Global carbon black producers face shifting market with approach of IMO 2020

摘要

The 15 carbon black production facilities in the US were not required to reduce emissions under the Clean Air Act,according to Vincent Guercio(President of PC consultancy CTC International)and Tim Bart(owner of coal-tar-chemical consultancy Carbon Management).However,the EPA began negotiating with the five domestic producers during 2013-2017 and agreements were made to cut nitrogen oxide,sulfur oxide,and PM emissions after 2020.Six of the plants will switch to lower-sulfur feedstocks(1.5-2.8%)while the others agreed to install exhaust gas cleaning systems(“scrubbers”),with one already completed.The ability to continue using high-sulfur slurry as a feedstock is expected to be economically advantageous since the reduction in sulfur content for marine fuels coming up in Jan.2020 is expected to make high-sulfur material more abundant and,therefore,less expensive.However,the plant that already installed its scrubber has been facing logistical challenges in obtaining high-sulfur feedstock.Additionally,the plant had been designed to run low-sulfur feed,and there have been metallurgical issues related to using high-sulfur material,so additional investments are required for reconfigurations.