Henkel hikes outlook as demand for adhesives rebounds

MOSCOW (MRC) -- German consumer goods group Henkel raised its full-year outlook after its adhesives business reported a strong first-quarter amid a faster-than-expected rebound in the automotive and electronics industries, said Reuters.

Henkel said it now expects 2021 sales to rise an organic 4-6%, up from a previous 2-5% forecast, while earnings per preferred share should rise in the high single-digit to mid-teens percentage range, from a previous 5-15% range.

The upper end of the earnings guidance is not limited to 15%, finance chief Marco Swoboda told analysts, adding that Henkel was seeing continued strong progress in adhesives. Henkel, which makes Schwarzkopf hair care products, said it expects the hair salon business will recover significantly as coronavirus lockdowns ease, while demand for cleaning products, which was boosted by the pandemic, should return to normal.

Fewer than 10% of hair salons are still closed, while Henkel has seen very good development in the U.S. market for professional haircare products since most salons have reopened there, Chief Executive Carsten Knobel said.

First-quarter sales rose an organic 7.7% to 4.97 billion euros ($5.97 billion), ahead of guidance the company gave on March 31, driven by a rise of 13% for its adhesives unit and 4.1% growth for the laundry and home care business. Henkel said sales of its glues to the automotive and electronics sectors both grew at double-digit rates, with sales strong in both emerging and mature markets.

Beiersdorf reported that its Tesa adhesives unit saw first-quarter sales jump 24%. Henkel sees possibilities to pass on higher raw material costs via price increases, especially for adhesives in the electronics industry, Knobel said.

Henkel said the detergents business, which competes with Procter & Gamble Co, performed well, with its Persil, Pril, Bref and Somat brands posting double-digit growth, helped by pandemic demand for household cleaning.

As MRC informed earlier, Henkel has provided a business update for the third quarter and says that, based on preliminary figures, its adhesive technologies business unit achieved positive organic sales growth of 1.3% in the quarter. All business areas in adhesive technologies showed a recovery in demand compared with the second quarter, the company says. Henkel notes that in the first nine months of 2020, adhesive technologies recorded a 6.8% decline in organic sales.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR took the sixth place in the rating of European companies responsible for pollution with disposable plastic, said Novayagazeta.

Australian charity Minderoo Foundation published a joint report with partner organizations, according to which more than half (55%) of disposable plastic in the world are in 20 companies. In the rating of European companies, the Russian petrochemical SIBUR was in sixth place.

In the overall rating of Plastic Waste Makers, the first place went to the American oil company ExxonMobil. It accounts for 5.9 mln tonnes of global waste. In second place is the Chinese oil and gas corporation Sinopec (5.3 mln tonnes), in third place is the Dow chemical company (5.5 mln tonnes), based in the United States.

Russian SIBUR took 32nd place in the overall rating of 100 companies (0.8 mln tonnes of plastic waste), Nizhnekamskneftekhim - 80 place (0.3 mln tonnes), Kazanorgsintez, 91 place (0.2 mln tonnes).

Among European manufacturers of disposable plastics, Sibur is in sixth place, Nizhnekamskneftekhim is in 13th place, Kazanorgsintez is in 22nd place.

The authors of the study concluded that the world's largest banks contribute to the planet's plastic pollution, as they finance companies. Experts estimate that the world's twenty largest banks, including Barclays, HSBC and Bank of America, have committed nearly USD30 billion since 2011 to plastic production.

The report also notes that in the next five years, plastic production in the world could grow by more than 30%, and for some companies - by 400%. The researchers emphasize that most of the single-use plastic waste will cause pollution in developing countries with poor waste management systems.

The authors of the study concluded that the world's largest banks contribute to the planet's plastic pollution, as they finance companies. Experts estimate that the world's twenty largest banks, including Barclays, HSBC and Bank of America, have committed nearly USD30 billion since 2011 to plastic production.

The report also notes that in the next five years, plastic production in the world could grow by more than 30 percent, and for some companies - by 400 percent. The researchers emphasize that most of the single-use plastic waste will cause pollution in developing countries with poor waste management systems.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber recently commercialized its recycled polystyrene (PS) from dissolution technology and is offering a new material using this process - STYRON CO2RE 687DI30, as per the company's press release.

This is the first of a series of recycled PS products that Trinseo intends to launch under the STYRON CO2RE brand in the coming years.

With this material/recycling method, post-consumer recycled (PCR) material is dissolved in a solvent followed by a series of purification steps to separate the polymer from additives and contaminants. The material is fed into a polymerization reactor train and the result is a PS polymer with 30 percent PCR content for use in applications including consumer electronics, packaging, and food contact applications if a functional barrier is present to ensure compliance.

According to Trinseo’s Plastics Circularity Manager, Julien Renvoise, STYRON CO2RE 687DI30 Polystyrene supports a circular economy.

To measure impact, Trinseo compared a general-purpose polystyrene (GPPS) produced with 100% fossil fuel with a batch made from 30% post-consumer recycled content in a lifecycle assessment and found a 15% reduction in CO2 emissions. In another study Trinseo found that performance properties remained similar. This includes transparency, a difficult property to achieve with recycled content.

Recycled PS is just one of Trinseo’s sustainable materials aimed at circularity. The company also is involved with depolymerization with technology provided by partner, Recycling Technologies, and plans to build a dedicated plant at its Tessenderlo, Belgium location, as MRC reported earlier. This will be one of two PS recycling plants in Europe estimated to add a total of 30,000 tons of PS feedstock into the European marketplace. The plant is expected to start operating in 2023.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Russia, Nizhnekamskneftekhim's PS prices remained unchanged in May. Prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's GPPS were in the range of Rb192,000-203,000/tonne, CPT Moscow, including VAT, whereas high impact polystyrene (HIPS) prices were at Rb196,000-207,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. At the same time, May prices of Penoplex's material fell by Rb15,000/tonne to Rb204,000-206,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

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 USD3.0 billion in net sales in 2020, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,600 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the world's petrochemical major, aims is to electrify its production processes for basic chemicals, which are currently based on fossil fuels, as per the company's press release.

Dr. Martin Brudermuller (BASF) and Dr. Markus Krebber (RWE), accompanied by Chairman of the Mining, Chemical and Energy Industries Union (IG BCE) Michael Vassiliadis, presented a project idea that shows how industrial production can become sustainable and future-proof.

The project envisions an additional offshore wind farm with a capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW) to provide the Ludwigshafen chemical site with green electricity and enable CO2-free production of hydrogen.

This will involve utilizing CO2-free technologies such as electrically heated steam cracker furnaces to produce petrochemicals.

BASF is already working with partners on developing these technologies. To advance the joint project, the CEOs of BASF and RWE have signed a letter of intent covering a wide-ranging cooperation for the creation of additional capacities for renewable electricity and the use of innovative technologies for climate protection.

This plan could result in the avoidance of around 3.8 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year, of which 2.8 million tons would be realized directly at BASF in Ludwigshafen.

Realizing this plan will require a suitable regulatory framework. Policymakers have said they plan to significantly increase the expansion targets for renewable energies and accelerate capacity additions.

As MRC informed before, in mid-February, BASF said it was restarting one of its steam crackers at its Ludwigshafen complex in Germany after operations were halted last Wednesday due to a technical issue. The naphtha cracker produces ethylene and propylene, and is one of two crackers on the site. One has a production capacity of 420,000 metric tons/year, with the other's capacity at 240,000 metric tons/year, according to IHS Markit data.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

1. Indian Oil reduces crude processing to 84% as COVID-19 pandemic hits fuel demand

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian Oil Corp, India's top refiner, has cut crude processing to average at 84% of overall capacity from 96% in April as a devastating second wave of COVID-19 dented fuel demand, reported Reuters with reference to the company's chairman statement. Domestic sales of gasoil and gasoline by Indian state refiners plunged by a fifth in the first half of May from a month earlier, preliminary data showed on Monday, as lockdowns to curb COVID-19 cases hit industrial activities and consumption. "Demand destruction is there, which has also reflected in refinery runs... When it (fuel demand) will return to normalcy is a very difficult question to answer," Chairman SM Vaidya said, pinning recovery hopes on the country's vaccination drive against the pandemic.

MRC