Bolsonaro cogita reduzir mistura de etanol
O presidente Jair Bolsonaro culpou a mistura de etanol anidro pelos altos preços da gasolina, sugerindo que ele poderia pressionar para reduzir a mistura, em mais uma potencial ofensiva sobre a indústria de biocombustíveis.
Em sua transmissão semanal nas redes sociais, Bolsonaro disse que "o preço da gasolina pode diminuir um pouco se diminuir a concentração de etanol na gasolina".
Segundo a legislação atual, o Conselho Interministerial do Açúcar e do Álcool (Cima) tem autoridade para estabelecer a mistura de anidro em 18-27pc.
Bolsonaro disse que a gasolina custa "em média R$2,00 na refinaria", acrescentando que os "preços aumentam porque o etanol é adicionado".
A discussão em torno de uma possível redução na mistura de etanol, atualmente em 27pc para a gasolina E27, surge após a indústria de biodiesel enfrentar uma série de reduções na mistura obrigatória em resposta a preocupações governamentais quanto ao aumento dos preços dos combustíveis.
O governo Bolsonaro baixou a mistura de biodiesel, usada em caminhões e máquinas agrícolas, em várias ocasiões neste ano. No início deste mês, o Conselho Nacional de Política Energética (CNPE) reduziu de 12pc para 10pc o mandato de mistura para o leilão de biodiesel de outubro, que abastecerá o mercado para os meses de novembro e dezembro.
O Índice de Preços ao Consumidor (IPC) subiu quase 10pc no período de 12 meses encerrado em agosto, o nível mais alto para o mês em mais de duas décadas, em grande parte devido ao aumento dos preços da energia.
As usinas da região Centro-Sul têm maximizado a produção de anidro, que saltou mais de 42pc na segunda quinzena de agosto para 941.000m³, em comparação a 661.000m³ no mesmo período de 2020. O preço do anidro no Centro-Sul subiu 84pc no mesmo período, para uma média mensal de R$3.952/m³ em agosto de 2021, segundo dados da Argus.
A Federação Nacional do Comércio de Combustíveis e de Lubrificantes (Fecombustíveis), que representa mais de 40 mil postos de abastecimento, pediu ao governo a redução da mistura de anidro no início deste ano, argumentando que a safra menor de cana reduziria a oferta do biocombustível.
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North Germany sees May holiday gasoline surge
North Germany sees May holiday gasoline surge
Hamburg, 6 May (Argus) — Driving activity in Germany increased around the public holiday on 1 May, leading to a rise in regional demand for fuels, particularly gasoline, in the past week. Oversupply of diesel is also pressuring premiums in Europe. Daily volumes of diesel and E5 gasoline reported to Argus this week were higher than the average for the current year. Demand for gasoline in the North region notably increased, with reported volumes in the past week reaching the highest daily average in 2024. The filling station sector is almost entirely responsible for the increased demand, market participants said. Many end-users took Monday and Tuesday off as additional holidays, leading up to 1 May. This resulted in a temporary increase in travel activity. In anticipation of this, filling station operators stocked up on fuel. But compared with previous years, overall demand for diesel in Germany remains weak. Coupled with plenty supply of diesel on the international market, this has led to premiums of cif Hamburg in April reaching their lowest level since July 2023. In the face of oversupply the difference between cif Hamburg diesel and cif ARA assessment fell further as well over the past week. The volume of diesel imported to northern Germany increased by 18pc in April compared with March, reaching around 71,000 b/d, data from Vortexa show. The low premiums of the diesel cif assessments, along with the ICE Gasoil Future's contango — which has encouraged the storage of product in tanks since mid-April — have particularly boosted import demand. By Johannes Guhlke Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Panama's new president faces copper, canal issues
Panama's new president faces copper, canal issues
Kingston, 6 May (Argus) — Stand-in candidate Jose Raul Mulino will take office on 1 July as president of Panama with a challenge to decide on the future of one of the biggest copper mines in the Americas. The 64 year-old lawyer won yesterday's presidential election in the central American country, promising a "pro-investment and pro-business" policy. He won with 35pc of the vote and an about 10 percentage point lead over his next closest rival, Ricardo Lombana. But he has delivered no comment on the future on the shuttered Canadian-owned copper facility that is one pillar of the country's economy. His government will use public works projects and incentives for foreign investors to restore economic growth, Molino said, without giving details. Panama also faces a crippling drought that has lowered water levels and reduced transit through the economically important Panama Canal. First Quantum intends to meet the new government to discuss reopening the mine, the company's chairman Robert Harding said in March. "Whatever government is elected, we will work with it," Harding said. "We would like to see this mine reopen." Panama closed the $10bn Cobre Panama mine after a supreme court ruling in November that First Quantum's contract was unconstitutional. The mine accounted for 5pc of the country's economy and 1.5pc of global copper output, according to the government. The shutdown will limit the country's economic growth to 2.5pc this year against 7.5pc in 2023, the IMF has forecast. The supreme court's order to close the mine followed weeks of protests over the terms given to First Quantum in October. Protests wracked the country as opposition parties, trade unions, environmental lobbies and non-governmental organizations objected to the terms. "Although the mine's owners would be happy to negotiate a reopening with the new administration, this is a very hot and controversial matter for the new government," a senior official of the outgoing government of President Laurentino Cortizo told Argus today. "Any suggestion of negotiating a reopening would again bring people on the streets." Mulino ran with former president Ricardo Martinelli until the courts disqualified Martinelli because of a money laundering conviction. Martinelli had proposed that Panama renegotiate the contract with First Quantum to secure higher royalties and a stake. "Mulino is a mentee of Martinelli, but I doubt he would stoke public anger by seeking to reopen the mine," the official said. Cobre Panama produced 331,000 t in 2023, 5pc less than 2022 output, First Quantum said. By Canute James Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Mexico's long refining quest tilts in its favour
Mexico's long refining quest tilts in its favour
Mexico City, 6 May (Argus) — Mexico's six-year campaign to boost refinery output and cut its dependence on US oil imports is starting to pay off, but time will tell if it can sustain the effort. State-owned Pemex's six domestic refineries processed more than 1mn b/d of crude in March for the first time in almost eight years, boosting its gasoline and diesel output by 32pc and cutting its imports by 25pc from a year earlier. Combined with Pemex's still declining crude production, this has pulled approximately 500,000 b/d of Mexican crude exports — mostly medium and heavy sour grades — from the market compared with a 2023 peak of 1.2mn b/d in June — equivalent to the loss of about 175,000 b/d on average this year compared with 2023. The government said earlier this year that it was not planning "significant" export cuts after cancelling some term contracts. But the drop in shipments combined with the eventual start of its long-delayed 340,000 b/d Olmeca refinery, possibly in 2025, has the potential to shift global flows. At least two independent US Gulf coast refiners are sceptical of major shifts. Road fuel demand is expected to exceed capacity additions in the coming years, Marathon Petroleum chief executive Michael Hennigan said recently. Valero, which is opening a marine storage terminal in Mexico, where about 250 retail outlets carry its brand, expects demand from Mexico to remain strong and grow, chief operating officer Gary Simmons said in its latest earnings call. The impact of Mexico's shift to greater self-sufficiency will depend heavily on its ability to sustain its long-promised refinery renaissance. Mexico's crude exports have already picked up in April from March, to roughly 660,000 b/d based on ship tracking data, although still about 125,000 b/d lower than a year earlier. Energy independence Pemex's refining rates started to fall in 2014 after the previous administration chose to rely less on domestic production and focus more on opening the energy market to outside investment. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador vowed to make Pemex great again and build a big refinery to reach "energy independence" when he took office in late 2018. Lopez Obrador poured at least $3.7bn into maintenance alone at Pemex's ageing refineries in 2019-23, excluding major projects including uncompleted ones to add cokers at two refineries that will cost $6bn-8bn and a spiralling $16bn-20bn for the Olmeca plant. It bought out Shell's share in the Deer Park refinery in Texas , taking full control of the plant in 2022. With presidential elections set for June, it was time to show results. But Pemex has a long history of high accident rates , making refinery operations unreliable. The next administration may have to sustain some of this spending and tackle Pemex's $101.5bn debt at a time of calls for structural reform. In addition, the 330,000 b/d Salina Cruz and 315,000 b/d Tula refineries — Mexico's largest — have long struggled with elevated high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) production that takes up valuable storage space and makes it hard to run both plants at high rates simultaneously. Record-high exports of HSFO in March helped and Pemex is building coking units at both refineries to solve this, but they are unlikely to both start until early 2025. Attention is on whether and when the Olmeca refinery will affect Mexican demand and offer balance more permanently. Pemex said it will start producing diesel in late May, but also does not expect more than 9,000 b/d of output of all fuels this year . The refinery has missed multiple deadlines, the latest in April. Olmeca's crude unit — the first processing unit — faces "major issues", a source familiar with Pemex refinery operations says. But others say secondary processing units are ready. Pemex refinery operating rates % Domestic refineries Mar 24 Feb 24 Tula 78 80 Salina Cruz 72 40 Madero 69 60 Salamanca 62 60 Cadereyta 58 60 Minatitlan 53 50 Pemex Pemex exports, imports ’000 b/d Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Neste inks deal to supply SAF to Singapore's SIA, Scoot
Neste inks deal to supply SAF to Singapore's SIA, Scoot
Singapore, 6 May (Argus) — Finnish biofuels producer Neste has signed an agreement to supply 1,000t of neat sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from its Singapore refinery to Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Scoot. The blended jet fuel will be delivered from Neste's Singapore refinery to Changi Airport's fuel hydrant system in two batches, once in this year's second quarter and the next in the fourth quarter. The delivered fuel will be a blend of neat SAF, which is made from renewable waste and residue raw materials, and conventional jet fuel. But the exact ratio of the two remains undisclosed. Neste's Singapore facility has a production capacity of 1mn t/yr of SAF, making it the world's largest SAF plant, according to Neste. The firm completed an expansion of its refinery in May 2023 . Neste is also the only company in Singapore producing SAF after Shell scrapped plans to set up a biofuel refinery in the city-state . The delivery from Neste's Singapore refinery to Changi Airport's fuel hydrant system cements the firm's end-to-end SAF supply chain capabilities in the country. Neste is also a minority shareholder at Changi Airport's fuel storage and infrastructure joint venture Changi Airport Fuel Hydrant Installation, to offer blended SAF directly to airlines at the airport. The SIA group aims to use a minimum of 5pc of SAF in its total fuel uplift by 2030, according to the group's chief sustainability officer Lee Wen Fen. This comes as Singapore mandates a 1pc SAF use for flights departing from Singapore from 2026, alongside a SAF levy, in their sustainable airhub blueprint on 19 February. The mandate is projected to rise to 3-5pc by 2030, subject to global developments and wider SAF availability and adoption, according to the blueprint. SIA to offer BCUs SIA will also offer 1,000 SAF book and claim units (BCUs) for purchase by its corporate customers starting from May, with each BCU representing 1t of neat SAF with its associated CO2 reduction benefit. This allows corporate travellers, shippers, and freight forwarders to claim the associated environmental benefits for flights related to their business travel and operations under the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) book and claim system, to ensure traceability and credibility of the transactions. By Deborah Sun Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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