MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries says that EBDITA dropped 33% year on year (YOY) at its petrochemicals business to 59.64 billion Indian rupees (USD802.79 million) in the fiscal second quarter ended 30 September. Quarterly sales for this sector were Rs296.6 billion, down 23% YOY, said Chemweek.
The company says, however, that compared with the preceding quarter, prices of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) strengthened by 13%, 17%, and 25%, respectively, due to tight supply with regional turnarounds and an improvement in demand. With increased feedstock prices, para-xylene (p-xylene) prices firmed 10% quarter on quarter (QOQ) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and ethylene glycol prices increased by 4% and 10%, respectively. Naphtha prices increased by 56% QOQ because of healthy demand.
Reliance says that its steam-cracker margins improved QOQ due to the feedstock mix and “favorable economics for ethane cracking.” Its crackers operated at near 100% utilization during the quarter. The company recorded higher QOQ production volume and higher volume placement in the domestic market.
"Domestic demand has sharply recovered across our oil-to-chemicals business and is now near pre-COVID levels for most products,” says Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director at Reliance.
PP margins declined 21% QOQ to USD126/metric ton due to higher feedstock prices despite robust demand from health and hygiene applications. PE margins remained stable with firm demand from the packaging sector. PVC margins improved by 14% to USD546/metric ton led by a strong demand recovery in agriculture and the construction sector.
Reliance says that PTA margins declined by 14% QOQ to USD107/metric ton “in well-supplied markets.” P-xylene and PTA markets were also hurt by the start-up of new capacities in China, it adds.
Domestic polymer and polyester demand improved with the easing of lockdown and revival of downstream operations with improved labor availability. The company says it achieved its highest-ever quarterly polymer sales in India through leveraging the domestic supply chain, multimodal logistics, and a nationwide warehousing facility. Reliance placed higher volumes of polyester products in the domestic market with improved operating rates for spinning and texturizing units, it adds.
The company’s other business units include refining, oil and gas, retail, digital services, financial services, and others. Reliance's second-quarter group net profit was Rs95.67 billion, down 15% YOY, on 22% lower sales of Rs1.2 trillion.
As per MRC, Reliance Industries (RIL) is on track to restart its polypropylene (PP) unit in Jamnagar, India as the company is completing the 20 days maintenance works. The unit was taken offline on 15 October and would come back online on 5 November 2020. The plant has an annual capacity of 480,000 tons/year.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. Thus, the company produces among others polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride.
MRC