Revenue of BSK in the first half of the year increased by 22%

Revenue of BSK in the first half of the year increased by 22%

MOSCOW (MRC) - The Bashkir Soda Company (BSK, Sterlitamak) reported a record growth in revenue in the first half of the 2021 fiscal year, which reached 28.2 billion rubles, which shows an increase of 22% compared to the same the period of 2020 fiscal year, according to a press release from the company.

At the same time, the profit from sales increased by 37% and currently amounts to more than 10 billion rubles. It is also planned to set a historical record for adjusted net profit (excluding dividends received from subsidiaries), which will amount to 7.8 billion rubles. against 5.7 billion rubles. a year earlier.

The company associates the record growth of financial indicators with a favorable market situation in the sales market, an increase in sales of the main types of products, in particular, suspension polyvinyl chloride (PVC-S) and purified sodium bicarbonate.

"In 2021, the Bashkir Soda Company plans to strengthen its position, achieving high results. The market is not an easy situation, but despite this, we see opportunities for the strategic development and growth of BSC. We have already set goals for the next decade and will do our best in order to achieve them and improve the current indicators at times ", - said the general director of BSK Eduard Davydov.

Earlier it was reported that on December 4, 2020, the Arbitration Court of Bashkiria canceled the privatization of the BSC. In favor of Russia, 95.72% of the company's ordinary registered shares were reclaimed from the ownership of Regional Fund JSC, Bashkirskaya Khimiya JSC and Bashkirskaya Khimiya Trading House LLC. Prior to the court decision, the main shareholders of BSK were Bashkiria (38.28% through Regional Fund JSC) and Bashkhim JSC (57.18%).

Bashkhim received a controlling stake in BSK (57.18%), and Bashkiria received a blocking stake (38.28%) in 2013, when the Bashkirian OJSC Soda and OJSC Kaustik were merged into the holding. Before joining Soda to Caustic, Bashkiria owned 61.65% of the authorized capital of Soda, Bashkhim - 34.82%. Following the reorganization, Soda's shares were converted into additional shares in Caustic.

According to the ScanPlast of MRC, the Bashkir Soda Company (BSK) in May produced 23,800 tonnes, having retained the figure of the previous month. In January - May of this year, the total volume of resin production at the Bashkir enterprise reached 117,300 tonnes, which is 2% more than a year earlier.

JSC "Bashkir Soda Company" was formed in May 2013 by merging JSC "Soda" and JSC "Caustic". Today "BSK" is one of the largest chemical complexes in the country. The company ranks first in Russia in the production of soda ash and baking soda, and is also one of the leaders in the production of PVC, caustic soda and cable compounds.
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 09.07.2021

1. Louisiana Parish Council approves tax exemption for PBF Energy refinery project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A Louisiana parish council has approved a property tax exemption for a project that a company official said could be the saviour of independent refiner PBF Energy and its Chalmette, Louisiana refinery, said Hydrocarbonprocessing. The exemption, approved late on Tuesday, will save PBF ГЫВ91 million over 10 years in property taxes for a new renewable diesel unit, according to documents filed by PBF with the council of St. Bernard Parish on the east side of New Orleans. PBF wants to use the tax break to attract a partner for the conversion of an idled hydrocracker, which made diesel from gas oil, into a renewable diesel unit that will make the truck fuel from animal fats. "We see this project here not only as the saviour of the refinery but also the saviour of the company," said Chalmette refinery manager Steven Krynski, in remarks made before the council prior to the vote. Krynski said the company is $1.4 billion in debt from the downturn brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when lockdowns and work-from-home policies reduced demand for fuel. "Very few people realise how close we came to closing down last year not only as a refinery but as a company," Krynski said.



MRC

LyondellBasell acquires PolyPacific Polymers in Malaysia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, has announced it has acquired 100% of PolyPacific Polymers Sdn. Bhd. (PPM) in Port Klang, Malaysia, as per the company's press release.

PPM is a 25kt manufacturing facility producing reinforced and modified polyolefin compounds.

Upon completion of the acquisition, the facility will undergo a rebranding and name change, and its employees will become LyondellBasell employees. PPM will continue to produce and supply the ongoing business products to its customers.

"We admire PolyPacific Pty. Ltd for the business and reputation they established over the past four decades, and wish them well as they continue to operate their Australian compounding business in Melbourne. We are excited to capture the value of PPM within our APS Asian footprint" said Jim Guilfoyle, Executive Vice President, Advanced Polymer Solutions and Supply Chain, LyondellBasell. "We welcome our new employees to the LyondellBasell family."

