US asphalt imports to Brazil reach 5-year high

Spanish Market: Oil products
18/06/24

Brazilian asphalt imports from the US reached their highest level in the past decade in May after drier weather and competitive prices boosted demand.

The US was the largest source of Brazilian asphalt imports in May, contributing to nearly 12,000 metric tonnes (t) or 61pc of all imports, according to Siscomex import and export data.

The last time Brazil imported so much from the US was in January 2023, when 10,800t arrived at Brazilian ports.

In April, the US Gulf's premium over Mediterranean asphalt reached its narrowest point in 2024 at about $7/st, which can explain why imports rose in May.

Precipitation levels were also 60pc lower in some regions of the country during April and May, according to Brazil's National Meteorology Institute, which boosted paving projects.

Total asphalt imports in Brazil increased by almost 10 times in May compared with April. Asphalt imports totaled 19,500t in May, which is 28pc higher compared with May 2023.

Imports from January to May were almost 80,000t, 46pc more than the same period in 2023. This is because of municipal elections in October, which results in more road projects to appeal to voters.

Russia was the source for around 5,300t of asphalt imports in May. Most Russian imports tend to be polymer modified asphalt (PMA), a dry bulk product that costs on average 15pc more than liquid asphalt because of the energy costs required to reheat it to a liquid state.

Although it costs more, solid asphalt is used as an alternative in markets without the infrastructure to receive and store liquid asphalt, such as in southern Brazil.

By Julio Viana

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25/03/25

Dangote to hit full operating capacity in Apr: Source

London, 25 March (Argus) — Nigeria's independently-owned 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery is commissioning its alkylation unit, which will enable it to run its crude distillation unit (CDU) at operating capacity "some time next month", according to a source with knowledge of the matter. The source said CDU capacity is 550,000 b/d currently, although vessel tracking data suggest it is running some way below that. Crude arrivals at the refinery to date in March have fallen to between 175,000-235,000 b/d, according to preliminary data from vessel trackers Kpler and Vortexa, from 405,000 b/d in February . Throughput hit a high of 433,000 b/d in December, according to Kpler. The alkylation line, which produces high octane alkylate for gasoline blending, is the last of Dangote's secondary units to come online. Argus Consulting puts it at a nameplate capacity of 27,000 b/d. Other secondary units could be utilised at their maximum capacity once the alkylation unit is up and running, which would give a boost to gasoline blending component production. Recent lower runs at Dangote could suggest decreased output of gasoline — a key product in the local refined product market. Nigerian gasoline and blending component imports are around 345,000t to date this month, up from 245,000t in all of February. Gasoline imports in the wider west African market will be around 450,000t in April, a European gasoline trader told Argus this week. Nigeria accounts for around three quarters of the region's imports. By George Maher-Bonnett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US venue case crucial for future clean air fights

24/03/25

US venue case crucial for future clean air fights

New York, 24 March (Argus) — The US Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments about the proper court venue for Clean Air Act lawsuits, which could be pivotal for future enforcement of federal air pollution rules. The court is considering both a case involving the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) rejections of small refiners' requests for hardship exemptions from a biofuel blend mandate and the agency's separate denials of state plans for addressing ozone-forming NOx emissions. Judges are not expected to decide the legality of EPA's decisions, just the proper courts for settling the disputes. But the cases are still significant: legal uncertainty to date has affected both EPA programs implicated by the Supreme Court's review and could upend enforcement of future rules if the court does not provide sufficient clarity. Federal ozone season NOx allowance prices essentially flatlined last year as participants were hesitant to trade due to risks from so many court cases. And small refinery exemptions are crucial for biofuel demand, so biofuel producers are wary of empowering more lower courts to reconsider denied exemption requests. The Clean Air Act says that EPA actions that are "nationally applicable" or otherwise based on "nationwide scope or effect" should proceed before the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, while "locally or regionally applicable" actions head to regional circuit courts instead. But judges have disagreed about how to apply those criteria, since many EPA rules have far-reaching effects but on their face target individual states or facilities. Regulated industry fears that EPA could say a broad set of regulations have nationwide scope, centralizing review in the DC Circuit, which is seen as friendlier to federal regulators and where a majority of judges are Democratic appointees. Local conditions — such as a small refinery in Indiana serving local farmers that cannot handle higher biodiesel blends — get short-changed when various companies' concerns are assembled together, they argue. But EPA under the prior administration and Democratic-led states argue that sending these cases to the DC Circuit, which is more experienced with the complexities of federal rulemaking, makes more sense than letting industry seek out favorable jurisdictions. And they highlight the possibility of courts leaving emitters in one part of the country with laxer rules. "The fundamental risk is that you'll end up with decisions on the same point of law coming out differently in different places — and not an expedient way to resolve that," said Brian Bunger, a Holland & Knight partner and the former chief counsel at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. For instance, both the DC Circuit and the conservative-leaning 5th Circuit agreed that EPA erred when it denied some refiners exemptions from biofuel blend mandates — but they said so for slightly distinct reasons. The 5th Circuit, for instance, went further by saying refiners reasonably relied on past EPA practice and thus the agency incorporating new analysis into its review of waiver requests was unfair. As a result, EPA recently used different criteria when weighing a waiver request from one refiner in the 5th Circuit's jurisdiction than it used for another refiner, according to partially redacted decisions obtained by Argus through a Freedom of Information Act request. The agency said it could not consider at all whether CVR Energy's 75,000 b/d refinery in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, is able to pass on the costs of program compliance to consumers because of the 5th Circuit decision but could weigh such information when deciding a similar petition from Calumet's 15,000 b/d refinery in Great Falls, Montana. The agency issued those decisions in the waning days of former-president Joe Biden's term. While President Donald Trump has pledged a vastly different approach to environmental regulation, his administration for now has not signaled a different stance than the Biden administration on whether these types of disputes should proceed before the DC Circuit. Schrodinger's case It is still unclear whether the judges view the cases as a tricky technical dispute or part of a broader trend of federal agencies overstepping their authority. Tuesday's hearing could provide clues. Of the court's nine justices, four previously served on the DC Circuit and could see value in sending more complex regulatory cases to the expert court, Bunger said. But the court's conservative majority could also be wary of giving EPA too much authority to set venue. Refiners argue that the agency repackaged dozens of individual exemption denials into two larger regulatory actions as a strategy to get the cases before a friendlier court. The Supreme Court has looked skeptically at other EPA rulings and last year overturned a decades-old legal principle that gave agencies leeway when interpreting ambiguous laws. Final Supreme Court decisions usually arrive by late June. However the court rules, businesses say that it should provide a clear enough explanation to prevent similar venue disputes from reemerging. The US Chamber of Commerce told the court it takes no position beyond urging the court to "adopt an interpretation that provides clarity and predictability to all stakeholders." By Cole Martin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

