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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