Covestro extends CFO Toepfer contract to 2026

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro has extended its contract with CFO Thomas Toepfer by five years to 31 March 2026, said the company.

Toepfer became CFO in June 2017, effective 1 April 2018, when he replaced Frank Lutz, who resigned. The position had briefly been covered by then-outgoing CEO Patrick Thomas.

Toepfer joined the company from manufacturing firm KION Group where he had been CFO and labour director since 2012.

Covestro said the move to extend Toepfer’s contract ahead of schedule is intended to ensure continuity of management during a turbulent economic period.

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, Russia's 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.
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COVID-19 - News digest as of 20.07.2020

1. May crude oil exports to Saudi Arabia plunge to 9-year low as OPEC+ cuts begin

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports plunged to a nine-year low in May as the historic OPEC+ cuts began, reported S&P Global with reference to data released July 16 by the Joint Organisations Data Initiative. Shipments dropped to 6.02 million b/d, the lowest since October 2010, from a record 10.237 million b/d just a month earlier. The 23-country OPEC+ coalition enacted a 9.7 million b/d production cut accord starting in May in response to the coronavirus crisis. The drop in exports came as the kingdom's output declined to 8.486 million b/d, the lowest since December 2010, from the all-time high of 12.07 million b/d in April. The kingdom still managed to boost crude stockpiles to 147.561 million barrels from a 16-year low of 143.502 million barrels a month earlier.


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KBR to provide nitrobenzene technology for project in India

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR has been awarded a contract for its proprietary Plinke Adiabatic Nitrobenzene solutions by Kutch Specialities Pvt Ltd, India, said the company.

Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide basic and detailed engineering design, equipment, and related advisory services to Kutch Specialities Pvt Ltd for its grassroots nitrobenzene project in India.

KBR’s proven process, patented equipment design, and material selection ensure plant availability and reliability to produce a high purity nitrobenzene with a focus on high energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. Amongst other products, Nitrobenzene is used for the production of polyurethane foams, rubber chemicals, dyes and pharmaceutical.

"This contract reinforces KBR’s process leadership in purification, concentration and processing of strong inorganic acids,” said Doug Kelly, KBR President, Technology Solutions. “We are proud to work with Kutch Specialities Pvt Ltd to achieve its business expansion goals safely, reliably and efficiently."

As MRC informed earlier, KBR has been awarded a catalyst supply contract for a Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) project by Shenghong Refining Petrochemical (Lianyungang) Co. Ltd., China. Under the terms of the agreement, KBR will provide proprietary catalyst for Shenghong’s grassroot 300 KTA VAM unit. The unit represents the first commercial VAM technology license and engineering contract under an alliance agreement between KBR and Showa Denko K.K.(SDK).

VAM is the main raw material for the production of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA).

According to MRC ScanPlast, last month external deliveries of other ethylene polymers, including ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) to Russia, amounted to 7,300 tonnes against 6,200 tonnes in May. In general, during the period under review, the total external supply of other ethylene polymers reached 46,100 tonnes against 45,200 tonnes a year earlier.

KBR has more than 70 years of experience in inorganics, including processes and technology solutions for crystallization, evaporation and the concentration and purification of strong inorganic acids.

KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the Government Services and Energy sectors. KBR employs approximately 37,000 people worldwide (including our joint ventures), with customers in more than 80 countries and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses.
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Oil refiners and OPEC+ walk a tightrope as pandemic lingers

MOSCOW (MRC) -- High-frequency data from the United States has provided the first convincing indication of global oil market rebalancing, but it also underscore the market’s vulnerability to a COVID-19 resurgence and new lockdowns, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Total stocks of crude and refined products in the United States fell by 9 million barrels last week, the first week-on-week decline since the end of February, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Coming after stocks increased by 225 million over the previous 17 weeks, the drawdown barely made a dent in the total, but the change in direction was significant.

Crude stocks fell by 7 million barrels and gasoline by 3 million, with distillate stocks unchanged at a time of year when they would normally be rising in the gasoline-intensive summer driving season. Gasoline stocks ended the week 7% higher than the five-year seasonal average, but the surplus has fallen from 8% the previous week and a peak of more than 10% in early June.

Distillate stocks were still a massive 26% higher than the five-year average but the surplus had narrowed from 28% the previous week and 29% in early June.

Refiners have managed to get fuel stocks under control by increasing crude processing very slowly as the economy has emerged from lockdown.

Last week refiners left processing unchanged after increasing it progressively since the start of May, demonstrating restraint in an effort to control inventories. Processing was still almost 2.8 million barrels per day (bpd), or 16%, below the five-year seasonal average over 2015-2019.

As MRC informed before, 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 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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Petronas plant will likely restart at the end of July

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas Chemical's 1.7 million mt/year plant will likely restart at the end of July after a landslide in Labuan affected the gas feed to the plant. Rectification works are currently ongoing, said S&P Global.

The No.2 unit, which can produce 1.6mn t/yr of methanol, was taken off line last week. The producer did not specify the exact date of the shutdown.

But repairs are ongoing at affected parts of the complex and Petronas expects production to resume within this month.

"Rectification work is currently ongoing and progressing as planned. The rectification work is expected to be completed within this month," the producer said.

As MRC wrote before, in early May, 2020, Petronas Chemicals (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia’s leading petrochemicals player, reported a drop in first-quarter sales and earnings citing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The sharp decline in petrochemical product prices following the outbreak of COVID-19, the deepening industry downcycle as crude oil prices collapsed due to the OPEC+ fallout, and the recessionary global economic outlook have hurt results, the company says.

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.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.

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