EU readies tweak for CO2 car standards

24/03/25

EU readies tweak for CO2 car standards

Brussels, 24 March (Argus) — The European Commission is expected to approve this week a legal proposal which would increase flexibility for compliance with CO2 standards for cars and vans. The commission is expected to adopt, by written procedure, a legal proposal on 25 March, targeting additional flexibilities around penalties for cars and vans to meet CO2 emissions performance standards. The proposal is expected to enable compliance with CO2 targets to be calculated over a three-year period , rather than for single years. EU leaders last week called for the legal proposal to be put forward "without delay". EU leaders have also called on the commission to "take forward the review" foreseen in the CO2 for cars regulation. Industry has urged the EU to allow for low carbon and zero emission fuels to be accounted for under the CO2 standards. Separately, further delay to the EU's official emissions reduction goal for 2040 appears likely. The commission does not currently have a "concrete date" to give on the GHG proposal for 2040 but it "does not seem" to be scheduled for presentation this week. The official work program for the commission had listed the 2040 GHG target, an update to the European Climate Law, in the first quarter of 2025. The delay to the EU's 2040 GHG proposal further impacts presentation of an updated EU climate plan — known as a nationally determined contribution (NDC) — which will cover the timeframe up to 2035. The commission said several parties have already missed the 10 February deadline for submission of updated NDCs to UN climate body the UNFCCC. By Dafydd ab Iago Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Estonian climate ministry to push for EU ETS 2 repeal

24/03/25

Estonian climate ministry to push for EU ETS 2 repeal

London, 24 March (Argus) — Estonia's parliament has granted the country's climate ministry a mandate to push for the repeal or postponement of the EU's second emissions trading system (ETS 2) covering road transport and buildings, scheduled to launch in 2027. The Estonian parliament's EU affairs committee granted the ministry a mandate to begin consultations with the European Commission and EU member states on repealing the EU ETS 2 directive, because of the administrative burden and uncertainty posed by transposing the measure. If Estonia fails to garner sufficient support, it will join existing proposals by the Czech Republic and Poland to postpone the introduction of the new system for two years. This additional time could be used to find a way to limit the burden of imposing the measure, the committee said. These proposals would require a qualified majority of EU member states to pass. If not adopted, Estonia's climate ministry would instead start negotiations to postpone the launch of the system to 2028 or exclude road transport from its scope. The committee approved the mandate — which followed positions submitted by the government and subsequent amendments and opinions by the parliament's environment and economic affairs committees — "after a long and heated political debate", its chairman Peeter Tali said. The commission last year adopted a supply cap of 1.036bn carbon allowances in 2027 for the new system, which will cover upstream emissions from fuel combustion in buildings, road transport and small industry not covered by the existing EU ETS. For the first three years of operation, the system will have a price cap of €45/t of CO2 equivalent, adjusted for inflation, which if surpassed for a period of two months would trigger the release of 20mn allowances from its market stability reserve. By Victoria Hatherick Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

German Rhine oil product barge demand rises sharply

24/03/25

German Rhine oil product barge demand rises sharply

Hamburg, 24 March (Argus) — The closure of Shell's 147,000 b/d Wesseling refinery and a power unit failure at the Miro refinery have led to increased demand for oil products barges on the Rhine this week, although low water levels significantly drove freight costs up. Heating oil prices in the Cologne area have risen since mid-March, with Shell looking to supply the area through barge imports since it has shut down crude processing at Wesseling. Meanwhile, buyers are increasingly switching to alternative loading points in neighboring regions, which has raised product sales in a few tank farms along the Rhine and Main rivers. Suppliers now need more barges for resupply, shipping operators said. Demand for barges has also increased from the 310,000 b/d Miro refinery in Karlsruhe after one of the power plants failed on 18 March, which affected production temporarily. Market participants shipped more Naphtha by barge toward Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) or other inland locations. Demand for oil product deliveries to the refinery has also increased. The combination of low water levels on the Rhine and increased demand for barges towards the end of week ending 23 March have pushed freight rates up, particularly on the Main and upper Rhine. The water level at Kaub over the weekend fell to 1.10 m, forcing loading capacity to be reduced by more than half. More barges are needed to transport the same amount of product, and shippers expect freight rates to rise further this week. By Johannes Guhlke Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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