Ineos to form energy, low-carbon technologies group, appoints former BP CFO as chairman

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos says it will form a new energy group combining all of its existing oil and gas assets and its low-carbon technologies and activities it has under development. Brian Gilvary, who left his role as CFO of BP in June this year, has been appointed as the energy group’s executive chairman, said Chemweek.

Gilvary was at BP for 34 years and held the role of CFO from 2012 until his retirement in June. "We are delighted that someone of Brian’s caliber has agreed to join us to head up this exciting new venture at a time of significant transformation in the energy industry,” says Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe. “We are determined that Ineos will be at the forefront of the industry and that Brian will provide the experience and leadership to achieve that aim."

The new combination of assets and technologies within Ineos Energy means the company can play a leading role in the upcoming energy transition “at a time of tremendous change within our industry,” says Gilvary.

As MRC informed earlier, Ineos Oxide, an Ineos subsidiary, has declared force majeure on propylene output from one of the two steam crackers at Dormagen. This declaration was not confirmed by Ineos. There are two steam crackers at Dormagen, one with a capacity of 670,000 metric tons/year and another with a capacity of 530,000 metric tons/year.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

Ineos Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asahi Songwon Colors on Monday announced the commencement of commercial operations at the Dahej plant of Asahi Tennants Color, its joint venture with Tennants Textile Colours Limited (TTC) of UK, said Chemweek.

Gokul Jaykrishna, CEO of Asahi Songwon Colors said, “The commencement of operations of the JV company gives Asahi the perfect launching pad to widen its presence as a leading global supplier of pigments, and make a mark in the AZO pigment space."

In the JV, Asahi holds a controlling stake of about 51% while the remaining 49% is held by TTC. The JV which was announced in October 2019, launched the plant on December 12, 2019, with an expected date of commissioning in March 2021.

Asahi in its regulatory filing highlighted that the state-of-the-art Dahej plant will make Red & Yellow pigments. The installed capacity of the AZO pigment plant is 2400 metric tonnes per annum. The plant has been set up for Rs82cr.

Arjun Jaykrishna, Executive Director, Asahi Songwon Colors, said, “It is our pleasure to announce that in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, we successfully commissioned the plant on December 14, four months before the original target date. We are going to work towards full capacity utilisation at the plant, and aim to double capacity by 2022."

The Dahej plant will enable Asahi to extend its global pigment presence, which is currently dominant in the phthalocyanine pigment space, to the full range of pigment colours, the company pointed out. On Sensex, Asahi Songwon completed at Rs243.50 per piece up 3.53%.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in October 2020 by 7.2% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals grew in the first ten months of 2020 by 6.3% 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-October output. October production of polymers in primary form grew to 857,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in September. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 8,340,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oxo intermediates and derivatives producer OQ Chemicals (Monheim am Rhein, Germany) says it will increase prices for several of its amines products due to supply and demand as of 1 January 2021 or as contracts allow, said Chemweek.

The price of isopropylamine will rise to EUR150/metric ton ($183/metric ton) in Europe, by 8 cents (cts) per pound (lb) in North America and Mexico, and by USD182/metric ton in the rest of the world. Prices for butylamine, dibutylamine, and tributylamine will each be increased by EUR100/metric ton in Europe, 5 cts/lb in North America and Mexico, and USD121/metric ton in the rest of the world.

The company hiked its prices for other oxo intermediates and carboxylic acids earlier this week.

As per MRC, OQ Chemicals (Monheim am Rhein, Germany) is raising its prices globally for carboxylic acids, starting 1 January 2021 or as contracts allow. The company says that due to supply and demand the price of 2-ethylhexanoic acid (2-EHA) will rise in Europe by EUR85/metric ton (USD103/metric ton), in the US by USD0.05/lb, and in the rest of the world by USD110/metric ton. The prices of n-butyric acid and isobutyric acid will each increase in the US by USD0.05/lb and USD110/metric ton in the rest of the world but will not rise in Europe.

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 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asian refining margins for jet fuel rose on Monday, buoyed by an uptick in passenger traffic on some domestic flight routes and firmer air cargo demand ahead of the peak holiday season, reported Reuters.

Refining profit margins, also known as cracks, for jet fuel rose 36 cents to USD4.83 per barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, hovering close to a near nine-month peak touched last week.

