Indian Oil east coast refinery to be shut for 3 weeks

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian Oil Corp Ltd’s 300,000 barrels per day refinery on the country’s east coast to be shut for three weeks for maintenance, the top district administrative official told Reuters.

"The Indian Oil refinery in Paradip will remain shut from July 25 to August 15 for maintenance," said Sangram Keshari Mohapatra, the top bureaucrat in the district of Jagatsinghpur, where the refinery is located.

“As per the company’s request, a shutdown order has been issued,” he said, adding the refinery was last shutdown completely in 2018.

As MRC informed earlier, Indian Oil Corp Ltd (IOC) shut production in the first half of July at the terephthalic acid (TPA) plant in Panipat (Panipat, Haryana, India) for routine preventive measures. It is expected that maintenance at this plant with a capacity of 550,000 tonnes/year of PTA will continue for 5-10 days.

PTA is one of the main raw materials for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

According to MRC's ScanPlast, May estimated PET consumption in Russia amounted to 70,170 tonnes, which corresponds to the level of consumption last year (70,450 tonnes). In total for the period January - May of this year, the estimated PET consumption in the Russian Federation amounted to 304,310 tonnes of material. This is 3% lower than the same indicator in 2019.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation headquartered in New Delhi.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Perstorp has recorded a net profit of 294 million Swedish krona (USD32.66 million) in the second quarter, swinging from a net loss of SKr41 million in the same period of the previous year, said Chemweek.

This is mainly due to a large difference in exchange-rate effects on net debt between the two periods. Meanwhile, net sales fell 32% year on year (YOY) to SKr2.08 billion, caused by measures to tackle COVID-19 that drove demand down worldwide and due to lower selling prices linked to falling raw material costs, Perstorp says.

EBITDA excluding nonrecurring items decreased by 27% YOY in the second quarter, to SKr265 million, the company says. Despite the weaker quarterly performance, the company was able to partially offset the negative impact of COVID-19 through a positive product mix together with lower fixed costs following strict spending controls.

For the first half of 2020, Perstorp’s net sales declined by 24%, to SKr4.79 billion, from SKr6.28 billion in first-half 2019, the company says. EBITDA excluding nonrecurring items amounted to SKr686 million in first-half 2020, down from SKr840 million in the corresponding period of the previous year. This is mainly due to lower volumes together with lower unit margins for some product lines caused by COVID-19 and expenses related to the refinancing of the company’s capital structure that was completed in the first quarter of 2019, the company says.

The company’s free cash flow in the second quarter amounted to SKr323 million, up from SKr221 million in the second quarter of 2019, as the lower earnings were counterbalanced by a favorable development in working capital, Perstorp says. Available funds, liquid funds, and unutilized credit facilities were SKr1.23 billion at the end of the second quarter, compared with SKr944 million at the end of the previous quarter and SKr1.25 billion at the end of 2019, the company says.

Perstorp says it has decided to postpone the construction of a Penta plant in Gujarat State, India. "The lockdown situation in India has had a large impact on the construction site and the current demand situation is uncertain. All construction work is put on hold for the time being but the ambition is to resume full operations when the visibility for the future has improved and it is possible to resume work as planned,” Secher says.

As MRC informed earlier, in the fall of 2018, Perstorp closed production at the phthalic anhydride plant in Nol, Sweden for scheduled maintenances at the plant with a capacity of 35,000 tonnes/year.

Phthalic anhydride is widely used in the production of paints and varnishes and plasticizers for PVC products. To a small extent, it is used in the production of industrial rubber goods and tires. In addition, it is used in the light, pharmaceutical and electrical industries.

According to MRC DataScope, the export of suspension polyvinyl chloride (PVC-S) from Russia amounted to about 92.2 thousand tons in the first five months of this year, which is 10% more than in 2019. Import volumes grew by only 1%.

Perstorp is one of the world leaders in various sectors of the specialty chemicals market, it's pioneer in formalin chemistry, plastics and surface materials. Perstorp was founded in 1881 and is controlled by PAI partners,a major European private equity company. The company has around 1,500 employees in with 22 production plants in Europe, Asia and North America.
MRC

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.
MRC

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.


MRC

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.
MRC