Al Waha Petrochemical restarted PP plant in Saudi Arabia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Al Waha Petrochemical has restarted its polypropylene (PP) plant, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Saudi Arabia informed that the plant restarted over the weekend. It was shut for maintenance turnaround.

Located at Al-Jubail in Saudi Arabia, the plant has a production capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, the world-scale petrochemical complex in Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia has a capacity of 467,000 of propylene utilising oleflex technology, which serves as a feedstock for the 450,000 PP unit. The plant is considered to be largest, producing high-quality polypropylene using LBI's technology, sphereizone.

Al Waha Petrochemicals Company is owned by Sahara Petrochemicals Company, which holds 75% of its share capital with LyondelBasell owning 25%.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Axiall Corporation reported net sales of USD947.6 million for the first quarter of 2015, compared to net sales of USD993.7 million for the first quarter of 2014, said the company.

The company reported a net loss attributable to Axiall of USD10.6 million, or a USD0.15 loss per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2015, compared to a net loss attributable to Axiall of USD11.6 million, or USD0.17 loss per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2014.

The company reported an Adjusted Net Loss of USD3.6 million and an Adjusted Loss Per Share of USD0.05 for the first quarter of 2015, compared to an Adjusted Net Loss of USD5.3 million and an Adjusted Loss Per Share of USD0.08 for the first quarter of 2014. The company reported Adjusted EBITDA of USD83.2 million for the first quarter of 2015, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of USD67.6 million for the first quarter of 2014.

"Our first-quarter results were primarily driven by higher operating rates and lower ethylene and natural gas costs compared to the first quarter of last year. The benefit from these impacts was partially offset by lower caustic and vinyl prices," said President and CEO Paul Carrico. "In our Building Products segment, we experienced volume growth in both the U.S. and Canadian markets, but this was more than offset by the impact of a weaker Canadian dollar compared to the same period last year."

In the Chlorovinyls segment, first quarter 2015 net sales were USD648.4 million compared to USD682.2 million during the first quarter of 2014. This net sales decrease was primarily due to lower vinyl prices, driven by lower feedstock pricing; and lower ECU values, especially with respect to caustic soda pricing. These unfavorable factors were partially offset by higher operating rates and related sales volumes, as the first quarter of 2014 was impacted by an extended outage at our PHH VCM manufacturing facility.

As MRC informed earlier, Axiall continues to pursue its proposed 1 mln tpa ethane cracker in Louisiana. This is to meet the company's requirement for cheap ethylene to remain competitive in the chlorovinyls business.

Axiall Corporation is a leading integrated chemicals and building products company. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Axiall has manufacturing facilities located throughout North America and in Asia to provide industry-leading materials and services to customers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dutch chemicals and polymers maker LyondellBasell Industries, the world’s biggest maker of polypropylene plastic, has reported that first-quarter net income increased to USD1.16 billion or USD2.41 per share from USD944 million or USD1.72 per share in the prior-year quarter, as per RTT News.

Income from continuing operations grew to USD1.17 billion or USD2.42 per share from USD943 million or USD1.72 per share last year.

Results for the latest quarter include a USD92 million non-cash, pre-tax charge for the impact of a lower of cost or market (LCM) inventory adjustment (USD58 million after tax).

Excluding items, adjusted income from continuing operations was USD1.23 billion or USD2.54 per share, compared to USD943 million or USD1.72 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Sales and other operating revenues for the quarter declined to USD8.19 billion from USD11.14 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts expected revenue of USD9.48 billion for the quarter.

Looking ahead, CEO Bob Patel said, "Planned and unplanned industry downtime has continued to support polyolefins pricing. Additionally, in the U.S., NGL feedstock inventories stand at or near record levels, production has remained strong, and NGL prices are low. During the quarter, we expect our Intermediate and Derivatives segment to benefit from normal seasonal trends. Thus far, Refining industry spreads have declined versus the first quarter but remain healthy."

As MRC informed previously, in November 2014, LyondellBasell Industries said "tight" markets for its products may stall the narrower margins that it expects will ultimately come from lower oil prices.

LyondellBasell Industries NV is a manufacturing company. The company produces chemicals, fuels, and polymers used for packaging, clean fuels, durable textiles, medical applications, construction materials, and automotive parts. LyondellBasell Industries operates globally and is headquartered in the Netherlands. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Equate Petrochemical Company, Kuwait’s first international petrochemical joint-venture, has taken off-stream its No.2 monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Kuwait informed that the plant was shut on April 25, 2015. The plant is likely to restart early next week.

Located in Shuaiba, Kuwait, the plant has a production capacity of 650,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, in late 2014 - early 2015, Equate successfully entered its final stage of the turnaround’s operations relevant to a number of industrial units for ethylene, polyethylene and ethylene glycol.

Established in 1995, EQUATE Petrochemical Company is an international joint venture between Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Boubyan Petrochemical Company (BPC) and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC). Commencing production in 1997, EQUATE is the single operator of a fully integrated world-scale manufacturing facility producing over 5 million tons annually of high-quality petrochemical products which are marketed throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Occidental Petroleum Corporation announced core income for the first quarter of 2015 of USD31 million, compared with USD560 million for the fourth quarter of 2014 and USD1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2014, said the producer in its press relelase.

The first quarter of 2015 had a reported loss of USD218 million, compared with a loss of USD3.4 billion for the fourth quarter of 2014 and reported income of USD1.4 billion for the first quarter of 2014. The first quarter of 2015 included non-core charges of USD249 million, comprised mainly of asset impairment charges for certain domestic and international assets.

Cash flow from continuing operations before working capital changes was about USD1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2015. Working capital changes of USD0.6 billion were a result of lower realized prices, which impacted receivable collections and payments related to higher capital and operating spending accrued in the fourth quarter of 2014, but not paid until the first quarter of 2015. Total company capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2015 were USD1.7 billion. The Oil and Gas segment spent USD1.5 billion, with Permian Resources expenditures representing nearly 50 percent of the total expenditures, and the remaining USD200 million was split between the Chemical and Midstream segments.

Chemical pre-tax core earnings for the first quarter of 2015 were USD139 million, compared to USD136 million in the first quarter of 2014. The slightly higher earnings were the result of margin improvement across most product lines resulting from lower ethylene and natural gas costs, offset primarily by lower caustic soda sales volumes.

As MRC informed earlier, in December 2014 OxyChem and Mexichem announced that construction of its ethylene cracker at OxyChem’s Ingleside, Texas, complex is underway and the project remains on schedule to become commercially operational in the first quarter of 2017.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an international oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, Middle East region and Latin America. Headquartered in Houston, Occidental is one of the largest U.S. oil and gas companies, based on equity market capitalization. Occidental’s midstream and marketing segment gathers, processes, transports, stores, purchases and markets hydrocarbons and other commodities in support of Occidental’s businesses. The company’s wholly owned subsidiary OxyChem manufactures and markets chlor-alkali products and vinyls.

MRC