In conjunction with the acquisition, LyondellBasell will exit the PolyPacific, a 50:50 joint venture, which will become 100% owned by Mirlex Pty Ltd.

As MRC informed earlier, LyondellBasell reported an equipment failure at its La Porte linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant, which forced the company to shut down the 355,000 tons/year unit without a return schedule, according to the company's official letter to its customers on 17 June 2021. LyondellBasell is currently evaluating the impact of the event on its ability to supply the materials.

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.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

Supply disruptions and stronger demand boosted petroleum product imports into US East Coast region in March

Supply disruptions and stronger demand boosted petroleum product imports into US East Coast region in March

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of petroleum products-gasoline, distillate, and other products into the East Coast region of the United States increased in March 2021, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Rising imports resulted from lower domestic supply, higher demand, and higher domestic petroleum product prices compared with prices in Europe.

In March, East Coast petroleum product imports averaged 1.4 million barrels per day (b/d). In addition, East Coast gasoline imports averaged 737,000 b/d, the highest March level since 2009, and East Coast distillate imports averaged 421,000 b/d, the highest March level since 2003.

Petroleum product imports into the East Coast region increased primarily for three reasons.

First, domestic supply was reduced, due in part to the extreme winter weather in February 2021, which disrupted operations at several refineries in the US Gulf Coast region, where more than half of US refinery capacity is located. Because significantly more petroleum products are consumed in the East Coast region than its regional refineries produce, the region relies on imports and pipeline supplies from the US Gulf Coast region.

When production is disrupted in the U.S. Gulf Coast region (as was the case in February and March 2021), the East Coast region relies more on imports to meet its petroleum product demand. Lower supply, particularly in the East Coast region, has also been due, in part, to lower East Coast refining capacity after the 335,000 b/d Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery closed in June 2019. According to estimation, closing the Philadelphia refinery reduced East Coast gasoline supplies by approximately 160,000 b/d and distillate supplies by approximately 100,000 b/d.

Second, domestic demand for petroleum products increased. US gasoline consumption increased to 8.6 million b/d in March, the highest level since February 2020, and distillate consumption increased to 4.0 million b/d, the highest level since November 2019.

Third, the prices of US petroleum products have been higher than in Europe. In March, the New York Harbor gasoline spot price averaged 30 cents per gallon (gal) more than gasoline in Europe, the widest spot price spread between these markets in the past 10 years (2012–2021).

As MRC informed earlier, in 2020, total consumption of fossil fuels in the United States, including petroleum, natural gas, and coal, fell to 72.9 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu), down 9% from 2019 and the lowest level since 1991, according to US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Monthly Energy Review.

We remind that most units were shut on Sunday night and Monday morning (15-16 February) at Marathon Petroleum Corp's 585,000 barrel-per-day Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, as temperatures plunged due to a Arctic cold front reaching the Gulf Coast. They resumed operations in the first half of March.

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

July prices of European PVC grew by EUR40/tonne for CIS markets

July prices of European PVC grew by EUR40/tonne for CIS markets

MOSOCW (MRC) -- Negotiations on prices of European polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to be shipped in July to the CIS countries began this week. Traditionally, for the last few months, European producers have been experiencing a lack of supply and an upward price trend. Suppliers have announced a price increase of EUR40-50/tonne for July shipment, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

The July contract price of ethylene was agreed up by EUR40/tonne from the previous month, which theoretically allows to talk about an increase of EUR20/tonne compared with June level. But since the middle of last year, the main factor in the pricing of European producers has been the imbalance of supply and demand, which has led to a constant rise in prices for a long time. The lack of polymer in the region continued in July, and as a result, the upward trend remained.

European producers announced an increase in export prices for the markets of the CIS countries in July by EUR40-50/tonne. The growth in export prices of PVC in Europe has been recorded for more than a year, and during this time the price of PVC has more than doubled.

But the next record level of prices did not lead to a drop in demand, the demand for PVC still remained. Many market participants have not been able to replenish their inventories in full for at least the last three months.
This mainly was typical for K58/70 PVC.

As in the previous month, for the July shipments, some buyers reported the absence of PVC export quotas from certain producers in Europe due to scheduled maintenance works. Overall, deals for July shipments of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) to the CIS markets were discussed in the range of EUR1,390-1,460/tonne FCA, whereas the previous month's deals were agreed in the range of EUR1,350-1,410/tonne FCA.
MRC