Trinseo raises August prices of PS and copolymers in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced price increases for all polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile styrene copolymer (SAN) grades, as per the company's press release.

Effective August 1, 2018, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below will increase as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) - by EUR30 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR30 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR30 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR30 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo last raised its prices for all PS, ABS and SAN grades on 1 Jue 2018, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS grades - by EUR80 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech HIPS grades - by EUR80 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR95 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR80 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.4 billion in net sales in 2017, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,200 employees.
MRC

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat resumed PE production

MOSCOW (Market Report) -- Gazprom neftekhim Salavat, one of Russia's largest production complexes for oil refining and petrochemicals, resumed its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production after a scheduled turnaround, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's customers said Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's LDPE production began operations yesterday, 1 August. PE production resumed operations after the scheduled turnaround, which started a month ago.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's LDPE and high density polyethyelene (HDPE) production capacities are 45,000 and 120,000 tonnes per year, respectively.

Angarsk Polymers Plant is expected to finish a scheduled maintenance at its LDPE production next week. The scheduled works at the Angarsk production capacities also started in early July.

OAO "Gazprom neftekhim Salavat" (formerly OAO "Salavatnefteorgsintez") is one of the leading petrochemical companies in Russia, carrying out a full cycle of processing hydrocarbon material. The list of products manufactured by the plant includes more than 140 items, including 76 grades of the main products: gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, fuel oil, toluene, solvent, liquefied gases, benzene, styrene, ethylbenzene, butyl alcohols, phthalic anhydride and plasticizers, polyethylene, polystyrenes, silica gels and zeolite catalysts, corrosion inhibitors, elemental sulfur, ammonia and urea, glycols and amines, a wide range of household products made of plastics, surfactants and much more.
MRC

Exxon Mobil and Chevron earnings miss Wall Street expectations

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp, two of the world’s largest oil producers, reported quarterly profit on Friday that fell far short of Wall Street’s expectations, reported Reuters.

The disappointing results come as much of the U.S. oil industry has been recovering from a three-year downturn in the energy sector, bolstered by higher production and crude prices.

Exxon’s troubles highlight ongoing issues the company has been having to boost operations, whereas Chevron’s miss was fueled by a slight rise in expenses that likely will not be repeated, analysts said.

Exxon shares fell 2.5 percent to USD82.09 shortly after midday, while Chevron's recovered from an early drop and were up about 2 percent at USD126.34. Both stocks are components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The results were particularly weak at Exxon, which has been trying to boost operations in a bid to revive a stock price trading at about the same level it was a decade ago.

"Exxon’s definitely sticking out like a sore thumb right now," said Edward Jones energy analyst Brian Youngberg. "It’s just hard to find anything good in the quarter."

Despite rising oil prices, Exxon’s production dropped 7 percent and it spent more than USD600 million to upgrade refineries in France, Canada, Texas and Saudi Arabia.

Exxon called the quarter a "challenging” one for its operations and “well below market expectations."

Neil Chapman, an Exxon executive and member of the company’s management committee, said he is "not happy" about the ongoing refinery maintenance, adding there is "nothing systemic" about the repairs that would reveal weakness in the refining division.

"We are absolutely all over these reliability incidents," Chapman said on a conference call with investors.

Exxon earned 92 cents per share, while analysts expected earnings of USD1.27 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

At Chevron, oil production rose 2 percent and profit spiked, but higher corporate expenses surprised Wall Street. Still, the company announced a USD3 billion stock buyback program, long awaited by Wall Street.

"We believe annual share repurchases of USD3 billion can be sustained over most reasonable price scenarios," Chevron Chief Financial Officer Pat Yarrington told investors on a conference call.

Chevron earned USD1.78 per share, while analysts expected USD2.09 per share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Royal Dutch Shell, a key rival, posted second-quarter profit on Thursday far below forecasts due in part to weakness in refining.

British oil major BP Plc is set to report quarterly results next week. On Thursday it agreed to buy U.S. shale oil and gas assets from global miner BHP Billiton for USD10.5 billion.

As MRC wrote previously, in June 2018, ExxonMobil said that it is progressing a multi-billion dollar project at its integrated manufacturing facility in Singapore to produce higher-value products and expand lubricant base stocks production to meet growing demand.
MRC

Sabic launches STADECK heavy-duty panels

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sabic, a global leader in the chemical industry, announces the launch of STADECK, its new heavy- duty panel for the building and construction industry, as per the company's press relese.

Made from glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin, the panel is extremely lightweight and offers significant advantages across a wide range of construction applications and building techniques where weight saving is important.

Although the panels are low weight, their innovative construction and design makes them remarkably strong. Additionally, STADECK panels have great weather- and chemical resistance, have anti-slip properties and excellent fire behavior. STADECK panels are NEN-EN 12811-1 certified which makes them a good candidate for scaffolding applications.

When compared to standard wooden planks, commonly used in the building industry, STADECK panels are a more sustainable option, due to their excellent recyclability and weight savings, which can be as much as 60 percent. Added to which, cost savings of up to 32 percent, the panels deliver significant handling advantages along with financial benefits - in addition to reducing overall construction weight.

"Sabic has always played a pioneering role in the development of ground-breaking new materials," said Mr. Peter van den Bleek, Senior Product Manager. "The addition of STADECK™ panels to our portfolio of innovative products is further testament to SABIC’s forward-looking capabilities and commitment to delivering greater productivity, safety and profitability to our building and construction customers."

Corrosion-free and moisture resistant, STADECK panels have been shown to have a significantly longer life than wooden planks. The new panels are particularly well suited to building applications such as scaffolding, frame works decking, fencing, floodwalls, jetties, sheathing, and wheel chair ramps, among many others. Quickly installed, STADECK panels are also well suited for temporary applications such as flooring at events and festivals.
The panels can be produced in different colors like wood, stone and grass variated colors - and come in the following standard dimensions, although custom lengths can be supplied on request: gauge 55 mm; width 230 mm; and lengths of 3,000 mm and 6,000 mm.

As MRC wrote before, in November 2017, Sabic developed new materials for customers producing LED automotive lighting parts. LEXAN HF4010SR resin was one of the new offerings. This polycarbonate (PC) material can make it possible for customers to develop complex headlight bezels with enhanced aesthetics. Sabic has also added new grades to its existing LEXAN XHT resin line, which can offer improved flow at high temperatures compared to other high-heat polycarbonate materials available today.

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

U.S. refineries running at near-record levels

MOSCOW (MRC) -- For the week ending July 6, 2018, the four-week average of U.S. gross refinery inputs surpassed 18 million barrels per day (b/d) for the first time since the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) began publishing that data series in 1990 (Figure 1). U.S. refineries are running at record levels in response to robust domestic and international demand for motor gasoline and distillate fuel oil, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Before the most recent increases in refinery runs, the last time the four-week average of U.S. gross refinery inputs approached 18 million b/d was the week of August 25, 2017. That week also marked the peak of U.S. gross refinery inputs for the year, and Hurricane Harvey made landfall the following week, which resulted in widespread refinery closures and shutdowns along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Although U.S. gross refinery inputs have fallen since the week ending July 6 to 17.7 million b/d for the week ending July 27, U.S. gross refinery inputs are still 759,000 b/d higher than the five-year (2013-2017) average level for this time of year.

Despite record-high inputs, refinery utilization as a percentage of capacity has not surpassed the record set in 1998. Rather than higher utilization, refinery runs have increased with increased refinery capacity. U.S. refinery capacity increased by 862,000 barrels per calendar day (b/cd) between January 1, 2011, and January 1, 2018.

The record-high U.S. input levels are driven in large part by refinery operations in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions, the Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADD) with the most refinery capacity in the country. The Gulf Coast (PADD 3) has more than half of all U.S. refinery capacity and reached a new record input level the same week as the record-high overall U.S. capacity, with four-week average gross refinery inputs of 9.5 million b/d for the week ending July 6. The Midwest (PADD 2) has the second-highest refinery capacity and the four-week average gross refinery inputs reached 4.1 million b/d for the week ending June 1.

U.S. refineries are responding to high demand for petroleum products, specifically motor gasoline and distillate. The four-week average of finished motor gasoline product supplied— EIA’s proxy measure of U.S. consumption—typically hits the highest level of the year in early August. Weekly data for this summer to date suggest that this year’s peak in finished motor gasoline product supplied is likely to match that of 2016 and 2017, the two highest-level years on record each at 9.8 million b/d, with the four-week average of finished motor gasoline product supplied for the week ending July 27, 2018, at 9.7 million b/d. Although the United States has typically been a net importer of gasoline in the spring and summer months, when domestic consumption increases, and a net exporter in winter months when demand is lower, recent strong international demand has pushed four-week average finished gasoline exports to 776,000 b/d for the week ending July 27, 2018, compared with 557,000 b/d at the same time last year.
MRC