Dr. Vinod Purayath joins Avient as Senior Vice President and new CTO

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dr. Vinod Purayath has joined Avient, formerly PolyOne, as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, according to GV.

A business leader with a technical, entrepreneurial mindset, Dr. Purayath has achieved global success in materials development, with a particular emphasis on semiconductor and digital memory applications. At SanDisk Corporation, he held technical and engineering leadership positions over an eight-year period, building and leading a global team of engineers. Dr. Purayath later joined Applied Materials, as the technology leader for its new Selective Removal Products business, and most recently served as Vice President, Process Technology for SunRise Memory.

Dr. Purayath's academic credentials are extensive, including a PhD in Quantum Engineering and Science Systems, University of Tokyo; a Master's of Business Administration, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); a Master's Degree in Materials Science in Engineering, PSG College of Technology; and a Bachelor's of Science in Physics, Bharathiar University. A continual and passionate innovator, Dr. Purayath has been named as an inventor in more than 150 patents.

As MRC reported previously, in January 2021, Avient Corporation announced the official opening of its new CycleWorks facility in Pogliano, Italy. The new lab and plant will conduct chemistry testing and evaluations to help customers meet the challenge of plastics recycling and advance the goal of a circular economy. The demonstration plant mimics real-world recycling conditions in a research environment, said Avient.

On 1 July 2020, PolyOne and Clariant Masterbatches joined together as Avient, a company focused on specialised and sustainable material solutions with projected 2020 pro forma revenues of approximately USD 3.7 billion. Avient has approximately 9,100 employees and is certified ACC Responsible Care and a founding member of the AEPW.
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1. PetroChina expects profit to increase in H1

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroChina said that the company is estimated to swing to profits from losses in the first half of this year amid broad demand recovery and strengthening oil prices, said the company. PetroChina made an estimated profit of 45bn-60bn yuan (USD7.3bn-9.3bn) in January-June this year after it declared a net loss of Yn30bn in the same period of 2020. Its estimated first-half 2021 profit would also be up sharply from Yn28.4bn in January-June 2019.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were steady during mid-morning trade in Asia July 5 as the market continued to await guidance on the OPEC+ alliance's production plan for August onwards after the UAE's desire for a higher output target soured negotiations, reported S&P Global.

At 11:32 am Singapore time (0332 GMT), the ICE September Brent crude futures contract slipped 8 cents/b (0.11%) from the previous close at USD76.09/b, while the NYMEX August light sweet crude contract was down 11 cents/b (0.15%) at USD75.05/b.

The stability in the market comes as investors wait for a definitive production plan from OPEC+, which is in a quandary after sustained objections from the UAE forced the producer group to reconvene for a second time July 5 at 3 pm Vienna time (1300 GMT).

OPEC+ was set to agree on boosting collective crude output by 400,000 b/d each month from August to December and to extend its supply management agreement through the end of 2022. However, the UAE stymied the proceedings by insisting its baseline production level, from which its quota is determined, should be raised.

The UAE's baseline under the current pact, determined by its October 2018 production level, is 3.168 million b/d, but the country now claims a capacity closer to 4 million b/d. Increasing the baseline would enable the UAE to pump more crude.

Other OPEC+ members deemed this request to be unfair. Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told the Al-Arabiya network that the UAE was isolated in its position, and that all other members had approved the deal.

Analysts have said that failure to reach a deal that allows for an increase in production quotas would tighten an already undersupplied market. This is especially since a lack of consensus would see the alliance revert to its existing production agreement, under which output quotas would remain flat at July levels.

Analysts have also raised concerns that the UAE may leave the alliance altogether, a prospect the country had previously considered. Another scenario entails the breakdown of co-operation within the alliance itself, which could see a flood of oil entering the market.

We remind that as MRC informed earlier, Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world"s third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.

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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR, the largest petrochemical complex in Russia and Eastern Europe, is ready to quickly conduct an initial public offering (IPO) upon receipt of an appropriate decision of shareholders, the company is structurally ready for placement, said Finanz, citing a statement to reporters by the head of the company Dmitry Konov in sidelines of the international industrial exhibition "Innoprom".

"The company is always structurally ready both in terms of reporting, and in terms of internal preparation, and in terms of relations with bondholders and potential investors, and in terms of business organization. Therefore, if there is a decision from shareholders - we are able to quickly conduct an IPO," - he said.

At the same time, in case of an IPO, SIBUR may place its shares on the Moscow Exchange, D. Konov added.

As reported earlier, an IPO of SIBUR is unlikely to happen this year, the main shareholder of SIBUR, Leonid Mikhelsonm, said in June.

As MRC informed before, in June, 2021, the international rating agency S&P Global Ratings confirmed the long-term issuer default rating of the Russian petrochemical company SIBUR at "BBB-" with a "stable" outlook.

We remind that in April, 2021, SIBUR announced a merger with TAIF by exchanging 15% of its shares for 50% + 1 share of TAIF. The scope of the transaction includes only TAIF's petrochemical and generating companies. This merger will increase the scale of SIBUR's operations and strengthen its market leadership. SIBUR and TAIF expect to reach final terms and close the deal in the second half of 2021. TAIF together with SIBUR will invest more than Rb 1 trillion for the implementation of joint projects. In total, the companies plan to implement over 30 projects.

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.

SIBUR manufactures and sells petrochemical products on the Russian and international markets in two business segments: olefins and polyolefins (polypropylene, polyethylene, BOPP, etc.), as well as plastics, elastomers and intermediate products (synthetic rubbers, expanded polystyrene, PET, etc.)
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea's GS Caltex aims to restart its new mixed-feed cracker at Yeosu on July 5, 2021, reported S&P Global.

The company shut this cracker on June 27, 2021, owing to a technical issue.

The new steam cracker, which came online around June 18, has the capacity to produce 750,000 mt/year of ethylene and 430,000 mt of propylene. This schedule is earlier than the initial plan of 2022.

As MRC informed before, this June, the company also started up its new high density polyethylene (HDPE) in Yeosu with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons/year that would concentrate on producing the film (TR-144, TRB-115), blow molding (5520BN or BM593), and injection (6060 or 6060UV) grades.

The company also operates 180,000 tons/year polypropylene (PP) plant at the same complex.

The project is a 50-50 joint venture between GS Energy Corp. and Chevron Corp., costing 2 trillion won (USD1.84 billion) that started construction work in 2019.

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.
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