Ingevity to challenge US court ruling in patent infringement case against BASF

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ingevity says it intends to challenge a decision of the US District Court for the District of Delaware regarding a patent-infringement complaint brought by Ingevity against BASF, reported Chemweek.

Ingevity says the court’s decision is based on an inaccurate interpretation of intellectual property (IP) law. Ingevity’s suit against BASF alleges that BASF infringed an Ingevity patent through testing canister systems using a BASF-developed product that Ingevity says would likely compete with Ingevity’s “honeycomb” technology, the company says.

According to Ingevity, its patent covers certain canister systems designed to achieve gasoline vapor emission levels that comply with the most stringent US Environmental Protection Agency tier 3 and California LEV III regulations. The company notes that its patent rights preclude third parties - including competitors, suppliers, testing facilities, and automotive original equipment manufacturers - from engaging in development activities such as prototype creation, testing, marketing, and qualifying that fall within any of the patent’s claims until March 2022, when it is set to expire.

“We intend to pursue our remedies to overturn this decision, including an appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, if necessary. Ingevity is the established technology leader in providing world-leading products for use in automotive evaporative emissions-control systems. Our leadership and expertise in this application are unique and it is incumbent upon us to defend our innovations against infringement - including premature development activity - for the benefit of our customers and shareholders,” says Ed Woodcock, executive vice president and president/performance materials at Ingevity.

The company says the court’s decision is expected to have a limited impact on its commercial operations or financial results through patent expiration in March 2022. It notes that the decision by the US District Court has no bearing on one of the company's other patents in the area of canisters designed to reduce emissions in new, emerging “low-purge” engines. This IP is currently protected by patents in the US, as well as China and Europe, it says.

As MRC informed previously, German chemicals maker BASF said in early November it had put a project to build a petrochemicals complex in India worth up to USD4 billion on hold due to the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. BASF signed a memorandum of understanding with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Adani Group and Borealis AG in October 2019 to evaluate a collaboration to build the chemical site in Mundra, in India’s Gujarat state.

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

ccording 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.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
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1. COVID-19 period an inflection point for energy transition

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The COVID-19 period will be viewed “as an inflection point for the global energy transition,” according to Mark Eramo, global vice president/oil markets, midstream, downstream, chemicals at IHS Markit. The impact of the pandemic going forward on the decarbonization of energy consumption “causes a faster pace of change, versus what we’ve seen in the past,” said Eramo, speaking at the Chemical Industry Financial Outlook & Sustainability Forum 2020, being held in a virtual format and hosted by IHS Markit. Peak oil demand may also now have taken place, Eramo says. “We believe COVID-19 has reset oil demand at a lower level. With the move to work from home—even after we get a vaccine and get back to normal—we’re looking at scenarios where 2019 could be that peak in world oil demand, depending on whether we return to our commutes, by car, train, or plane, and the degree that all that comes back.” Oil demand in 2020 is forecast by IHS Markit to be about 94 million b/d, well down on the 2019 total of just more than 100 million b/d.


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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures moved lower during mid-morning trade in Asia Nov. 18, after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a build in US crude inventories, and after the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) failed to make definite statements on the status of OPEC+ production cuts, reported S&P Global.

At 10:32 am Singapore time (0232 GMT), ICE Brent January crude futures were down 15 cents/b (0.34%) from the Nov. 17 settle at USD43.60/b, while the NYMEX December light sweet crude contract was down 24 cents/b (0.58%) at USD41.19/b.

The lower crude prices were seen after API data showed Nov. 17 that crude inventories rose by 4.174 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 13.

Fundamentals in the downstream gasoline markets were also unimproved, with API data showing a 256,000-barrel build in gasoline inventories in the week ended Nov. 13. The one positive from the API report was a 5.024 million-barrel draw in distillate inventories.

At 10:32 am Singapore time, the NYMEX December RBOB contract was trading 0.38 cent/gal (0.33%) lower than the Nov. 17 settle at USD1.1494/gal and the NYMEX December ULSD contract was down by 0.12 cent/gal (0.10%) at USD1.2379/gal.

Pan Jingyi, senior market strategist at IG, acknowledged that the bearish API data had dampened sentiment this morning, and added, "The market is taking a breather after a vaccine-driven rally, and reassessing the situation on the pandemic front, as infection numbers have been rising the past couple of days."

Meanwhile, a Nov. 17 JMMC meeting did not inspire any confidence in the market, as it failed to offer any insight as to whether the OPEC+ alliance will extend its current production cuts into next year.

Based on prior hints from key figures within OPEC+, the market believes that the alliance will extend its output cuts of 7.7 million b/d by at least three months, instead of easing them to 5.8 million b/d as planned from January 2021 onward.

The market was expecting more definitive statements on the status of the production cuts from the meeting, but delegates told S&P Global Platts that OPEC+ will announce its decision when it convenes online from Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

"While OPEC+ can extend the current cuts at its next full meeting on Nov. 30, it may well be viewed as a disappointment that we did not hear something more explicit today, especially in the context of a market that, on the margin, is still hopeful that additional cuts in 2021 will be at least put on the table," Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi, said in a Nov. 18 note.

Even though there was no production guidance, the JMMC reaffirmed the OPEC+ alliance's resolve to balance demand with supply in the oil market.

Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said in his opening remarks: "We must maintain high compliance while retaining the flexibility and nimbleness to adjust our commitment in changing market conditions ... we must be prepared to act according to the requirements of the market."

As MRC informed previously, global oil demand may have already peaked, according to BP's latest long-term energy outlook, as the COVID-19 pandemic kicks the world economy onto a weaker growth trajectory and accelerates the shift to cleaner fuels.

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).

ccording 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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea's crude oil imports from the US in October fell for the sixth consecutive month, while local refiners continued to favor Middle Eastern crude, lifting October Saudi oil shipments by more than 30% from a year earlier, preliminary customs data showed on Nov. 16, reported S&P Global.

South Korean refiners imported 1.192 million mt, or 8.74 million barrels of US crude in October, down 37% from 13.88 million barrels received in the same month last year, customs data showed.

Over January-October, US crude imports fell to 92.91 million barrels, down 17.5% from the same period last year.

On the contrary, South Korea's crude imports from its top supplier Saudi Arabia in October rose 32.6% year on year to 4.08 million mt, or 29.91 million barrels, driven by lower official selling prices by Saudi Aramco.

Local refiners continue to find their staple high sulfur Middle Eastern crude to be the most viable and economical feedstock option in times of volatile refining margins and tepid consumer fuel demand, according to refinery officials and feedstock trading managers based in Seoul.

The majority of US crude that South Korean refiners purchase tends to consist of WTI and Eagle Ford, but companies have been reluctant to buy high volumes of the light and middle distillate-rich refinery feedstock due to dismal domestic demand for gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.

The country's jet fuel consumption is expected at around 4.1 million barrels in the fourth quarter, down 60% from the same period a year earlier, according to South Korean middle distillate marketing managers surveyed by S&P Global Platts.

Diesel consumption fell 3% year on year to 40.3 million barrels in Q3 and demand for the fuel is expected to fall to 39 million barrels in Q4, down 13% from a year earlier, the survey showed.

South Korean refiners have sharply increased intakes of Middle East crude since May as they started to reduce imports of US grades due to expensive WTI compared with Dubai-linked Persian Gulf grades.

South Korean refiners have paid an average outright price of USD43.82/b for Saudi crude imported so far this year, sharply lower than USD53.91/b paid for shipments from the US, according to latest data from state-run Korea National Oil Corp.

Despite US grades' higher quality over Middle Eastern sour crude, WTI used to trade at a discount to Dubai not so long ago, trading managers at SK Innovation and Hyundai Oilbank said.

In 2019, South Korea paid on average USD65.17/b for crude shipments from the US, cheaper than an average of $66.87/b paid for Saudi crude cargoes received in the year.

In total, Asia's fourth biggest energy consumer imported 11.087 million mt, or 81.27 million barrels (2.62 million b/d) of crude oil in October, down 1.3% from 82.33 million barrels a year earlier, customs data showed.

In the first 10 months of this year, the country's crude imports dipped 7.2% year on year to 825.4 million barrels.

South Korea's crude stockpiles decreased 11.3% year on year to 44.92 million barrels as of the end of September, according to KNOC data.

Final oil data for October will be released later this month by KNOC.

As MRC informed earlier, South Korean SK Global Chemical, a subsidiary of SK Innovation, plans to shut down its production processes for ethylene and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) within its naphtha cracking center in Ulsan, South Korea. The 200,000-t/y naphtha cracker, which started commercial operation in 1972, and the EPDM unit, which began commercial operation in 1992, will be mothballed from December 2020 to shift the company's focus to high-value added chemicals.

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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ferro has reported third-quarter net income up 12.9% year-on-year (YOY), to USD14.5 million, on net sales down 1.4%, to USD241.9 million, reported Chemweek.

Adjusted earnings totaled 19 cents/share, beating analysts’ consensus estimate of 15 cents/share, as reported by Refinitiv (New York, New York). Sales were up 18.1% on a sequential basis from the second-quarter, exceeding the company’s expectations.

“We currently expect the positive trends in demand for our products to continue in the coming months,” says Ferro CEO Peter Thomas. “Our customers do not appear to be de-stocking in the fourth quarter, as they have in more typical years, and we are seeing an uptick in demand for the new year as our customers’ markets continue to recover. We also believe that changes in consumer and other behavior resulting from the COVID pandemic will accelerate demand for Ferro products in multiple markets, including renewables, healthcare, and electronics.” The company does not anticipate a “significant impact” to demand from a second wave of the pandemic, Thomas adds.

Functional coatings segment sales declined 0.3% YOY, to USD154.2 million, while segment gross profit was down 11.4%, to USD41.6 million. Color solutions segment sales fell 3.2% YOY, to USD87.7 million, while segment gross profit declined 2.3%, to USD28.5 million.

As MRC informed before, on October 14, 2016, Ferro signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the stock of Belgium-based Cappelle Pigments for EUR50.5 million (approximately USD56 million) on a cash-free and debt-free basis.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in September 2020 by 6.7% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first nine months of 2020 by 6.1% year on year, 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-September output. September production of primary polymers in Russia decreased to 852,000 tonnes from 888,000 tonnes in August due to shutdowns in Tomsk, Ufa and Kazan. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 7,480,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 16.4% year on year.

Ferro Corporation is a leading global functional coatings and color solutions company that supplies technology-based performance materials, including glass-based coatings, pigments and colors, and polishing materials. Ferro products are sold into the building and construction, automotive, appliances, electronics, household furnishings, and industrial products markets. Headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, the Company has approximately 4,900 employees globally.
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