According to Bloomberg report three weeks after Hurricane Harvey ravaged the massive fuel-making industry along the Texas coast, the region’s recovery from storm damage is starting to disrupt plans for crucial maintenance at refineries thousands of miles away from the flood zones. Harvey knocked out almost 23% of U.S. refining capacity in late August, sending gasoline and diesel prices soaring. The storm hit a few weeks before most of the nation’s fuel makers were set to begin seasonal shutdowns. Demand usually slows at this time of year, so it’s a good time to make repairs and install new equipment at plants that typically run all day every day. But at least 13 refineries from Louisiana to Montana with a combined 3.27 million barrels a day have delayed maintenance for weeks or months. Harvey swept through the Gulf Coast, making landfall on Aug. 25 and leading to widespread closures of refineries, including Motiva’s, with about 605,000 barrels a day of capacity. At one point during the hurricane, at least 17 refineries either shut or operated at reduced rates. The gasoline crack spread, a rough measure of the profit from refining crude into gasoline, jumped to the highest level in two years in late August. Profit margins for refineries in the Midwest using Bakken crude from North Dakota more than doubled, as did margins for plants along the Gulf Coast that process crude from offshore Louisiana.

Acrylonitrile (ACN) prices in Asia bolster higher
ACN prices in Asia leapt higher in recently. The sharp price rise was triggered by persistent constrained product availability across the Asian region. CFR NEA prices of ACN were assessed up at the USD 1735 per ton, surge of USD 70 per ton WoW. CFR South Asia prices were assessed at the USD 1690 per ton, a WoW spike of USD 60 per ton. Feedstock propylene prices on Tuesday were assessed at the USD 995 per ton CFR China levels while FOB Korea prices were at the USD 945 per ton, both down USD 10 per ton from the previous week. In China, Shanghai Secco increased its AC N prices by RMB 500 per ton to RMB 13600 per ton.