![](https://cjp-rbi-icis.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/10/03104743/ICIS.News_.Hero_.block_.1922x634px.jpg)
News library
Subscribe to our full range of breaking news and analysis
Viewing 1-10 results of 56967
Ethylene26-Jun-2024
SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Brazil’s chemicals producers,
represented by trade group Abiquim, have gotten
on board with peer groups and trade unions in
their lobbying for higher import tariffs for
dozens of products as the government’s decision
looms.
Led by Abiquim, a total of 28 trade groups,
trade unions, industrial development groups,
one professional association and one company
have signed a manifesto pleading for higher
import tariffs to safeguard an industry which,
in their view, is being threatened by lower
priced imports which are produced with lower
environmental standards.
“The Brazilian chemicals input production
chain, fundamental to the country’s economic
and technological development, faces
unprecedented challenges that threaten its very
existence and the future of sustainable
solutions for Brazilian industry,” said the
manifesto.
“Ensuring measures to protect the trade balance
is vital to maintain the operation of the
chemical chain and attract new investments.”
In May, chemicals producers – via Abiquim but
also as individual companies – proposed increasing
tariffs in more than 100 chemicals,
most of them from 12.6% to 20%, in a public
consultation held by the Brazil’s government
body the Chamber of Foreign Commerce (Camex). A
decision is expected in August as the latest.
Other trade groups in the chemicals chain, such
as Abiplast, representing plastics
transformers, do not support higher tariffs as
most of their members import product to meet
their demand, and are doing their own lobbying not to increase
tariffs.
ABIQUIM LOBBYING GETS
PARTNERSAs well as Abiquim,
other trade groups within chemicals signed the
document, such the Brazilian Association of
Alkali, Chlorine, and Derivatives Industry
(Abiclor); the Brazilian Association of Fine
Chemical, Biotechnology and Specialty
Industries (Abifina); and the Brazilian
Association of Artificial and Synthetic Fiber
Producers (Abrafas) also signed the document.
In total, 11 trade groups and 11 trade unions
signed the document, as well as industrial
development groups and other players in the
chemicals chain. See bottom for full list of
signatories.
The backing of the unions is important because
it is likely to resonate in the corridors of
power in Brasilia, where the left-leaning
government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva got into office thanks in part to the
votes of the industrial workers constituency
who voted for Lula’s Workers Party (PT) in 2023
under the promise of more and better paid
industrial jobs.
“The Brazilian chemicals input production
chain, fundamental to the country’s economic
and technological development, faces
unprecedented challenges that threaten its very
existence and the future of sustainable
solutions for Brazilian industry. Ensuring
measures to protect the trade balance is vital
to maintain the operation of the chemical chain
and attract new investments,” said the
manifesto.
“What we are witnessing by allowing a surge in
imports of products without environmental
commitments is the failure to comply with a
global agenda, with negative contributions to
the fight against climate change.”
As the left-leaning Lula cabinet aims to
increase public spending, the manifesto also
touches on Abiquim’s calculations in the
decrease in tax receipts by the Brazilian
Treasury in 2023, as a consequence of lower
imports – the trade group said the state’s
receipts decreased during that year by
Brazilian reais (R) 8.0 billion ($1.45
billion).
“[The decrease in tax receipts] directly
impacts investments in the production sector
and in several other areas of public policy.
Continuing to allow the unbridled entry of
chemical products is a paradox for the policy
that Brazil has planned in the context of
neo-industrialization, while imports already
account for 50% of demand in the chemicals
industry,” said the manifesto.
“Because of this, some plants are idle, with
preventive maintenance anticipated, while
others are hibernating plants. And this affects
not only the production of chemical inputs, but
an entire broad supply chain of raw materials,
services, and energy supply related to the
sector.”
The Abiquim-led manifesto was also signed by
several trade unions in some of Brazil’s key
petrochemicals hubs, such the Chemists Union of
Sao Paulo; the Union of Chemical Industries of
Rio Grande do Sul (Sindiquim), and the Union of
workers in the chemical, petrochemical, plastic
and pharmaceutical industries of the State of
Bahia (Sindiquímica Bahia).
