Celanese announces quarterly dividend of USD0.68 per share

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, has declared a quarterly cash dividend of USD0.68 per share on its common stock, payable May 10, 2021, as per the company's press release.

The dividend is payable to stockholders of record as of April 26, 2021.

As MRC informed previously, Celanese Corporation has recently initiated a capital-efficient expansion of its vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) production unit at the company’s world-class chemical industrial park in Nanjing, China in a move to solidify its global VAM capabilities.

This expansion will support the continued growth of its global acetyls business and serve the needs of customers in the Asia region and globally, the company said in its statement.

According to MRC's DataScope report, February EVA imports to Russia rose by 1,44% year on year to 3,14 tonnes from 3,10 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation grew in January-February 2021 by 0,68% year on year to 6,230 tonnes (6,190 tonnes a year earlier).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2020 net sales of USD5.7 billion.
MRC

Dow and Mura Technology partnered to help keep plastic waste out of the environment

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow and Mura Technology partnered to help keep plastic waste out of the environment, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The collaboration will support the rapid scaling of Mura’s new HydroPRS (Hydrothermal Plastic Recycling Solution) advanced recycling process aimed at preventing plastic and carbon from entering the natural environment while creating the feedstocks for a sustainable, circular plastics economy.

The deal marks an important step in Dow’s commitment to advance a circular economy for plastics and keep plastic waste from entering the environment. The partnership combines Dow’s materials science capabilities, global scale and financial resources with Mura’s leading technology, to produce the circular feedstocks which are then converted into the recycled plastics that consumers and global brands are increasingly seeking.

Mura’s proprietary solution, HydroPRS, is a revolutionary advanced recycling process that uses supercritical steam to convert plastics back into the chemicals and oils from which they were made, for use in new, virgin- equivalent plastic products. HydroPRS can recycle all forms of plastic – including multi-layer, flexible plastics used in packaging, which are currently harder to recycle and often incinerated or sent to landfill.

Importantly, the plastics produced using these recycled products are expected to be suitable for use in food- contact packaging, unlike most conventional recycling processes. With Mura’s process there is no anticipated limit to the number of times the same material can be recycled – meaning it has the potential to significantly reduce plastics being used once and make the raw ingredients for a circular plastics economy. In addition, advanced recycling processes are expected to save approximately 1.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of plastic recycled, compared to incineration of unrecycled plastics.

Dow will play an important role as a global manufacturer of plastic, proving that Mura’s solution can meet both the sustainability and performance needs of the industry and that the products made via HydroPRS™ can be employed at scale to make new plastics. The world’s first plant using HydroPRS is in development in Teesside, UK, with the first 20,000 tonne per year line expected to be operational in 2022. Once all four lines are complete, Mura will be able to recycle up to 80,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year, providing Dow with materials produced by the process. Dow will use these materials to develop new, virgin-grade plastic for applications such as food packaging and other packaging products to be re-circulated into global supply chains, creating a true circular plastics economy.

Carsten Larsen, Commercial Director Plastic Circularity EMEA & APAC, Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics commented: “We are delighted to offer our investment and expertise to support the development of this truly game-changing recycling process. We are committed to enacting real change to stop plastic going to waste and accelerate moves towards a more circular economy. We know achieving this goal will take major innovation and

investment and we can’t do it alone. That’s why our partnership with Mura is so exciting and why we believe it will form a key pillar of our recycling strategy going forward." Dr Steve Mahon, CEO of Mura Technology, said: “Plastic pollution is a global challenge and our goal is to meet it head on by recapturing millions of tonnes of plastic waste every year and put them to work again as a valuable resource for the world’s biggest brands.

“We’re changing the way the world thinks about plastics – not as something to throw away, but as a product that can be used over and over again, and sustainably, without damaging our natural environment. Our partnership with Dow will help make this a reality for global brands and deliver a circular plastics economy globally within the next decade."

This ‘lost resource’ of plastic waste is a huge economic opportunity – valued at up to USD120 billion per year according to the World Economic Forum[ii]. Global plastic production also creates an estimated 390 million tonnes of CO2 every year[iii] – equivalent to over 172 million cars[iv]. While plastic production accounts for approximately 6 percent of global oil consumption today, by deploying technology capable of recycling all plastics and creating the ingredients for a circular plastics economy, advanced recycling can decrease the use of oil by the chemical industry. Mura offers the prospect of dramatically cutting global plastic waste and associated emissions attributed to that waste.

To reduce global plastic waste, Mura has designed its business model for rapid global deployment and is building a global network of partners. Dow joins other major global players such as KBR Inc., a US-based multinational engineering services company, Wood, a global consulting and engineering company, and Igus GmbH, a global leader in industrial plastics, as partners to accelerate the deployment of Mura’s technology worldwide. Mura’s HydroPRS process utilises at its core the Cat-HTR technology, which was developed and is owned by Licella Holdings Limited, New South Wales, Australia.

Alongside its first plant in the UK, Mura has identified development opportunities in Germany and the United States – where it will develop new recycling plants in both countries in the next five years – and Asian markets, as part of a rapid global rollout that will see one million tonnes of recycling capacity in development worldwide by 2025. The partnership with Dow will be a key driver of this goal. Mura is continuing to raise funds to drive further expansion and is in discussions with a range of global investors.

The partnership announced today is another example of how Dow is working with partners to build momentum around breakthrough advanced recycling technologies and to drive game-changing innovations that keep plastic waste from entering the environment. In 2019, Dow announced a partnership with Fuenix to supply feedstock made from recycled plastic waste. The partnership with Mura represents another step in Dow’s efforts to meet its recently announced sustainability targets to address both climate change and plastic waste.

As per MRC, Dow develops simplified, lightweight design for face shields to help protect healthcare professionals, shares open-source design to encourage additional production. To help address the urgent need for personal protective equipment (PPE) among healthcare professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic, Dow developed a simplified face shield design and is sharing its design through an open-source file to help accelerate production rates of this critically-needed PPE.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

Russia GDP in March grew for the first time in a year

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.5% in March on an annualized basis, Vedomosti reports citing data from the Ministry of Economic Development.

According to the ministry, monthly GDP growth was recorded for the first time since March last year. At the same time, according to the results of the first quarter, GDP decreased by 1.3% in annual terms. In the fourth quarter, according to Rosstat, the decline in GDP was 1.8%.

The ministry records growth in the manufacturing industry - in March the figure was 4.2% against a decline of 1.7% in February. "The main contribution was made by the industries of machine-building and chemical complexes. Also, steady growth continued in the light industry and the woodworking complex, positive dynamics in the food industry resumed, the decline in oil refining and the metallurgical complex slowed down," the report says.

The level of recession in the extractive sector of the economy decreased - to minus 5.6% in annual terms in March from minus 9% in February. The transport cargo turnover sector in March showed an increase of 3.9% after declining by 0.5% in February and by 2.1% in January on an annualized basis. The growth was driven by rail, pipeline, sea and road transport. At the end of the first quarter, the indicator increased by 0.4% yoy after falling by 2.2% in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The volume of paid services to the population in March increased by 1.4% yoy after declining by 5.5% in February. Catering turnover increased by 2.3% on an annualized basis after falling by 9.1% in February.

At the same time, retail trade turnover in March 2021 decreased by 3.4% year-on-year "against the backdrop of a high base." This effect was most pronounced in the food segment - a 6% decline in March after a 3% decline in February on an annualized basis.

Earlier it was reported that Russia's GDP growth in the second quarter of 2021 could reach 5.6%, and inflation will be at 5.4% in annual terms. However, the economic recovery process can be negatively affected by a number of factors that are difficult to calculate. Among them, experts call the threat of expanding anti-Russian sanctions by the United States, the continuation of the coronavirus pandemic, and uncertainty in the oil market. The Ministry of Economic Development predicted GDP growth in Russia in 2021 by 3.3%, in 2022 - at 3.4%.
MRC

Lenzing raises its earnings outlook for 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fiber producer Lenzing got off to a better-than-expected start to the financial year 2021, with preliminary EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) rising by 36.8% year-on-year to EUR 94.5 mn in the first quarter of 2021, according to MarketScreener.

Despite the continuing high degree of volatility in the textile sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Managing Board of the Lenzing Group raises its guidance for the 2021 financial year:

The Lenzing Group expects the operating result to be at least at the level of the pre-crisis year 2019.

The results of the Lenzing Group for the 1st quarter of the current financial year will be published on Wednesday, May 05, 2021.

As MRC reported earlier, Lenzing has taken over management control of Hygiene Austria LP GmbH on March 03, 2021. Stephan Sielaff, Chief Technology Officer at Lenzing, has been appointed to serve as an additional managing director at Hygiene Austria.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in February 2021 by 5.3% year on year. Thus, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 7.5% in the first two months of 2021. February production of polymers in primary form was 861,000 tonnes versus 196,000 tonnes in January. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 1,770,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 8.4% year on year.
MRC

Manufacturers of XLPE pipes in Russia can quadruple their capacities - Ekoplastics

MOSCOW (MRC) - Ekoplastics, which supplies polymer raw materials from South Korea, believes that from the second half of 2021, the capacities installed in Russia for the production of small-diameter peroxide-crosslinked polyethylene (PEX-A) pipes will be able to satisfy more 80% of domestic demand, the company said.

According to Ecoplastics company estimates, the volume of the Russian market for small diameter PEX-A pipes is about 7000 tons of products per year. Until 2020, the demand was mainly covered by the import of such pipes to Russia from Europe and China. Only about 20% of PEX-A pipes were produced domestically.

In late 2020 - early 2021, the situation on the Russian market for small-diameter pipelines made of peroxide-crosslinked polyethylene (PEX-A) underwent fundamental changes. During this period, the largest Russian pipe manufacturers commissioned or planned to install several twin-screw lines for high-speed extrusion of PEX-A pipes, each with a capacity of up to 30 meters of pipe with a diameter of 16 mm per minute.

One such line is capable of processing more than 1000 tons of peroxide-crosslinked polyethylene per year. In addition, a number of Russian companies have launched or are planning to launch the production of PEXa pipes using ram extrusion (RAM) technology, which is competing with twin-screw technology.

Pipes made of polyethylene crosslinked with peroxide are used in indoor hot and cold water supply systems, as well as in radiator and underfloor heating systems. Despite the impossibility of installing PEXa pipes by welding, as is the case with the most popular PPR pipes on the market.

Earlier it was reported that Ekoplastics, in August last year, agreed with the Korean manufacturer Hanwha Total to start deliveries to the Russian market of a new grade of PE100RC high-density pipe polyethylene. In the summer of 2020, the Korean manufacturer Hanwha Total (formerly Samsung Total) began exporting its new grade of PE100 pipe grade XRC20B, which will be supplied to the Russian market through Ekoplastics, which specializes in the supply of Korean innovative polymeric pipe materials.

According to MRC's ScanPlast, the estimated consumption of PE in Russia amounted to 356.37 thousand tons in the first two months of this year, which is 9% less than in the same period a year earlier. The supply of high-density polyethylene (LDPE) only increased. PP supplies to the Russian market in the first two months of 2021 amounted to 246.87 thousand tons, which is 30% more than a year earlier. The supply of propylene homopolymer (PP-homo) and propylene block copolymer (PP-block) increased.

The Ekoplastics company is a trading company that supplies polymer raw materials from South Korea. Ecoplastics is primarily a distributor of polymers produced by LG Chem. In addition, it has direct long-term contracts with other large Korean manufacturers of polymer raw materials (Hyosung, Huyndai).
MRC