Air Products, Thyssenkrupp to collaborate on green hydrogen projects

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Products says it has agreed to collaborate exclusively with Thyssenkrupp on the development of green hydrogen supplies for sustainable chemicals, transportation, and power generation projects, according to Chemweek.

Thyssenkrupp’s subsidiary Uhde Chlorine Engineers, a leader in large-scale electrolysis plant technologies, will supply specific engineering, equipment, and technical services for water electrolysis plants to be built, owned and operated by Air Products.

The strategic agreement “is an important element of our value chain in developing, building, owning, and operating world-scale projects and supplying green hydrogen for mobility, energy and industrial applications,” says Air Products COO Samir Serhan.

Large-scale electrolysis is a “key technology to connect renewable power to the different sectors of mobility and industry,” says Denis Krude, CEO at Thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers. “We are proud to cooperate with Air Products in making value chains for fuels, chemicals, and industry feedstocks sustainable.”

As MRC reported earlier, in December 2014, SIBUR-Khimprom (a subsidiary of SIBUR Holding) and Air Products entered into an agreement to build a new air separation unit in Perm and to supply the facility with locally produced gases. The unit came on-stream in 2016. After the commissioning Air Products will supply industrial gases for SIBUR-Khimprom over the next 20 years.

Besides, we remind that in September 2019, SIBUR, the largest petrochemical comples in Russia and Eastern Europe, and BASF, Geman petrochemical major, agreed to closely cooperate on sustainable development to share their best practices.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
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Irving Oil to lay off 6% of global workforce, citing coronavirus

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Refiner Irving Oil will lay off 6% of its global workforce due to economic challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement.

The layoffs will affect 250 workers across its operations in Canada, the United States, Ireland and the UK.

“The challenges that we face in our business and our industry are unlike any we have ever experienced,” Irving Oil president Ian Whitcomb and chief brand officer Sarah Irving said in a joint statement.

As MRC wrote before, Canada-based oil refinery operator Irving Oil said in late May, 2020, it had agreed to buy North Atlantic Refining Corp, the owner of the Come-by-Chance refinery in Newfoundland. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Come-by-Chance refinery, which has an output of 135,000 barrels per day, was the first to close in North America as refiners worldwide began to scale back to adjust to a sudden demand slump due to the coronavirus outbreak.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

Covestro issues preliminary earnings forecast, will beat consensus

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro says its forecast preliminary EBITDA for the second quarter will be above market consensus at EUR124 million (USD141 million), with an expected preliminary net loss for the period of EUR60 million also beating consensus, said Chemweek.

Ahead of the scheduled release of its second-quarter and half-year results on 23 July, Covestro says in the course of preparing its half-year report that “preliminary key financial data deviate from capital market expectations.” The market expectations are based on the latest consensus estimates of financial analysts provided by Vara Research, it says.

Covestro’s estimate of a preliminary net loss of EUR60 million for the quarter compares to a steeper estimated consensus loss of EUR107 million, while its forecast EBITDA of EUR124 million compares to a lower consensus estimate of €80 million, according to the company. Preliminary sales are forecast by Covestro to come in lower than the consensus estimate of EUR2.22 billion at EUR2.16 billion, it says.

Preliminary sales volumes were down 22% in the quarter, with consensus putting the decline at 22.5%. In April Covestro reported a fall of almost 90% year on year in its first-quarter net income to EUR20 million on sales that declined more than 12% to EUR2.8 billion, with all business segments hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and lower selling prices. Last month it also placed a Eurobond with a total volume of EUR1.00 billion in the capital markets, the proceeds of which would be used to strengthen the company’s liquidity in the current macroeconomic environment. In May it announced it was reducing working hours in Germany and cutting salaries of all employees for six months starting 1 June in response to the pandemic and the decline in consumer demand.

As MRC informed earlier, Covestro has closed the sale of its European polycarbonates (PC) sheets business to the Munich-based Serafin Group effective January 2, 2020. This includes key management and sales functions throughout Europe as well as production sites in Belgium and Italy.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russiaэы total estimated consumption of PC granules for the four months of 2020 (excluding imports and exports to Belarus) amounted to 30.5 thousand tons, which is 20% higher than last year (25.3 thousand tons).

Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG. Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating, insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc. With 2018 sales of EUR 14.6 billion, Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,800 people (calculated as full-time equivalents) at the end of 2018.
MRC

Marathon Petroleum halts projects at St. Paul Park refinery until next year

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp is delaying all maintenance projects at its 102,000 barrel-per-day St. Paul Park, Minnesota, refinery for 2020, reported Reuters with reference to a source familiar with the matter, amid concerns related to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Several refiners have delayed planned maintenance at their plants this year due to concerns around the spread of the coronavirus among workers, or as part of capital and operational expense cuts.

Contractors that work on a wide range of projects for the refinery were told they would not resume until next year, according to the source. Planned work included maintenance on a crude unit in September, according to Industrial Info Resources (IIR), which tracks refinery work and interruptions.

Marathon declined to comment.

Depending on the size of a project, refinery maintenance can require thousands of contract workers working for several weeks or months to carry out upgrades and maintenance at a plant.

Social distancing guidelines can be difficult to abide by while conducting such work, according to refiners.

The St. Paul Park refinery is operating at lower rates amid reduced demand for refined products resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, according to IIR.

Marathon Petroleum said in May that it would cut capital spending by approximately 30% and expected operating costs to be lower by USD950 million.

Net loss attributable to Marathon was USD9.2 billion in the first quarter of 2020, as it booked USD12.4 billion in charges related to inventory writedowns and goodwill impairment.

As MRC wrote previously, Marathon Petroleum Corp idled its 166,000 barrel-per-day (bpd)refinery in Martinez, California beginning April 27 in response to the coronavirus pandemic’s hit to demand for refined products.

Meanwhile, Marathon Petroleum Corp plans to operate the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 585,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas. The 140,000 bpd FCC restarted on Sunday, 12 April, after repairs following a March 23 brief power outage that shut the unit.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

Shell weighs sale of refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc is weighing the sale of its 211,146 barrel-per-day (bpd) Convent, Louisiana, refinery, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Robin Mooldijk, Shell’s executive vice president of manufacturing, told employees in an internal message about the possible sale of the refinery, located 58 miles (93 km) west of New Orleans, according to sources familiar with plant operations. Shell took sole ownership of the refinery on May 1, 2017, when Motiva Enterprises became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco. Motiva had been a joint-venture between the two companies for 15 years.

Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said the possible sale was part of the company’s plan announced in 2019 to structure its operations to match the future market for downstream products. "The remaining core sites will be advantaged by way of increased integration with Shell trading hubs and by producing more chemicals and related products expected to be resilient in a low-carbon future," Smith said in an email.

Shell has not announced consideration of a possible sale of its 227,400 bpd Norco, Louisiana, refinery which produces motor fuels and also supplies feedstocks to the company’s adjoining chemical plant. Along with the refinery, Shell plans to sell “its associated co-located logistics infrastructure - the products truck terminal, marine docks, Sorrento, Louisiana, salt cavern LPG storage, and line history rights for Bengal Pipeline,” Smith said.

In February, Shell sold its 156,400 bpd Martinez, California, refinery and logistics assets to PBF Energy for USD960 million plus the price for oil and refined products on hand. That would set the pre-pandemic price for refining assets at about USd6,000 a barrel.

Because of reduced travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. refinery utilization fell to 68% of 19 million bpd in April. Utilization rose to 75.5% by the last week of June.

As MRC informed earlier, Royal Dutch Shell Plc restarted the reformer and hydrocracker at its 227,400-barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana, refinery, sources familiar with plant operations said. The 40,000-bpd reformer restarted on Sunday after a month-long overhaul, the sources said. The 40,000-bpd hydrocracker restarted on Monday after tripping out of operation due to a brief furnace malfunction.

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.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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