According to Abiquim’s figures, Brazil’s
chemicals production and related chain employs
around 2 million workers, representing 12% of
the country’s industrial GDP.
Earlier in June, the director general at
Abiquim said in an interview with ICIS
that the request for higher tariffs was only
one of the proposals presented to the
government to safeguard producers’ global
competitiveness.
“What we have presented to the government is
the need to undertake action on three main
fronts: in the short term, import tariffs, but
in the medium and long term we also need a
structural plan to address natural gas prices,
which are seven times higher in Brazil than in
some other jurisdictions, as well as a stimulus
plan covering the whole chemicals production
chain,” said Andre Passos.
The list of signatories to the manifesto also
includes one company, one professional
association, and three industrial development
groups:
TRADE GROUPS
1. Chemical
Industry Association (Abiquim)
2.
Association of Piped Gas Distribution
Companies (Abegas)
3.
Association of Alkali, Chlorine, and
Derivatives Industry (Abiclor)
4.
Association of Fine Chemical,
Biotechnology and Specialty Industries
(Abifina)
5.
Association of Pharmaceutical Inputs
Industry (Abiquifi)
6.
Association of Glass Industries
(Abividro)
7.
Association of Independent Oil and Gas
Producers (ABPIP)
8.
Association of Artificial and Synthetic
Fiber Producers (Abrafas)
9.
Association of Campos Elíseos Companies
(Assecampe)
10. Association of Natural Gas
Pipeline Transportation Companies (Atgás)
11. Federation of Industries of the
State of Alagoas (FIEA)
TRADE UNIONS
12. Federation of Chemical Workers
of the CUT of the State of Sao Paulo
(Fetquim – CUT SP)
13. Single Federation of Oil
Workers (FUP)
14. Unified Chemical Union
15. Chemists Union of Sao Paulo
16. Plastic and Paint Industries
Union of the State of Alagoas
(Sinplast-AL)
17. Industry Union of Chemical
Products for Industrial Purposes of the
State of Rio de Janeiro (Siquirj)
18. Industry Union of Chemical
Products for Industrial Purposes,
Petrochemicals and Synthetic Resins of
Camaçari, Candeias and Dias D’Avila
(Sinpeq)
19. Industry Union of Chemical
Products Chemicals for Industrial and
Petrochemical Purposes in the State of
Sao Paulo (Sinproquim)
20. Union of Chemical Industries of
Rio Grande do Sul (Sindiquim)
21. Union of Chemists of ABC (Sao
Paulo state region)
22. Union of workers in the
chemical, petrochemical, plastic and
pharmaceutical industries of the State of
Bahia (Sindiquímica Bahia)
23. Union of Workers in the
Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Fertilizer
Industries of Baixada Santista (coastal
Sao Paulo area)
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
GROUPS
1. National
Confederation of the Chemical Branch of
CUT (CNQ-CUT)
2. Camacari
Industrial Development Committee (Cofic)
3.
Industrial Development of the Rio Grande
do Sul Pole (Cofip RS)
PROFESSIONAL
ASSOCIATIONS
24. Federal Council of Chemistry
(CFQ)
COMPANIES
25. Forca Quimica
($1 = R5.51)
Base Oils26-Jun-2024
SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Asia’s base oils supply is
expected to improve slightly in H2 2024, while
a seasonal peak in overall demand is due to
kick off in the later part of Q3.
SE Asia’s Group I brightstock, S Korea’s
Group II base oils supply to grow
India post-monsoon demand to pick up in
Sept; China demand to stay stagnant amid
economic woes
Sluggish demand for Group I base oils to
offset impact of tight supply
In this podcast, editors Matthew Chong and
Michelle Liew discuss trends in the Asian base
oils market.
Join our experts for a webinar on the Global
base oils landscape on 14 August by clicking
here.
Ammonia25-Jun-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Global ammonia marketer Mitsui
announced it has agreed with partners to
commence construction of an ammonia production
facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The project involves the construction of an
ammonia production facility in Al Ruwais which
is scheduled to start in 2027. It is planned to
produce 1 million short tons per year of
ammonia with lower carbon emissions compared to
conventional supply.
To achieve the reductions there will be
additional facilities installed in the plant to
capture and store levels emitted in the
manufacturing process, with plans to begin
production of clean ammonia by 2030.
Mitsui said it will also offtake a certain
volume of the clean ammonia for supplying Japan
and other Asian markets for use in fuel
applications, chemical and fertilizer feedstock
applications, and other industries.
The other partners involved in this project are
TA’ZIZ, owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil
Company, Fertiglobe, and South Korea’s GS
Energy Corporation.
![](https://cjp-rbi-icis.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/10/31125609/News.485x196.png)
Global News + ICIS Chemical Business (ICB)
See the full picture, with unlimited access to ICIS chemicals news across all markets and regions, plus ICB, the industry-leading magazine for the chemicals industry.
Ammonia25-Jun-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–The US soybean crop is now 97%
completed with corn emergence having reached
97% according to the latest US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) weekly crop progress report.
While hot weather concerns persist, the corn
acreage is progressing quickly with there now
being 97% of the crop emerged, which is
slightly behind the 98% rate in 2023 but is
just above the five-year average of 96%.
In the first update on corn silking the agency
is seeing 4% of the crop reach this phase which
is ahead of the 3% achieved in 2023 and the
five-year average of 3%.
For corn conditions, the USDA said 2% of the
crop is very poor with 5% listed as poor. There
is 24% of the crop rated fair with 55% listed
as good and 14% as excellent.
Soybean plantings have reached 97% completed
which is trailing the 99% level reached last
year but is above the five-year average of 95%.
All the reporting states are now at 86%
completed or above for the soybean acreage.
There is 90% of the crop which has emerged, but
this is less than the 95% from 2023 but it is
higher than the five-year average of 87%.
In the first update on soybeans blooming, the
crop progress report said there is 8% of the
crop at this phase, which is equal to the 8%
from last year but this current pace is ahead
of the five-year average of 6%.
For soybean conditions, the USDA said 2% of the
crop is very poor with 6% listed as poor. There
is 25% of the crop rated fair with 56% listed
as good and 11% as excellent.
For the other key crops, the USDA said cotton
plantings are at 94% completed with sorghum at
90%.
Power25-Jun-2024
Additional reporting by Andrea
Battaglia
LONDON (ICIS)–A technical issue affecting the
trading system underpinning the EPEX SPOT
platform led to a partial decoupling of some
European countries from the single Day-ahead
market coupling (SDAC) session on Tuesday 25
June. The fault led to extremely wide spreads
across central European power markets on EPEX
SPOT, culminating in a €489.08/MWh premium on
German prices over France.
The partial decoupling meant that separate
Day-ahead auctions had to be held on EPEX SPOT
for France, Germany/Luxembourg, Austria,
Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland, with the
publication of results delayed from the usual
12:00 CET to 15:06 CET.
“EPEX SPOT is working on an in-depth analysis
of the market events, including order book
analysis,” a spokesperson for the platform told
ICIS, blaming a “technical issue”.
Traders continued to transact European
Day-ahead products over-the-counter (OTC) into
the early afternoon – more than three hours
later than the typical time.
GERMAN PREMIUM
The SDAC system allocates cross-border capacity
in the most efficient way by coupling different
markets via an algorithm that also takes into
account transmission constraints.
But with separate auctions held, the Germany
EPEX SPOT Day-ahead auction cleared at
€492.04/MWh, with France at €2.96/MWh.
“[Germany is] not reflecting reality,” said a
trader.
This was also evident from looking at auction
prices on other platforms that did not
decouple. On Nordpool, the German Day-ahead was
€103.01/MWh, just €2.97/MWh below the French
Day-ahead.
On the OTC market, the German Day-ahead changed
hands below the €100/MWh mark until about 13:00
CET, to then become very volatile and change
hands in a wide €102.50-375.00/MWh range in
thin trading afterwards.
The results of the separate auctions on EPEX
SPOT offered a glimpse into how much European
countries rely on each other for meeting
domestic demand, and the extent to which
domestic policies have been set with that in
mind.
“What this really exposes is how Germany has
essentially outsourced its nuclear generation
to France, and how reliant it has become on its
neighbours to cover power demand,” said ICIS
power analyst Ellie Chambers.
“With the decommissioning of its own nuclear
units and several coal units, when Germany is
forced to ramp up thermal plants the impact of
these phase-outs is clear in the price.”
By the end of this year, Germany will have
phased out around 10GW of combined lignite and
coal units.
“With France’s grid operator RTE warning of
more grid constraints August-October, it’s
likely we’ll continue to see wide price
disparities between France and Germany during
those months – although, barring any events
like today’s partial decoupling, hopefully not
to the same extreme,” Chambers concluded.
According to the European Network of
Transmission System Operators, in the last 10
years, five incidents have happened that led to
a partial decoupling of the SDAC market.
Polyethylene Terephthalate25-Jun-2024
LONDON (ICIS)–Covestro will save €400 million
annually in material and personnel costs by the
end of 2028 through a transformation programme
focused on digitalization and artificial
intelligence, it said on Tuesday.
Of the total global savings from its STRONG
initiative, €190 million will be in Germany.
Covestro said cost savings from the programme
had already been initiated, adding that it was
working continuously to further improve
existing structures and processes.
“This includes making production,
administrative units and other areas as
efficient as possible and continuously
expanding the innovation pipeline. Covestro
thereby continues the successful implementation
of its strategy,” the polymers producer said in
a statement.
Any job cuts resulting from the transformation
programme would be handled in a socially
responsible manner, such as voluntary
termination agreements, a company spokesperson
said separately via email.
“With the collective agreements and the
extension of employment security announced
today, Covestro is making a clear commitment to
Germany as a business location,” the
spokesperson added.
On Monday, Covestro announced it had begun
concrete negotiations on a possible
investment by Abu Dhabi oil company ADNOC that
would value its equity at €11.7bn.
Front page picture: Covestro’s headquarters
in Leverkusen, Germany
Source: Friedemann
Vogel/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Crude Oil25-Jun-2024
SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Saudi Arabia’s Methanol
Chemicals Co (Chemanol) has signed a 20-year
deal to supply methanol to the Amiral petrochemical
project of Saudi Aramco Total Refining and
Petrochemical Co (SATORP).
Under the agreement, Chemanol will supply
100,000 tonnes of methanol to SATORP on an
annual basis when the complex starts up in
three years’ time, Chemanol said in a filing on
the Saudi Stock Exchange.
“The commercial operation [of Amiral complex]
and supply [of methanol] are planned to start
by the end of 2027,” Chemanol said.
It added that “the financial impact of this
agreement is currently indeterminable due to
the changes in market conditions and product
prices at the time of starting to supply the
methanol”.
SATORP, a joint venture between energy giant
Saudi Aramco and French TotalEnergies, is
expanding operations via building the $11bn
Amiral complex in Jubail.
The complex is expected to have a mixed-feed
cracker and utilities, with a nameplate
capacity of 1.65m tonnes/year of ethylene and
related industrial gases.
Engineering, procurement, and construction
(EPC) contracts for the Amiral project were
awarded in June 2023 to South Korea’s Hyundai
Engineering & Construction.
Aramco owns 62.5% of SATORP, while
TotalEnergies holds the remaining stake of
37.5%.
The companies made a final
investment decision on Amiral in December
2022, to enable SATORP’s Jubail refinery to
advance Aramco’s liquids-to-chemicals strategy.
Amiral will enable SATORP to convert internally
produced refinery off-gases and naphtha, as
well as ethane and natural gasoline supplied by
Aramco, into higher value chemicals.
Thumbnail image: At a port in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia, 15 May 2023. (Ute
Grabowsky/imageBROKER/Shutterstock)
Gas24-Jun-2024
UPDATED:
On 24 June 2024, ICIS updated this
analysis to include a review of the renewable
capacity pledges from manifestos and their
likelihood of being met
On 21 June 2024, ICIS updated this
analysis to include a breakdown of the impact
of new gas licenses on British gas
supply
On 20 June 2024, ICIS updated this
analysis to include the Scottish National
Party’s manifesto plans for energy. The
manifesto table now includes these
details
Initial analysis published with detailed
table reviewing energy policies from
announced manifesto pledges, original
analyses covering nuclear power and gas-fired
power generation, a UK election special
episode of the ICIS Hydrogen Insights
podcast
LONDON (ICIS) — On 4 July 2024 the UK public
will elect a new government, but what do the
different parties have in store for energy? The
following analysis reflect core pledges from
manifestos and reviews those pledges in detail
using ICIS data and insights.
This analysis of UK political pledges and
announcements will be continuously updated by
the ICIS energy editorial team. Lead authors
include: UK power reporter Anna Coulson,
British gas reporter Matthew Farmer.
UK PARTIES COULD STRUGGLE TO MEET RENEWABLE
CAPACITY ELECTION PLEDGES – Added to analysis
24 June 2024
UK parties unlikely to meet capacity
targets
Key to onshore wind would be change to
regulation
Offshore wind could struggle following
recent CfD round
LONDON (ICIS)–For the UK general election,
Labour, the Conservatives and the Green Party
are the only three of the main parties to
present outright capacity targets for renewable
energy deployment across their manifestos.
However, ICIS data and analyst insight suggests
that meeting such targets could face
difficulties due to recent setbacks in the UK’s
Contracts for Difference (CfD) bidding process
and restrictive regulation for onshore wind.
The Labour party manifesto states it will
double onshore wind, triple solar power, and
quadruple offshore wind by 2030. To present an
idea of this, ICIS has multiplied its
forecasted capacity for these technologies in
the UK by the end of 2024 by their respective
factors according to Labour’s pledges. Actual
intended capacity may vary. ICIS had contacted
the Labour party for comment but received no
response by the time of publication.
Onshore wind
Labour plans to double onshore wind capacity by
2030, while the Green Party would deploy 53GW
of capacity by 2035.
The Liberal Democrats would ‘remove the
Conservative’s unnecessary restrictions on new
wind power’, likely referring to the
requirements the current government introduced
in 2015 and changes to the law in 2016.
Planning policies were updated in September
2023 to allow locations suitable for new wind
farms to be identified in several ways, rather
than only in the area’s development plan.
However, decisions continue to be made by local
planning authorities which differs to the
process for other infrastructure projects where
decisions on major projects are made by the
Secretary of State.
The current government does not have an onshore
wind capacity target and the Conservative’s
manifesto has no mention of one however, it
does state that the party will ensure
democratic consent for onshore wind.
ICIS analytics forecasts 25.85GW of onshore
wind capacity in 2030 and in 2035, under a base
case scenario, which is below Labour and the
Green Party’s targets. ICIS analyst, Robbie
Jackson-Stroud, stated that planning permission
is one of the main challenges onshore wind
projects face.
“Costs for turbines have also risen and so they
are then squeezed into a CfD funding pot where
they have to compete with solar”, he added.
Jackson-Stroud noted that onshore wind could be
a key component to the development of renewable
capacity in the UK, changes to regulation
permitting.
“One aspect that is likely to change is
regulation and approval of onshore wind
projects, which require less budget and time to
build. However, it is difficult to envisage a
new government being timely enough to
sufficiently improve the approval process and
have enough projects apply to shift onshore
capacity before 2030. It should be noted,
however, how much potential a change to
regulation would have to long term capacities,
and you can expect more capacity in the 2030s”,
Jackson-Stroud said.
Offshore wind
The Conservatives, Labour and the Green party
all position offshore wind as a key technology
to support the decarbonization of the UK’s
power system. However, achieving such targets
appears difficult following an unsuccessful
fifth auction of the CfD scheme in 2023, in
which there were no bids for offshore wind amid
a low strike price.
The current government increased the strike
price for the upcoming sixth auction round,
raising the maximum strike price from £44/MWh
to £73/MWh.
Jackson-Stroud highlighted the difficulty
facing the next wave of auctions when
considering 2030 targets.
“Both parties [Labour and the Conservatives]
have pledged unachievable targets without a
huge budget increase for the CfD. Taking into
account the time it takes to build offshore
wind sites (that are getting increasingly
larger on average) there are only two CfD
auctions at most that can fund capacity to come
online by 2030.
“There is roughly 27GW of offshore wind already
under CfD, under construction or operational,
suggesting the need for a further 23GW across
two auctions, which would be a record at a time
where costs are higher than they have ever
been. While the budget for the latest round has
been raised to an all-time high of £800m for
offshore and £1.2bn total, this would still
procure only 12GW of wind in even the most
conservative estimates.
“This means regardless of Labour increasing
2030 targets for offshore, even the 50GW
already in place will not be met, and a change
of party doesn’t change the blockers to this,”
Jackson-Stroud said.
ICIS analytics forecasts that offshore wind
capacity will be 39GW in 2030 under a base case
scenario, therefore falling short of the
Conservative and Labour party targets.
Similarly, offshore wind capacity is forecast
to be 48.04GW in 2035 under a base case
scenario, well below the Green Party’s target.
Solar
Labour plan to triple solar capacity by 2030,
while the Green Party and Conservatives have
set targets for 2035, 100GW and 70GW
respectively based on manifesto and recent
policy announcements.
However, reaching such targets may prove
challenging based on recent CfD results. ICIS
analyst Matthew Jones
previously noted that for the UK to meet
its 70GW by 2035 target, CfD capacity awards
would need to average 4.5GW/year. However, over
the last two CfD rounds, just 2.2GW was awarded
in each.
Further, ICIS analytics forecasts 42.97GW of
solar capacity by 2030, and 48.54GW by 2035,
under a base case scenario, therefore missing
the Labour, Conservative and Green Party
targets.
Since the closure of the renewable obligation
and feed-in tariff schemes, the CfD scheme is
the only subsidized route to market for solar.
The forecast models cited in this
story are available as part of ICIS Power
Foresight. If you would like to learn more
about ICIS Power Foresight, please contact head
of power analytics Matthew Jones at
Matthew.Jones@icis.com
UKCS LICENSING – Added to analysis 21 June 2024
Several parties have committed to end the
issuing of new licenses for extraction of oil
and gas on the UK continental shelf (UKCS),
however ICIS analysis shows the inclusion of
new licenses may have a minimal impact in
mitigating output decline.
Gas production on the UKCS started declining in
2000, but held steady during the 2010s. It
currently accounts for approximately 40% of
Britain’s gas supply mix, with the bulk of
remaining volumes coming through Norwegian
imports and LNG. From the late 2020s, UKCS
production is expected to decline by
approximately 6% per year.
Licenses on new discoveries would not reverse
the decline in British production expected in
coming years. However, they would have
accounted for another 0.80 billion cubic meters
(bcm) of British gas production in 2030,
increasing to 1.5bcm in 2035.
In contrast to the other parties, the
Conservatives and Reform UK have committed to
annual licensing rounds and “fast-track”
licenses, respectively. Both have done so with
a justification of maintaining British energy
independence, citing the rising price of energy
caused by the full-scale Russian invasion of
Ukraine.
GAS-FIRED POWER DEMAND LIKELY UNMOVED
Both the Conservatives and the Labour party
show support for the continued use of gas for
power generation, bolstering a key area of
demand for British gas market participants.
However, of the two parties, the Conservatives
presented a more bullish mentality by noting
intensions for new gas plants,
aligning with previous announcements to
support new capacity.
Labour meanwhile take a muted approach, noting
the need for a strategic reserve of gas for
power generation.
Both Labour and the Conservatives have
therefore presented policy that could reduce
power-market price volatility as renewable
capacity grows, with gas offering baseload
generation at periods of low renewable output.
Gas demand for power to remain
From a gas-market perspective, the use of gas
for power amounts to a large share of overall
demand. In 2023, gas offtake for power
accounted for 26% of total gas demand.
The UK is heavily reliant on gas-fired power
generation, with it contributing 26% of the
UK’s electricity mix in the period 1 January to
31 May 2024, according to data from National
Grid.
Similarly, gas-fired generation provided an
average 36.3% of the mix over the 2019-23
period, therefore making a significant
contribution to the UK’s electricity stack.
While the capacity of new gas generation is not
mentioned in the Conservative party’s
manifesto, ICIS analytics forecast data
indicates that gas capacity is set to increase
through to 2026, under a base case scenario.
This would suggest that offtake for power
generation could well remain a key share of
overall gas demand under either a Conversative
or a Labour government.
