Versalis closes deal to acquire 40% stake in Finproject

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Versalis announces the signing of the closing that formalizes the acquisition of a 40% stake in the Finproject capital from VEI Capital, according to the company's press release.

The Eni chemical company thus enters the high-performance formulated polymer sector and extends its position towards businesses that are more resilient to the volatility of the chemical industry scenario.

Work to complete the operation during lockdown never ceased and today Versalis launches an industrial partnership with Finproject group, a market leader in the production of cross-linkable and thermoplastic compounds and in the moulding of products for the footwear sector, and products in ultra-light materials under the brand XL EXTRALIGHT.

"We are delighted to have concluded this strategic operation with such a valuable Italian company as Finproject - said Daniele Ferrari, CEO of Versalis (Eni) - There are many opportunities that will see us working together to develop highly innovative products with a vision of growth in the name of sustainability and the circular economy".

The Versalis-Finproject operation will create a new centre of industrial competence in specialty plastic materials that will play a leading role in the development of the sector in Italy and worldwide. Finproject's market position in high value-added applications, in combination with Versalis' technological and industrial leadership in the chemical industry, will create an undeniably remarkable value chain. Together they will develop new materials geared towards sustainability and the circular economy, creating solutions that will bring innovations to countless strategic sectors such as wires and cables, automotive, design, fashion and many other emerging industries.

As MRC reported before, earlier this month, Eni, Versalis and COREPLA (the National Consortium for the Collection, Recycling and Recovery of Plastic Packaging) have signed an agreement that will see them pool their expertise to collect and recycle plastic packaging, with a particular focus on non-mechanically recyclable plasmix.

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were slightly lower during mid-morning trade in Asia July 27 as concerns over recovery in oil demand resurfaced amid a resurgence in the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide, reported S&P Global.

At 11:15 am Singapore time (0315 GMT), ICE Brent September crude futures was down 8 cents/b (0.18%) from the July 24 settle to USD43.26/b, while the NYMEX September light sweet crude contract was down by 4 cents/b (0.1%) at USD41.25/b.

"Crude has been overdue for a correction because the concerns over oil demand revival globally is quite real," Vandana Hari, founder and CEO of oil consultancy firm Vanda Insights said July 27.

Global COVID-19 case counts have continued to rise steadily and now stands at 16.2 million, with total deaths nearing 650,000, with the US and Brazil accounting for 41% of total confirmed cases, latest data from John Hopkins University showed.

Worldwide daily infections remained high even as it retreated slightly from a record high three-day rolling average of 281,500 cases to settle at 255,000 on July 25. However, major economies such as Japan and Australia, which had previously succeeded in curbing infection rates are once again battling to contain a fresh wave of infections.

However, while economic uncertainties continue to cloud the short term demand outlook, the global crude complex continues to be supported by the weakening US dollar, euphoria over positive vaccine results as well as the European and US fiscal stimulus packages.

"A weaker US dollar should continue to provide a healthy counterbalance to any US inventory overhang as investors will be on the reach for alternative investments to hedge the anticipated wave of US dollar weakness in the weeks and months to come," Stephen Innes, chief global markets analyst at AxiCorp, said in a July 27 note.

He added that there was a strong inverse relation between the US dollar and crude prices, and that a simple regression equation shows that "a weakening of the effective exchange rate of the US dollar of 1% has, on average, been accompanied by a rise in the Brent oil price of 2.0%."

Meanwhile, the US government is expected to finalize details on the trillion-dollar coronavirus relief package this week before further negotiations are expected prior to congressional approval.

"Crude has to some extent been carried on the sustained risk appetite. Watch out for what comes out today in the relief package, that might reignite the risk appetite in the stock market, which will carry crude up in the next few weeks," Vanda Insights' Hari added.

As MRC wrote 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.

And 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 DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US crude oil and refined product inventories fell sharply in last week due in part to a notable drop in crude imports, reported Reuters with reference to the Energy Information Administration's statement.

Crude inventories fell 7.5 million barrels in the week to July 10 to 531.7 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.1 million-barrel drop. The decline was driven by a steep drop in imports, which fell by a net 2 million barrels per day (bpd), the EIA said.

