Sanyo Chemical secures additional investment for battery affiliate

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese chemical firm Sanyo Chemical Industries will provide additional financing to its subsidiary APB for the development of bipolar all-polymer lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, said Chemweek.

Sanyo will provide ?700mn ($6.8mn) of additional funds to start-up battery producer APB. Japanese casting and equipment producer Sintokogio and major private-sector bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial will also invest a total of ?400mn in APB, although the exact breakdown of their contribution is unclear. The batteries will be manufactured at APB's Takefu factory in Fukui prefecture, with the production line to be set up by Sintokogio.

This latest round of funding takes the total that APB has secured for the project to ?10bn. This includes investments by Japanese firms in June and March. Sanyo aims to produce sample batteries by April next year and begin operations at the Takefu plant in the autumn of 2021.

The all-polymer batteries have higher energy density and storage compared with conventional batteries and are expected to enable EVs to achieve longer driving ranges. The batteries, which are made of resins, also have higher resilience to shock, while production costs are lower because of their simple bipolar structure.

Sanyo cancelled a business integration agreement with catalyst producer Nippon Shokubai in October. But Sanyo's development of bipolar all-polymer Li-ion batteries is unaffected by the decision.

As per MRC, Nippon Shokubai and Sanyo Chemical have postponed their plan to merge via a share transfer, which would have formed an integrated holding company named Synfomix Co. The deal was announced in May 2019. The companies had planned to establish the holding company on 1 October 2020, located in Kyoto, Japan, subject to regulatory approval.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% 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-November 2020 output. November production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.
MRC

Saudi energy ministry approves ethane feedstock increase for Saudi Kayan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company said on Monday that the Ministry of Energy had approved its request to increase Ethane allocation by a maximum of (30) MMSCFD based on the availability of Ethane from Gas production future projects, said Chemweek.

In line with the terms and conditions stated in the allocation letter, Saudi Kayan is required to submit a plan to implement conversion projects, substitute Crude Oil with Sales Gas, and to liaise with the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) to maximise the benefits of feedstock, according to a bourse filing.

Saudi Kayan will work with the ministry to develop a timeframe to start utilising the additional feedstock, which will be announced with its positive financial impact accordingly.

As MRC wrote earlier, Saudi Kayan conducted a 21-day scheduled maintenance at its ethylene glycol (EG) and ethylene oxide (EO) facilities at Jubail, Saudi Arabia, starting on 1 February, 2020. The company said that some of its other facilities that rely on EG and EO feedstocks would also undergo periodic maintenance and improvements.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

ACC provides USD1 million grant to Harris County, Texas, for air program

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The American Chemistry Council (ACC) Foundation has provided a USD1 million grant to Harris County, Texas, which will use the funds to purchase air monitoring equipment for its Community Air Monitoring Program (CAMP), reported Chemweek.

Harris County will also use the grant to obtain independent scientific support from Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), including analysis and modelling of air quality data. To help with the analysis, HARC has been supplied with 30 years of private industry air monitoring data.

Harris County says the collaboration will help address emergency response issues identified by a gap analysis following chemical plant incidents in 2019. The county, which has a very heavy chemical industry presence, includes the municipalities of Houston, Deer Park, Galena Park, La Porte, Morgan’s Point, Pasadena, and portions of Baytown and The Woodlands.

“(W)e appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this groundbreaking initiative, which will help protect workers and communities throughout the Houston region,” says Chris Jahn, president and CEO of ACC. “One of the project’s important strengths is that in addition to providing local officials with an array of new air monitoring equipment, it also allows officials to draw on the scientific expertise of HARC. It’s a tremendous team effort that will greatly improve the county’s ability to collect, analyze and share information about air quality, especially during an emergency.”

As MRC informed previously, Royal Dutch Shell has reported an outage at its olefins plant in Deer Park, Texas, on 5 January, 2021. The plant flared for 16 hours following unspecified process upset. Maximum steam cracker operating rate in Texas falls to 89%.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

Tikkurila announces preliminary earnings as bidding war intensifies

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tikkurila has provided an update on the company’s financial performance in 2020 and says that adjusted operating profit increased 38%, to EUR64.0 million (USD77.6 million) on sales up 3% YOY, to EUR582.0 million, according to Chemweek.

The company says it provided the update, with preliminary and unaudited figures, to inform all shareholders amid an ongoing tender-offer process for Tikkurila. The company's board recommended on 14 January that shareholders accept a planned tender offer for Tikkurila from PPG Industries. Meanwhile, AkzoNobel submitted a binding offer to acquire Tikkurila, with a potential tender offer subject to customary conditions.

The announced figures are in line with Tikkurila’s previously announced guidance for 2020, the company says. “The strategic action plan delivered results in 2020: decisive actions to increase cost-efficiency in all functions led to a profitability improvement. Due to the pandemic the demand fluctuated in early 2020 but the revenue was strong in the second half of 2020,” says Elisa Markula, CEO of Tikkurila.

Tikkurila will publish full results on 12 February.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% 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-November 2020 output. November production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.
MRC

Valero posts smaller-than-expected loss, pins recovery hopes on vaccine rollout

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US refiner Valero Energy Corp posted a much smaller quarterly loss than Wall Street expected and pinned hopes on widespread COVID-19 vaccinations to ease travel restrictions and improve demand for fuel, accoring to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Crude prices have continued to climb after rallying more than 20% in the last quarter, driven by optimism over the development of coronavirus vaccines, even as refiners struggled with uneven demand due to renewed lockdown measures.

"We expect to see continued improvement in product demand with widespread vaccine distribution around the world," Chief Executive Officer Joe Gorder said, adding that the company expects a faster recovery in margins from the shuttering of smaller, uncompetitive refineries.

Valero, the first US refiner to post fourth-quarter results, said refining throughput, or the amount of crude it processed, rose about 1% to 2.6 million barrels per day from the third quarter.

Refining margin for the fourth quarter rose 14.2% to USD1.09 billion from the third, although it was 64.1% lower than from a year earlier.

Adjusted net loss attributable to Valero stockholders narrowed to USD429 million, or USD1.06 per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, from USD472 million, or USD1.16 per share, in the third quarter.

Wall Street analysts expected a loss of USD1.42 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES.

The San Antonio, Texas-based company said quarterly revenue climbed 5% to USD16.60 billion from the previous quarter, above analysts' average estimate of USD16.21 billion.

As MRC reported before, Valero Energy Corp restarted the large crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 335,000-bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery the first week of September, 2020. The 268,000-bpd CDU was shut with all other units at the refinery on Aug. 25 because of the threat from Hurricane Laura.

We remind that in June 2020, Valero Energy Corp’s Memphis, Tennessee, crude oil refinery was operating at two-thirds of its 180,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity because of low demand in the COVID-19 pandemic. The Memphis refinery cut production by as much as 50% in early April and has been raising production gradually since then.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC