AkzoNobel sees costs inflation peaking this quarter as it posts weaker earnings

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel's net income fell by 25.5% year on year to EUR164m in the third quarter following drop in operating profit due to significant raw material cost hikes, said the Dutch paints and coatings firm.

Dutch paints and coatings maker Akzo Nobel warned on Wednesday that raw material costs inflation could peak in the fourth quarter before stabilising next year as it reported weaker-than-expected quarterly core earnings. “We expect the raw material situation in 2022 to be less hectic,” Chief Executive Thierry Vanlancker said in a call with analysts, adding that inflation will still be at the forefront in the first half of the year.

“Hopefully we will get a little bit more breathing room, but we’re not betting on that, and our whole pricing plan and our whole market plan is based on the current situation,” Vanlancker said. The rebound in economic activity as coronavirus restrictions are eased has exposed shortages across supply chains, with companies scrambling to find workers, ships and even fuel to power factories, threatening the recovery and keeping central bankers on high alert over inflation and its impact on rate decisions.

Chemical makers such as Akzo Nobel, Axalta Coating Systems , PPG Industries and Tikkurila have all been hit by rising raw material costs due to strong demand and supply chain issues this year. In an earlier call with journalists, Vanlacker flagged that raw material costs have escalated quite significantly and are impacting its long-term supplier contracts.

“Most raw material suppliers go for monthly and sometimes bi-weekly (contracts) because they are very uncertain about our own pricing,” Vanlancker said. The Amsterdam-based firm, which sells decorative paints and industrial coatings worldwide, raised its prices by 9% in the July-September period compared to fight the costs.

It also said raw material and other variable costs in the quarter increased by 278 million euros (USD324 million) year-on-year. The shares in the company fell 1.65% at 0938 GMT, the analysts flagging pressure from earnings miss and inflation comments.

The Dulux paint maker said it was still confident of achieving its 2 billion euro earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) target for 2023, and the annual 50 basis points increase in return on sales over the 2021-2023 period.

Akzo Nobel posted third-quarter adjusted operating income of 241 million euros, with sales improving 6% to 2.41 billion euros, but both missing analysts’ forecasts.

As per MRC, AkzoNobel N.V. no longer intends to acquire Tikkurila following a higher competing offer from US paints and coatings producer PPG Industries.

Akzo Nobel submitted a binding proposal to acquire Tikkurila for EUR31.25 per share on January 28, 2021, having conducted customary due diligence to confirm potential synergies. The company no longer intends to pursue this acquisition, following a competing, higher, offer for Tikkurila. Despite a strong cultural fit - and more synergies than any other combination with Tikkurila - the intended transaction no longer meets AkzoNobel’s criteria for superior value creation.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell has announced its ambition of, and approach to, achieving net zero emissions from global operations by 2050, as per the company's press release.

As an interim step toward 2050, the company also announced a strategy to achieve an absolute reduction of 30% in scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by 2030. These targets are consistent with efforts to support the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting climate change by achieving net zero for global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by mid-century.

In 2019, LyondellBasell announced an initial GHG emissions reduction target of 15% per ton of product produced by 2030 (relative to 2015 levels). At the time, the company stated its intention to establish a more ambitious target. As such, the company has developed an achievable pathway to an absolute reduction in scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions by 30% (relative to 2020 levels). This approach includes: enhanced energy management and low emission steam; flare minimization; use of lower-emitting fuels; process electrification and furnace upgrades; and a minimum of 50% of electricity procured from renewable sources.

LyondellBasell's approach to achieving net zero emissions for its scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by 2050 will build upon the progress achieved over the balance of this decade. In addition to these strategies, the company has begun evaluating a portfolio of technology options that could be deployed across the company's manufacturing footprint, including cracker electrification, use of hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and carbon utilization.

In addition, the company is actively embedding emissions reduction efforts into certain business processes including long-range planning and risk management, and identifying collaboration opportunities across multiple sectors to accelerate the scale up and deployment of breakthrough technologies.

Concurrent with the announcement of its revised emissions reduction goals, LyondellBasell also announced:

- It has launched a global renewable energy strategy: The company is currently advancing a number of opportunities to secure electricity generated by wind and solar through corporate power purchase agreements in the United States and Europe. LyondellBasell aims to reduce and/or offset the CO2 associated with a minimum of 50 percent of its existing electricity consumption. This amounts to 4.9 million megawatt hours per year from renewable sources by 2030. The company estimates this will reduce approximately 2 million metric tons of CO2 from the company's scope 2 emissions.
- A roadmap to phase out coal at its Wesseling, Germany, production site by 2023: The company has signed an agreement with Evonik, a German specialty chemical company, to purchase high-pressure steam generated from natural gas for use at its Wesseling olefin and polyolefin production site. This enables LyondellBasell's Wesseling site to phase-out coal usage at its on-site power plant by December 2023. The agreement integrates two neighboring chemical production sites to optimize steam supply and demand, which improves energy efficiency for both partners. The project is expected to reduce the site's CO2 emissions by approximately 170,000 metric tons per year.
- Flare systems assessment: In 2020, the company expanded its global assessment of flare systems at its major sites across its technologies. This project aims to reduce flaring, and optimize product recovery rates and flare operations. Projects implemented at its European and U.S. sites in 2020 resulted in a reduction in energy use of 1.27 million gigajoules and an associated emissions reduction of approximately 79,500 metric tons of CO2.
- Support for public policies that reduce global emissions: Recognizing the important role of sound public policy in reducing global emissions at scale, the company has articulated its support for policies that would establish a fair, global carbon price; promote renewables and energy infrastructure development; accelerate the deployment of new, carbon-reducing technologies; and, reward companies for adopting carbon-reducing technologies. More information on these policies can be found here.

In addition to working to address climate change, LyondellBasell has prioritized actions to help eliminate plastic waste from the environment, advance a circular economy and support a thriving society.

As MRC informed earlier, Three US subsidiaries of Dutch chemical giant LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LBI) have agreed to make upgrades and perform compliance measures estimated to cost USD50 million to resolve allegations they violated the Clean Air Act and state air pollution control laws at six petrochemical manufacturing facilities located in Channelview, Corpus Christi, and LaPorte, Texas, and Clinton, Iowa.

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 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 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, improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road, and ensuring the safe and effective functionality in electronics and appliances. LyondellBasell sells products into more than 100 countries and is the world"s largest producer of polymer compounds and the largest licensor of polyolefin technologies. In 2020, LyondellBasell was named to Fortune Magazine"s list of the "World"s Most Admired Companies" for the third consecutive year.
MRC

1. September crude throughput in China dips to 17-month low

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's September crude oil throughput extended its downtrend to dip 0.7% from August to a 17-month low of 13.7 million b/d amid a slow down in the economy and product destocking activity, reported S&P Global with reference to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Oct. 18. The country's crude throughput was last lower at 13.16 million b/d in April 2020. This led China's third-quarter 2021 throughput to average 13.83 million b/d, which was the lowest quarterly volume since Q2 2020 when it stood at 13.68 million b/d.



MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Three US subsidiaries of Dutch chemical giant LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LBI) have agreed to make upgrades and perform compliance measures estimated to cost USD50 million to resolve allegations they violated the Clean Air Act and state air pollution control laws at six petrochemical manufacturing facilities located in Channelview, Corpus Christi, and LaPorte, Texas, and Clinton, Iowa, according to the Department of Justice and the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) statement.

LyondellBasell will also pay a USD3.4 million civil penalty. The settlement, announced last week by EPA, will eliminate thousands of tons of air pollution from flares.

According to the complaint, the companies failed to properly operate and monitor their industrial flares, which resulted in excess emissions of harmful air pollution at five facilities in Texas and one in Iowa. LBI’s subsidiaries regularly “oversteamed” the flares at their facilities and failed to comply with other key operating constraints to ensure the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants contained in the gases routed to the flares are effectively combusted.

The EPA identified potential environmental justice concerns at the two Channelview facilities for exposure to particulate matter (2.5 micron), ozone, toxic cancer risk, and respiratory hazard. The significant emissions reductions of VOCs, HAPs, and greenhouse gases that today’s settlement secures at the Channelview facilities serve to reduce exposure in the community to some of the same air pollutants that they are disproportionately exposed to.

The settlement requires the companies to install and operate air pollution control and monitoring technology to reduce flaring and the resulting harmful air pollution from 21 flares at the six facilities. Once fully implemented, the pollution controls are estimated to reduce emissions of climate-change-causing greenhouse gases, including CO2, methane, and ethane, by almost 92,000 tons per year. The settlement is also expected to reduce emissions of ozone-forming VOCs by almost 2,700 tons per year and of toxic air pollutants, including benzene, by nearly 400 tons per year.

LBI will take several steps to minimize the waste gas sent to its flares at each facility. At certain facilities, LyondellBasell will operate flare gas recovery systems that recover and “recycle” the gases instead of sending them to be combusted in a flare. The flare gas recovery systems will allow Lyondell to reuse these gases as a fuel at its facilities or a product for sale. Lyondell will also create waste minimization plans for each facility to further reduce flaring. For flaring that must occur, the agreement requires that Lyondell install and operate instruments and monitoring systems to ensure that the gases sent to its flares are efficiently combusted.

LyondellBasell will also perform air quality monitoring that is designed to detect the presence of benzene at the fence lines of the six covered plants. Monitoring results must be publicly posted, providing the neighboring communities with more information about their air quality. The monitoring requirements also include triggers for root cause analysis and corrective actions if fence line emissions exceed certain thresholds. Flare compliance is an ongoing priority for EPA under its National Air Toxics Initiative.

As MRC informed earlier, LyondellBasell aims to sell its Houston crude oil refinery as quickly as possible. The company said in early September, 2021, it is considering strategic options for the refinery, including a potential sale. US refiners last year suffered deep losses as the coronavirus pandemic slashed demand for motor fuels.

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 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 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, improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road, and ensuring the safe and effective functionality in electronics and appliances. LyondellBasell sells products into more than 100 countries and is the world"s largest producer of polymer compounds and the largest licensor of polyolefin technologies. In 2020, LyondellBasell was named to Fortune Magazine"s list of the "World"s Most Admired Companies" for the third consecutive year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US refiners are expected to show higher earnings for the third quarter as margins to sell gasoline and diesel have improved despite the surging cost of crude oil, reported Reuters with reference to analysts.

After more than a year of depressed fuel demand, gasoline and distillate consumption is back in line with five-year averages in the United States, the world's largest fuel consumer. That has boosted margins on refined products to more than double what those companies were making at this time a year ago.

The seven largest independent US refining companies, including giants Marathon Petroleum and Valero Energy , are projected to post an average earnings-per-share gain of 66 cents, versus a loss of USD1.32 for the third quarter of 2020, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Those gains are driven by the 3-2-1 crack spread, a proxy for refining margins, which assumes a barrel of crude oil is refined to three parts gasoline, two parts diesel and one part jet fuel. That spread is currently at USD21 per barrel, compared with around $9 a year ago.

Energy demand has recovered swiftly from the worst days of the pandemic in 2020, and Brent and US crude oil prices have reached multi-year highs in recent days. But product demand has also increased, and that has helped boost margins.

Product supplied - a proxy for US refined product demand - was 21.5 MM barrels per day (bpd) in the most recent week, slightly higher than the same period in 2019, prior to the onset of the pandemic, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

"The market is getting back in equilibrium," Credit Suisse analyst Manav Gupta said in a note.

Refiners are also benefiting from lower inventories of their products as recent storms and the pandemic knocked refining capacity offline. Approximately 2.5 MMbpd of refining capacity has been shut since the start of the pandemic, which is almost four times the 10-year average, according to Credit Suisse's Gupta.

Delta Air Lines' refinery in Monroe, Pennsylvania, earned nearly USD100 MM last quarter, its first positive results since the first quarter of 2020, according to figures released last week. Tudor Pickering Holt analysts cited strong gasoline and diesel crack spreads as helping the refiner recover.

Jet fuel demand is still below pre-pandemic levels, but international flights are expected to resume to Europe in November. The spot price of US Gulf Coast kerosene-type jet fuel is USD2.10 dollars per gallon, the highest since October 2018, despite demand still 12% below 2018 levels, per EIA data.

Analysts have also been raising estimates for refiners such as PBF Energy and HollyFrontier due to declining costs of complying with the nation's biofuels laws. Refiners are required to blend ethanol into the nation's gasoline pool or buy credits for others who can.

As MRC informed earlier, in May, 2021, US refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp said its board had approved the conversion of the Martinez refinery in California to a renewable diesel plant. Besides, the company made a final investment decision regarding this project. Martinez, once complete, will be one of the largest renewables facilities in the country.

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 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC