Dow slips to Q4 loss on margin pressure

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemicals maker Dow Inc reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Wednesday, helped by higher volumes in Asia as well as cost cuts, and pointed to a recovery in demand this year on the back of easing trade tensions, said Reuters.

Dow has been cutting costs to offset a drop in demand for chemicals used in plastics, building materials and paints, amid a global slowdown. The company said it had reduced costs by USD35 million in the quarter and would make further cuts this year.

An oversupplied market and uncertainties stemming from a prolonged U.S.-China trade war have also hit prices for polyethylene, the main ingredient used in making most plastics. The company’s overall prices declined 12% in the quarter.

Volumes fell 2%, primarily due to weakness in its hydrocarbon and energy unit, which sells by-products of oil refining. The drop was largely due to planned maintenance activity in Europe. Sales fell across all its three businesses, with its biggest unit that makes chemicals used in packaging and specialty plastics posting an 18% drop.

However, Dow’s results were boosted by double-digit growth in China. Leading into the Chinese New Year, Dow saw strong demand, with many customers either maintaining or buying additional inventory, Ungerleider said.

Commenting on the coronavirus outbreak, Ungerleider said it was “too soon to tell” the impact, but added it may be a positive for Dow’s business as it supplies to the medical and health sectors.

Dow, spun off in April after chemical conglomerate DowDuPont split into three, posted operating earnings of 78 cents per share, excluding certain items.

As MRC informed earlier, Dow Chemical, the world's petrochemical major, has put order controls in place for vinyl acetate monomer (VAM). The letter dated January 8 said, effective immediately, volumes will be based on previous monthly averages of purchased volumes, or limited to monthly maximum volumes specified in contracts. The letter does not provide details about how long the order control will be in place.

VAM is the main feedstock for the production of ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA).

According to MRC's DataScope report, November EVA imports to Russia dropped by 8,9% year on year to 3,440 tonnes from 3,780 tonnes in November 2018, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation decreased in January-November 2019 by 18,9% year on year to 35,95 tonnes (44,330 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2018).

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesia state energy company PT Pertamina has ended a partnership with Italian oil, gas and power firm Eni SpA to process palm oil into fuel, reported Reuters with reference to Pertamina’s chief executive, who addressed a parliamentary committee.

Pertamina’s Nicke Widyawati said during the hearing that Eni required internationally recognised certification for palm oil, in line with European Union moves to curb the use of palm oil as a transport fuel, even though the oil would have been processed in facilities located in Indonesia.

Pertamina and Eni signed a head joint venture agreement last year to build a refinery in Indonesia that would produce fuel completely derived from crude palm oil.

"We have decided to terminate this partnership and replace it with partnership with UOP from the United States for support in technology," Widyawati said, referring to an oil and gas engineering arm of US conglomerate Honeywell International Inc .

She didn’t disclose technical or financial details of the dissolution of the Eni partnership, nor of the new accord with UOP.

Eni and Honeywell UOP didn’t immediately respond to Reuters e-mails requesting comment sent outside usual business hours.

The European Commission concluded in March that palm oil causes excessive deforestation and should not count as a renewable source of energy, and will effectively be phased out as fuel for transport between 2023 and 2030.

Pertamina is building its new "green diesel" refinery in Plaju, in South Sumatra province, with planned output capacity of 1 million kilolitres (KL) per year and a target of commencing operations in 2024.

Indonesia is the world’s top palm oil producer and President Joko Widodo wants the country to optimise the use of palm-based fuel to curb energy imports, while increasing the consumption of the vegetable oil.

As MRC wrote previously, in November 2018, CPC Corp. of Taiwan and Indonesia's PT Pertamina signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a new naphtha cracker in Indonesia. The project, expected to cost USD6.47-billion, would in-volve the production of almost 1-million t/y of ethylene, meeting local demand.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin (established 1961) and Permina (established 1957). Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Eni is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. It has operations in in 79 countries, and is currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 68 billion euros (USD 90 billion), as of August 14, 2013. The Italian government owns a 30.3% golden share in the company, 3.93% held through the state Treasury and 26.37% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Another 39.40% of the shares are held by BNP Paribas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The Chinese company Useon (Nanjing) Extrusion Machinery Co., a manufacturer of extruders, has installed a polypropylene (PP) granulation line with a capacity of 70,000 tonnes/year in Indonesia, the company said.

After one-month busy installation and commissioning by USEON on-site service team and client team, Nanjing Useon Extrusion Machinery Co., Ltd. delivered the first 70,000-tons/year polypropylene large-scale extrusion compounding and granulation line, to Indonesian client. The one-time start-up was successful on October 24, 2019, with the operation output of 8 tons/hour and designed output of 8 tons/hour.

Various parameters are good during operation, and its maximum output is expected to reach 10 tons/hr accordingly. Senior leaders of the Indonesian Ministry of Finance and top management of the client company visited the site and spoke highly of the stable operation of the equipment.

Equipped PP polymerization reaction device adopts the Italian Spheripol process, based on which its capacity is increased by client’s own independent technical strength. The increased 70,000 tons/year accordingly will be accomplished by USEON SAT-X175 co-rotating twin screw extrusion compounding and granulation unit. This unit applies linear layout, with the delivery scope ranging from the inlet of the hopper to the outlet of the classifier. SAT-X175 co-rotating twin screw extruder, equipped with 2000KW Siemens as the main motor, independent-developed high torque gearbox with its torque up to 12Nm/cm3 and German Nordson underwater pelletizing system. PCW system and classifier are located respectively on the 3rd and 2nd floor platforms, first connected to the buffer silo then to the external finished product silo.

This line is successfully put into production, which further broke the long term monopoly by the Occident giants of huge polyolefin extrusion compounding and granulation equipment and proved the capacity of Nanjing Useon Extrusion Machinery Co., Ltd. to serve for such mega integrated projects from R & D, manufacture, installation to commission.

USEON will also contribute its own strength to the full localization of huge extrusion granulation units.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Foremark Performance Chemicals announced it has completed an expansion of its triazine manufacturing operations at its La Porte, Texas plant, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The capacity increase reflects strong customer demand growth from both higher shale oil and gas production in North America as well as Foremark’s strong value proposition. The expansion includes a new triazine reactor, increased storage and handling, and a doubling of truck and rail loading capacity.

"These investments showcase our ongoing commitment to innovate, drive long-term growth and meet the needs of our customers," said Randy Owens, CEO of Foremark. "This expansion is squarely in line with our strategy and follows the recent opening of our Oil and Gas Product Development and Application Lab."

Foremark, headquartered in League City, TX, is a leading supplier of triazine products, which are used for scavenging impurities found in a variety of products including crude oil, natural gas and liquefied natural gas. PureMark, our innovative family of products, includes a broad range of high-performance amine-based scavengers such as MEA and MMA triazine formulations. PureMark triazines are highly effective hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide scavengers that eliminate toxic gases and maintain asset integrity. These products improve safety, protect equipment and ensure oil and gas products meet increasingly stringent specifications.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Germany’s industrial gases firm Messer is in exclusive negotiations to acquire Air Liquide’s businesses in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia, said the company.

The acquisition price was not disclosed.

Air Liquide started operating in Slovakia in 2000 and Czech Republic in 2001 with 53 employees at both locations and offices in Prague and Trnava. Messer intends to fully integrate and merge the two companies into the respective Messer companies in Prague and in Bratislava in the short term.

"The companies complement each other ideally in terms of their activities and their organisational, operational and production structures. We see many synergies and positive effects with respect to production, logistics, sales and customer supply," said Stefan Messer, owner and CEO of the Messer Group GmbH.

"Taking over Air Liquide’s entities in Czech Republic and Slovakia will further strengthen our position on the industrial gases market in Central Europe."

Air Liquide said in a statement the decision to divest the assets “illustrates Air Liquide’s strategy to review regularly its asset portfolio and focus its geographic expansion on key regions in order to increase density and therefore enhance performance".

This transaction is subject to the final and definitive agreement between the parties, and will be carried out in the framework of the relevant social processes and ongoing dialogue with the employee representatives’ bodies.

With the deal, Messer would take over assets in Prague and Trnava, near Bratislava, along with 53 employees. “Taking over Air Liquide’s entities in Czech Republic and Slovakia will further strengthen our position on the industrial gases market in central Europe,” said Messer’s CEO, Stefan Messer.

As MRC informed previously, in July 2019, Air Liquide signed a long-term agreement with Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV), a 50/50 joint venture between ExxonMobil and SABIC, to supply oxygen and nitrogen from its industrial gas pipeline network to GCGV’s planned ethane cracker facility located near Corpus Christi, in Texas.

We also remind that Shell Singapore restarted its naphtha cracker in Bukom Island in early December 2019, following a two months maintenance shutdown since the beginning of October 2019. Thus, this cracker was taken off-stream for the turnaround on 1 October 2019. The cracker is able to produce 960,000 tons/year of ethylene and 550,000 tons/year of propylene.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.
MRC