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ACC AM 12/25
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(ACC Mentioned) US Containerized Chem Exports Falls on Tariffs
Dec 24, 2018 | JOC
By Hugh R. Morley
With exports of containerized US chemicals down 1.4 percent through November after shippers were hit by retaliatory $10.8 billion in tariffs, the tank container sector fears a worsening 2019 unless a trade deal is struck with China. -
(ACC Mentioned) It Is Time to Cut Use of Plastics
Dec 24, 2018 | San Francisco Chronicle
By Michael J. Sangiacomo
The good news is, our collective efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost have made San Francisco the most successful big city in America at reducing what goes to landfill. -
China Cracks Open Door for U.S. Natural Gas Imports as Wintry Cold Hits
Dec 24, 2018 | Bloomberg
By Naureen S Malik
China last month imported two tankers of U.S. liquefied natural gas, nudging open a doorway that had been closed shut for a month at a time when America is rapidly expanding its ability to export the heating fuel.
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(ACC Mentioned) US Containerized Chem Exports Falls on Tariffs
Dec 24, 2018 | JOC
By Hugh R. Morley
With exports of containerized US chemicals down 1.4 percent through November after shippers were hit by retaliatory $10.8 billion in tariffs, the tank container sector fears a worsening 2019 unless a trade deal is struck with China.
Chemical shippers and transportatin providers were somewhat comforted when the Trump Administration in early December postponed by 90 days on which the United States was initially set to increase the tariffs on Chinese imports, including more than 1,300 chemicals and plastic products. The tariffs were initially set to increase from 10 percent to 25 percent on Jan. 1, but both side agreed to postpone their tariffs while trade negotiations intended to avoid the tariffs continued.
Yet the uncertainty over negotiations continues to spark concerns over the outcome of the talks, and the impact on nearly 1,000 chemicals and plastics products of any Chinese retaliatory tariffs, which have so far varied from 5 percent to 25 percent. The American Chemistry Council says retaliatory tariffs could cost $1.6 billion in lost US chemicals exports in the short term, rising to $6.1 billion in the long term.
The president of one tank container supplier and broker in Texas said business had been “brisk” in 2018 until cargo volumes declined by 10 percent in September - shortly after the US tariffs, and Chinese retaliation, went into effect. Tank containers, which generally carry liquid, are the same size as regular containers and are often carried on the same vessels, although the number on a ship is restricted because they are often heavy.
“The tariffs have had an impact on both imports and exports,” he said. “The tariffs are a major reason for shaping the market because of the uncertainty being created. A lack of uncertainty in the future always causes decision to slow down and uneasiness in business.”
Although volumes recovered slightly after September, a larger downward impact on cargo volumes may be to come, unless the negotiations between the United States and China pull off the tariffs, he said.
Of the three waves of tariffs enacted by the United States, only the last two – enacted in August and September – hit chemicals and plastics products, together totaling about 1,500 products imported from China, according to the American Chemistry Council. The imports had a value of about $15.4 billion in 2017, the council said.
China retaliated with tariffs on 1,027 items with a 2017 export value of 10.8 billion. In the short term, the US could lose chemicals and plastics exports with $1.6 billion, rising to $6.1 billion in the long term if Chinese importers adjust their supply chains to get products from non-US countries, the council said.
Exports of containerized chemicals fell by 1.4 percent from January to November 2018, over the same period in 2017, after exports had increased by 1.4 percent in the same period in 2017 compared to 2016, according to PIERS, a sister product of JOC.com within IHS Markit. The sector has not seen a decline in loaded cargo volumes since 2015, the figures show.
Chemicals imports by container grew 4.3 percent in the 11-month period in 2018, over the 2017 period, well below the 7 percent increase in the first 11 months of 2017 compared to that period in 2016, the PIERS figures show.
https://www.joc.com/international-logistics/logistics-providers/tariffs-haunt-us-container-chemical-exports-2019-0
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(ACC Mentioned) It Is Time to Cut Use of Plastics
Dec 24, 2018 | San Francisco Chronicle
By Michael J. Sangiacomo
The good news is, our collective efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost have made San Francisco the most successful big city in America at reducing what goes to landfill.
The bad news is, plastics have become a huge issue for all of us. “60 Minutes” recently aired a powerful segment on plastic waste and its impact on the environment, along with the (as yet unsuccessful) efforts to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. A portion of that feature was filmed at Recycle Central at Pier 96 in San Francisco, which is Recology’s largest and most technologically advanced recycling facility.
For decades, Recology has captured plastic materials through our recycling programs in California, Oregon and Washington state, and marketed much of that material for reuse, principally throughout Asia. In other words, we had a place to send plastics.
However, a number of global policy reforms — most notably China’s National Sword program, which banned mixed plastic imports — have closed nearly all end markets for many plastic products.
Even before this door was closed, we always struggled with what to do with many of the polymers that are being introduced into the waste stream — without regard for secondary-use markets.
The European Union’s recent action to cut plastic use, in a bid to reduce marine debris, is a step in the right direction on how to deal with the issue from a policy perspective. The EU’s efforts — which are focused on mandatory recycled content in all plastic bottles and outright bans on certain single-use plastic products — deserve consideration here in the United States.
We have followed the work of innovative companies that have attempted to reverse-engineer the plastics manufacturing process, and reclaim the petroleum products from which the materials had been created. Unfortunately, none of these efforts has proven scalable — not with the enormous influx of single-use plastic materials into the marketplace.
We even tried to unlock the secret ourselves. For five years, Recology employed a chemical engineer with 25 years of plastics manufacturing experience. He was given the mission to find something that we can do to with single-use plastic waste; his work netted no practical results.
The simple fact is, there is just too much plastic — and too many different types of plastics — being produced; and there exist few, if any, viable end markets for the material. Which makes reuse impossible.
We are not out to destroy the plastics industry, but we must embrace change.
Recology would be a willing partner with plastic manufacturers to develop technologies that lead to the genuine recycling of plastic products. We can think of no better way for the industry to respond to the problem of reducing plastic wastes than offering solutions that work, can be scalable, and implemented in communities around the world to help to solve this plastics crisis. Last week, I sent a letter to Cal Dooley, CEO of the American Chemistry Council, to invite the plastics industry to do just that.
That said, I do feel we are nearly out of time, as the planet’s oceans and wildlife are increasingly overrun by plastic waste. If the plastics industry is unable to step forward with a set of policies and programs that reverses these unfortunate trends, Recology will work to place a comprehensive policy on the next statewide California ballot — building off the EU model. We are prepared to commit $1 million toward a signature-gathering effort to that end and will work with all who are willing to move this effort forward.
With plastics, as with so much else, California may need to lead the way.
Michael J. Sangiacomo is president and chief executive officer of Recology, Inc., a 100-percent employee-owned company providing waste and recycling services to San Francisco since 1920.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/It-is-time-to-cut-use-of-plastics-13489726.php
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China Cracks Open Door for U.S. Natural Gas Imports as Wintry Cold Hits
Dec 24, 2018 | Bloomberg
By Naureen S Malik
China last month imported two tankers of U.S. liquefied natural gas, nudging open a doorway that had been closed shut for a month at a time when America is rapidly expanding its ability to export the heating fuel.
The three operating U.S. terminals soaked up more than 5.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas from American shale basins on Sunday, the most ever. With two more U.S. terminals slated to open in the first quarter of 2019, China’s re-emergence as a customer as wintry weather descends offers a much-needed outlet for exports.
"This is important because priced U.S. natural gas with the tariff is still economical compared to other sources,” said Het Shah, founder of Analytix.AI, an energy market data analytics company in Calgary. “These tankers probably left the U.S. gulf coast in late October.”
While the imports offer short-term hope, Chinese companies are still unlikely to cement long-term deals for more LNG, hindering future projects, without Beijing and Washington resolving their differences over a festering trade war that’s spurred tit-for-tat tariffs in a wide variety of sectors.
The world’s second largest economy imported a record 5.99 million tons of LNG in November even as its reliance on American LNG fell. U.S. imports reached 138,892 tons, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs. That equates to about 6.3 billion cubic feet of gas, or two tankers worth, Shah said.
In November a year earlier, China imported six tankers of American LNG at a time when China’s traditional suppliers in Central Asia were unable to keep up with demand as cold weather descended. The Asian giant was forced to turn increasingly to the U.S. for the fuel after requiring both businesses and homes to stop burning coal to cut pollution.
China has imported 60 cargoes from the U.S., or 12 percent of total shipments from the lower 48 states, according to U.S. Energy Department data going back to February 2016.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-24/china-slips-open-door-for-u-s-natural-gas-as-wintry-cold-hits
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