MOSCOW (MRC) -- The estimated financial results of Advanced Petrochemical Company showed a 35.75% drop in net profit over the first quarter (Q1) ended on 31 March 2020, said Zawya.
The profits amounted to SAR 104 million in Q1-20, compared to SAR 161.88 million in Q1-19, according to a stock exchange filing on Sunday.
The lower earnings are due to a decrease in polypropylene sales volume and prices by 8.1% and 10.3%, respectively, and an increase in propane consumption by 10.3%.
Furthermore, the petrochemical company registered a share of losses from SK Advanced Co. of SAR 18.19 million in the Q1-20 when compared to a share of profit of SAR 20.70 million in the same quarter last year.
On a quarterly basis, the profits retreated by 45.84% when compared to the previous quarter where they totalled SAR 192 million.
It is worth pointing out that in 2019, the company’s profits went up by 5.8% to SAR 759 million from SAR 716.96 million in 2018.
As MRC informed earlier, Subsidiary AGIC and SK Gas have formed a joint venture named Advanced Polyolefins Company to work on the project. Saudi Arabian Stock Market-listed Advanced Petrochemical Company has signed a deal with South Korea’s SK Gas to construct and operate a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene (PP) plants in the kingdom’s Jubail Industrial City, with the project value being USD1.8bn (SAR6.8bn).
As MRC informed before, in September 2019, SK Advanced signed a joint venture agreement with South Korea’s Polymerae Ltd. to establish a polypropylene plant in South Korea with an annual design capacity of 400,000 metric tons. The facility is expected to launch commercial operations in 2021.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
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