TAIF will remain a shareholder of Kazanorgsintez - D. Konov

MOSCOW (MRC) - The deal on the merger of SIBUR and TAIF will not affect the position of Kazanorgsintez (KOS), TAIF will remain its shareholder, reports Tatar-inform, citing the words of SIBUR CEO Dmitry Konov during SPIEF-2021.

"Kazanorgsintez is the main production enterprise, one of three at TAIF. We are making a deal through the company with TAIF. Accordingly, the merged company will be a shareholder of TAIF, which will remain a shareholder of Kazanorgsintez. Nothing will change in this regard," said D. Konov.

Earlier, SIBUR and TAIF started to merge petrochemical businesses. The process implies the creation of a company on the basis of SIBUR Holding PJSC, 15% in which will be received by the current shareholders of TAIF. In return, a controlling stake in a Tatarstan group consisting of petrochemical and energy enterprises will be transferred. According to the press service of SIBUR, the remaining stake in TAIF may be subsequently redeemed by the merged company.

Earlier it was reported that the joint company of SIBUR and TAIF will include the parent company of the Tatarstan group, its two chemical plants and an energy company. On the part of TAIF, the following companies will join the merged company: TGK-16 JSC, Kazanorgsintez PJSC, Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC and TAIF JSC. The oil complex of TAIF-NK PSC is not included in the deal with SIBUR.

SIBUR is the largest vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemical company in Russia, uniting a number of production sites in various regions of the Russian Federation. The company sells products to consumers in the fuel and energy complex, automotive, construction, consumer goods, chemical and other industries in more than 80 countries around the world.

PSC "TAIF" was established in 1995, is the parent company of the group of the same name, which includes enterprises structured in four business areas: oil and gas processing, chemistry and petrochemistry (energy); investment and financial services; building; telecommunications and complex services, including trade. TAIF Group of Companies is a large Russian holding that controls 96% of the chemical, petrochemical and oil and gas processing industries in Tatarstan. The most important of its areas is the Chemistry, Petrochemistry and Oil and Gas Processing Division, which includes the leading Russian polymer producers Nizhnekamskneftekhim and Kazanorgsintez.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's government will bring forward to 2023 from 2025 the possibility of fuel companies selling gasoline containing up to 20% of ethanol (E20), reported Reuters with reference to brokers and a publication in the country's official gazette.

It is the second time India's government anticipates sales of the E20 fuel, which originally would happen only in 2030, as the country seeks to cut its oil import bill and reduce carbon dioxide pollution in cities.

"The central government hereby directs that the oil companies shall sell ethanol blended petrol with percentage of ethanol up to 20% as per the Bureau of Indian Standards specifications, in the whole of the states and union territories," the publication said.

The move from India towards higher production and use of ethanol is expected to cut the country's exportable surplus of sugar, potentially leading to higher international prices for the sweetener. Most of the additional ethanol production in the country will come from sugar cane processing, so less cane will likely be used to make sugar.

Wednesday's publication comes after changes earlier last week by the government on rules for companies to set up standalone ethanol production units, aiming to facilitate those projects.

As MRC informed previously, Indian state refiners’ daily gasoline and gasoil sales declined by about a fifth in May from a month earlier as lockdowns to curb the second deadly wave of COVID-19 hit industrial activities and consumption. Daily gasoline sales in May fell by about 19% from April while diesel consumption, which is linked to industrial activity and accounts for over two-fifths of India’s fuel demand, fell by 19.9%, data compiled by state refiners showed.

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 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Venezuela's political opposition has replaced members of the boards overseeing Citgo Petroleum Corp as factions in the movement led by Juan Guaido try to gain greater influence over Houston-based oil refiner, reported Reuters.

Citgo split from Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA in 2019 after the US imposed sanctions intended to oust Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro. Then congress chief Juan Guaido appointed new boards and won US court recognition of their authority over the refining subsidiary.

Tuesday's shakeup introduced five new appointees tied to different opposition parties, some of them the sons of former PDVSA executives.

Chief Executive Carlos Jorda was replaced at the boards of Citgo Petroleum and parent company Citgo Holding. Citgo operating chief Edgar Rincon also stepped down from the board of Citgo Holding, according to a statement by the Guaido-led assembly.

Jorda and Rincon remain in their executive roles, a Citgo spokeswoman said.

The National Assembly statement did not provide a reason for the moves, which come after several previous management changes at the company. Citgo has lost hundreds of million dollars over six of the last eight quarters amid pandemic-related demand declines and storm shutdowns.

Factions within the National Assembly have been fighting for influence at Citgo since last year. Some lawmakers have sought to require Citgo pay dividends to holding companies Citgo Holding and PDV Holding, a move Jorda long opposed, according to people familiar with the matter.

Venezuelan businessman Luis Giusti Lugo, the son of a former PDVSA president, will replace CEO Jorda on the Citgo Petroleum board, while Ernesto Hernandez Bolivar will replace Pablo Perez on the same board, the statement said.

Samuel Wilhelm Belloso, the son of a former PDVSA executive, and Elio Tortolero Arevalo are joining the Citgo Holding board, replacing Jorda and COO Rincon. Hernandez Bolivar will fill the seat vacated on that board by Luisa Palacios in October.

Wilhelm Belloso and Andres Arvelo Guerrero also joined the PDV Holding ad-hoc board that oversees Citgo.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2020, Citgo Petroleum Corp said it did not plan to idle its 418,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Lake Charles, Louisiana, refinery damaged by Hurricane Laura. Rumors have circulated since Laura’s passage over the Lake Charles area on Aug. 27 that Citgo was considering shutting the refinery for an indefinite period because of the extent of the damage and continuing low demand for motor fuels in the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Epsilyte Holdings LLC ((The Woodlands, Texas), a leading provider of expandable polystyrene (EPS), services, and solutions has acquired Polysource Inc., a leading producer of compounded EPS and molded products used in building insulation, personal safety equipment, and filtration media, according to BusinessWire.

With the acquisition of Polysource, Epsilyte will operate two distinct business units: “EPS,” largely made up of the heritage Epsilyte business, and the newly formed “Compounded EPS” unit, which is mostly comprised of the heritage Polysource business based in Piqua, OH with approximately 90 associates. Polysource currently sells compounded EPS and molded products to customers in over 15 countries.

“We are thrilled to complete this acquisition and we welcome the Polysource associates to the Epsilyte team,” said Brad Crocker, President and Chief Executive Officer, of Epsilyte. “EPS is already a key enabler of carbon neutrality due to its almost unmatched insulative properties. This acquisition further strengthens our ability to enhance performance of our products through Polysource’s unique and efficient extrusion technology enabling us to better serve customers with more sustainable products and true value creation.”

Details of the transaction were not announced.

EPS is a rigid form of polystyrene (PS) used in insulation foams for the construction industry as well as for packaging.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, April EPS imports into Russia were 1,010 tonnes versus 1,330 tonnes a month earlier and 1,020 tonnes in April 2020. EPS imports dropped by 5% year on year in January-April 2021: from 5,300 tonnes to 5,000 tonnes.

Epsilyte, owned by the private-equity firm Balmoral Partners, is one of North America’s leading producers of expandable polystyrene resin. It created Epsilyte after it bought Flint Hills Resource's EPS business in Peru, Illinois.

Major North American producers of EPS include Styropek, EPSilyte, Styrochem, Nexkemia and Dart Polymers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - SIBUR and Gazprom signed an agreement on cooperation on the use of infrastructure facilities of the Amur Gas Processing Plant (GPP) and the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (GCC), SIBUR said in a statement.

The document was signed by Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of PJSC Gazprom, and Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board of PJSC SIBUR Holding, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The document contains the main conditions for long-term agreements on the joint use of a part of the Amur Gas Processing Plant infrastructure required for the construction of the Amur Gas Chemical Complex. In particular, a temporary pier on the Zeya River, access roads, areas for transport, as well as railway infrastructure facilities - non-public tracks connecting the construction site with the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the Zavodskaya-2 station.

Joint operation of the infrastructure will optimize the logistics of projects and redistribute freight flows, eliminating downtime and associated costs. The expansion of cooperation between the companies will contribute to the creation of a large gas processing and gas chemical cluster on the territory of the Amur Region, and the acceleration of the socio-economic development of the Russian Far East.

Amur Gas Chemical Complex is the largest enterprise for the production of polyethylene and polypropylene of brands demanded in the Russian and world markets, which is being built by SIBUR in cooperation with the Chinese Sinopec.

SIBUR is implementing an AGHK project for processing ethane fraction and liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) of Gazprom's Amur GPP. The capacity of the Amur GCC, as the future world's largest complex for the production of base polymers, will amount to 2.7 million tons per year: 2.3 million tons of polyethylene and 400 thousand tons of polypropylene. The products of the complex will be represented by a wide range of brands. The construction of the complex is synchronized with the gradual reaching full capacity of Gazprom's Amur GPP. The approximate deadline for completion of construction and commissioning is 2024.

Due to the geographic location of the complex, the products of AGHK will be focused on Asian markets, primarily the PRC market, the largest consumer of polymers in the world. It is expected that the project for the construction of the Amur GCC can be included in the intergovernmental agreement between the Russian Federation and China.

Gazprom's Amur GPP, in turn, will become one of the world's largest natural gas processing enterprises. Its design capacity is 42 billion cubic meters. meters of gas per year. The plant will consist of six processing lines, with the first two scheduled to be commissioned in 2021.

Earlier it was reported that in December last year, SIBUR Holding chose Spheripol LyondellBasell polyolefin technology for its Amur Gas Chemical Complex (AGHK) under construction. The technological process will be used at a polypropylene plant with a capacity of 400 thousand tons per year, which will be built in the town of Svobodny, Amur Region.

According to the ScanPlast of MRC, PP supplies to the Russian market in the first four months of the year amounted to 523,900 tonnes, which is 55% more than a year earlier. The supply of propylene homopolymer (PP-homo) and propylene block copolymer (PP-block) increased. The supply of stat-copolymer propylene (PP-random) has declined.

SIBUR Holding is the leader in the Russian petrochemical industry and one of the largest global companies in the sector with more than 23 thousand employees. SIBUR processes by-products of oil and gas production and thereby contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions from their combustion. Over the past 10 years, SIBUR has implemented a number of large-scale investment projects worth about 1 trillion rubles.
MRC