Sasol earnings up on weak rand, higher chemical prices

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South African petrochemicals company Sasol reported a 14 percent increase in full-year earnings on Monday, boosted by higher chemical prices and a weaker rand currency, but the result fell short of analysts' expectations, said Reuters.

Diluted headline earnings per share rose to 59.64 cents from 52.53 cents the previous year, below a Reuters forecast of 63.4 cents, based on a poll of 11 analysts.

Sasol said the economic outlook in its domestic South African base "remains challenging as the country is still recovering from a five-month long strike in the platinum sector, with business and consumer confidence levels remaining low."

It also said that rand exchange rate and oil price assumptions, the biggest external factors impacting the company's margins, could be volatile because of increased geopolitical tensions and the likelihood of rising interest rates in the world's top economies.

Sasol said it still expected a solid production performance for the 2015 financial year and forecast capital expenditure of 50 billion rand (USD4.7 billion) for 2015 and 65 billion rand for 2016.

The group also said it had obtained all the air, water and wetlands permits for its mega-projects in the southern U.S. state of Louisiana, an ethane cracker and derivatives plant and an integrated gas-to-liquids and chemicals facility, which are expected to cost around USD16 to USD21 billion to build.

"We are making good progress on the financing," Sasol said. While Sasol's synthetic fuels business remains its revenue driver, the company has increasingly diversified into chemicals and gas and clean-energy projects.

As MRC wrote before, KBR was awarded a contract from INEOS and Sasol to provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for a new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) facility to be located at INEOS's Battleground complex in La Porte, Texas.

Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It develops and commercialises technologies, including synthetic fuels technologies, and produces different liquid fuels, chemicals and electricity.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Samsung Engineering Co., Ltd, has officially announced that it received a contract from Pemex, for the Pemex Salamanca ULSD project, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project will be executed in two phases. Phase I will include detail engineering and procurement of long-lead items and Phase II will comprise the rest of detail engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning. The USD80 million contract awarded to Samsung Engineering is for Phase I which will be executed on an OBCE (Open Book Cost Estimation) basis.

The project site is located in Salamanca 250 km northwest of Mexico’s capital, Mexico City. Samsung Engineering’s design will include the new HDS (hydrodesulfurization) unit with the capacity of 38,000 bpsd and the revamping of an existing HDS unit with the capacity of 53,000 bpsd. The initial engineering phase of the project is expected to be completed in September of 2015.

Choong Heum Park, President and CEO of Samsung Engineering stated: "This contract is a result of our exceptional project execution capabilities and the trust we built with our client Pemex throughout previous projects. With the understanding of the Mexican market and the successful completion of previous projects, Samsung Engineering hopes to continue a successful long-term partnership with Pemex."

Pemex is expected to release modernization projects for existing refineries in the near future. Samsung Engineering hopes that this award leads to a bright future with Pemex as partner.

As MRC wrote before, Pemex will sell a 7.9% stake in Spanish oil firm Repsol, worth about 2.2 billion euros (USD3.0 billion). The sale ends a long relationship between Pemex and Repsol that had run into trouble in recent years over disagreements on policies ranging from top management to the handling of Repsol's investments in Argentina.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Amyris (AMRS), Braskem (BAK) and Michelin announced that Braskem is joining the ongoing collaboration between Michelin and Amyris, said Finance.

This collaboration was initiated to develop and commercialize renewable isoprene, sourced from various biomass as an additional sustainable pathway to produce isoprene.

Under the terms of the agreement, Braskem, Michelin and Amyris will work together to develop a technology to utilize plant sugars, such as those found in Brazilian sugarcane or cellulosic feedstocks, to produce renewable isoprene. Adding the expertise of Braskem, the largest petrochemical company in the Americas and global leader in the production of biopolymers, Amyris and Michelin will accelerate the industrialization of renewable isoprene.

Amyris will share its rights to commercialize the renewable isoprene technology developed under this collaboration with Braskem. Michelin will maintain certain preferential, but not exclusive, access to the renewable isoprene to be produced by this technology. The companies will not disclose details of the agreement, including the financial contributions of each party.

This joint project, with Amyris and Braskem, will give Michelin an additional sustainable sourcing channel for poly-isoprene for the production of quality tires, providing a high-performance, environmentally responsible material.

Amyris is an integrated renewable products company focused on providing sustainable alternatives to a broad range of petroleum-sourced products.

Braskem is the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in the Americas and the world's leading biopolymers producer, manufacturing green polyethylene from sugarcane-based ethanol. With 36 industrial plants in Brazil, the United States and Germany, the company produces over 35 billion pounds of thermoplastic resins and other petrochemicals per year, creating more environmental-friendly, intelligent and sustainable solutions through chemicals and plastics that improve people's lives.

As MRC wrote before, Braskem announces its plans for the construction of an Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) plant at its site in La Porte, Texas. Braskem's UHMWPE products are produced under the trade name UTEC. Groundbreaking of the new plant in La Porte will start during the third quarter of 2014.

Michelin, the leading tire company, is dedicated to sustainably improving the mobility of goods and people by manufacturing and marketing tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles/motorcycles, earthmovers, farm equipment and trucks.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrochemical complex Nizhnekamskneftekhim (part of TAIF) shut down its ethylene production for a scheduled turnaround at night, from 13 to 14 September 2014, reported MRC analysts.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim traditionally shuts down its ethylene unit in September for an overhaul. This year was no exception, maintenance is scheduled to be conducted during three weeks from 13 September. The plant's annual production is 600,000 tonnes of ethylene.

Company representatives said Nizhnekamskneftekhim intends to shut down its polyethylene and polypropylene production for short maintenance works in late September.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim (part of TAIF group) is one of the largest petrochemical companies in Europe and a leader in the production of synthetic rubber and plastics in the Russian Federation. The main production facilities are located in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan. The company was founded in 1967. The plant's annual production capacity of polyethylene is 230,000 tonnes and that of polypropylene - 210,000 tonnes.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem has developed a new polyethylene (PE) that offers two times the life span as compared to existing materials, according to Plastemart.

Intended for pipes and water mains applications, it was developed at the company’s technology and innovation centre in Triunfo, Rio Grande do Sul, as per prw.com.

A total of RD16 mln (GBP4.4 mln) was invested in testing at the company’s pilot plants and in adaptations to the firm’s industrial facilities to prepare them to start production of the new resin.

The new system employed in the process increased the product’s performance, with durability now calculated at 100 years for tubes under pressure, compared to 50 years for the previous resin.The improvements in mechanical properties - creep, impact strength and rapid crack propagation - will ensure that the new resin meets all of the required standards in this segment (ISO, DIN, EN and NBR).

The resin’s main uses include pipes for water and natural gas distribution networks, pipelines to transport ore slurry and oil, sewage networks and water mains.

As MRC informed earlier, last October, Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, and Braskem, the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in America and a global leader in biopolymers, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to investigate the formation of a joint venture in Brazil. The proposed 100,000 tonne plant would supply specialty styrenics, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) copolymers, to customers in Brazil and throughout South America.

Braskem is Brazilian main producer of polyethylene and polypropylene. In addition with ongoing plants located in both petrochemical complexes, in April 2008 Braskem opened a 300,000 metric ton polypropylene plant in the city of Paulinia (Sao Paulo).
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