Neste MY Renewable diesel launched in Sweden

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Neste is launching Neste MY Renewable diesel for the Swedish transport market, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

It is made from 100% renewable raw materials and emits up to 90% less greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional fossil diesel.

With 2.7 million tons, Neste is responsible for the majority of total renewable diesel production globally. Neste MY Renewable Diesel reduced climate emissions by 8.3 million tons of CO2 in 2017. This is equivalent to taking more than 3 million fossil-fuel cars off the roads or making a city the size of Stockholm car-free for 8 years. Neste is targeting to produce about 4 million tons of renewable fuels by 2022. In 2017 renewable fuels accounted for 21.4% of the total transportation fuel usage in Sweden, and consumption of renewable fuels is growing rapidly, by 19% in 2018 compared to 2015 and the most of this increase is due the use of HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) such as Neste MY Renewable Diesel.

"Sweden has incredibly ambitious climate targets, not least that the country should be fossil-free by 2045. We and other companies which produce renewable fuels need clear policies and predictable forecasts, if we are to secure new investment and increase production, which is required to significantly reduce emissions from the transport sector and achieve our climate goals”, says Carl Nyberg, Neste’s Vice President in Sales Scandinavia.

Neste MY Renewable Diesel can be used in all diesel engines and existing fuel distribution systems. The fuel is being launched in Sweden under the motto "Five minutes to fossil-free".

Neste MY Renewable Diesel sales in Sweden is aimed initially at the transport industry and other business customers and is sold via the distributors Swea Energi, Biofuel Express, Ecobransle, Colabitoil and Energifabriken. But the fuel works just as well in private cars and can easily replace traditional diesel here as well.

Neste MY Renewable Diesel is produced from 100% renewable raw materials. A large number of different waste fats are used in the production, including waste and residues from meat, fish and vegetable oil industry. Neste MY Renewable Diesel has the same chemical composition as fossil diesel and easily replaces conventional diesel or can be blended in any proportion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indorama is in plans to shut a purified terephthalate (PET) plant for a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the company has schedule turnaround at the plant in November 2018 for a period of around two weeks. The exact date of the shutdown could not be ascertained.

Located at Lop Buri, Thailand, the PET plant has a production capacity of 180,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, in June 2018, Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global chemical producer, entered into a joint venture agreement with Dhunseri Petrochem Ltd. (Dhunseri) to acquire its Egyptian Indian Polyester Company S.A.E. (EIPET) PET facility located in Ain Sokhna free trade zone, North West of the Gulf of Suez in Egypt. This plant has a manufacturing capacity of 540,000 tonnes per annum.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand, is one of the world's leading petrochemicals producers, a global manufacturing footprint with 59 sites in 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. The company's portfolio is comprises necessities and high value-added (HVA) categories of polymers, fibers, and packaging. Indorama Ventures has approx. 15,000 employees worldwide and consolidated revenue of USD 8.4 billion in 2017. The company is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical came out with quarterly earnings of USD2.35 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of USD2.24 per share, as per Zacks.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 4.91%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this chemical company would post earnings of USD2.52 per share when it actually produced earnings of USD2.45, delivering a surprise of -2.78%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times.

Westlake, which belongs to the Zacks Chemical - Plastic industry, posted revenues of USD2.26 billion for the quarter ended September 2018, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.91%. This compares to year-ago revenues of USD2.11 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters.
The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

Westlake shares have lost about 30.1% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 2.4%.

As MRC informed earlier, Westlake Chemical reported Q1 EPS of USD2.20, USD0.04 better than the analyst estimate of USD2.16. Revenue for the quarter came in at USD2.15 billion versus the consensus estimate of USD2.14 billion.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is an international manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, chlor-alkali and derivative products, PVC suspension and specialty resins, PVC Compounds, and PVC building products including siding, pipe, fittings and specialty components, windows, fence, deck and film.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The start-up a refinery-petrochemical project in Brunei by China’s Hengyi Industries International Pte Ltd will likely be delayed by a few months to the second quarter of next year, reported Reuters with reference to four industry sources.

The project, at Brunei’s Muara Besar island and which includes a 175,000-barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery, was expected to be mechanically completed by end-2018, with operations slated for the first quarter of next year.

Construction is now expected to be finished by the first quarter of 2019, with the first crude oil cargo to be delivered to the plant at the end of that period, one of the sources said.

Reasons for the delay were not immediately clear, but new refineries often face start-up delays.

Trial runs at the crude distillation unit (CDU) will start around April-May and operation could begin in the second or third quarter of next year, the source said.

Hengyi Industries International plans to import Middle East crude for the refinery’s first cargo, although this will largely depend on economics at the time of importing, the source said.

The company is the trading arm of privately-run Chinese company Hengyi Group, which is a major synthetic fiber producer in China and owns Shenzhen-listed Hengyi Petrochemical.

The Brunei refinery-petrochemical project will produce gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, the sources said. It will not produce any fuel oil for export.

Hengyi Petrochemical did not respond to a request for comment.

The Brunei complex also houses an aromatics plant that will make 1.5 million tonnes per year (tpy) of paraxylene and 400,000 tpy of benzene.

The refinery plans to export oil products to customers in Asia, but it will also have to compete with other new refining projects in the region, including the USD27 billion Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) complex in Malaysia, which is jointly owned by Malaysia’s Petronas and Saudi Aramco.

RAPID is also aiming for start-up next year.

As MRC informed earlier, Petronas plans to build a C6-based metallocene linear LDPE plant and a low density polyethylene (LDPE)/ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) swing plant at its greenfield integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in southern Johor state by mid-2019. The proposed metallocene LLDPE will have a capacity of 350,000 tpa, while the LDPE/EVA will have a capacity of about 150,000 tpa. The two plants are part of Petronas' planned Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development project in Pengerang at Johor.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Products reported GAAP net income from continuing operations of USD1.5 billion and GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations of USD6.59, both up 28 percent, for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2018, said the company.

For the year, on a non-GAAP basis, record adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations of USD7.45 was up 18 percent, the fourth consecutive year of double-digit annual growth.

Full-year sales of USD8.9 billion increased nine percent on six percent higher volumes, one percent higher pricing and two percent favorable currency. Volumes were higher across all three regions, partially offset by lower activity from the Jazan project; excluding Jazan, volumes for the year were up 10 percent. The higher pricing was driven by the China and Europe merchant businesses.

Adjusted EBITDA of USD3.1 billion for the year increased 11 percent, led by strong volume growth, positive pricing, currency and equity affiliate income, partially offset by higher costs. Record adjusted EBITDA margin of 34.9 percent for the year increased 70 basis points.
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