BP files notices of possible worker layoffs in Chicago area

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP Plc notified officials in Chicago and the state of Illinois of possible layoffs affecting more than 250 salaried employees at the company’s offices, reported Reuters with reference to BP's statement.

BP is also reviewing the organizational structure at its Whiting, Indiana, oil refinery 28 miles (45 km) southeast of Chicago.

BP’s US Pipelines and Logistics office is located in Chicago and the company has a technology campus in the nearby suburb of Naperville, Illinois.

In June, BP chief executive Bernard Looney said the company would cut up to 10,000 jobs, or 15% of its 70,000-person workforce, worldwide.

In October, Reuters reported only 2,500 people had taken voluntary severance packages offered by BP and 7,500 people worldwide would have to be laid off.

As MRC wrote previously, BP Australia plans to shut its 146,000 b/d Kwinana refinery in Western Australia and convert it into a fuel import terminal, according to the company's statment Oct. 30. The continued growth of large scale, export-oriented refineries throughout Asia and the Middle East has structurally changed the Australian market, BP said, adding that regional oversupply and sustained low refining margins mean the Kwinana refinery is no longer economically viable. Converting the refinery into an import terminal will help ensure ongoing security of fuel supply for Western Australia, the company said. Refining activities will wind down over the next six months and conversion works will carry on out to 2022.

We remind that a “technical defect” disrupted production at part of the Gelsenkirchen integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in Germany, in late October. The company operates plants in the Horst and Scholven districts at Gelsenkirchen, with the defect occurring at Horst. BP sais it was working to resume normal operations as soon as possible. It did not specify which unit has been affected, with sources suggesting it was the fluid catalytic cracker, but this was not confirmed by the company.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

BP plc (formerly The British Petroleum Company plc and BP Amoco plc) is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the world's seven oil and gas "supermajors", whose performance in 2012, made it the world's sixth-largest oil and gas company, the sixth-largest energy company by market capitalization and the company with the world's 12th-largest revenue (turnover). It is a vertically integrated company operating in all areas of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, power generation and trading. It also has renewable energy interests in biofuels, wind power, smart grid and solar technology.
MRC

SPAC to buy PP recycler PureCycle, create publicly-traded firm

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Roth CH Acquisition I Co., a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by investment firms Roth Capital Partners and Craig-Hallum Capital Group, says it has acquired polypropylene (PP) recycling firm PureCycle Technologies in a deal that values PureCycle’s post-transaction equity at about USD1.2 billion, reported Chemweek.

Under the deal, a new holding company named PureCycle Technologies Inc. will be created and listed on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol 'PCT.'

The deal includes an US835 million issuance of new stock to current PureCycle shareholders, USD250 million in private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing led by a variety of investment firms and family offices, and USD76.5 million in funding from a Roth CH trust account. Major shareholders are subject to contractual lock-ups for portions of their shares, and additional shares of PureCycle may be issued if milestones are met related to share performance and completion of expansion plans.

PureCycle has an exclusive license to commercialize a patented solvent-based purification recycling technology for PP recycling developed by Procter & Gamble (P&G; Cincinnati, Ohio). “PureCycle’s Ultra-Pure Recycled Polypropylene (UPRP) has nearly identical properties and applicability for reuse as virgin polypropylene,” the company says. PureCycle has offtake agreements with a number of firms, including L’Oreal, P&G, Milliken & Company, BMW iVentures, and Total.

The company is building a plant at Ironton, Ohio, which is expected to start up in late 2022. Full nameplate capacity of 107 million pounds/year will be reached in 2023. PureCycle has further plans to construct facilities in Europe and the US, with an goal of reaching 1.2 billion pounds/year in recycled PP output in the next five years. The company is also aiming for $800 million in annual revenues by 2024.

“Our recycling process produces virgin-like resin that we believe is suitable for high-value, food-grade consumer products, and we believe we are well-positioned to meet the consumer demand for recycled content as well as global sustainability mandates,” says PureCycle CEO Mike Otworth. “The proceeds of this transaction are intended to provide us with the balance sheet strength to accelerate the global rollout of our proven technology addressing the immense global problem associated with polypropylene waste.”

Roth CH “searched for a business combination that would not only be a compelling growth company but could also benefit from the relationships and experience of our two growth investment banks,” says CEO Byron Roth.

The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021. PureCycle’s management team, including Otworth, COO David Brenner, and CFO Michael Dee, will remain in place.

As MRC informed before, in September 2020, Milliken (Spartanburg, North Carolina) said it had joined the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition (PRC), an industry collaboration launched in July by The Recycling Partnership (TRP) aimed at improving recovery and recycling of PP in the US.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC

OQ Chemicals raises solvents prices in Americas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- OQ Chemicals (Monheim am Rhein, Germany) will increase its solvents prices in the Americas from 1 December or as contracts allow “due to strong demand and increasing raw materials costs,” reported Chemweek with reference to the company's statement.

In North America and Mexico, the prices of 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) and n-propanol will rise by 5 cents (cts) per pound (lb); n-butanol and isobutanol by 4 cts/lb; and n-butyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, and n-propyl acetate by 3 cts/lb.

In South America, prices for 2-EH and n-propanol will rise by USD110/metric ton; n-butanol and isobutanol by USD88/metric ton; and n-butyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, and n-propyl acetate by USD66/metric ton.

The manufacturer of oxo intermediates and oxo derivatives raised its prices globally for neopentyl glycol earlier this week.

As MRC wrote earlier, in September 2020, OQ Chemicals entered into an agreement to license its advanced proprietary technology for the production of ethylene and propylene derivatives to Duqm Refinery and Petrochemicals Industries Company (DRPIC) in Oman. DRPIC, a joint venture between Oman Oil Company and Kuwait International Oil Company, is a planned grassroots petrochemical complex at Duqm, Oman. In all, DRPIC awarded twelve license packages to international licensors.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

OQ Chemicals, formerly Oxea, is a global manufacturer of oxo intermediates and oxo derivatives, such as alcohols, polyols, carboxylic acids, specialty esters, and amines. These products are used for the production of high-quality coatings, lubricants, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, flavours and fragrances, printing inks and plastics. OQ Chemicals is part of OQ, an integrated energy company that delivers sustainability and business excellence. OQ operates in 16 countries and covers the entire value chain from exploration and production to the marketing and distribution of its products.
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 17.11.2020

1. Chevron to lay off about 25% of Noble Energy employees after merger

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Corp will lay off about 25% of Noble Energy's employees who joined the oil major after its USD4.1 billion purchase of the smaller rival earlier this month, the company announced, said Hydrocarbonprocessing. A collapse in crude oil prices has forced most oil and gas producers to drastically cut costs by laying off thousands of employees and cutting down on drilling. For many companies, consolidation with larger players at low or no premiums is becoming the only option to survive. The job cuts, which are on top of Chevron’s plan to reduce 10%-15% of its own workforce, come after the company promised to lower its operating expenses by USD1 billion this year to cope with the downturn. Chevron’s 10%-15% cuts would imply a reduction of between 4,500 and 6,750 jobs, while job cuts at Noble will reduce the total workforce by roughly another 570 positions.

MRC

PVC imports to Russia down by 16% in Jan-Oct 2020, exports dropped by 1%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Russia totalled 38,500 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, down by 16% year on year. At the same time, exports decrease by 1%, according to MRC's DataScope report.
Last month's SPVC imports to Russia fell to 2,300 tonnes from 4,200 tonnes. The devaluation of the rouble against the dollar and high prices of resin in foreign markets forced Russian companies to significantly reduce their imports. Thus, overall imports were 38,500 tonnes in January-October 2020, compared to 45,900 tonnes a year earlier, with resin from China and the United States accounting for the main reduction in imports. PVC shipments from these countries decreased by almost a third over the stated period.
At the same time, strong demand for resin from the domestic market allowed Russian producers to reduce their export sales. October exports of suspension did not exceed 10,000 tonnes (excluding shipments to Belarus and Kazakhstan) versus 11,300 tonnes a month earlier. Thus, overall PVC exports totalled 165,700 tonnes in January-October 2020, compared to 167,800 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC