September PET production in Russia fell by almost half

MOSCOW (MRC) -- September production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Russia slumped by 14,700 tonnes (48%) from August on a back of outages for maintenance at three Russian plants, according to MRC ScanPlast.

Russia's overall PET output totalled 19,300 tonnes in September. Production dropped at the Solnechnogorsk plant (Senezh), Kaliningrad plant (Alco-Naphtha) and Ufa plant (Polief). The plants shut down production for maintenance works, which negatively affected the overall PET output. At the same time, SIBUR-PETF (Tver) operated at normal capacity utilisation. The plant produced 6,600 tonnes of chips in September.

There was no shortage of material in the market in September and October, despite outages at several plants. High stocks of finished products and PET chips at Russian players' warehouses allowed to fully meet the needs of the industry. The reduced output of PET chips in September helped to stop stocks at producers and converters' warehouses from growing.

Russia's overall PET production totalled 317,000 tonnes over the first three quarters of 2014. Thus, the PET output dropped by 4% year on year. At the same time, imports have been increasing.

As reported earlier, PET imports to the Russian domestic market rose over the first three quarters of 2014 by 22% year on year and totalled 166,000 tonnes.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos ChlorVinyls, one of the major chlor-alkali producers in Europe, has restarted a chlor-alkali plant following an unexpected shutdown, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Belgium informed that the plant restarted on October 22, 2014. It was shut in the second week of October 2014 owing to technical issues.

Located at Tessenderlo, Belgium, the plant has a caustic soda capacity of 452,000 mt/year and chlorine capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2014, Ineos ChlorVinyls announced an increase in its list prices of caustic soda. Thus, Ineos' caustic soda prices increased by EUR65 per dry metric tonne with effect from 1 October 2014. Earlier, Ineos increased its prices of caustic soda from 1 July 2014 by EUR 60 per dry metric tonne.

Ineos ChlorVinyls is one of the major chlor-alkali producers in Europe, a global leader in chlorine derivatives and Europe's largest PVC manufacturer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Olin Corp., a maker of chlor alkali products, on reported a 63% decline in profit for the third quarter from last year, reflecting lower sales at all three of its segment, particularly the Chlor Alkali products segment, said Rttnews.

The company's shares declined 6% in extended trades. Joseph Rupp, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Olin said, "During the third quarter of 2014, the Chlor Alkali business experienced lower chlorine and caustic soda shipments and prices compared to the third quarter of 2013. Third quarter 2014 ECU netbacks declined compared to the third quarter of 2013 reflecting both lower chlorine and caustic soda prices."

The Clayton, Missouri-based company's third-quarter net income was USD26.1 million or USD0.33 per share, down from USD69.7 million or USD0.86 per share in the same period last year. The latest quarter's results included USD1.2 million of pretax restructuring charges and USD9.5 million of pretax expense for the call premium and unamortized deferred debt issuance costs.

The prior-year quarter's results included USD1.6 million of pretax restructuring charges, the net recovery of USD11.4 million of pretax legacy legal costs, a pretax gain of USD11.0 million for a favorable Chlor Alkali Products contract settlement and USD8.8 million of favorable tax adjustments.

Sales for the quarter declined 11% to USD593.6 million from USD670.7 million last year.

Chlor Alkali Products sales for the quarter declined 12% from the prior-year period to USD329.2 million. Chlorine and caustic soda volumes decreased 9 percent from last year and ECU netbacks declined about 11%.

Chemical Distribution sales were down 25% from last year to USD76.6 million, reflecting the combination of lower caustic soda volumes and selling prices.

Analysts currently expect the company to earn USD0.33 per share for the quarter. The company expects the fourth-quarter earnings to include pretax restructuring charges of about USD1 million.

As a result of the continued weaker than expected chlorine and caustic soda demand and pricing, Olin revised its full-year adjusted EBITDA forecast to a range of USD345 million to USD365 million.

Olin Corporation manufactures chemicals and ammunition products. The Company manufactures and sells chlorine, caustic soda, sodium hydrosulfite, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, sodium chlorate, bleach products, and potassium hydroxide. Olin also manufactures products that include sporting ammunition, reloading components, small caliber military ammunition and industrial cartridges.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Huntsman Corp. on posted higher earnings in its third quarter, boosted by strong demand for products such as environmentally-friendly textile dyes and aerospace composites, said the Wall Street Journal.

The maker of insulation, pigments and coatings has recently posted stronger sales following more than a year of declines. Huntsman also has aimed to refocus on key markets and reduce costs to boost its performance.

Earlier this month, Huntsman closed on its USD1.1 billion acquisition of Rockwood Holdings Inc. ’s performance additives and titanium dioxide businesses. Chief Executive Peter R. Huntsman said that the acquisition is expected to add 70 cents to the company’s per-share earnings by mid-2016.

Overall, Huntsman reported a profit of USD188 million, or 76 cents a share, up from USD64 million, or 26 cents a share, a year earlier. Earnings in the quarter included a USD40 million income tax benefit, while prior-year earnings included an USD81 million income tax charge.

Excluding pension-related impacts, restructuring charges and other items, adjusted earnings improved to 60 cents from 54 cents a year earlier.

Revenue edged up 1.5% to USD2.88 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 53 cents and revenue of USD2.91 billion.

Revenue in Huntsman’s textiles division jumped 12% in the quarter, while revenue in its polyurethanes division edged up 1%. Performance products revenue fell 2%.

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals with 2013 revenues of over USD11 billion. Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. The company's operating companies manufacture products for a variety of global industries, including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), one of the world's largest petrochemicals groups and the Gulf's largest listed company, reported a 4.5 percent drop in third-quarter net income on Sunday, missing analysts' forecasts, said Reuters.

It earned 6.18 billion riyals (USD1.65 billion) in the quarter, compared to 6.47 billion riyals in the year-earlier period, SABIC reported in a bourse statement.

SABIC, which is 70 percent state-owned, attributed the fall in profits to a drop in sales and other income, although its cost of financing was lower.

Earnings were below the average forecast of nine analysts polled by Reuters, who had predicted a quarterly profit of 6.63 billion riyals.

The company's results are closely tied to global economic growth because its products - plastics, fertilisers and metals - are used extensively in construction, agriculture, industry and the manufacturing of consumer goods.

SABIC chief executive Mohamed al-Mady said in July that the outlook for petrochemical demand over the next three years was positive and there was room for prices to rise.

As MRC wrote before, SABIC and Royal Dutch Shell have shelved plans to expand an existing petrochemical joint venture in Saudi Arabia as the results of feasibility studies were not encouraging. The two partners in the joint project, known as SADAF joint venture in Jubail, on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, first announced plans to explore an expansion of their petrochemical plant in 2012.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world’s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC