COVID-19 - News digest as of 22.07.2021

1. Crude oil rises over 4% despite higher US inventories

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices rose more than 4% Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session as improved risk appetite provided support despite data showing an unexpected rise in US oil inventories, reported Reuters. Brent crude futures rose USD2.88, or 4.2%, to settle at USD72.23 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose USD3.1, or 4.6%, to settle at USD70.30 a barrel. Futures are rebounding after dropping around 7% on Monday, following a deal by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together known as OPEC+, to boost supply by 400,000 barrels per day from August through December. The sell-off was exacerbated by fears that a rise in cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in major markets like the United States, Britain and Japan would affect demand.

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Hyosung to start up new PDH unit in Vietnam in July-August

Hyosung to start up new PDH unit in Vietnam in July-August

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hyosung Vina Chemicals Co Ltd plans to bring online its new 600,000 tons/year propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Southern Vietnam in July-August 2021, according to CommoPlast with reference to market sources.

The start-up of the company's new PDH unit will enable the launch of the second polypropylene (PP) plant with a capacity of 300,000 tons/year at the same site.

The company already operates No. 1 PP plant in Southern Vietnam with the same production capacity, using external sources of propylene. It was shut down on 9 July, 2021, due to an unspecified technical issue and is expected to remain off-line between three to four weeks.

As MRC informed before, following the start-up at the newly constructed PP plant in Vietnam on 12 February 2020, it was reported that Hyosung reached on-spec cargoes approximately in mid-February. The first prime grade parcels were homo-PP yarn grade F501N with a melt index of 3.7.

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.

Hyosung Corporation is a Korean industrial conglomerate, founded in 1957. It operates in various fields, including the chemical industry, industrial machinery, IT, trade, and construction.
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PPG Industries Q2 earnings miss Wall Street expectations

PPG Industries Q2 earnings miss Wall Street expectations

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) on Monday reported second-quarter net income of USD431 million, according to The Sacramento Bee.

The Pittsburgh-based company said it had profit of USD1.80 per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to USD1.94 per share. The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of USD2.19 per share.

The paint and coatings maker posted revenue of USD4.36 billion in the period, which also missed Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected USD4.42 billion.

PPG Industries expects full-year earnings in the range of USD7.40 to USD7.60 per share.

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2021, PPG announced an expansion of its coatings manufacturing capacity in Europe for packaging applications. The investments at sites in The Netherlands and Poland will support growing customer demand in the region for the latest generation of coatings for aluminum and steel cans used in packaging for beverage, food and personal care items. The projects include a further expansion of the company’s location in Tiel, The Netherlands, which will increase the plant’s production capacity for PPG INNOVEL non-BPA internal coatings for beverage cans by 30%. Expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, the project follows a 50% expansion completed at the end of 2020.

BPA is the main feedstock for the production of polycarbonate (PC).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus) rose in January-May 2021 by 8% year on year to 42,200 tonnes (38,900 tonnes a year earlier).
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Mexican producer Alpek reported a rise in Q2 net

Mexican producer Alpek reported a rise in Q2 net

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexican polyester producer Alpek reported a rise in Q2 net income because sales rose faster than costs, said Reuters.

Quarter on quarter, sales rose because of higher prices and margins. Alpek did not discuss year-on-year trends. Quarter on quarter, Alpek noted higher margins for polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In addition, margins for polypropylene (PP) maintained their strength for longer than expected following the winter storms that hit the US in mid-February.

For the Polyester segment, Q2 volumes fell quarter on quarter because of a drought in Altamira, Mexico, which temporarily affected the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), one of the monomers used to produce PET.

Quarter on quarter, EBITDA fell because the rise in feedstock costs was not as pronounced as it was in the first quarter. Such increases cause positive inventory and carry-forward effects for the segment's earnings.

Alfa’s petrochemical division, Alpek, which accounted for 50% of the quarterly revenue, saw its revenue growth driven by strong demand and higher average prices amid the rise in paraxylene, propylene and other feedstock prices, the company said.

As per MRC, construction of the unfinished polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Texas will be suspended in 2021, said one of the project partners, the Mexican company Alpek. Alpek and other project participants made a decision unanimously. Companies are looking for ways to minimize project costs. The sharp rise in PET demand over the past year has made the project more attractive, Alpek said. Alpek, Indorama Ventures and Far Eastern New Century (FENC) are equal partners in the Corpus Christi Polymers (CCP) joint venture.

According to MRC's ScanPlast, in May the total estimated PET consumption in Russia increased by 15% compared to the same indicator a year earlier and amounted to 85.85 thousand tons. In total, for the period January - May 2021, the estimated consumption in Russia amounted to 349.94 thousand tons of material, which is 22% higher than the indicator of 2020.
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BHP and Woodside remain focused on Sangomar project in Senegal

BHP and Woodside remain focused on Sangomar project in Senegal

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shares in Woodside Petroleum fell after an unsourced media report said Australia's top independent gas producer was in talks to buy some or all of BHP Group's oil and gas assets, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Woodside shares ended down 2 cents in a broader market that rose 0.8% and while BHP rose 1.3%. The report in The Australian's Data Room column followed a Bloomberg report which said that mining group BHP was considering selling its oil and gas business, which includes assets off Australia and Trinidad and Tobago and in the Gulf of Mexico.

BHP and Woodside declined to comment on what both companies called "market speculation". "We remain focused on the continued safe execution of our Sangomar project in Senegal and achieving our targeted final investment decision on the Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 developments in Western Australia," a Woodside spokesperson said in an emailed comment.

Credit Suisse analyst Saul Kavonic said there would only be a limited pool of buyers for BHP's Australian assets, partly because they include ageing assets which face hefty decommissioning costs within the next 10 years. He also said Woodside would be a "lead candidate" to buy BHP's Australian petroleum assets as Woodside already has stakes in two of them - the North West Shelf LNG project and the Scarborough gas field.

BHP Chief Executive Mike Henry said as recently as March that BHP sees "attractive value and returns to be generated for shareholders for the next decade" from oil and gas, but would sell off more mature assets.

As per MRC, BP acquired US shale assets from BHP Billiton for USD10.5 billion in the largest deal since the 1999 acquisition of Atlantic Richfield oil company. British oil and gas company BP bought US shale assets owned by mining company BHP Billiton.

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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