Yansab net profit more than doubles in 2021

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yanbu National Petrochemical Co. (Yansab) reported a surge of over twofold in 2021 net profit after Zakat and tax to SAR 1.531 billion, from SAR 677.6 million a year earlier, said Argaam.

The strong performance was driven by better average sales prices despite lower production and sales volume, due to the turnaround and shutdown of the company's plants as previously announced on Jan. 26 and July 11, 2021. 26 and July 11, 2021.

When compared to previous quarter, net profit jumped 86.3% from SAR 179.8 million, thanks to higher production and sales volumes.

Shareholders’ equity, after minority interest, increased by 0.37% to SAR 15.042 billion as of Dec. 31, 2021 from SAR 14.985 billion a year earlier.

Yanbu National Petrochemical Co’s (Yansab) net profit rose slightly in the fourth quarter of last year amid higher average selling prices.

Earnings were partly weighed down by higher average feedstock costs, Yanbu said in a statement filed on the Saudi bourse, Tadawul.

For the whole of 2021, the company's net profit more than doubled on the back of higher average selling prices despite lower production and sales from plant turnarounds.

As per MRC, Yanbu National Petrochemical Company (Yansab), part of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), restarted its cracker after a planned turnaround. The cracker in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, which can produce 1.38 mln mt/year of ethylene and 400,000 mt/year of propylene, resumed operations on 15 February, 2021. It was shut for a turnaround on 5 February 2021.

The company also has polyolefin plants at the same site with production capacity of 400,000 tons/year of polypropylene (PP) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) each. They were also taken off-line for maintenance on 5 February 2021.

Yansab is the most recent SABIC, (Saudi Basic Industries Corp), affiliate in Saudi Arabia, and will be the largest Sabic petrochemical complex. It will have an annual capacity exceeding 4 million metric tons (MT) of petrochemical products including: 1.3 million MT (metric-tons) of ethylene; 400,000 MT of propylene; 900,000 MT of polyethylene; 400,000 MT of polypropylene; 700,000 MT of ethylene glycol; 250,000 MT of benzene, xylene and toluene, and 100,000 MT of butene-1 and butene-2.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide will invest around 350 Crores Rupees (40 million euros) in a new Air Separation Unit (ASU) dedicated to Industrial Merchant activities in Kosi, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Northern India, according to BusinessWire.

This unit will have a production capacity of 350 tonnes per day, with a maximum of 300 tonnes of oxygen. Air Liquide India will build, own and operate this ASU, which is planned to start operating by the end of 2023.

The new plant will support small-and-medium sized customers of liquid and packaged gases in Northern India. It will allow Air Liquide to meet the growing demand of the automotive, metal fabrication, heat treatment, photovoltaic, and electronics industries, as well as local hospitals requiring high-purity medical gases. When commissioned, Air Liquide’s site in Kosi, where the unit will be located, will become the largest liquid gases plant in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

In line with Air Liquide’s Sustainability Objectives, which include reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, this plant has been designed to contribute to a successful energy transition by India. The new unit is indeed planned to fully operate on renewable energy by 2030.

The new ASU will contribute to Air Liquide’s expansion strategy in India, where the Group has been present for more than 30 years. It already owns and operates 4 ASUs in North & West of India and will finalize in 2022 the construction of a 5th ASU in Nagpur (West India). Air Liquide is committed to continue investing in coming years to accompany the development of India and its growing demand for sustainable solutions.

Pascal Vinet, Senior Vice President and a member of the Air Liquide Group’s Executive Committee supervising Europe Industries activities and Africa / Middle East /India hubs, said : “The construction of a new plant in Uttar Pradesh is a very important milestone for Air Liquide in India. This new significant investment will give us the ability to better serve our customers, while also investing in the long-term growth opportunities of this key State. It also shows our confidence in the sustained growth of the Indian industry. This investment is in line with Air Liquide’s Sustainable Objectives as this ASU is meant to ultimately solely run on renewable energy.”

As MRC reported earlier, Air Liquide and BASF plan to develop world largest cross-border CCS value chain. The goal is to significantly reduce CO2 emissions at the industrial cluster in the port of Antwerp. The joint project Kairos@C has been selected for funding by the European Commission through its Innovation Fund, as one of the seven large-scale projects out of more than 300 applications.

We remind that BASF aims is to electrify its production processes for basic chemicals, which are currently based on fossil fuels.

We also remind that in mid-February, BASF said it was restarting one of its steam crackers at its Ludwigshafen complex in Germany after operations were halted in December, 2021, due to a technical issue. The naphtha cracker produces ethylene and propylene, and is one of two crackers on the site. One has a production capacity of 420,000 metric tons/year, with the other"s capacity at 240,000 metric tons/year.

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.

Air Liquide in Benelux comprises subsidiaries active in the production, distribution, and sale of industrial and medical gases, technologies and services of the Air Liquide Group. Founded in Belgium in 1906, in the Netherlands in 1913 and in Luxembourg in 1931, Air Liquide is present in 78 countries with approximately 64,500 employees and serves more than 3.8 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. Air Liquide’s revenue amounted to more than 20 billion euros in 2020. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (compartment A) and belongs to the CAC 40, EURO STOXX 50 and FTSE4Good indexes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont Interconnect Solutions, a business within the Electronics & Industrial segment, today announced it has completed the expansion project at its Circleville, Ohio manufacturing site, said the company.

The USD250 million investment expands production of Kapton polyimide film and Pyralux® flexible circuit materials, ensuring a committed supply to meet the growing global demand in the automotive, consumer electronics, telecom, specialized industrial and defense segments served by DuPont.

“This is a really important milestone for DuPont and the Electronics & Industrial business,” said Avi Avula, vice president and general manager, DuPont Interconnect Solutions. “With this expansion, we can elevate our service levels to our customers to help them grow. This new plant is an indication of our renewed commitment to our customers’ growth agenda and enables us to meet their aggressive demand for new products with higher reliability and supply assurance."

The new manufacturing line at Circleville uses DuPont proprietary processing capabilities to produce advanced Kapton polyimide films, which have set industry standards for more than 50 years, offering high performance, reliability and durability. Kapton® polyimide films provide a unique combination of electrical, thermal, chemical and mechanical properties that withstand extreme temperature, vibration and other demanding environments.

The Kapton polyimide film is also at the heart of DuPont’s Pyralux line of flexible copper-clad laminates that are available in a wide variety of copper types, thicknesses and construction options, all of which offer excellent thermal, chemical, electrical and mechanical properties. Pyralux® laminates are ideal for use in wide variety of multi-layer flex and rigid-flex applications which require advanced performance, such as low dissipation loss for high speed, high frequency, robust thermal resistance and high reliability.

As MRC reported earlier, DuPont is to invest around USD 5 m at facilities in Germany and Switzerland to increase capacity for automotive adhesives. The investment will expand capacity to support growing demand for advanced mobility solutions for vehicle electrification. New equipment has been delivered and installed that will increase manufacturing capacity as well as accelerate delivery of product samples to customers.

We remind that DuPont is also investing USD400 million in the production capacity of Tyvek nonwoven fabric made from high density polyethylene (HDPE) at its site in Luxembourg. A new building and a third work line at the production site will be constructed. The launch of new facilities is scheduled for 2021.

DuPont Electronics & Industrial is a global supplier of new technologies and performance materials serving the semiconductor, circuit board, display, digital and flexographic printing, healthcare, aerospace, industrial and transportation industries. From advanced technology centers worldwide, teams of talented research scientists and application experts work closely with customers, providing solutions, products and technical service to enable next-generation technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SOCAR HQ held a ceremony to sign licensing and design agreements for the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit between the Heydar Aliyev oil refinery (HAOR) and the French company Axens as part of the HAOR modernization and reconstruction project, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The ceremony was attended by SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev, Axens CEO Jean Sentenac and other officials.

A signing ceremony was eventually held with the parties participating. The documents were signed by Bakhtiyar Mammadov, SOCAR HAOR Director and Fabien Lundy, Axens Process Licensing Global Commercial Director. It is worth noting that SOCAR and Axens have a long-term co-operation. At present, the diesel hydrotreatment, gasoline hydrotreatment and C4 (butane-butylene) hydrogenation units as part of the Heydar Aliyev refinery reconstruction project, as well as the C3 (propane-propylene) hydrogenation unit as part of the reconstruction works carried out at Azerkimya PU, the naphtha hydrotreatment, diesel hydrotreatment and kerosene hydrotreatment units at the STAR refinery built in Turkey are licensed by Axens.

The cooperation between SOCAR and Axens encompasses the training of engineers either in IFP School or in Axens in order to contribute to the successful implementation of the Heydar Aliyev refinery modernization projects including the operation of the licensed process units. These trainings aims also at developing skills in energy efficiency and sustainability. Some time ago, the AR-GE Research Centre of SOCAR Turkey, Axens and IFPEN started jointly to expand AR-GE Research capabilities, and identify subjects of common interest.

Rovnag Abdullayev, SOCAR President said, "The HAOR reconstruction and modernization project is progressing successfully. The project involves the design and construction of a number of new units at the refinery. In this respect, substantial work has been undertaken to license and implement design services for these units. Based on the research and detailed evaluation of the FCC unit, the French company Axens has been selected as the licensor. Under the agreements signed today, the preparation of the process design package for the unit will commence shortly. On this occasion, I congratulate Axens's leadership and wish our partners every success in their work."

As MRC reported earlier, Technip Energies (Paris, France) announced in April, 2021, that its work on the Azerikimya modernization project in Azerbaijan had been completed on time. The overhaul of the Socar petrochemical complex near the nation’s capital, Baku, was complete and the plant was handed over and was fully in operation. It had been producing ethylene and propylene on demand since October 2020.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wacker Chemie has opened a laboratory in Moscow for research and development (R&D) on water-repellent silicone additives for cement and concrete, said the company.

Financial details on capital expenditure (capex) for the site were not disclosed. The additives are used in cementitious materials to provide protection against moisture, salts, or unwanted chemical reactions. The company thus aims to tap into the petrochemicals-intensive construction industry in Russia.

The Moscow laboratory is part of Wacker’s Innovation Hub for Cement and Concrete. “Our new lab in Moscow will give us our first ever opportunity for systematically studying and testing a wide range of raw materials used in cement and concrete,” said Thomas Koini, head of Wacker’s Performance Silicones division.

As per MRC, Wacker Chemie AG is moving forward with “Shape the Future,” its efficiency program initiated last November. The Munich-based chemical company has recenly announced that company management and employee representatives have agreed on a framework for the planned job cutbacks.

As MRC reported earlier, Wacker Chemie operates a 90 ktpa EVA compounding plant at the Ulsan site, consisting of two lines. The second line with a capacity of 40 thousand tons of products per year was launched in 2013.

Wacker Chemie manufactures and markets EVA dispersions under the VINNAPAS brand name. VINNAPAS polymer dispersions are used in a wide range of industries: for the production of complex thermal insulation systems, building and tile adhesives, plaster, building mixtures and mortars, cement sealing slurries and nonwovens.
MRC