Further, ICIS data shows that there will be
7.92GW of gas capacity in 2050 under a base
case scenario, which itself raises uncertainty
around the prospect of pledges to decarbonize
power grids by around the 2030s.
NUCLEAR
Nuclear power represented a large focus for the
Labour, Conservative and Reform UK parties,
which each announced plans to increase nuclear
capacity through a mix of measures, such as
plant life extensions, new large-scale
projects, or Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
Despite this, the overall pledges presented for
the election suggests need for further capacity
build-out in the run up to 2050 in order to
meet the government’s target.
While the Conservative’s manifesto did not
mention a specific nuclear capacity target, the
current government has a target to reach 24GW
of nuclear capacity by 2050.
ICIS analytics forecasts that, under a base
case scenario, nuclear capacity will be 12.76GW
by 2050.
Plant life extensions
Although Labour’s manifesto did not provide
details on which nuclear plants it intended to
focus on for life extensions, or for how long,
the intension is in line with former market
announcements from EDF, which stated plans
in January 2024 to extend the lives of five
UK nuclear plants.
EDF plans to invest an additional £1.3bn in
these power stations over 2024-26, with the aim
to maintain output from the four advanced
gas-cooled reactors (AGR) for as long as
possible, and for the Sizewell B plant to
operate for an additional 20 years.
The lifetimes of the four AGR stations would be
reviewed by the end of 2024.
New capacity
From a new capacity perspective Labour pledged
to get the 3.2GW Hinkley Point C project over
the line and that new nuclear power stations,
such as the 3.2GW Sizewell C project, will play
a key role in helping the UK to achieve energy
security and clean power.
In January, the Conservatives announced
plans for a new large-scale nuclear power
plant, which would be as large as Hinkley Point
C or Sizewell C, which are both 3.2GW in
capacity.
The current government announced in May that
Wylfa would be the preferred site for this new
plant however, a commissioning date is still to
be confirmed. This aligns with the party’s
manifesto pledge to deliver a new gigawatt
power plant at the same location.
The new plant in Wales could well boost UK
nuclear capacity, but it would still present a
capacity gap between the current ICIS forecast
for 2050 and the government’s target of 24GW.
Small modular reactors
Labour, the Conservatives, and Reform UK all
mention SMRs in their manifestos however, the
Conservatives will approve two new fleets of
SMRs within the first 100 days of the next
parliament.
This is likely through the competitive process
that Great British Nuclear (GBN) launched in
2023 to select SMR technologies best placed to
be operational by the mid-2030s.
GBN plans to announce successful bidders for
the competition by the end of 2024 and to take
two SMR projects to a final investment decision
by 2029.
However, it must be noted that SMRs are a new
technology, and none are commissioned yet in
Europe.
HYDROGEN
In this UK general election special, ICIS
hydrogen editor speaks with Rob Dale, founder
and director of UK consultancy Beyond2050,
which aims at supporting market participants in
achieving their energy and sustainability
goals.
Over the course of the episode, Jake and Rob
review which parties have committed to hydrogen
for the election and what makes this election
the biggest for hydrogen so far.
Acrylate Esters24-Jun-2024
LONDON (ICIS)–The European oxo-alcohols market
and most of its derivatives have been
characterized by ample supply in June,
particularly following the lifting of OQ
Chemicals’ force majeure at the end of May.
Demand across most markets remains tepid and
slow due to ongoing economic challenges. The
construction and coatings industries have not
experienced the expected seasonal surge.
Butyl acetate reporter Marion Boakye speaks to
oxo-alcohols reporter Nicole Simpson, glycol
ethers reporter Cameron Birch and acrylate
esters reporter Mathew Jolin-Beech about market
dynamics down the oxo-alcohols value chain.
Contact us
Partnering with ICIS unlocks a vision of a future you can trust and achieve. We leverage our unrivalled network of industry experts to deliver a comprehensive market view based on independent and reliable data, insight and analytics.
Contact us to learn how we can support you as you transact today and plan for tomorrow.
READ MORE
![](https://cjp-rbi-icis.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2023/12/11160203/ContactUs_Services.jpg)