Hearing to confirm Philadelphia refinery sale delayed by a week

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A hearing to finalize Philadelphia Energy Solution’s bankruptcy plan and consummate a sale of the company’s refinery to a real estate developer was pushed back along with a deadline for objections to the deal, reported Reuters with reference to federal court filings.

The plan is now scheduled to go before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to be finalized on Feb. 12 instead of Thursday. The deadline for objections was extended two days to Wednesday.

No official reason was given for the rescheduling and PES did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

PES last month entered into an agreement to sell its refinery, the largest and oldest on the East Coast, to Chicago-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners, which is expected to use the site largely for warehousing. Los Angeles developer, Industrial Realty Group, was selected as a backup buyer.

Several groups, including the union that provided hundreds of workers to the plant, have objected to the bankruptcy plan, citing lacking information about how PES would settle all of its debts.

The US Trustee, a bankruptcy watchdog within the Department of Justice, has also objected. The trustee said in a filing PES cannot release itself from its more than USD1 billion in debts and other obligations under the plan because it will be liquidating its assets instead of restructuring or selling its business.

PES shut its refinery and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July following a fire that destroyed a section of its 335,000 barrel-per-day plant near downtown Philadelphia. More than 1,000 full-time and contract workers, many whom are now creditors in the bankruptcy case, were laid off.

One key unresolved issue is who, if anyone, will receive proceeds from up to USD1.25 billion in insurance coverage tied to the blaze.

PES’s unsecured creditors have publicly opposed the sale to Hilco, and union representatives held protests against the deal.

The group is pushing for a sale to Industrial Realty Group, which has been in conversations about leasing part of the site to Phil Rinaldi, the former chief executive of PES who wants to restart the refinery.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin totaled 806,242 metric tons in 2019, down by 14.8% from 2018, according to the latest US Commerce Department data, said Chemweek.

The 2019 imports are equivalent to approximately 42,444 truckloads or 10,608 railcars.

The imports, comprising bottle-grade and high-viscosity PET resin, were valued at USD953 million in 2019, down from USD1.2 billion in 2018.

Much of the resin is used to produce single-use plastic bottles, containers and packaging. It is also used in production of strapping tape and fibers to make home furnishing items such as pillows.

Imports last year came from 43 countries. They were down by 33% from Mexico, the top PET source, at 25% of the 2019 total. They were up sharply from several countries, including Vietnam, the third highest source of imports last year, and Egypt, the fourth highest.

PET imports fell in 2019 due to rising use of recycled PET pellets and flake as consumer brand companies vow to use more of the material in the manufacture of bottles, containers and packaging.

As per MRC's DataScope, imports of injection moulding PET chips in Russia increased by 13% in 2019 compared with the same period a year ago and reached 126,600 tonnes. The same indicator in January-December 2018 amounted to 111,700 tonnes, according to MRC"s ScanPlast. The share of imports from China of bottled PET remained at the level of the previous year and amounted to 87% in January - December 2019.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Austrian oil and gas group OMV posted a 26% fall in its fourth quarter core profit on Thursday, largely due to weak commodity prices and lower refining margins, and following an industry wide trend, said Reuters.

Clean current cost of supplies (CCS) earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), which exclude special items and inventory gains or losses, came in at 781 million euros in the three months through December. That was below an average forecast of 833 million euros in an OMV poll of 16 analysts, published on the company’s website.

OMV plans to increase its 2019 dividend to 2.00 euros per share from 1.75 euros the previous year.

As MRC informed earlier, in September 2019, OMV declared force majeure on supplies from its cracker in Burghausen Refinery, Germany. According to the company’s website, the Burghausen Refinery has a crude oil processing capacity of 3.8 million tons/year. OMV operates three refineries in Schwechat (Austria), Burghausen (South Germany) and Petrobrazi (Romania), with a total annual refinery capacity of 17.8 million tons.

Ethylene is the main feedstock for the production of polyethylene (PE).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings reports a 54% decline year on year (YOY) in net income for the company's fiscal nine months ended 31 December to Yen 76.27 billion (USD695.6 million), on sales that fell 4.9% YOY to Yen 2.7 trillion, reported Chemweek.

Operating income dropped 40% to Yen 160.5 billion from ?268 billion a year earlier owing to goodwill impairment charges relating to the pharmaceutical formulation materials business in the healthcare field, says Mitsubishi. The supply/demand balance for certain products, mainly for semiconductors and cars, was impacted by growing concerns over US-China trade friction, it says.

Mitsubishi's performance products business reports a 14% YOY decline in operating income to Yen 54.4 billion on sales of Yen 821 billion, down 5% YOY. Core operating income decreased primarily because of a drop in market prices for phenol-polycarbonate chain materials in advanced polymers. In functional products, revenue fell due to lower sales volumes in high-performance engineering plastics and other products for advanced moldings and composites, owing to weaker demand, principally in semiconductor and automotive applications. Sales of performance chemicals decreased, reflecting the price decline for phenol-polycarbonate chain materials in advanced polymers, which had been favorable last year, it says.

Operating profit for the chemicals business, Mitsubishi's largest, plummeted 64% to ?38.7 billion from Yen 107.7 billion a year earlier. Core operating income decreased mainly because of a decline in prices of methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomers and other products, despite higher sales volumes stemming from a reduced impact from scheduled maintenance and repairs in petrochemicals. Sales in this sector stood at Yen 826 billion, a drop of 15.3% YOY. The company says revenue decreased because of the continued deceleration of demand growth, especially in China, and lower prices of MMA and other products. In petchems, sales grew despite lower prices because of an increase in volumes stemming from a reduced impact of scheduled maintenance and repairs at ethylene plants, together with a drop in raw material costs and other factors. In carbon products, revenue was down.

Operating income in the industrial gases business increased 58% YOY to Yen 66.5 billion, on sales of Yen 732.8 billion, up 22.6% from Yen 628.2 billion in the prior-year period. This sector saw continued firmness in the overseas gases business because of the acquisition of a portion of the European business of Praxair and a portion of the HyCO business and related assets in the US owned by Linde, says Mitsubishi.

The company has cut its earnings estimate for the fiscal full year ending 31 March 2020, with net income lowered to Yen 81 billion from its previous guidance of Yen 131 billion. Operating profit is now forecast to be Yen 182 billion, compared with Yen 241 billion previously. Projected sales of Yen 3.76 trillion have also been reduced to Yen 3.63 trillion.

As MRC informed earlier, Mitsubishi Chemical has a steam cracker in Kashima with an ethylene production capacity of 564,000 mt/year. It shut one steam cracker there in 2014 - which has an ethylene production capacity of 375,000 mt/year -- following a sluggish petrochemical demand in the country.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).

Mitsubishi Chemical with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, is a diversified chemical company involved in petrochemicals, polymers, agrochemicals, speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The company's main focus is on three business pillars: petrochemicals, performance and functional products, and health care.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Dusseldorf, Germany) announced that Henkel Adhesives Technologies has officially inaugurated its new production facility in Kurkumbh, India, near Pune, said.

With a total investment of about EUR50 million, the business unit aims to serve the growing demand of Indian industries for high-performance solutions in adhesives, sealants and surface treatment products. Designed as a smart factory the new plant enables a wide range of Industry 4.0 operations and meets the highest standards for sustainability.

The facility admeasures 100,000 square meters and has a built-up area of 51,000 square meters which makes it India’s largest adhesive manufacturing site. It will further increase Henkel?s capabilities to serve customers across various markets including flexible packaging, automotive, agriculture and construction equipment, general industry and metals.

"India is one of the most important emerging markets with tremendous growth opportunities for our adhesives business”, said Jan-Dirk Auris, Executive Vice President Henkel Adhesive Technologies. “Our trusted brands and leading solutions based on our unmatched portfolio of 40 technologies create sustainable value for our customers. With the launch of this state-of-the-art, multi-technology manufacturing facility, we have created capacities to meet the demands for our high impact solutions in this dynamic market. This investment will enable us to further drive profitable growth."

The new site is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies to ensure traceability and transparency and to exceed the high standards for quality and safety in the industry. Designed as a smart factory with a high level of process automation it enables a wide range of Industry 4.0 applications. The end-to-end digitalization of the plant operations also ensures digitized workflows for a high efficiency in manufacturing.

The new Kurkumbh site also meets the highest standards of sustainability. It is among the very few chemical manufacturing sites to be awarded the LEED Gold certificate by the US Green Building Council based on a holistic energy efficiency concept.

Henkel are also partnering with Borealis and plastics solutions company Borouge to develop flexible packaging solutions for detergents containing both virgin polyethylene (PE) and high amounts of post-consumer recyclate (PCR) in efforts to increase sustainability.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers.

Henkel operates in three business units, including laundry and home care, beauty care and adhesive technologies.
MRC