MOSCOW (MRC) -- Finnish refiner Neste said it would delay the scheduled major turnaround at its Porvoo refinery due to the coronavirus outbreak, and can do only the most business critical maintenance works as planned, reported Reuters.
The company said maintenance works would hit its second-quarter comparable operating profit by 85 million euros (91 million). It had earlier estimated the major turnaround would dent its 2020 profits by 220 million euros.
"The rest of the turnaround works are expected to be finalised in 2021 and their related negative impact on the company’s comparable operating profit will be estimated in February 2021, at the latest," Neste said.
As MRC informed earlier, Neste, together with several European Union Member States and forerunner companies representing different parts of the European plastics sector, have signed the European Plastics Pact in Brussels, Belgium. The European Plastics Pact aims to accelerate cross-border exchange and collaboration on a pan-European scale to supplement and support the already existing European and global commitments as well as the existing national and company initiatives on the circularity of plastics value chain.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.
MRC