Azelis strengthens is footprint in Asia with South Korean acquisitions

Azelis strengthens is footprint in Asia with South Korean acquisitions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azelis, an innovation service provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients distribution industry, has made two acquisitions this month to date, both in South Korea, according to CHEManager.

The most recent agreement, announced on Jul. 14, is the proposed takeover of Seoul-headquartered Coseal, which specializes in the distribution, repackaging and blending of agricultural/horticultural surfactants.

This transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, when all of Coseal’s 45 employees, along with its owner and CEO Sang Jin Kang, will transfer to the Belgium-based distributor.

Nearly two weeks earlier, on Jul. 1, Azelis revealed it had purchased MH, a local distributor in the food ingredients market, providing the multinational specialty chemicals distribution group with a foothold in the food and health segment. Also headquartered in Seoul, MH is a family-owned business, supplying products such as gluten, starches, sweeteners and functional food ingredients.

Separately, Azelis completed the purchase of Vigon International on Jun. 2. Vigon is a leading US specialty distributor and manufacturer of ingredients for the flavors and fragrances market segments. The acquisition was first announced on May 5.

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2021, Azelis announced the extension of its distribution scope with CP Kelco in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. CP Kelco’s product range is a significant addition to Azelis’ portfolio and the new agreement marks an important milestone in the strong and continuously developing collaboration between both companies globally.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in March 2021 by 5.4% year on year. Thus, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 6.7% in the first three months of 2021. Production of polymers in primary form was 958,000 tonnes versus 861,000 tonnes in March. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 2,740,000 tonnes in the first quarter of 2021, up by 8.5% year on year.

Azelis is a leading distributor of speciality chemicals and food ingredients present in over 50 countries across the globe with around 2,200 employees. Our knowledgeable teams of industry, market and technical experts are each dedicated to a specific market within Life Sciences and Industrial Chemicals.

June oil imports into India hit lowest in 9 months on low consumption and renewed coronavirus lockownds

June oil imports into India hit lowest in 9 months on low consumption and renewed coronavirus lockownds

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's crude oil imports in June fell to their lowest in nine months, as refiners curtailed purchases amid higher fuel inventories due to low consumption and renewed coronavirus lockdowns in the previous two months, reported Reuters.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, shipped in about 3.9 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude last month, about 7% down from May, but 22% higher from year-ago levels, tanker arrival data obtained from trade sources showed.

India is the second major importer in Asia, after China, to post a slump in last month's crude imports.

After an uptick in India's fuel demand in February and March, the country's refiners cranked up crude processing and oil imports, said an Indian refining official who declined to be named as he is not authorised to speak to media. However, fuel demand fell sharply in April and May after the government imposed restrictions to curb a second wave of coronavirus, leaving refiners with high fuel inventories.

India's crude imports between April and June, however, rose 11.7% year-on-year to 4.1 million bpd as the lockdown curbs were not as severe as last year when COVID-19 first hit the nation, according to the data.

Last month, Iraq stayed as the top oil supplier to India, followed by Saudi Arabia. The United Arab Emirates climbed four notches to emerge as third-biggest supplier while Nigeria rose to No.4 from No.5 in May. The United States was at No.5, followed by Canada. The share of oil from the Middle East in India's imports rose to about 59% in June from 53% in the prior month, while that of other regions declined, data showed.

As MRC informed earlier, China's crude oil imports fell 3% from January to June versus a year earlier, in the first first-half contraction since 2013, as an import quota shortage, refinery maintenance and rising global prices curbed buying. Imports totalled 40.14 million tonnes last month, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed last Tuesday, equivalent to 9.77 million barrels per day (bpd).

We remind that 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 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
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NKNKH will increase the production of polypropylene and polystyrene by 2.5 times by 2024

NKNKH will increase the production of polypropylene and polystyrene by 2.5 times by 2024

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nizhnekamskneftekhim plans to increase the production of polypropylene and polystyrene by 2.5 times in 2024, said the company.

