higher in the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) most recent report. Utilization for the week ending April 9 was pegged at 85.0 percent of capacity, a 1.0-point increase from the previous week’s 84.0 percent rate. The rate topped the year-ago 69.1 percent while trailing the 85.4 percent five-year average.
Crude inputs moved slightly higher, the EIA noted, to an average 15.051 million barrels/d, up 7,000 barrel/d from the week-ago 15.044 million barrels/d rate.
U.S. Gulf:
Restart efforts continued at the Chevron refinery in Pasadena, Texas, following the facility’s forced shutdown during the mid-February polar vortex. Genscape noted increasing activity at a 41,000 barrel/d vacuum distillation unit (VDU) on April 13, although the unit remained below operational levels. Other monitored units at the facility were reportedly operational on April 13.
ExxonMobil Corp. on April 10 restarted a 97,000 barrel/d CDU and a 44,000 barrel/d VDU at the company’s refinery in Baton Rouge, La., Genscape reported. Both units were taken offline on March 27 for decoking. A 116,000 barrel/d FCC that reportedly suffered an unplanned shutdown on April 8 remained offline on April 12.
Flint Hills restarted a 75,000 barrel/d CDU at its Corpus Christi East facility on April 10 after shutting the unit on April 7. Phillips 66 was noted shutting a 65,000 barrel/d hydrotreater during the week.
Shell powered down a pair of SRUs at its Convent, La., plant on April 10. Shell is in the process of permanently idling the facility after failing to find a buyer in 2020.
Sulfur price ideas out of the Gulf continued to be reported at around $180/mt FOB, unmoved from one week earlier.
Brazil:
Recent Brazil spot pricing was quoted at $209/mt CFR, steady from week-ago levels. Second-quarter contracts were pegged in the $213-$214/mt CFR range, up from $116-$119/mt CFR in the prior period.
Vancouver:
Last-done at Vancouver continued at $170-$180/mt FOB, sources said, steady from the prior report.
Alberta:
The Alberta sulfur market was heard netting back to sellers in the $65-$110/mt FOB range. Molten material contracted into the U.S. set the low side of the range, while prilled tons selling through the Vancouver export market netted back the highs.
West Coast:
Marathon was reported restarting a 65,000 barrel/d CDU and a 62,000 barrel/d VDU at its Carson, Calif., plant on April 14. The units were reportedly shut on April 12. The plant’s 37,000 barrel/d CDU No. 4 has been offline since Oct. 11, 2020.
Sources continued to call the West Coast prill market $170-$180/mt FOB, unchanged from one week earlier. Second-quarter molten contracts were noted in the $140-$155/lt FOB range, firming from $70-$77/lt FOB in the prior period.
China:
Refineries in China processed crude at higher rates than the U.S. for most of 2020, the EIA reported. Capacity in the country pushed ahead of the U.S. for the first time ever in April 2020 as U.S. refiners dialed back production in response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Excluding the summer drive time months of July and August, Chinese production outpaced the U.S. during every remaining month of 2020.
Sources continued to call the China spot sulfur market at a last-done $180-$200/mt CFR, steady from the prior report.
ADNOC:
Solid sulfur offers from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. were reported at $185/mt FOB Ruwais for April lifting, a $2/mt increase from $183/mt FOB in the prior period.
Qatar:
Muntajat posted April prill offers at $185/mt FOB Ras Laffan, sources said, up $2/mt from the previous $183/mt FOB offer.