SIBUR and EXIAR sign export trade insurance agreement

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Russian Agency for export credit and investment insurance (EXIAR) and BIAXPLEN, SIBUR's subsidiary, have entered into a comprehensive export credit insurance agreement, reported SIBUR on its site.

This is SIBUR's the first experience in insuring foreign receivables.

Under the agreement, the EXIAR shall provide insurance of biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film supplies for around RUB 2.2bn against the risk of default of European petrochemical buyers. The insurance coverage is valid for one year.

Comprehensive export credit insurance is intended to protect Russian companies against the risk of default of foreign buyers due to commercial or political reasons. The insurance covers supplies of goods under a deferred payment scheme.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, SIBUR has recently sold its 100% stake in OJSC Plastik (Uzlovaya, Tula Region, Russia) to the group of private investors. The deal value totalled RUB 575 million. Production of geosynthetics (geogrids and nonwoven geotextiles), spinned off as OOO Plastik-Geosintetika (a joint venture between SIBUR and Leader Innovations Closed-End Venture Capital Fund) in 2010, was not included in the transaction and continues to operate as part of SIBUR Group.

SIBUR is a uniquely positioned vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. SIBUR owns and operates Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes, and is a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical (Petro Rabigh) released financial statements for the fiscal period that ended on December 31, 2013, said the producer in its press release.

Q4 net profit reached SAR 1,240 million, soaring 1,720.85% compared with SAR 68.1 million in the same period of last year. FY13 net earnings also fell 26.53% year-over-year from SAR 488.9 million to SAR 359.2 million.

The increase in net profit of Q4, 2013 versus Q4, 2012 is due to the new commercial arrangements with the Founding Shareholders and the recognition of RAWEC settlement payment. On the other hand, lower refining margin and decreased petrochemical sales quantity due to the utilities supplier blackout event in September had a negative impact to current quarter performance.

The decrease in net profit is due to the deteriorated refining margin and low operation levels caused by the utilities supplier blackout events, nonetheless, the benefit of the new commercial arrangements with Founding Shareholders of SR 1.2 billion for this year, and the recognition of RAWEC settlement payment of SR 750 million, has largely helped in minimizing this negative impact.

As MRC reported previously, Petro Rabigh had signed an agreement with Tasnee and Saudi Advanced Industries (SAIC) for the supply of propylene oxide to the joint venture for the production of polyether polyol. The plant is located in Rabiga, in the west of Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea. The production launch is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2013.

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, has an annual output capacity of 18 million tonsne of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A concrete offer has arrived via Great Britain's fund Devon for the takeover of the debts of Croatia's Dina Petrokemija petrochemical company, the increase of its capital and broadening of production, said Daje, citing Dina management board president Fabio Giacometti.

Giacometti told Hina in a telephone interview this was a serious offer. He, however, declined to reveal the name of the investor, saying only that the technical crew hired by the investor to check out Dina plants was from Kazakhstan.
Dina cannot be profitable with this production and investments need to be made in new plants and products, mostly petrochemicals, Giacometti said, explaining that the investor would launch new plants and significantly increase the production capacities.

A total of EUR 25 million is necessary to launch the present scope of production and we are negotiating a loan for the payment of one of a total of 15 unpaid salaries, he added.

Asked about Ivan Cermak's Crodux Plin company, which expressed interest in Dina, Giacometti said he only had information about Crodux Plin representatives having contacts with a new potential investor.

A pre-bankruptcy settlement for the Omisalj-based Dina was reached before the commercial court in Rijeka on 30 September 2013. Dina’s units have been mothballed since late 2011, when creditors froze the companies' bank accounts through a petition to the courts.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell's UOP announced Tuesday that two Chinese petrochemical producers have selected UOP process technologies to help meet growing demand for high-value petrochemicals in China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Shandong Huachao Chemical Co. will use the UOP C4 Oleflex process to produce isobutylene, a key ingredient for fuels and synthetic rubber. In addition, Zibo Qixiang Tengda Chemical Co. will use the UOP Butamer process to transform normal butane to isobutane and UOP's C3/C4 Oleflex process to convert isobutane to isobutylene and propane to propylene for the production of plastics.

Both companies are located in Shandong Province on China's East Coast. The Oleflex projects represent UOP's 16th and 17th announced licenses for the Oleflex technology since the beginning of 2011, as demand for propylene and isobutylene grows in the region.

The Shandong Huachao project will be the sixth C4 Oleflex unit in China, and the Zibo Qixiang Tengda project is the third combined C3/C4 Oleflex license UOP has been awarded.

The new units are expected to start up in 2016. The Shandong Huachao facility will process 200,000 metric tons of isobutane. and the Zibo Qixiang Tengda facility will process 400,000 metric tons of propane and butane feedstocks.

In addition to the technology licensing, UOP will provide the engineering design, catalysts, adsorbents, equipment, staff training and technical service for both projects.

As MRC informed before, Honeywell's UOP granted the third technology license for its breakthrough methanol-to-olefins (MTO) technology to China's Shandong Yangmei Hengtong Chemicals. The Chinese company will use Honeywell UOP's advanced MTO process to convert methanol from gasified coal into ethylene and propylene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil officially launched the world's first chemical unit that processes crude oil in Singapore, aiming to lower costs to better compete with rivals in a market saddled with excess capacity, said Brecorder.

Chemical companies typically process refined oil products such as naphtha - created by separating crude oil into lighter groups - at facilities called crackers to create petrochemicals like ethylene and propylene. These are further processed into products such as plastics, soaps or synthetic fibres.

But Exxon's new cracker in Singapore allows the company to bypass the refining process by processing crude directly into petrochemicals.

The new technology helps reduce raw material costs, energy consumption and carbon emissions, Pryor said, while the cracker also produces fuel components.

Crackers in Asia typically use naphtha as a feedstock, while those in the Middle East enjoy a cost advantage as they process cheaper ethane and propane gases into petrochemicals.

The multi-billion dollar complex on Singapore's Jurong Island includes the 1 million tonne per year (tpy) steam cracker as well as production of at least 1.4 million tpy of polymers and elastomers. The cracker was brought online in the middle of last year, but Exxon has not previously confirmed the use of crude as a feedstock.

The project had been delayed for two years due to its complexity and a weak economic outlook which has pared the use of petrochemicals in automobile parts, electrical appliances and consumables, despite excess capacity.

ExxonMobil's Singapore chemical facility accounts for about 25% of the company's global chemical capacity, incorporates over 40 new technologies and is one of ExxonMobil's most energy efficient and flexible sites.

ExxonMobil has operated in Singapore for 120 years and is one of Singapore’s largest foreign manufacturing investors. The company has expanded refining and petrochemical production in Singapore to meet expected demand for transportation fuels and the chemicals used for plastics and other manufacturing across the Asia Pacific region.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC