Avient says business is recovering in third quarter

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Avient, formerly PolyOne, says market conditions have improved through the third quarter for most of the company, according to Chemweek.

“A number of end markets that were negatively impacted by the pandemic in the second quarter are recovering,” Avient says, adding that third-quarter revenue is expected to total about USD905 million. The company expects third-quarter adjusted earnings to total 43 cents/share, compared with 44 cents/share in the year-ago period.

“We are seeing a recovery in demand in the third quarter,” says Robert Patterson, chairman and CEO of Avient. “Most notably, our composites business is benefitting from increased demand for outdoor high performance applications.”

The company is also increasing its cost-reduction estimate from the acquisition of Clariant’s masterbatches business, which closed on 1 July. Avient now expects USD75 million/year in cost savings to result from the deal by 2023, compared with USD60 million/year previously forecast.

As MRC reported earlier, in December 2019, Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland) agreed to sell its entire Masterbatches business to PolyOne Corp. (Avon Lake, Ohio). The transaction values the Masterbatches business at USD1,560 million, representing about 12.2 times the last twelve months reported EBITDA (ending September 2019) on a cash and debt free basis.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in August 2020 by 5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 5.3% in the first eight months of 2020, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-July output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Calgon Carbon (Moon Township, Pennsylvania), a subsidiary of Kuraray, has decided to expand the production of reactivated carbon at Feluy, Belgium, said Chemweek.

The company intends to expand the capacity by 11,000 metric tons/year and the operations are due to start in the second half of 2022.

Reactivated carbon is activated carbon that was previously used, but subsequently reactivated. It is produced from materials such as bituminous coal and coconut shells. In recent years, the use of activated carbon has become increasingly widespread, particularly for applications related to the environment, including water and air purification.

In Europe, especially, demand for reactivated carbon is growing for industrial applications, such as gas emission treatment and wastewater purification, bolstered rising environmental awareness, including stricter environmental regulations, sustainable use of natural resources, and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

As MRC informed earlier, Kuraray Co., Ltd. announces its decision to modify the production item lineup of its meltblown nonwoven fabric production facility, which is located on the premises of the Okayama Factory, a facility run by nonwoven fabric production and sales subsidiary Kuraray Kuraflex Co., Ltd. that is currently undergoing expansion. This move will result in the production of face mask filters at said facility and is aimed at meeting surging demand for nonwoven fabrics for use as mask filters.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices were little changed on Friday but on track for a weekly fall on concerns that a global resurgence of COVID-19 infections will constrain fuel demand, while the likely return of exports from Libya will add to supply, reported Reuters.

Brent crude was down 2 cents at USD41.92 a barrel by 0113 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was 3 cents firmer at USD40.34.

Brent is heading for a drop of nearly 3% this week, while U.S. crude is on track for a decline of almost 2%. Both benchmarks are also on track for a monthly decline, which would be the first for Brent in six months.

"The prospect of the return of Libyan barrels to the market is adding to the bearish sentiment," RBC Capital Markets said in a note. "However, we think the return of the barrels will be slow and subject to reversal based on the volatile security and political picture."

An oil tanker was loading a cargo on Thursday from one of three Libyan terminals that were reopened in recent days and more cargoes are expected to be lifted in the coming days.

Beyond that "crude prices will have difficulty rallying, on a structural basis, unless refining margins lead the path higher," RBC said.

In the United States, which has the highest death toll from the COVID-19 crisis and is the world's biggest oil consumer, unemployment claims unexpectedly rose last week suggesting an economic recovery is flailing and pushing down fuel demand.

US crude, gasoline and distillate inventories all fell last week, according to government data on Wednesday.

Still, US fuel demand remains in the doldrums as the pandemic constrains travel. The four-week average gasoline demand last week was 9% below a year earlier, government data showed earlier in the week.

In other parts of the world, daily increases of coronavirus infections are hitting records and new restrictions are being put in place that will likely limit demand for travel and fuel.

As MRC informed earlier, global oil refiners reeling from months of lackluster demand and an abundance of inventories are cutting fuel production into the autumn because the recovery in demand from the impact of coronavirus has stalled, according to executives, refinery workers, and industry analysts. Refiners cut output by as much as 35% in spring as coronavirus lockdowns destroyed the need for travel. As lockdowns eased, refiners increased output slowly through late August. But in top fuel consumers the United States and elsewhere, refiners have been decreasing rates for the last several weeks in response to increased inventories, a sustained lack of demand, and in response to natural disasters.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styrolution, the styrenics subsidiary of Ineos, and Americas Styrenics (AmSty) say they plan to build jointly a 100-metric ton/day polystyrene (PS) recycling facility in Channahon, Illinois, using chemical recycling technology from Agilyx to produce styrene monomer, said Chemweek.

The new plant will be the largest of its type in the world, according to Agilyx CEO Tim Stedman. Engineering design for the facility is under way, ahead of the construction and commissioning phases, the companies say. Plans for the plant were first revealed by Styrolution and Agilyx in December. AmSty and Agilyx formed a joint venture (JV) in 2018 to advance the development of a similar facility in Tigard, Oregon, using Agilyx’s pyrolysis technology. The Channahon facility will be engineered on a larger-scale, they say.

Agilyx will source and supply plastic waste feedstock for the facility through its recently formed Cyclyx subsidiary. “We have developed a feedstock management system, which is just as important as the technology in developing the supply chain for this new market,” says Joe Vaillancourt, president of Cyclyx. “The overarching goal of Cyclyx is to dramatically increase the recyclability of post-use plastics with a priority for fully circular pathways, as well as assisting in the development of new supply chains that will aggregate and preprocess larger volumes of post-use plastics than current systems," he says.

As per ICIS-MRC Price Report, the high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) market
participants in Russia said demand for material remained strong amid its shortage. Large buyers were generally provided with material according to their needs, whereas small ones could not fully meet their needs, as there were no free quantities of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's polystyrene (PS) for injection moulding, extrusion and production of XPS-boards at the beginning of autumn.

AmSty, Styrolution, and Trinseo signed a joint development agreement earlier this month to explore options for recycling PS. AmSty is a JV between Trinseo and Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem).

Styrolution and AmSty each have about 750,000 metric tons/year of PS production capacity in North America, making them the largest producers in the region, according to data from IHS Markit.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire at an Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) plant caused by a pipeline rupture has cut gas supplies to customers including power and fertilizer companies, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to gas marketing firm GAIL's (India) Ltd statement on Thursday.

The fire broke out on Thursday morning at ONGC's Hazira gas processing plant in western Gujarat state and has since been extinguished, ONGC said, adding that there were no casualties.

The plant, which produces liquefied petroleum gas and other products such as naphtha, has been closed but ONGC said it is working to resume normal operations.

GAIL, India's biggest gas marketing firm, supplies the bulk of gas produced at ONGC's western offshore fields to customers in the states of Gujarat, Goa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

It supplies about 60 million standard cubic metres of gas daily to these customers.

In a statement, GAIL said ONGC had shut off the supply of 30 MM standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) of gas to GAIL's north-western pipeline network to contain any further damage.

"Supply cuts of up to 40% against current allocations have been imposed on downstream customers," it said, adding that supplies to households had not been disrupted and the pipeline grid, which supports about 80 mmscmd of gas, had not been damaged.

India's biggest utility NTPC Ltd shut its 656 megawatt gas-based power plant at Kawas near Hazira and a 657 megawatt Jhanor-Gandhar plant due to gas supply disruption, a person at the company said.

Capacity utilization at fertilizer maker KRIBHCO fell to 50% and Jadish Prasad Verma, general manger for production at the company's Hazira plant, said they were trying to secure gas from other local suppliers.

Gas supplies to customers have temporarily closed due to safety reasons, an ONGC spokesman said.

"There could be some impact on our production... We are investigating the cause of fire, and extent of damage."

NTPC did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comments.

Surat Collector and District Magistrate Dhaval Patel, a senior city official, told Reuters the fire was caused by a rupture in a pipeline at the gas terminal. ONGC's plant is in Surat, a city in Gujarat.

"The area was cordoned off, depressurized and cooled as part of firefighting measures," Patel said.

Surat Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani said the fire was in the 36-inch Uran-Mumbai gas pipeline.

As MRC informed earlier, four people were killed and three seriously injured in a fire at an oil and gas processing plant on the outskirts of Mumbai run by India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp. The fire broke out in the morning, on 3 September. ONGC supplies crude oil from the plant to the Mumbai-based refineries of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) as well as natural gas to city gas distribution company Mahanagar Gas Ltd in Mumbai.

We remind that in January 2020, BPCL said it would invest about Rs25,000 crore to set up an ethylene cracker plant at Rasayani, 50 kilometres from its Mumbai refinery, as the firm pushes further into the petrochemicals business to fuel growth.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is an Indian multinational oil and gas company. Its registered office is now at New Delhi, India. It is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of the Government of India, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. It is India's largest oil and gas exploration and production company. It produces around 70% of India's crude oil (equivalent to around 30% of the country's total demand) and around 62% of its natural gas.