Sika acquires leading producer of tile adhesives and stuccos in Mexico

Sika acquires leading producer of tile adhesives and stuccos in Mexico

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sika, a producer of construction chemicals, acquires Bexel Internacional S.A. de C.V., a leading manufacturer of tile adhesives and stuccos in Mexico, as per the company's press release.

The acquisition strengthens Sika’s position in the large, fast-growing Mexican mortar market and significantly extends its manufacturing footprint. In 2020, the acquired company generated sales of CHF 35 million.

Bexel is a family-owned, well-run business which has successfully built up a strong position in the Mexican Building Finishing mortars market. The company enjoys an excellent reputation through its well-known brand and has a strong presence in the distribution channel, mostly focusing on home centers and builders’ merchants.

Bexel operates five strategically located production plants which perfectly complement Sika’s existing geographical footprint and further support the strategic focus on big cities. The new site serving Mexico City adds important production capacity, strengthening Sika’s position in this fastgrowing metropolitan area. With the combined presence, Sika now has a nationwide manufacturing coverage for mortars that will enhance its ability to serve and supply customers with its products throughout the country.

The acquisition strengthens Sika’s Building Finishing portfolio and distribution network in Mexico, providing interesting cross-selling opportunities for complementary products such as sealants, adhesives, liquid applied membranes, and waterproofing products.

As MRC reported earlier, in July 2021, Sika acquired American Hydrotech Inc. in the USA and its affiliate Hydrotech Membrane Corporation in Canada. Hydrotech is an experienced and highly regarded liquid membrane manufacturer and provider of full-system roofing and waterproofing solutions. In the fastgrowing green/garden roof segment, Hydrotech is the clear North American market leader. The acquisition strengthens Sika’s roofing and waterproofing portfolio, and complements Sika’s sustainability focus. In 2020, the acquired company generated sales of CHF 83 million.

And in November 2020, Sika commissioned a manufacturing facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), which produces epoxy resins aimed at flooring solutions. Sika has decided to invest in the expansion of its manufacturing facilities at the Dubai site in order to increase flexibility in production, shorten delivery times, optimize cost structures, and reduce inventories.

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 200 factories. Its more than 20,000 employees generated annual sales of CHF 7.09 billion in 2018.
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Toyo Engineering gets contract from Prime Polymer for construction of new PP plant in Chiba

Toyo Engineering gets contract from Prime Polymer for construction of new PP plant in Chiba

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Toyo Engineering Corporation (TOYO) has been awarded a contract for a project to construct a polypropylene (PP) plant in Ichihara-shi, Chiba, Japan from Prime Polymer, as per the company's press release.

TOYO will carry out the EPC contract on a full turn-key basis that includes engineering, procurement, and construction.

The new plant's production capacity will be 200,000/mt year. The completion of construction worls is scheduled for 2024.

Responding to the social needs aspire all business entities to contribute on sustainability, the client awarded the contract to TOYO because of evaluation as an active partner from early stage for several years along with the company's rich experiences of petrochemical projects, execution ability of large-scale EPC projects and our proposal from the viewpoint of safety, cost, quality, delivery and environment.

As MRC wrote previously, TEC Project Services Corp., a subsidiary of Toyo Engineering, said in April, 2019, it was awarded a propylene splitter project from Maruzen Petrochemical to produce a "high-grade product" at Maruzen's plant in Ichihara-shi, Chiba, Japan. TEC will be responsible for detailed engineering, procurement of equipment and materials, and construction. Completion is scheduled in 2021.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
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COVID-19 - News digest as of 12.08.2021

1. US crude and gasoline stockpiles slightly down

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil stockpiles fell modestly last week, while gasoline inventories dipped to their lowest level since November, reported Reuters with reference to the US Energy Information Administration's statement. Crude inventories fell by 447,000 barrels in the week to Aug. 6 to 438.8 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel drop. Overall crude inventories have been on the decline for several weeks due to increased demand. Fuel consumption, as measured by product supplied, fell in the most recent week, led by declines in gasoline and jet fuel supplied. The weekly figures are volatile, however, and over the last four weeks produced supplied sits at 20.6 million barrels per day (bpd), roughly in line with 2019 levels. Analysts said if fuel demand starts to decline as a result of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, it would be negative for energy prices.




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Crude oil futures steady in Asia on weaker dollar

Crude oil futures steady in Asia on weaker dollar

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were slightly higher during midmorning trade in Asia Aug. 12 on a weaker dollar, but a mixed report from the US Energy Information Administration and calls from the White House for an increase in OPEC+ supply limited the market's upside potential, reported S&P Global.

At 11:38 am Singapore time (0338 GMT), the ICE October Brent futures contract was up 11 cents/b (0.15%) from the previous close at USD71.55/b while the NYMEX September light sweet crude contract was also up 11 cents/b (0.16%) at USD69.36/b.

The uptick in prices came amid a depreciation of the dollar after data from the US Labor Department showed that the rise in the core US Consumer Price Index in July was both lesser than market expectations and than the rise seen in June. Core CPI rose 0.3% in July, just shy of market expectations of 0.4% and significantly below the 0.9% jump seen in June.

The US dollar index was trading at 92.90 at 11:28 am Singapore time, down 0.167% from Aug. 10 close. A weaker dollar makes dollar-denominated assets, such as oil futures, more attractive to buyers holding foreign currency, and hence boosts their demand.

Meanwhile, the weekly EIA report released late Aug. 11 showed total US crude commercial stocks declining 450,000 barrels in the week ended Aug. 6 to 438.78 million barrels. The draw reported by the EIA came in short of the 600,000-barrel draw expected by analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts, and was also smaller than the 816,000 barrel draw reported by the American Petroleum Institute a day earlier.

Downstream products data was mixed, with any bullishness from a 1.4 million barrel decline in US gasoline inventories to 227.47 million barrels offset by a 1.77 million-barrel jump in US distillate inventories to 140.51 million barrels.

The fall in gasoline inventories was not necessarily indicative of improved demand-side fundamentals, which the data suggests have instead deteriorated amid a rise in COVID-19 infections in the country.

Implied gasoline demand fell around 3.5% on the week to 9.43 million b/d, while total implied demand for all products slid nearly 8% to 19.51 million b/d -- a four-week low.

Analysts said the market also has come under pressure after media reports surfaced that the Biden administration has called for OPEC+ to increase oil supply in excess of the coalition's current plan to add back 400,000 b/d of oil monthly from August onward. OPEC+ has received similar calls from other countries, including India, all of whom have said the producer group's output cuts have led to higher oil prices, which could jeopardize the global economic recovery.

As MRC informed earlier, crude oil stockpiles fell modestly last week, while gasoline inventories dipped to their lowest level since November, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Crude inventories fell by 447,000 barrels in the week to Aug. 6 to 438.8 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel drop. Overall crude inventories have been on the decline for several weeks due to increased demand.

We remind that US crude oil production is expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.12 million bpd, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly report, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd.

We also remind that BP raised Aug. 3 its 2025 oil price assumption by USD5/b to USD60/b to reflect an expected supply constraint, while promising a recovery in its own production volumes following a maintenance-related slump in the second quarter.
MRC

Fitch confirms Bashneft rating at BBB level, outlook stable

Fitch confirms Bashneft rating at BBB level, outlook stable

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The international rating agency Fitch has confirmed the long-term issuer default ratings (IDR) of Bashneft, part of Rosneft, in national and foreign currencies at the BBB level with a stable outlook, said Finam with reference to the agency's press release.

"Bashneft's ratings are given considering the very high level of integration between Bashneft and its parent company Rosneft, Bashneft's autonomous credit profile and our assessment of Rosneft's creditworthiness," explains Fitch's rating action.

The agency predicts an improvement in Bashneft's credit metrics and a decrease in the net leverage to funds from operating activities (FFO) ratio below 1.5x. In addition, Fitch expects the company's EBITDA to nearly triple in 2021 as oil prices rise and refining and sales performance improves. By 2024, the agency predicts this figure to be at the level of Rb115 billion.

At the same time, Fitch said Bashneft's oil production is more sensitive to OPEC + restrictions than most of Rosneft's other assets.

"We expect Bashneft to benefit significantly from the future relaxation of OPEC + oil production restrictions," said the agency.

As MRC reported earlier, Bashneft ended 2020 with a loss of Rb11.1 billion under IFRS against a profit of Rb76.59 billion a year earlier. The company linked the loss to a decrease in world oil prices and demand for crude oil on the back of a worsening economic situation around the world due to the pandemic.

Bashneft (a subsidiary of Rosneft) has oil reserves and a resource base in the Volga-Ural province, Timan-Pechora and Western Siberia. More than 180 fields are in commercial operation of the company. Production of hydrocarbons is over 21 million tons of oil per year.
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