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Finland's Neste said on Thursday that it expects the new solvent deasphalting (SDA) unit at its Porvoo refinery to reach "high capacity utilization" during the second half of the year.

Start-up of the new SDA unit is said to have "progressed" at the Porvoo refinery during the second quarter (Q2).

Last year, Neste explained that the SDA unit will enable it to produce a new "RMG-type", "heavier" product with a sulphur content of less than 0.1 percent and a significantly higher viscosity than the products it currently has available.

Neste expects to launch the new bunker product towards the end of 2017.

Neste currently offers two low-sulphur fuels (Neste MDO DMB and Neste RMB), the sulphur content of which is less than 0.1 percent - meeting the requirements set out in the EU Sulphur Directive for ships operating in the Baltic Sea, North Sea and English Channel.

Neste distributes its low-sulphur marine fuels from its terminals in Naantali and Kokkola. Fuel can be trucked to all Finnish ports, and ships can be bunkered ex-pipe at the Porvoo and Naantali refinery harbours. The company has also time-chartered the M/T Lotus for bunkering in Helsinki.

Maintenance

Located approximately 50 kilometres east of Helsinki, the Porvoo plant has a crude refining capacity of approximately 206,000 barrels per day. The company's other refinery, in Naantali, is able to process around 58,000 barrels a day.

The Porvoo refinery is scheduled to have a four-week decoking maintenance at Production Line 4 in October, whilst a major two-month turnaround at the Naantali unit is scheduled to start mid-August, Neste said on Thursday.

Financial results

In its Q2 results, Neste posted a net profit of EUR 200 million, which was down EUR 14 million, or 6.5 percent, year-on-year (YoY) and EUR 1 million sequentially.

YoY, net profit for the first six months (H1) of 2017 fell EUR 26 million, or 6.1 percent, to EUR 402 million.

Neste's Oil Products division (which includes marine fuels) recorded a Q2 operating profit of EUR 130 million, which was a decline of EUR 88 million, or 40.4 percent, YoY and EUR 52 million, or 28.6 percent, sequentially. Operating profit for H1, meanwhile, was unchanged compared to last year at EUR 312 million.