Odebrecht seeks to sell stake in Braskem

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Construction company Odebrecht has begun the initial process to sell up to all of its shares in Braskem, said Reuters.

Creditors of Brazil’s Odebrecht SA are in advanced talks to let the corruption-ensnared conglomerate keep its crown jewel asset, listed petrochemical company Braskem SA, for another two years, retreating from their prior demand for a quick sale, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

In a further victory for Odebrecht, which is trying to restructure 51 billion reais (USD12.2 billion) in debt, its bank creditors will let it keep receiving most of Braskem’s dividends - now virtually Odebrecht’s sole revenue source - during that period.

The engineering and construction company, implicated in a series of graft scandals across Latin America, will submit its debt proposal to a creditors’ meeting on Wednesday, but representatives of creditors whose debt is secured by Braskem shares have informally agreed to it, the sources added, asking for anonymity to disclose private talks. Still, a final decision depends on approval by the banks’ internal loan committees, the sources added.

Odebrecht and the bank creditors did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

Under Odebrecht’s proposal, none of its outstanding debt would be repaid during a 24-month period during which the banks would also concede nearly 80% of Braskem’s dividends to Odebrecht, the sources said. After that period, banks could potentially agree on extending the standstill period for another 12 months.

For its part, Odebrecht would be required to give up any questioning in Justice of the right of banks to take possession or sell shares in Braskem, the group’s crown jewel.

Earlier this year, Odebrecht argued in bankruptcy court the Braskem stake was an essential asset that could not be sold. Although the plan falls short of banks’ expectations, it is a temporary solution to avoid a fire-sale of Braskem. Loans from leading banks such as Banco do Brasil, Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Banco Bradesco SA, Banco Santander Brasil SA and development bank BNDES are secured by Braskem shares.

If the banks sold Odebrecht’s stake in Braskem at current market prices, it would barely cover the group’s 12.6 billion reais in debt with these creditors. Shares in Braskem are down more than 38% this year.

The petrochemical company may have to pay for relocation of thousands of people in the northeastern Brazilian city of Maceio due to environmental damage caused by its mining activities near the city. It is unclear yet how much it will cost the company.

LyondellBasell Industries broke off talks to acquire Braskem last June.

On Monday, Odebrecht’s lawyers were still analyzing a decision by an appeal court in a request by state-owned lender Caixa Economica Federal requiring that creditors vote on the consolidation of debts of more than 20 companies controlled by the conglomerate. It was not clear how it may impact the group’s restructuring plan.

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) -- Worley has been awarded a master services agreement (MSA) to provide civil, structural, mechanical, I&E, HVAC and marine construction services at Cheniere LNG’s Corpus Christi liquefaction facility, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Cheniere LNG is the second largest LNG operator in the world. The Corpus Christi facility in South Texas is the first greenfield LNG export facility in the U.S. lower 48. Its location places it near some of the most abundant oil and gas producing regions in the US.

Trains 1 and 2 are operational. Train 3 is under construction and is expected to be completed in 2021. When complete, the facility will include three liquefaction trains with an expected capacity of up to 13.5 million tons per year (MMtpy) of LNG.

Worley recently supported Cheniere with project and operations standards development to maintain and improve all Cheniere assets. Under this new MSA, Worley will provide a nested, on-site team to execute small capital construction projects for the Corpus Christi facility.

Natural gas plays an important role in the transition to cleaner, lower carbon energy. For more than two decades, Worley has been embedded within LNG facilities globally delivering small capital project programs, providing operations advisory, and maintenance services for LNG producers.

This unique expertise and deep LNG domain knowledge translate into reduced costs and risks as facilities become safer, more reliable, and more efficient.

“We are delighted that Cheniere has engaged Worley in this agreement. LNG is an important component of Worley’s Energy Transition strategy and the world’s energy transition journey. As a global professional services company headquartered in Australia, we look forward to supporting Cheniere to deliver on its operational and production targets,” said Chris Ashton, Chief Executive Officer of Worley.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell Catalysts & Technologies (SC&T) has successfully completed the expansion of its Port Allen, Louisiana plant in the United States, doubling its capacity to produce precipitated alumina powder. The Port Allen Precipitated Alumina (PAPA) plant capacity expansion project is part of the SC&T strategy to meet growth demands in the residue and gasoil hydroprocessing markets, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This expansion will allow the PAPA plant to increase powder supply to its world scale catalyst plant, located at the Port Allen facility. In addition, the PAPA plant will also supply powder to the other Shell catalyst plants globally.

The PAPA plant expansion project includes increasing the capacity of existing equipment combined with the addition of several new major pieces of processing equipment. Energy efficient alternatives and reliability improvements have been incorporated into the new equipment design to reduce fixed and variable costs associated with powder production.

Embedding safety in the plant design was a key part of the project. The SC&T team designed and laid out equipment so that safety risks were mitigated. The layout and design were also carefully developed so that the process equipment will be reliable and ready to allow for a safe commissioning and start up. The new plant also incorporates advanced industry technologies for efficient operation.

“SC&T is constantly looking to the future as energy demands increase, and as a premier catalyst provider, prepared to meet those demands,” said Darylene Harris, site general manager for the Port Allen Plant. “With the PAPA addition SC&T will now be a net exporter of powder. “

As MRC wrote before, Shell will announce a major restructure by the end of the year as the company prepares to accelerate its shift toward its net-zero emissions goal by 2050, said CEO Ben van Beurden to employees. The restructuring will include workforce reductions as part of broader cost-cutting measures, although no figures have been decided yet, the CEO reportedly said during an internal webcast.

We remind that Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to idle a sulfur recovery unit (SRU) at the joint-venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery in 2021, said Shell spokesman Curtis Smith in July 2020. Currently, the refinery is operating at about 75% of its 318,000 barrel-per-day capacity because of reduced demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US-based pigment producer Kronos Worldwide reported on Wednesday a decline in Q2 net income because of lower sales, said the company.

KRO logged a profit of USD18.6 million or 16 cents per share in second-quarter 2020, down from USD29.5 million or 25 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Earnings, however, beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 4 cents.

The bottom line in the reported quarter was impacted by lower sales volumes, lower average titanium dioxide (TiO2) selling prices, increased raw materials and other production costs.

Net sales fell 20% year over year to USD386 million, hurt by lower sales volumes and lower average TiO2 selling prices. However, the figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of USD369.9 million.

Kronos ran its titanium dioxide (TiO2) plants at utilisation rates of 95% in the first quarter, and 95% in the second quarter. That compares with 97% for both quarters in 2019.

Selling prices in Q2 were down 1% year on year. Prices at the end of the second quarter were comparable with those at the end of the first quarter.

Raw material costs rose during the first half of the year. Kronos did not specify if these increases were limited to the first quarter or the second quarter, or spread out through the first six months of the year.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of chemical products rose in June 2020 by 2.6% year on year. However, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 4.9% in the first six months of 2020. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the output in January-June. Production of benzene was 106,000 tonnes in June 2020, compared to 110,000 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of this product reached 721,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 3.9% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the petrochemicals giant 70%-owned by Saudi Aramco, saw average petrochemical prices in the second quarter plunge by 27% year-on-year as it posted a third consecutive quarterly loss, reported S&P Global with reference to CEO Yousef al-Benyan's statement Aug. 6.

Although there has been some improvement in performance during July and August, the CEO of the Middle East's biggest petrochemicals producer said the second half could be impacted by a second or third wave of COVID-19.

"Our view is that the second half is going to be more or less an average of the first half or a little bit better," Benyan said during a webcast press conference after reporting a Riyal 2.2 billion (USD586.6 million) loss for the second quarter. "There is improvement on prices but current indications of a second or third wave of COVID-19 has put more pressure on demand. There is a potential implication on future demand driven by uncertainty we are seeing in the energy market."

Average petrochemical prices were 27% lower in the second quarter from the year-earlier period and down 18% from the first quarter, he said.

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producing company, was due to report earnings on Aug. 9.

SABIC's second-quarter loss compared with a Riyal 2.03 billion profit in the year-earlier period, it said in a statement to the Saudi stock exchange, or Tadawul. It posted a Riyal 1.05 billion loss in the first quarter.

The second-quarter loss was mainly attributable to lower average selling prices and sales along with impairments provisions, it said. Impairment provisions in the second quarter equaled Riyal 1.18 billion for investments related to Saudi Petrochemical Co. (Sadaf) and Saudi Methanol Co. (Arrazi), SABIC said.

The second-half outlook will be "subject to any impairment that needs to be taken in third quarter and fourth quarter, given the market conditions," the CEO said.

SABIC and Aramco are looking at joint investments and could pursue other opportunities if it fits its strategy, Benyan said.

"Aramco being a major investor, we are looking at alignments on certain investment opportunities in major markets that will take place during the second half of this year," he said, without elaborating.

Aramco on June 17 said it completed the share acquisition of a 70% stake in SABIC from the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, for a total purchase price of Riyal 259.125 billion.

The acquisition of the SABIC stake is part of Aramco's strategy to build its downstream footprint by growing its integrated refining and petrochemicals capacity to add value across the hydrocarbon chain.

It specifically enhances Aramco's chemicals strategy by transforming Aramco into one of the major global petrochemicals players.

Combined, in 2019 Aramco and SABIC recorded petrochemicals production volume of nearly 90 million mt, including agri-nutrient and specialty product.

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.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world"s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world"s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC