Indiian Indorama Synthetics posts net profit of US17.6 mln for Q4 FY20-21 versus net loss a year earlier

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indorama Synthetics (India) Limited, one of India’s major polyester manufacturer, has announced its results for the quarter and financial year ended March 31, 2021, according to Kemicalinfo.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 128.65 crores (USD17.6 million) for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, against a net loss of Rs 50.08 crores (USD6.8 million) in the prior-year quarter.

The company’s net revenue increased 74% to Rs 835.93 crores (USD114.3 million) for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, as against Rs 480.65 crores (USD65.7 million) in the prior-year quarter.

For the year ending March 31, 2021, Indo Rama reported a net profit of Rs 113.38 crores (USD15.5 million) as against a net loss of Rs 316.54 crores (USD43.3 million) during the last financial year.

Net sales for the financial year ended March 31, 2021 dropped 3% to Rs 2063.71 crores (USD282.2 million) as compared to Rs 2127.95 crores (USD291 million) in the previous year.

The Board of Indorama Synthetics (India) at its meeting held on 19 May 2021 has approved capex plan up to Rs 600 crore (USD82 million) in the company and its wholly owned subsidiarie(s) at Butibori, Nagpur towards addition of balancing equipment for value addition, manufacture of specialty yarns including recycled filament yarns and also to install a 700 TPD PET Resin manufacturing facility to diversify the product portfolio of the company.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global chemical producer, has announced its third quarter 2020 financial results. Reported net profit is THB 380 million in 3Q20 and THB 1,104 million for 9M20.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's total estimated consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) reached 64,750 tonnes in March 2021, which corresponds to the the previous year's figure (64,520 tonnes). The estimated PET consumption decreased in Russia year on year by 5% in January-March 2021 to 182,300 tonnes.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand (Bloomberg ticker IVL.TB), is one of the world’s leading petrochemicals producers, with a global manufacturing footprint across Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and Americas. The company’s portfolio comprises Integrated PET, Olefins, Fibers, Packaging and Specialty Chemicals. Indorama Ventures products serve major FMCG and automotive sectors, i.e. beverages, hygiene, personal care, tire and safety segments. Indorama Ventures has approx. 24,000 employees worldwide and consolidated revenue of US$ 11.4 billion in 2019. The Company is listed in the Dow Jones Emerging Markets and World Sustainability Indices (DJSI).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill May 17 that will limit the use of single-use plastic across the state, said Recyclingtoday.

Introduced by Sen. Mona Das, Washington’s SB 5022 bans the manufacture, sale and distribution of certain expanded polystyrene (EPS) products. This includes packing peanuts, foam plastic coolers and dinnerware, according to the bill.

According to a press release by Oceana, a group focused on ocean conservation, the bill also requires dining establishments to omit single-use plastic utensils, straws, cold-beverage cup lids and condiment packaging unless requested by customers. This applies to dine-in, takeout or delivery.

Oceana also reports that only 9 percent of the plastic scrap generated is recycled.

"Washington demonstrated its leadership in the fight against the growing plastic pollution crisis threatening our environment, health and future,” says Christy Leavitt, Oceana’s plastics campaign director. “Washington residents will now be able to skip much of the unnecessary and previously unavoidable single-use plastic that accompanies their meals."

In addition, Washington state will be the first US state to require minimum recycled content for plastic bottles and jugs for household cleaning and personal care products. This includes laundry detergent, spray cleaners, shampoos, conditioners, and lotion, starting with 15% recycled content in 2025 and increasing 50% in 2031.

Washington will also be the first state to require customers to be provided single-use utensils only upon request. The law applies to most food establishments, including third-party delivery services. This comes after many other states have enacted legislation surrounding chemical recycling to help end plastic waste. This month, Arkansas became the 13th US state to enact legislation.

Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Oklahoma, and Arizona have passed similar legislation to promote advanced recycling. In the last year, recycling legislation across many US state legislatures is seeing a resurgence as extended producer responsibility (EPR) bills take centre stage. These bills aim to shift recycling cost to product packaging producers. At the federal level, the Break Free from Pollution Act, which includes an EPR proposal, has been reintroduced.

As per ICIS-MRC Price Report, Prices of Russian EPS were not adjusted in the domestic market in the middle of the month. Prices for SIBUR-Khimprom's material remained at Rb157,000-165,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, this week. The producer Plastik, Uzlovaya did not reduce prices of its material on the back of high feedstock prices and continued to sell EPS at Rb158,000-160,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. A Russian EPS producer said EPS consumption increased in May.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Engro Corporation will use Honeywell UOP C3 Oleflex technology to produce 750,000 metric tons per year of on-purpose propylene at its new complex in Karachi, Pakistan, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Propylene is the primary component in a variety of plastic products that are rapidly growing in demand, and this project will mark the first use of C3 Oleflex in Pakistan. UOP will provide technology licensing and basic engineering design, in addition to services, equipment, catalysts and adsorbents for the proposed plant.

“Our proposed integrated propane dehydrogenation complex can be a significant milestone for Engro and Pakistan for the domestic growth of polypropylene, and enrichment of the petrochemicals landscape for the country,” said Ghias Khan, president and CEO, Engro Corporation. “With our commitment to further invest in projects that are catalysts for growth in Pakistan and after studying the commercial feasibility of a propane dehydrogenation complex, we have selected Honeywell UOP as a technology partner based on its extensive experience and cutting-edge solutions that have advanced Oleflex projects globally."

“This facility will allow Engro to expand its portfolio in the region, and optimize the production of polypropylene, a key ingredient in plastics, resins and fibers,” said Laura Leonard, vice president and general manager, Honeywell UOP Process Technologies. “Our Oleflex technology enables the conversion of propane into high-quality propylene, which is rapidly growing in demand in the Middle East and South Asia."

Since 2011, the majority of new dehydrogenation projects globally have been based on UOP C3 Oleflex technology. Global production capacity of propylene from Oleflex technology currently stands at approximately 10.2 million metric tons per year.

Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology converts propane to propylene through catalytic dehydrogenation. The technology is designed to have a lower cash cost of production and higher return on investment when compared to competing dehydrogenation technologies. Its low energy consumption, low emissions and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system helps minimize its impact on the environment. The independent reactor and regeneration design of the Oleflex technology helps maximize operating flexibility and onstream reliability.

Having a rich history of over 50 years, Engro Corporation is Pakistan’s premier conglomerate with a diverse portfolio of businesses across the four verticals of energy and related infrastructure, agricultural outputs, petrochemicals and telecommunication infrastructure. With decades of experience in petrochemicals and a commitment to further develop its footprint in the petrochemicals vertical, Engro started conducting the commercial feasibility of the Polypropylene facility, based on PDH technology, in April 2019. Recently, the group had announced to invest over USD30 million to conduct engineering, design and technical studies for its proposed Polypropylene complex.

Before that Pakistani manufacturer Engro Corp has selected W.R. Grace & Co.'s polypropylene (PP) technology. Grace & Co for a new propane dehydrogenation unit (PDH) and PP production in Karachi. The 750 ktpa propane dehydrogenation unit is the first PP plant to be built in Pakistan and "aims to meet the growing demand in the local PP market and reduce the country's dependence on imports," W.R. Grace & Co.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's 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) -- Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of U.S. sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year, company officials told Reuters.

The world's third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration and Iran have been involved in indirect talks to revive the pact for Tehran to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for a lifting of sanctions. Analysts expect Iran to ramp up crude exports to 1.5 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter when sanctions are lifted.

India, used to be Iran's second biggest oil client after China, buying as much as 480,000 bpd in the fiscal year beginning April 2018. Several Indian state refiners, whose refineries are suited to the crude, have committed to buy Iranian oil once sanctions are lifted.

State-run Bharat Petroleum Corp, which plans to tap the spot market for 45% of its overall imports, will buy Iranian oil if sanctions are lifted, a company spokesman said. High sulphur distillate-rich Iranian crude suits BPCL's Kochi refinery and costs USD2-USD2.5/barrel less than similar grades, he said, adding that Iran's proximity means India also has lower freight costs.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) also said it would buy Iranian crude if the price is right and it is suitable. "HPCL will consider buying Iranian oil depending on techno economic suitability as and when sanctions are lifted and situations are conducive for commercial transactions," chairman M. K. Surana told Reuters.

Top refiner Indian Oil Corp is also expecting to reduce spot purchases and can easily process about 2 million tons (14.6 million barrels) of Iranian oil this fiscal year, said a company source, who declined to be named as he is not authorised to speak to media. The IOC plans to buy 56% of its imports through term contracts this fiscal year.

Indian refiners have raised the share of spot purchases versus term contracts to gain from cheaper barrels available in a surplus market. After the halt in Iranian oil, Indian had diversified its imports and raised its share of U.S. oil. An official at Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd said his company would also cut spot purchases and buy Iranian oil.

As per MRC, India's IG Petrochemicals Ltd (IGPL) plans to build a phthalic anhydride plant with an annual capacity of 80,000 tonnes in the western state of Gujarat. The company said the new plant will start operating in three years, adding that it plans to raise funds for the new project through its investments and loans. The new manufacturing facilities will help IG Petrochemicals meet the growing demand for manufacturing products such as paints, plasticizers, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), unsaturated polyester resins, and more, IGPL said in a statement.

According to MRC's ScanPlast Report, April production of unmixed PVC in Russia was 79,400 tonnes from 90,200 tonnes a month earlier, RusVinyl decreased capacity utilisation. Total PVC production in Russia reached 346,100 tonnes in January - April 2021 against 350,800 tonnes a year earlier, a decrease in production volumes was seen from all producers, the only exception was the Bashkir Soda Company, which showed a minimum increase.
The structure of PVC production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co more than halved its profit forecast for the three years to March 2023 as the COVID-19 pandemic hit fuel demand, forcing it to make a tougher assumption for longer-term demand, reported Reuters.

Idemitsu revised its 3-year business plan unveiled in November 2019, now predicting an accumulated net profit of 220 billion yen (USD2 billion) for the three years ending March 2023, instead of its earlier target of 480 billion yen.

“It has only been a year and a half, but the environment has undergone tremendous changes with the unprecedented crisis of coronavirus pandemic, green recovery and carbon-neutral declaration by the Japanese government,” Idemitsu President Shunichi Kito told a news conference.

The company now estimates local demand for petroleum products will fall 30% by 2030 from 2019 levels, and 80% by 2050, instead of its 2019 assumption of 20% and 70% respectively.

“But we want to work positively by taking this as a turning point and an opportunity,” Kito said, citing a plan to turn some of its refineries into platforms for advanced materials such as lithium solid electrolytes and for cleaner fuels such as renewable energy, hydrogen and ammonia.

The company also aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 through energy and material transition, including a plan to slash its thermal coal output by making no investment in new mines. Idemitsu, however, will continue the development of natural gas assets in Vietnam and other Asian countries to meet growing demand for the fuel, Kito said.

For the year to next March, Idemitsu forecast a 143% increase in net profit to 85 billion yen, with an estimated refinery run rate of 83%, up from 78% a year earlier.

Its domestic sales and exports of fuels are expected to rise 2.6% and 6.6% respectively.

As MRC informed earlier, Japan's Idemitsu Kosan took off-stream its naphtha cracker in Japan for a turnaround on September 7, 2020. The cracker remained under maintenance by end-October, 2020. Located at Tokuyama, Japan, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 690,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 110,000 mt/year. Idemitsu Kosan also operates another cracker in Chiba, Japan, with an ethylene production capacity of 410,000 mt/year.

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.

Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese petroleum company. It owns and operates oil platforms, refineries and produces and sells petroleum, oils and petrochemical products. The company runs two petrochemical plants in Chiba and Tokuyama. The two naphtha crackers can produce up to 997,000 tonnes of ethylene per year.
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