N. America weekly chemical rail up YOY on gains in Canada, Mexico

MOSCOW (MRC) -- During the week ended 6 February, chemical railcar traffic in North America increased 4.1% year-over-year (YOY) on gains in Canada and Mexico, said Chemweek.

Volume totaled 46,250 carloads, down 4.3% from the previous week, according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). On a four-week basis, volume increased 5.4% from 2020 and 4.5% from 2019 (chart). For the year to date, chemical railcar traffic in North America is up 5.2% from 2020 and 4.4% from 2019.

Chemical railcar traffic in the United States contributed 33,581 carloads to the total, up 2.8% YOY and down 1.3% from the previous week. For the year to date, US chemical railcar traffic is up 4.1%.

Canadian chemical rail traffic totaled 11,795 carloads, up 9.6% YOY and down 11.4% from the previous week. For the year to date, Canadian chemical railcar traffic is up 9.8%.

Chemical railcar traffic in Mexico totaled 874 carloads, a YOY decrease of 12.4% and a sequential decrease of 10.7%. For the year to date, Mexican chemical railcar traffic is down 9.2%.

As per MRC, Chemical rail traffic in North America closed January strong, pushing year-to-date volume up 5.7% from 2020 and 5.5% from 2019. During the week ended 30 January, volume totaled 48,312 carloads, up 5.2% from the previous week and up 4.4% year-over-year (YOY), according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). On a four-week basis, volume increased 5.6% from 2020 and 3.7% from 2019.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iraq expects total oil production to average 3.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in February if the autonomous Kurdistan region abides by OPEC+ oil production cuts, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar's statement.

An average of 2.9 million bpd in exports were expected, he told a news briefing in Baghdad.

The minister said he anticipated an oil price of USD58 to USD63 in 2021. He also said OPEC and its allies were expected to keep their output policy, to which Iraq remains committed, unchanged during their next meeting.

He said Iran might return to the oil market if everything remained "normal", without elaborating.

As MRC wrote before, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) , the country's top refiner, has loaded its first cargo of Iraq's newly introduced Basra Medium crude grade, according to ship tracking data from Refinitiv Eikon. IOC loaded the cargo onto Minerva Kalypso, a suezmax-sized vessel, which left Iraq's southern port of Basra on Jan. 4, the data showed. The ship was expected to arrive at Chennai port in southeastern India for IOC's subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corp (CPCL) around Jan. 14.

We remind that India’s top refiner Indian Oil Corp has been operating at 100% capacity since early November, 2020, as local fuel demand has recovered, its chairman S.M. Vaidya said late last year. IOC has been gradually raising crude runs at its plants, which plunged to about 39% at the beginning of April, 2020, when a nationwide coronavirus lockdown hit fuel demand.

We also remind that IOC is expanding its petrochemical capacity by more than 70% from its current 3.2 million tonnes a year. It is also on new technologies that reduces the cost of producing petrochemicals.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Corp said it will close its 72-year-old Altona refinery in Australia, the country’s smallest, and convert it to a fuel import terminal as refiners struggle with low demand, reported Reuters.

The decision by the US oil major will leave Australia with only two refineries, after BP Plc decided to shut its Kwinana facility by April. Ampol Ltd is still reviewing the future of its Lytton refinery.

“ExxonMobil’s decision to close its Altona refinery in Victoria is extremely disappointing,” said Angus Taylor, the Australian minister for energy and emissions reduction, in a statement.

Global lockdowns and curbs on international travel due to the coronavirus pandemic has cut demand, leaving refiners grappling with losses. Exxon said it took the decision because it was no longer economically viable to continue the refinery.

Australia had offered a AD2.3 billion (USD1.8 billion) fuel security package to tide over the financial hit facing refineries. Only Viva Energy, operator of what will be Australia’s largest remaining refinery as of April, accepted.

Taylor said the closure of Exxon’s refinery would not negatively impact Australian fuel stockholdings. The Altona plant employs around 300 people.

As MRC informed earlier, last year, Exxon Mobil Corp announced it will lay off about 1,900 employees in the United States as the COVID-19 pandemic batters energy demand and prices.

We remind that ExxonMobil has undertaken a planned shutdown at its cracker in Singapore. The company halted operations at the cracker for maintenance on September 14, 2020. The cracker was expected to remain off-line till end-October, 2020. Located at Jurong Island, Singapore, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 1 million mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 450,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world"s oil and about 2% of the world"s energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo is on track to acquire Arkema’s polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) business, the producer said.

In December, Trinseo announced that it agreed to buy the business for EUR1.14bn. Arkema’s PMMA business has consistently delivered good margins and cash flow, and it also serves many of Trinseo’s end markets. CEO Frank Bozich said that the acquisition of Arkema’s acrylics business is part of Trinseo’s strategy to grow the business in areas with higher margins and less cyclicality.

"We are still on track to close this transaction by mid-year, at which time we also hope to have concluded our efforts around the exploration of a potential sale of the synthetic rubber business,” said Bozich. The move to sell its synthetic rubber business was part of Trinseo’s plan to reduce its leverage and preserve its financial flexibility.

The business makes solution styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR) as well as emulsion styrene butadiene rubber (ESBR). It also makes nickel polybutadiene rubber (Ni-PBR) and neodynium PBR (Nd-PBR). The synthetic-rubber business had net sales of USD319.7m in 2020.

The business reported USD1.7m in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), versus USD299.5m for the company as a whole in 2020.

As per MRC, Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced a price increase for all polycarbonate (PC) grades in Europe.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus) totalled 89,300 tonnes in 2020, up by 14% year on year (78,500 tonnes a year earlier).

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.8 billion in net sales in 2019, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,700 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lanxess has announced a global price increase for iron oxide and chrome oxide pigments with immediate effect, reported Chemweek.

The company’s inorganic pigments business unit is the world’s largest manufacturer of synthetic iron oxides and a leading producer of inorganic chrome oxides.

Prices for iron oxide pigments have been hiked by EUR110/metric ton (USD132), with chrome oxide pigment prices rising by EUR220/metric ton. Customers will be contacted individually regarding the specifics of the measure as it applies to their products or regions, it says.

The iron oxide and chrome oxide products are used in applications such as colorants for building materials, paints and coatings, plastics, paper, and other applications.

As MRC informed before, in January, 2021, Lanxess completed the sale of its membrane business to French resource management firm SUEZ. The deal was previously announced in July, 2020, as Lanxess realigned its water treatment technologies segment, resulting in the sale of its reverse osmosis membrane business.

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.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with about 19,200 employees in 25 countries. The company is currently represented at 74 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. Through Arlanxeo, the joint venture with Saudi Aramco, Lanxess is also a leading supplier of synthetic rubber.
MRC