Cracks for the aviation fuel in Singapore, which also determines the profitability of closely-related kerosene, have more than doubled in the last four weeks, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

The jet fuel market, however, is expected to take years to go back to pre-pandemic levels, market watchers said. "For jet fuel, hit hardest by the pandemic... ultimately, a true rebound would require the resumption of international flights and cross-border tourism, which may be among the lasts to be returned, as COVID-19 headwinds ease," said Peter Lee, senior analyst at Fitch Solutions.

Cash differentials for jet fuel were at a discount of 27 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes, compared with a discount of 26 cents per barrel on Friday.

From Air Canada to China's CDB Aviation, airlines and leasing firms are rushing to permanently convert older passenger jets into freighters, betting on a boom in e-commerce as the value of used planes tumbles amid the pandemic.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium expects the number of P2F conversions globally will rise by 36% to 90 planes in 2021, and to 109 planes in 2022.

As MRC informed before, slumping fuel consumption during the pandemic is accelerating the long-term shift of refining capacity from North America and Europe to Asia, and from older, smaller refineries to modern, higher-capacity mega-refineries. The result is a wave of closures, often centering on refineries that only narrowly survived the previous closure wave in the years after the recession in 2008/09.

We remind that PetroChina has nearly doubled the amount of Russian crude being processed at its refinery in Dalian, the company's biggest, since January 2018, as a new supply agreement had come into effect. The Dalian Petrochemical Corp, located in the northeast port city of Dalian, was expected to process 13 million tonnes, or 260,000 bpd of Russian pipeline crude in 2018, up by about 85 to 90 percent from the previous year's level. Dalian has the capacity to process about 410,000 bpd of crude. The increase follows an agreement worked out between the Russian and Chinese governments under which Russia's top oil producer Rosneft was to supply 30 million tonnes of ESPO Blend crude to PetroChina in 2018, or about 600,000 bpd. That would have represented an increase of 50 percent over 2017 volumes.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem and Encina Development Group (Encina; The Woodlands, Texas) have agreed to develop a long-term relationship aimed at establishing a supply of circular propylene feedstock from Encina’s planned new post-consumer plastics recycling plant in the US, reported Chemweek.

Encina plans to break ground on the facility in the second half of 2021, although the location has not yet been given. Once completed, the plant will process 175,000 metric tons/year of waste plastic into over 90,000 metric tons/year of recycled chemicals, the companies say in a joint statement. The facility will be designed to have its capacity expanded to 350,000 metric tons/year of waste plastic in future phases, they say. It will leverage Encina’s proprietary technology that converts mixed plastics to chemicals via catalytic pyrolysis.

Braskem will work with Encina to develop the necessary logistics, product quality, and certifications for the recycled propylene feedstock that Braskem will then use in the production of recycled polypropylene (PP) materials in applications such as food packaging, consumer, and hygiene products, according to the companies. Braskem and Encina intend to develop a formal supply agreement prior to the project’s financing approval in 2021, they say.

Encina said in July it was planning to build a USD255-million facility for the conversion of waste plastic to benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX), with other additional plants in the pipeline, and a possible IPO within the next two years.

“Encina’s technology and this important project will divert thousands of tons of hard-to-recycle plastic from landfills. As the North American leader in polypropylene, Braskem is actively looking to purchase sustainable propylene feedstock that will allow us to increase both recycled and renewable-sourced products in our portfolio,” says Braskem Americas CEO Mark Nikolich. The agreement will help Braskem’s clients to meet their aggressive recycled content goals in the years ahead, he says.

Braskem, a founding member of the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition formed earlier this year, recently announced sales targets for growing its recycled products portfolio to 300,000 metric tons/year by 2025 and 1 million metric tons/year by 2030. It is also a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste.

As MRC reported previously, Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem's 450,000 mt/year PP plant in LaPorte, Texas, along the Houston Ship Channel completed its initial commercial production, as per the company's statement as of Sept. 10. "The launch of commercial production at our new world-class PP production line in La Porte clearly affirms Braskem's position as the North American polypropylene market leader," Braskem America CEO Mark Nikolich said in a statement. With a USD750 million investment, the new PP plant's construction started in October 2017 and was completed in June, 2020.

We remind that production at Braskem's new PP plant in the US was at 36,000 tonnes in October, close to the monthly production capacity of the plant of around 38,000 tonnes.

Braskem operates five other US PP plants in Texas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, with a cumulative capacity of 1.57 million mt/year that the company acquired. The new plant in La Porte, Texas, is Braskem America's first PP new build.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

MRC