Oil prices rose on the news. U.S. crude futures were up 48 cents, or 1.2%, to USD40.80 a barrel as of 10:53 a.m. ET (1453 GMT) while Brent gained 61 cents, or 1.4%, to USD43.51 a barrel.

US imports of oil from Mexico returned to more typical levels at 490,000 bpd in the most recent week, after a surprising spike to an eight-year high in the previous period.

US gasoline stocks fell by 3.1 million barrels in the week, the EIA said, compared with expectations for a 643,000-barrel drop.

Gasoline demand, meanwhile, dipped modestly as more US states have reimposed lockdowns as coronavirus cases and deaths are spiking anew. Overall gasoline supplied over the last four weeks, a proxy for demand, is 9% below the same period a year ago.

"The gasoline demand number is very weak, and with the coronavirus situation worsening, it's only going to get worse. That's going to be a weight on the market, and that's an increasing focus for everyone," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 453,000 barrels, versus expectations for a 1.5 million-barrel rise. However, Gulf Coast distillate inventories rose last week to 58.6 million barrels, their highest on record, the data showed.

As MRC informed 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.

And 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 DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qatar Petroleum will slash its spending by around 30% this year in the face of the sharp drop in oil and gas prices due to the coronavirus epidemic, its Chief Executive said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Speaking during a webcast organised by the U.S-Qatar Business Council, Saad al-Kaabi however said that plans to sharply expand Qatar Petroleum’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity by the middle of the decade remain on track.

“We are going through budget revisions... In June we will be somewhere in the range of 30% reduction in expenditure, capex and opex,” Kaabi said. The world’s top oil and gas companies sharply reduced spending in the wake of an unprecedented collapse in oil consumption triggered by travel restrictions governments around the world imposed to contain the coronavirus epidemic.

Kaabi said he expected oil demand to recover to pre-crisis levels only within a year or two, adding that natural gas prices have suffered less due to continued demand for electricity. Qatar Petroleum, or QP, the world’s largest LNG producer, will however not cut its gas exports due to the weaker demand, he added.

QP wants to lift its LNG output to around 110 million tonnes per annum by 2024 from today’s 77 mtpa in the first phase of its expansion. Those plans remain on course, Kaabi said, despite delaying the awarding of commercial tenders for the expansion project from April to the end of the year.

“We’re full steam ahead, we’re going to expand,” Kaabi said. Once the project’s capital costs are understood in the coming months, he expects a number of major international companies, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips to take part in the tendering process, he added.

As MRC informed earlier, on 22 July at cracking units No. 23 and 33 in the city of Sweeny, Old Ocean, Texas, USA, the American Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem), one of the world's largest petrochemical companies, suffered a technological failure as a result of a steam failure. the company said in a statement. The company said in a statement that the company has restored this production with a capacity of 1.68 million tons of ethylene per year.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Renewable chemicals firm P2 Science (Woodbridge, Connecticut) has begun commercial scales of 24-6, a product case containing 24 bottles of sanitizer and 6 bottles of P2 moisturizer, said Chemweek.

The new P2 moisturizer is formulated around the patented forest-derived, Citropol platform and is designed to mitigate the effects on the skin of frequent handwashing and sanitizer use. The liquid sanitizer is made under an FDA registration.

Any sale or donation of P2 sanitizer is accompanied by P2 skincare products, built around the Citropol proprietary biobased ingredients. Currently the 24-6 is sold only for use by employees of qualified government and nonprofit groups operating in the state of Connecticut. Earnings from sales of the 24-6 will help support the P2 pro-bono work with All Our Kids Inc. (AOK) and other CT nonprofits. P2 is currently supplying AOK with sanitizer to help facilitate safe operation of their childcare facilities.

The Citropol platform is a new class of liquid polymers made from terpenes derived from forest products. The products demonstrate an excellent safety profile and typically impart lubricity, shine, and moisture retention properties in a wide range of skin- and hair-care products.

As MRC informed earlier, an estimated 11 million metric tons (MMt) of plastic waste enter the ocean every year and this will almost triple by 2040, to 29 MMt, if immediate and sustained action is not taken, according to a newly published in-depth report. This is equivalent to dumping 110 lbs (50 kilograms) of plastic on every meter of coastline around the world, it says. However, it is possible to reduce annual flows of plastic into the ocean.

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC