Trinseo further raises Octrober prices for its products produced in EMEA

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe, have announced a price increase for plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber products manufactured in the EMEA, as per the company's press release.

Effective October 27, 2021, or as existing contract terms allow, a surcharge of up to EUR500/mt will apply to the contract and spot prices for all Trinseo products produced in its European facilities.

According to the company's statement, since early 2020, the petrochemical industry has been greatly impacted by both severe disruptions in raw material availability and significant cost increases. Trinseo has worked hard to mitigate the impact of these issues while maintaining our standards of quality service.

However, in the past few weeks, an energy crisis in Europe has led to an unprecedented rise in utility costs and this impacts Trinseo both directly in production and also indirectly through the raw materials and services the company purchases for the manufacturing process. The issue has been escalating rapidly and this jeopardizes Trinseo’s ability to continue with normal production without action.

As MRC reported earlier, earlier this month, Trinseo announced a price increase for all polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) in Europe. Effective October 1, 2021, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below rose, as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR55 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR55 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR60 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR45 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Russia, October prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's GPPS were in the range of Rb152,750-163,700/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, and HIPS prices were at Rb156,750-167,700/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. Penoplex contracted its GPPS quantities at Rb169,000-171,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, in October, whereas last week's prices of Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's GPPS were heard at Rb152,500-156,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.0 billion in net sales in 2020, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,600 employees.
MRC

1. Crude oil prices extend gains on tight global supply and stronger fuel demand as economies recover from pandemic

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices extended pre-weekend gains on Monday to hit multi-year highs, lifted by tight global supply and strengthening fuel demand in the United States and beyond as economies recover from pandemic-induced slumps, reported Reuters. Brent crude futures rose by USD1.10, or 1.3%, to USD86.63 a barrel by 1406 GMT, the highest since October 2018. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose USD1.46, or 1.7%, to USD85.22 and reached their highest level since October 2014. Both benchmarks closed last week with slight gains despite rising coronavirus cases in Britain and Eastern Europe, signaling a potentially difficult winter ahead.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures inched lower in mid-morning trade in Asia Oct. 26 amid reports of talks this week between Iran and the EU, opening the possibility of an eventual return of Iranian oil to global oil markets, reported S&P Global.

At 10:10 am Singapore time (0210 GMT), the ICE December Brent futures contract was down 4 cents/b (0.05%) from the previous close at USD85.95/b, while the NYMEX December light sweet crude contract dipped 11 cents/b (0.13%) to USD83.65/b.

Tehran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said in a tweet late Oct. 25 that he will be meeting with his EU counterpart Enrique Mora in Brussels on Oct. 27 to revive the country's stalled 2015 nuclear talks.

This follows an initial round of discussions between the EU and Iran held in Tehran on Oct. 14.

A deal will potentially bring back at least 1.3 million barrels of Iranian oil, according to some analyst estimates, helping to ease a severe shortage of oil at a time when the world needs it going into winter season.

"Prices gave up gains following reports that the EU will hold discussions with Iran later this week," said ANZ Research analysts in a note.

Nonetheless, analysts at ING said markets will likely take a cautious approach toward the talks.

"There is plenty of uncertainty around the timing and how talks will evolve. The market will likely take a more cautious approach in terms of pricing in the potential for a deal, given how talks broke down over the summer," ING's Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao said.

"We are forecasting in our balance sheet that Iranian oil output will end 2022 around 1.3 million b/d higher than where it starts the year, but clearly this assumes a lifting of sanctions," they said.

In the near term, investors will be looking at US oil inventory data for a gauge of oil demand.

As MRC informed before, US commercial crude stocks fell 3.48 million barrels to 413.96 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 17, to more than 8% below the five-year average, Energy Information Administration data showed. Stocks were last lower Oct. 5, 2018.

We remind that in late August, 2021, US crude stocks dropped sharply while petroleum products supplied by refiners hit an all-time record despite the rise in coronavirus cases nationwide, the Energy Information Administration said. Crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 27 to 425.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.1 million-barrel drop. Product supplied by refineries, a measure of demand, rose to 22.8 million barrels per day in the most recent week. That's a one-week record, and signals strength in consumption for diesel, gasoline and other fuels by consumers and exporters.

We also 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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- At least 25 people, including some minors, were killed in an explosion and fire at an illegal oil refinery in Nigeria's Rivers state on Friday, a local leader and a resident told Reuters on Sunday.

"The casualties involved are very high ... we are counting 25 bodies," Ifeanyi Omano, a community leader, told Reuters, adding: "We aren't certain of their identities yet," he said, adding that the dead included some minors.

Omano and local resident Chikwem Godwin said the explosion took place in the early hours of Friday, adding people from several communities were killed. A local police spokesman previously confirmed the incident but did not disclose the numbers of casualties.

Illegal refining is common in the oil-rich Delta region of Nigeria as impoverished locals tap pipelines to make fuel to sell for a profit. The practice, which can be as basic as boiling crude oil in drums to extract fuel, is highly dangerous.

Nigeria is Africa's largest oil exporter.

As MRC informed earlier, in August 2021, gunmen killed a police officer and six employees of a Nigerian oil and gas services contractor during an attack on buses transporting workers to a Shell project site in the southeastern state of Imo, Nigeria. Attacks on oil and gas facilities have long been a problem in Nigeria, where the multi-billion dollar industry sits alongside impoverished communities that have seen little benefit from it. In this case, the motive was unclear.

We remind that Royal Dutch Shell plans to reduce its refining and chemicals portfolio by more than half, it said in July 2020 without giving a precise timeframe. The move is part of the Anglo-Dutch company's plan to shrink its oil and gas business and expand its renewables and power division to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sharply by 2050.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reiterated on Monday that he is considering the privatization of state-run oil company Petrobras, formally known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA, boosting its shares along with news of a fresh price hike in the domestic gasoline and diesel market, reported Reuters.

"This is on our radar," the far-right president said during a radio interview. "But privatizing a company is not just putting it on a shelf and whoever offers the highest bid takes it, it is very complicated."

Bolsonaro had first mentioned a potential privatization of Petrobras earlier this month, indicating that he was frustrated for being blamed for fuel price increases in the country.

Petrobras announced on Monday it will raise diesel and gasoline prices at the refinery gate starting on Tuesday, following a recent spike in oil prices and a sharp depreciation of Brazil's currency.

The company has become a hot political topic as energy costs have driven Brazil's annual inflation into double digits, hurting Bolsonaro's popularity ahead of next year's election.

As MRC informed before, Petrobras said earlier this month it had halted talks with Brazilian conglomerate Ultrapar on the sale of the state-run oil company's Refap refinery, part of its program to sell eight plants. The company said it would relaunch the process of selling Refap in the future but did not provide a date.

We remind that in August 2021, Petrobras hired JPMorgan Chase & Co as an advisor to sell its stake in the petrochemical company Braskem SA.

We also remind that Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

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.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC