An Introduction to Polyolefins

9:00 – 9:15 Introduction and welcome

9:15 – 10:15 Understanding Petrochemicals and Polyolefins

• What are petrochemicals and where do they come from?
• Steam cracking: a process in making petrochemical building blocks
• Polyolefins overview: the value chains, key feedstocks and terminologies
• Addressing the carbon and recycling challenges: The rise of new production processes and a whole new outlook for demand

10:15 – 10:30 Break

10:30 Examining oil, natural gas, their relationships to polyolefins and China coal-to-polyolefins

• Where petrochemicals are produced in refineries
• Crude distillation and the FCC
• Crude pricing and its influence on polyolefins
• Types of natural gas and distribution: NGL, LPG, LNG
• The US shale gas revolution: What it means for petchems
•  Bio-feedstocks and recycling

11:30 – 12:30 Pricing and Markets

• How polyolefins pricing markets function across the different regions
• Price drivers and price mechanisms
• Cost analysis: What are the factors contributing to overall costs of production in a steam cracker-to-polyolefins complex?
• Understanding cost curves and margins
• Cost curves, margins and the “non-market” of the industry
• Competitiveness across different regions: how margins vary between the US, Europe

12:30 – 13:30 LUNCH

13:30 – 14:30 Polyolefins: Different Grades and end-use markets

• Different types of PE and PP and end-use applications in detail
• PE and PP production technologies
• Upstream olefins supply and demand
• A brief look downstream: different types of plastic processing

14:30 – 15:45 The European Polyolefins Market

• A profile of the major producers and their capacities
• Gas pricing, inflation and the demand and supply challenges and opportunities
• Europe’s competitiveness: What happens next?
• The role of carbon and plastic waste in reshaping the industry

15:45 – 16:00 Break

16:00 Global Challenges and Opportunities

• The oversupply crisis in polyolefins. Why this happened.
• What would be required for operating rates to recover to healthy levels.
• Supermajors versus Deglobalisation:  Headline scenarios for petrochemicals in 2030, including the influences of crude-oil-to-chemicals capacities, the China slowdown, rising China self-sufficiency, sustainability and increased trade tensions.
• The Winners and Losers under these scenarios

16:45 Course wrap-up and discussion

17:00 End of the programme