Polyolefins margins drive Borealis Q2 net profit jump

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polyolefins and chemicals group Borealis (Vienna / Austria) witnessed a rise in net sales by 7% to EUR 4.2 bn in the first half of 2018. In contrast, the company's net profit fell by the same percentage to EUR 533m, as per Pplasteurope.

A separate look at the first two quarters of 2018 shows that while Q1 produced a slump in net income, down 23% to EUR 240m, mainly due to low margins in the polyolefin business and the Borouge 2 maintenance – see Plasteurope.com of 09.05.2018 – Q2 turned around, with an increase of 12% to EUR 293m. This was due to rising margins, despite investments in the joint venture the company has with Total Petrochemicals and Refining USA (Houston, Texas / USA) and Nova Chemicals (Calgary, Alberta / Canada), named Bayport Polymers.

The Austrian group is growing its recycling strategy, with capacity expansions started up in Germany this year – see Plasteurope.com of 11.06.2018. It also recently signed an agreement to take over compatriot plastics recycler Ecoplast Kunststoffrecycling.
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Fire breaks out at BPCLs Mumbai refinery, 2 injured

MOSCOW (MRC) - A fire broke out at state-controlled Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd’s Mumbai refinery, leaving two people injured, as per Reuters.

The fire started around 0915 GMT in the compressor shed of the hydrocracker plant, the company said in a statement.

“The fire is still on but is under control,” the company added.

The fire is confined to the hydrocracker plant, said Mumbai fire chief P. S. Rahangdale, adding that two hose lines of fire engines and two hose lines of fixed firefighting installations were in operation.

“Cooling operation is in progress,” he said.

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Covestro completes PC sheets business sale to Plaskolite

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Germany-based materials manufacturer Covestro yesterday successfully closed the sale of Covestro’s Polycarbonates (PCS) sheets business in Sheffield (US) to Plaskolite, as per Europawire.

Acrylics sheets manufacturer Plaskolite will continue operations at the facility, which generated sales of about USD 170 million in 2017.

The sale of the sheets business is part of Covestro’s efforts to optimize its porfolio. After thorough evaluation, the company has decided that the sheets business will not be a strategic fit for its Polycarbonates segment in the long run. Besides the sale of the US sheets business, Covestro has also sold its sheets business in India, and is transferring its production in Guangzhou, China, into a speciality films site.

After Covestro had decided that its US sheets business could develop and grow better under a new owner, the company announced in March 2018 to have signed an asset deal with Plaskolite.

Both companies agreed on a purchase price in the high-double-digit million US Dollar range.

With 2017 sales of EUR 14.1 billion, Covestro is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, construction, wood processing and furniture, and electrical and electronics industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry itself. Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,200 people (calculated as full-time equivalents) at the end of 2017.
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Significant environmental milestone for Mississippi project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Velocys plc (VLS.L), the renewable fuels company, announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on the environmental assessment report for Velocys’ planned Bayou Fuels biorefinery in Natchez, Mississippi, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With the FONSI process completed, Velocys will now focus on the next steps in the project’s development, including securing the state-level permits that will be required to construct and operate the biorefinery.

The 160-page environmental assessment report details the impact of the proposed facility across 15 potential aspects, including: land use, water resources, air quality, wildlife, visual impact, noise, transport and public and occupational health. In each case, the report concludes the plant would have “none”, “none to minor”, or “minor” impacts during construction and operation.

The FONSI was issued as part of Velocys’ ongoing development of a 100-acre site in Natchez that the company secured in October 2017. The site will be home to a pioneering biorefinery that will use Velocys’ innovative technology to produce low-carbon transportation fuels from the wood wastes of lumber operations and tree plantations. The plant is expected to convert locally-sourced woody biomass waste into enough renewable fuel to meet the demands of running around 40,000 diesel and gasoline trucks.

No opposing or negative comments were filed as part of the USDA’s public consultation process.

“This is a significant step in the permitting of the Bayou Fuels biorefinery as well as an important milestone for the overall development of the project. The environmental assessment provides independent confirmation that the project will not give rise to any significant environmental impacts and reflects our commitment to responsible and safe project development," David Pummell, CEO of Velocys, said.
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Imperial Oil seeks to diversify refinery supply after Syncrude outage

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An unplanned shutdown this summer of Canada’s Syncrude oil sands site has caused Imperial Oil Ltd to look to lessen its biggest refinery’s reliance on it, reported Reuters with reference to Imperial’s chief executive.

Imperial holds a 25 percent stake in Syncrude, which is majority-owned by Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO). It was forced to shut down last month after a power transformer failed.

Syncrude’s 360,000 barrel per day mine and oil upgrading site in northern Alberta accounts for 10 percent of Canada’s oil production. Nearly all of Imperial’s share of its output feeds the Strathcona refinery to produce gasoline and other products, accounting for one-third of the refinery’s oil supply, Chief Executive Rich Kruger said.

"When Syncrude has an unplanned event, the supply folk at Strathcona do need to scramble, and unfortunately they have had to scramble the last few years more than they would like," Kruger said on a conference call with analysts.

Imperial is testing the suitability of other types of light and synthetic crude to determine if it should secure other supply agreements for the refinery, Kruger said.

"The Syncrude events are more troubling for their impact on Strathcona. It does affect the ability to run that refinery at the highest level of reliability without disruptions."

Suncor said this week that some Syncrude production has been restored and full production may come online in September.

Imperial’s second-quarter profit missed analyst estimates by a wide margin on Friday, hurt by higher-than-expected costs from planned maintenance at various projects.

Shares of the company, which is majority owned by Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), dipped 1.3 percent in Toronto.

The company had scheduled maintenance at several projects including a 72-day turnaround at Strathcona.

But cost overruns hurt its bottom line, with analysts at Eight Capital saying the hit from maintenance of about CD250 million, or 31 Canadian cents a share, was bigger than expected.

The company reported net profit of CD196 million (USD149.9 million) or 24 Canadian cents per share in the quarter, compared with a loss a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, it earned 24 Canadian cents a share, while analysts expected a profit of 57 Canadian cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Gross production rose to 336,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 331,000 boepd a year earlier, but missed some analysts’ estimates.
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