Trinseo raises January PS, ABS and SAN prices in Europe

Trinseo raises January PS, ABS and SAN prices in Europe

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 all polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) in Europe, according to the company's press release as of January 5.

Effective January 1, 2022, 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 EUR175 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR175 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR155 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR155 per metric ton.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo raised its prices for all PS, ABS and SAN grades on December 1, 2021, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS -- by EUR50 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech HIPS - by EUR50 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR50 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR50 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Russia, prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's GPPS rose by Rb6,000/tonne at the beginning of the year and reached Rb178,750-189,700/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, whereas HIPS prices reached Rb184,750-195,700/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. January prices of Penoplex's material grew by Rb2,000/tonne to Rb197,000-199,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, whereas prices of Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's GPPS were in the range of Rb178,500-187,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, this week.

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

COVID-19 - News digest as of 14.01.2022

1. Crude oil prices hold near USD85/bbl on stronger demand outlook

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices were steady on Thursday near two-month highs, with Brent crude trading near USD85 a barrel, buoyed by expectations that a strong economic recovery will boost demand, but rising US inventories and high inflation capped gains, reported Reuters. Brent crude futures rose 26 cents, or 0.3%, to USD84.93 a barrel, by 1445 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 8 cents, or 0.1, to USD82.72 a barrel. Oil prices rallied more than 50% in 2021 and some analysts expect this trend to continue this year, forecasting that a lack of production capacity and limited investment could lift crude to USD90 or even above USD100 a barrel.


MRC

European PVC prices steady for CIS markets since November

European PVC prices steady for CIS markets since November

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Negotiations over prices of European polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for January shipments to the CIS countries began in the middle of last week. Ethylene prices have been steady in the region for the second month in a row, on the back of which European producers rolled over their December export PVC prices for January shipments, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The January contract price of ethylene was agreed at the previous month's level, which theoretically allowed to talk about the steadiness of the net cost of PVC production. Strong demand for resin also remained in Europe, including demand from some export markets. And these conditions allowed to maintain high prices for resin. Most producers rolled over their December export PVC prices for January shipments, which virtually corresponded to the level of November.

In fact, there was a shortage of PVC in Europe during the whole year of 2021 because of scheduled and unscheduled shutdowns for maintenance of local producers and lower imports. Supply of PVC has begun to gradually increase in the market for the past two months of 2021, but the market is far from being saturated. In addition, interruptions in the work of some producers remain.

In January, European producers were in no hurry to adjust their export prices for the CIS countries and, in fact, maintained them in the range of EUR1,650-1,710/tonne FCA, which virtually corresponded to the level of November and December.

At the same time, it should be noted that supply of PVC for shipments from the USA has grown significantly since December. Thus, the key suppliers announced their offer prices for February shipments at USD1,700/tonne CFR and lower.
MRC

PVC production in Russia grew 3% in 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) exceeded 1.0 mln tonnes in 2021, up by 3% year on year. Three producers increased their output, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

December production of unmixed PVC rose to 88,400 tonnes from 86,600 tonnes a month earlier, higher output was due to the increased capacity utilisation at RusVinyl. Overall output of polymer totalled 1,007,000 tonnes in 2021 versus 976,300 tonnes a year earlier. Three producers increased their production, whereas one producer kept his last year's figures.

The structure of PVC production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

RusVinyl produced slightly over 30,600 tonnes of PVC in December, with emulsion polyvinyl chloride (EPVC) accounting for 2,500 tonnes, compared to 29,600 tonnes a month earlier. RusVinyl's overall output reached 349,400 tonnes in 2021, compared to 333,400 tonnes in 2020.
Higher production was mainly caused by the absence of a shutdown for maintenances this year.

SayanskKhimPlast produced 27,900 tonnes of suspension PVC (SPVC), compared to 27,100 tonnes in November. The Sayansk plant managed to produce about 309,300 tonnes of PVC in January-December, compared to 298,800 tonnes a year earlier.

Baskhir Soda Company produced about 22,900 tonnes of SPVC in December, against 23,000 tonnes a month earlier. The Baskhir plant's overall production of PVC reached 268,200 tonnes in 2021, which virtually corresponds to the last year's figure.

Kaustik (Volgograd) last month produced a little more than 6,900 tonnes of PVC suspension, which is actually the same as in November.
The plant's overall production of PVC reached 80,300 tonnes over the stated period, up by 5% year on year.

MRC

ExxonMobil seeks buyer for US shale gas properties in Ohio

ExxonMobil seeks buyer for US shale gas properties in Ohio

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil on Tuesday launched the sale of shale gas properties stretching across 27,000 acres in the Appalachian basin of Ohio, which is part of an ongoing divestiture of US assets, reported Reuters with reference to the company's confirmation.

The top US oil producer is marketing 61 wells that last year produced around 81 million cubic feet per day equivalent (mmcfd) of natural gas, according to a marketing document viewed by Reuters. The sale includes another 274 wells operated by other companies.

A sale could value the assets at around USD200 million based on current natural gas prices and existing production from the wells, a person familiar with the matter said.

"ExxonMobil is providing information to third parties that may have an interest in the assets, but no agreement has been reached and no buyer has been identified," said spokeswoman Sarah Nordin. Operations are continuing, she added.

The company in 2020 took about a USD20 billion writedown on properties, primarily purchased with subsidiary XTO Energy a decade earlier. It removed gas assets in Appalachia, the Rocky Mountains, Oklahoma, Texas and elsewhere from its development plan after the writedown.

The Ohio properties produced around 250 mmcfd of gas in 2017 and are among assets that Exxon put on the market as it focuses development in Guyana, offshore Brazil and Texas's Permian Basin shale field.

The company three years ago set a goal of raising USD15 billion from asset sales, and last year accelerated its marketing efforts as energy prices recovered from the pandemic.

As MRC informed previously, in mid-January, 2022, Exxon Mobil Corporation’s Baytown refinery in Texas continues to produce at reduced rates after a fire broke out at a reformer feed hydrotreater on Dec 23,202. The Baytown refinery is one of the largest refining and petrochemical facilities in the United States, with a crude processing capacity of 560,500 barrels per day. The fire took place at the refinery’s hydrotreater unit, which had been closed due to a leakage in the bypass line. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Exxon's Baytown facility is home to a chemical plant, an olefins plant and the country's fourth-biggest oil refinery, with capacity to process 560,500 bpd of crude.

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 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC