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Viewpoint: Japan may continue naphtha use for petchem

  • Märkte: Oil products, Petrochemicals
  • 22.12.21

Japan's naphtha demand for petrochemical production may not decline as much as biomass or chemically-recycled feedstocks as limited demand has slowed transition to such products.

Demand for conventional naphtha is unlikely to be immediately curbed by biomass feedstock or raw oils and monomers generated from chemical recycling of waste plastics, some Japanese petrochemical companies and the ministry of environment (MOE) said.

Demand for bio- or chemically-recycled plastics has begun to grow, and petrochemical producer Mitsubishi Chemical has received exclusive requests of the environmentally-friendly products from its customers. But other companies view the overall demand outlook as ambiguous, and are unsure if their consumers can absorb premiums. They launched bio- or chemically-recycled plastics projects, pressured by the recent trend towards decarbonisation such as the 2050 carbon neutrality goal set in October 2020.

Imports of bio-naphtha are limited with only petrochemical producer Mitsui Chemicals deciding in May to import 10,000t of bio-naphtha from Finnish company Neste. Mitsubishi Chemical may also consider doing so, but did not disclose further details, while refiner Eneos plans to purchase or manufacture bio-naphtha for bio-ethylene derivative production. Sumitomo Chemical and Idemitsu declined to disclose if they have any import plans.

Many of the bio- and chemically-recycled plastics production will take a few more years to begin commercial operation. Some projects are expected to start after 2023, while some are undergoing feasibility studies and it is unclear when they can be commercialised. Companies recently began attempting to handle higher production costs of bio- and chemically-recycled plastics.

Petrochemical firm Sumitomo Chemical announced the establishment of its new brand of recycled plastics in September, ahead of commercial production, seeking business partners and potential buyers. Rival firm Mitsubishi Chemical decided to optimise its basic petrochemical business unit in December by separating and integrating it with other firms, aiming to further expand investment capacity. Some partnered overseas companies that owned technologies. Refiner Idemitsu began a feasibility study of a chemical recycling business in May.

Bio-plastic production has been unprofitable given limited technology for commercial output, in addition to weak potential demand. Chemical recycling has faced a shortage of waste plastic before stricter export regulations were introduced at the beginning of 2021, in addition to limited demand. Commercial technologies are available but many companies, including environmental engineer Toshiba, withdrew from projects by the mid-2000s as most waste plastics were sold overseas. But recent changes in the business environment have urged firms to explore opportunities, like domestic environmental infrastructure firm JGC purchasing a technology licence from Toshiba.

Japan in January outlined a roadmap to promote bio- and bio-degradable petroleum plastics, aiming to supply a maximum 2mn t/t of bio-plastics by 2030. The country delivered 43,647t of bio-plastics, accounting for just 0.4pc of 9.9mn t of plastic shipments in 2018, according to MOE's latest data.

Japan's state-controlled New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation aims to chemically recycle 3mn t/yr of waste plastics by 2030-31 by further developing technologies with universities and companies. The country chemically recycled 270,000t of waste plastics or 3.2pc out of 8.5mn t in 2019, according to data from Japan's plastic waste management institute.

The ministry of economy, trade and industry expected naphtha demand of 39.2mn kl in the April 2025-March 2026 fiscal year. It is lower by 2.7pc from consumption of 40.3mn kl in 2020-21, according to the Japan Petroleum Association.

Japan imported 22.8mn kl of naphtha during January-September, higher by 8.1pc on the year. The country manufactured 10.5mn kl of naphtha during 3 January-4 December, down by 15.6pc on the year.

Japan's output of ethylene, which is feedstock of most petrochemical products, rose by 7.4pc on the year to 5.2mn t during January-October, according to the Japan petrochemical industry association.

Bio-plastic and chemical recycling projects in Japan
FirmProjectCommercial operation
Bio-plastic production
Mitsubishi ChemicalBio-engineering plastic production2014
Mitsubishi ChemicalBio-poly butylene succinate production2017
Mitsubishi ChemicalBio-polyoxy tetramethylene glycol productionJune 2020
Mitsui ChemicalsPetrochemical production from bio-naphthaOctober 2021-March 2022
Mitsui ChemicalsBio-PP production2024 as earliest
Eneos, Nippon Shokubai, MitsubishiBio-ethylene derivative production, possibly from bio-naphtha or bio-ethanolApril 2024-March 2025
Sumitomo Chemical, Sekisui ChemicalPolyolefine production from wastesApril 2025-March 2026
JGC, Taiyo OilBio-refinery of fuel oil and petrochemical productsApril 2027-March 2028
Mitsui ChemicalsBio-polyester productionn/a
Chemical recycling
JGCOffer recycling technology generating light, medium and heavy oils from waste plastics, without removing polyvinyl chloride2022
Sumitomo ChemicalPMMA recycling into MMA monomersAfter 2023
Mitsubishi Chemical, Eneos, Mura TechnologyChemical recycling of 20,000 t/yr waste plastics into around 12,000-16,000 t/yr of regenerated oilsApril 2023-March 2024
Mitsui Chemicals, Microwave ChemicalChemical recycling of waste plastics containing PP into raw monomersn/a
Mitsui Chemicals, BASFChemical recycling of waste plastics into raw oilsn/a
Mitsui, PureCycle TechnologiesRecycled PP productionn/a
IdemitsuResin production by turning waste plastics into regenerated oilsn/a
PS JapanPS recycling into styrene monomern/a

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