Arkema sends out teaser documents for PMMA business

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema has kicked off the sale of its plexiglass polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) business, which could raise about EUR1 billion (USD1.1 billion), Bloomberg reports citing people familiar with the matter, as per Chemweek.

Arkema CEO Thierry Le Henaff on 2 April announced the potential divestment of its methyl methacrylate (MMA) and PMMA business as part of the company’s ambition to become a world leader in specialty materials realigned around adhesive solutions, advanced materials, and coating solutions. Le Henaff said at that time that the best option for MMA and PMMA would be to divest the business, which in 2019 reported sales of EUR600 million.

Bloomberg says Arkema has sent potential bidders teaser documents with an overview of the Altuglas International division. The sale is attracting initial interest from private equity firms including Advent International, Rhone, SK Capital Partners and Triton Partners, Bloomberg says, adding that Arkema has not decided when to seek first-round bids and could wait until after the summer to formally solicit offers.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2019, Arkema successfully brought on stream a new 90,000-ton acrylic acid reactor at its Clear Lake, Texas site to support the growth of its North American customers in the superabsorbents, paints, adhesives and water treatment markets.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of products from polymers grew in April 2020 by 11.2% year on year due to quarantine restrictions. However, this figure increased by 3.4% year on year in the first four months of 2020. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, April production of unreinforced and non-combined films decreased to 107,000 tonnes from 110,400 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in the first four months of 2020 by 12.5% year on year to 402,800 tonnes.

Arkema is a global manufacturer in specialty chemicals and advanced materials, with 3 business segments - High Performance Materials, Industrial Specialties, and Coating Solutions - and globally recognized brands. The Group reports annual sales of EUR8.8 billion. Buoyed by the collective energy of its 20,000 employees, Arkema operates in close to 55 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were trading steady to higher in mid-morning trade in Asia June 22, with investors weighing mixed drivers at the start of a new week, said S&P Global.

At 10:00 am Singapore time (0200 GMT), ICE Brent August crude futures were up 18 cents/b (0.43%) from the June 19 settle at USD42.37/b, while the NYMEX July light sweet crude contract was 12 cents/b (0.30%) higher at USD39.87/b. "Sentiment was buoyed by OPEC's pledge to adhere better to agreed production cuts," ANZ analysts said in a June 22 note.

Crude prices have been buoyed by stepped-up pressure on OPEC+ members to adhere to production quotas following a June 18 meeting. OPEC+ crude production could fall by about 1 million b/d in July and August from May levels, based on plans submitted by Iraq and Kazakhstan to institute deeper output cuts to make up for violating their quotas and loading schedules issued by fellow compliance laggards Nigeria and Angola.

"However, there are still worrying signs ahead for the market with a second wave of COVID-19 cases in China and the US presenting a challenge for industry," the ANZ analysts said. Fears of a COVID-19 resurgence have limited gains in prices as the demand recovery outlook remains clouded.

"Traffic in Beijing has plunged as authorities battle a fresh outbreak. In the US, Apple has been forced to shut previously opened shops as cases rises in various states," the ANZ analysts noted. China reported 26 new confirmed coronavirus cases for June 20 and the emergence of a new cluster in Beijing has raised concerns of a second wave of infections.

A decline in US oil rigs was also supporting sentiment to some extent amid earlier concerns any recovery in prices could spur an increase in drilling. The US oil rig count fell by 10 to 189 in the week ending June 19, according to UOB analysts in a June 22 note citing Baker Hughes dat, noting it was the lowest since June 2009.

As MRC wrote previously, global oil consumption cut by up to a third in Q1 2020. What happens next in the oil market depends on how quickly and completely the global economy emerges from lockdown, and whether the recessionary hit lingers through the rest of this year and into 2021.

Earlier this year, BP said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40 per cent in 2020, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.

We remind that, in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Unplanned outages at Sabic's Wilton, UK, cracker and Borealis' Stenungsund, Sweden, cracker may cause availability shortages in the European propylene coastal market, sources have told S&P Global .

The Wilton cracker, which has an annual propylene capacity of 415,000 mt was shut on June 17 due to technical issues and is not expected to come back online for another two weeks.

Borealis' Stenungsund cracker unit has remained offline longer than initially anticipated, after it was shut following a force majeure declaration at the site on May 11. Sources said that the unit has been offline longer than initially expected with no confirmed startup date.

According to Platts data, the Stenungsund cracker has a propylene capacity of 150,000 mt/year.

Commenting on the outages, one source said June 18 the outages "will keep supply balanced."

A propylene trader said: "I'm hearing that the outages in Wilton and Stenungsund might have a positive impact on prices in the market."

The fall in available European propylene capacity in the market could lead to tightness developing in the coastal area, driving discount levels down to single digits, sources said. The European propylene market saw a disconnect between coastal and inland pricing on the week to June 19, with coastal PGP prices stabilising whilst the inland CGP market gained length.

Unplanned outages at Sabic's Wilton cracker and Borealis' Stenungsund cracker may cause availability shortages in the European propylene coastal market. The fall in available European propylene supply in the market could lead to tightness developing in the coastal area, driving discount levels down to single digits, sources said.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The National Industrialization Company (Tasnee) has reduced its net losses after Zakat and tax by 94% annually in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020 to reach SAR 76.5 million, said Mubasher.

The company generated SAR 659.4 million worth of revenues in the first three months of 2020, down by 10.8% year-on-year (YoY) when compared to SAR 739.2 million, according to a bourse filing on Sunday.

The decrease in net loss is largely due to the non-cash losses that resulted from re-measurement of discontinued operations of Cristal business classified as held for sale in Q1-19 amounting to SAR 1.45 billion. In addition, financing costs, Zakat provision and income tax declined.

This came despite the drop in average selling prices of all products and slumping demand of some products due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, a lower share of profit from investments in associates and joint ventures (JV), decrease in other income, and a rise in general and administrative expenses.

As MRC informed before, in 2013, Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, and Tasnee announced the signing of an agreement to establish a masterbatches joint venture in Saudi Arabia. Within the framework of the agreement, through its 100% subsidiary Rowad National Plastic Company Ltd., Tasnee acquired a 40% stake in Clariant’s masterbatches operations in the country, already operating under the name Clariant Masterbatches (Saudi Arabia) Ltd.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of products from polymers grew in April 2020 by 11.2% year on year due to quarantine restrictions. However, this figure increased by 3.4% year on year in the first four months of 2020. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, April production of unreinforced and non-combined films decreased to 107,000 tonnes from 110,400 tonnes a month earlier. Output of films products grew in the first four months of 2020 by 12.5% year on year to 402,800 tonnes.

Headquartered in Riyadh, Tasnee is primarily engaged in petrochemical, chemical and industrial projects. The
company produces petrochemical products, including polypropylene, polyethylene and acrylic acid, as well as other downstream petrochemical products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Daqing Petrochemica, part of PetroChina, has brought on-stream its No. 3 linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that, the company resumed operations at the unit on June 18, 2020. The unit was shut for unplanned maintenance on June 8, 2020.

Located in Daqing, China, the No. 3 LLDPE unit has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, PetroChina has nearly doubled the amount of Russian crude being processed at its refinery in Dalian, the company’s biggest, since January 2018, as a new supply agreement had come into effect. The Dalian Petrochemical Corp, located in the northeast port city of Dalian, is expected to process 13 million tonnes, or 260,000 bpd of Russian pipeline crude this year, up by about 85 to 90 percent from last year’s level. Dalian has the capacity to process about 410,000 bpd of crude. The increase follows an agreement worked out between the Russian and Chinese governments under which Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft will supply 30 million tonnes of ESPO Blend crude to PetroChina in 2018, or about 600,000 bpd. That would represent an increase of 50 percent over 2017 volumes. The additional oil sent to Dalian is about 120,000 bpd and will make up the bulk of the Russian increases.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, April LLDPE shipments to Russia rose to 42,830 tonnes from 36,790 tonnes a month earlier, production increased. Russia's overall LLDPE shipments totalled 152,840 tonnes in the first four months of 2020, up by 13% year on year. SabSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in shipments.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.
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