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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries
says that EBDITA dropped 28% year-on-year (YOY) at its oil-to-chemicals (O2C)
business, to 97.56 billion Indian rupees (USD1.34 billion) in the fiscal third
quarter ended 31 December, said Chemweek.
Quarterly
sales for the sector were Rs838.3 billion, down 29.6% YOY. The O2C business
includes refining, petrochemicals, fuel retailing through the Reliance BP
Mobility business, aviation fuel, and bulk wholesale marketing.
However,
Reliance's O2C business achieved sequential improvement with
fiscal-third-quarter revenue up 10% quarter-on-quarter (QOQ) primarily on higher
volumes of transportation fuels, purified terephthalic acid (PTA), and polyester
supported by improved product realization across polymers, intermediates, and
polyester. “We have delivered strong operational results during the quarter with
a robust revival in the O2C segment,” says Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing
director at Reliance.
Segment EBITDA in the third quarter improved by
10.3% sequentially due to higher product sales and shifting of product placement
from exports to the domestic market. Throughput grew from 16.8 million metric
tons (MMt) to 18.2 MMt on a QOQ basis owing to improved demand.
In the
polymers business, prices of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and
polyvinyl chloride (PVC) strengthened during the quarter by 18%, 8%, and 29%
QOQ, respectively, amid a strong demand recovery in Asian markets. The company
says that margins of PP and PE over naphtha increased by 31% (USD698/metric ton)
and 13% ($541/metric ton), respectively, and PVC margins over naphtha and
ethylene dichloride rose 15% (USD628/metric ton) on a QOQ basis led by strong
demand recovery across sectors. PVC prices were at a decade-high level during
the quarter, Reliance says.
In the intermediates and polyesters business,
prices of para-xylene (p-xylene), PTA, and ethylene glycol (EG) strengthened
during the quarter by 3%, 15%, and 8% QOQ, respectively, amid a hike in energy
values and improved downstream demand. P-xylene, PTA, and EG margins increased
by 4% (USD141/metric ton), 57% (USD168/metric ton), and 17% (USD218/metric ton),
respectively, amid lower inventory across the polyester chain in China. Reliance
says it achieved higher capacity utilization rates on the back of festive demand
and the availability of labor in the downstream sector. Polyester margins
improved QOQ through differentiated and specialty products.
Reliance's
average steam cracker operating rate was 96%, despite a scheduled shutdown at
the company's refinery off-gas cracker at Jamnagar, India. “The O2C platform
will increasingly move further downstream and become closer to customers. It
will create planet-friendly and affordable energy, and materials solutions to
meet the growing needs of every sector of the Indian economy,” adds Ambani. The
company’s other business units include oil and gas, retail, digital services,
and financial services.
As MRC informed earlier,
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), an Indian energy and petrochemical giant, has
resumed production of refined terephthalic acid (PTA) in Kuantan, Malaysia
following an unscheduled refurbishment. This production with a capacity of
610,000 tonnes of PTA was closed for repairs in mid-January for a technical
reason.
PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which,
in its turn, is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging
containers, in the textile and food industries.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report,
Russia's estimate PET consumption reached 61,110 tonnes in November 2020, up by
1% year on year. Overall PET consumption in Russia reached 648,110 tonnes in the
first eleven months of 2020, down by 18% year on year.
Reliance
Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. Thus, the
company produces among others polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl
chloride. |
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