Thus, the total volume of plastics production will reach more than 1.4 million tons, "the statement says. According to Anas Zakirov, head of the department for promoting system solutions at NKNKH, in order to increase the competitiveness and profitability of production, the enterprise has begun work on assessing its own capabilities for the production of small and medium-sized chemicals.

The largest petrochemical holdings in Russia - SIBUR and TAIF - in April announced plans to combine their assets. Within the framework of the merger, a company will be created on the basis of SIBUR Holding, in which the current shareholders of TAIF PSC will receive a 15% stake in exchange for the transfer of a controlling stake in a group consisting of petrochemical and energy enterprises. The remaining stake in TAIF can be subsequently purchased by the merged company. The merged company of SIBUR and TAIF will include the parent company of the Tatarstan group, as well as two of its chemical plants and an energy company, including NKH and KOS.

As per ICIS-MRC Price Report, Some market participants said demand and supply of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's material were generally balanced. There was no sharp surge in demand this month, despite a major price reduction. Prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's GPPS were in the range of roubles (Rb) 152,000-163,000/tonne, whereas HIPS prices were at Rb156,000-167,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. A major trader offered GPPS for sale at Rb155,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim is one of the largest petrochemical companies in Eastern Europe, occupying a leading position among domestic producers of synthetic rubbers, plastics and ethylene. The nomenclature of manufactured products includes more than 120 items. The products of the joint-stock company are exported to 50 countries in Europe, America and Southeast Asia. The share of exports in the total volume of production is about 50%.
MRC

SIBUR starts construction of its own solar power plant

SIBUR starts construction of its own solar power plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR has begun construction of a solar power plant at Polief in Bashkiria, the largest producer of terephthalic acid and PET in Russia. The first pile for fixing solar panels was loaded at the enterprise.

Using clean energy from the sun will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the carbon footprint of our products. In the future, the solar power plant will provide electricity to another Polief project - the production of "green" PET pellets containing secondary raw materials.

The design capacity of the power plant is about 4.9 MW, the total area of ??solar panels is 8 hectares. Investments in the project will amount to more than a quarter of a billion rubles. It is planned to complete the construction of the SPP and integrate it into the energy supply chain of the enterprise in January 2022.

“Polief will be SIBUR's first production site to generate green electricity. In accordance with the sustainable development strategy, SIBUR plans to increase the volume of green electricity in the company's total energy balance by 5 times by 2025 compared to 2019, ”said Evgeny Semenko, CEO of Polief.

Earlier, in April, Polief launched a project for the production of "green" PET granules containing secondary raw materials. The production site is planned to be launched in the first half of 2022. It is planned to use about 34 thousand tons of secondary raw materials in production annually.

As per MRC ScanPlast, total estimated PET consumption increased by 15% in May compared to the same indicator a year earlier and amounted to 85,850 tonnes. Total estimated consumption amounted to 349,940 tonnes of PET in January-May 2021 in Russia, up 22% year on year.

PJSC SIBUR Holding is the largest petrochemical company in Russia and Eastern Europe with full coverage of the industry cycle from gas processing, production of monomers, plastics and synthetic rubbers to plastics processing.
MRC

TPC to conduct turnaround at its PP plant in Singapore

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Polyolefins Company (TPC) is planning to shut its polypropylene (PP) plant in Jurong Island, Singapore in mid-July 2021 for maintenance, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The turnaround at this plant is expected to last for 45 days.

Only part of the unit would be shut during the time, according to a source close to the producer. Affected grades might include PP random copolymers and terpolymer, wherease the homo-PP line would remain operating.

TPC also operates a low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in Ayer Merbau with a capacity of 260,000 mt/year of LDPE.

The company's polyolefins plants in Singapore receive feedstock from No. 2 cracker of the Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore (PCS), which will also be shut for 30 days of repairs in July.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
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