Sadara sukuk oversubscribed 2.6 times

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) announced the successful closing of the sukuk issued through its subsidiary Sadara Basic Services Company (SBSC), said Arabnews.

The sukuk has received strong investor demand, resulting in 2.6 times oversubscription based on the initial offering size of SR5.25 billion. In keeping with this demand, Sadara has up-sized the issuance to SR7.5 billion.
The sukuk have a floating rate and will have a tenor of approximately 16 years. The sukuk investors will receive an expected return of 6 month SAIBOR plus 95 basis points per annum, to be distributed semi-annually.

The net proceeds of the issue of the sukuk will be used to provide finance for, and procure the construction and delivery of, plants forming part of a chemicals complex located in Jubail Industrial City II in the Eastern Province.

As MRC wrote earlier, established in October 2011, Sadara is a limited liability company developed by Saudi Arabian Oil Company and the Dow Chemical Company. Sadara is building a world-scale, fully integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City II, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Once completed, the complex is expected to be one of the world’s largest integrated chemical facilities, and the largest ever built in a single phase. First production units are expected to come on line in the second half of 2015, with all production units coming on line in 2016.The sukuk prospectus was published on March 16.

"This press release is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for securities," a statement said.

The Capital Market Authority and the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representations as to its accuracy or completeness, and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss arising from, or incurred in reliance upon, any part of this announcement.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Corp. and BHP Billiton Ltd. laid out plans to develop a huge natural gas field off the coast of Australia that would use the world's largest vessel capable of processing the gas at sea, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The vessel would tap into the company's remote Scarborough gas field, located in the Carnarvon Basin about 300 kilometers from the Western Australia coast, and use floating liquefied natural gas technology (FLNG).

The FLNG technology is untried but has captured the attention of some of the world's biggest energy companies seeking to develop gas fields that are too small or remote to develop using pipelines and onshore facilities. Royal Dutch Shell PLC is a leading proponent of FLNG vessels, which it plans to deploy in Australia and possibly elsewhere.

Exxon and BHP's proposed facility would be capable of producing between 6 million and 7 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year. Production would begin in 2020-21, the companies said in a filing posted on the website of Australia's environment department Tuesday.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in early 2013, ExxonMobil started operations at one of the world's largest ethylene steam crackers, the centerpiece of the company's multi-billion dollar expansion project at its Singapore petrochemical complex. The expansion adds 2.6 million tpy of new finished product capacity. It includes two new polyethylene (PE) plants, a polypropylene (PP) plant, a metallocene elastomers unit, an oxo-alcohol unit and an aromatics expansion, all of which are completed and beginning operation. Ethylene production is expected to start in the next few months.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese refiners' April output is set to fall as several refineries close for seasonal maintenance, but many of them are confident of meeting demand during the shutdown as stockpiles of refined products are ample, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"We have plenty of gasoil and kerosene," Tsutomu Sugimori, Senior Vice President of JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, said.

The country's top oil refiner by capacity plans to cut crude runs by 8% to 1.11 million bpd, while closing two crude distillation units at its Mizushima B refinery in western Japan from late March to late July.

"If the stockpiles still remain high, we'd lower operation rates at other refineries," Mr. Sugimori said. JX Energy is a unit of JX Holdings.

Idemitsu Kosan is planning a 4% cut in crude throughput in the April-June quarter in line with Japan's declining oil demand. It is also planning a maintenance shutdown at its Chiba refinery, east of Tokyo.

The company said in a statement that it can meet customers' demand with ample stockpiles built in the January-March quarter.

Showa Shell Sekiyu hasn't yet announced production plans for the April-June quarter. "As we plan a refinery maintenance in the coming quarter, we'll process less," a spokesman said. "We have prepared for it" by building stocks, he added.

Cosmo Oil declined to comment on its production plans. The company's Chiba refinery is under maintenance.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, JX Nippon Oil & Energy announced that on 6 November it began construction of a joint venture plant in Ulsan, South Korea, together with SK Global Chemical Company for the production of paraxylene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In February, imports of PET granulate to Kazakhstan decreased by 5% from January, according to MRC DataScope.

In absolute terms, the import volumes of PET fell by 300 tonnes. Overall, in February, the total import of PET to the Kazakh market made about 5,400 tonnes, while in January Kazakh companies imported about 5,700 tonnes of PET.

Last month, Chinese granulate accounted for the bulk of bottle PET imports. The share of Chinese grades in the total import made more than 78%. Totally, in February, 4,260 tonnes of Chinese PET entered the Kazakh market. In January, the situation was different. South Korean PET accounted for the lion's share of imports, while the share of the Chinese material accounted for only about 49%.

February volumes of PET imports from South Korea dropped significantly, which allowed to increase imports of Chinese PET. Market sources attributed this to China's favourable price level and logistical factor. Overall, imports of Korean PET made 1,100 tonnes in February, down by 2,5 times from January.

In February-March, traders reported sluggish demand and the absence of consumer activity in the spot market. Weak sales might affect March imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (ICIS-MRC) -- European makers plan to reduce April export prices of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) for for the CIS countries only by EUR20-30/tonne, while European contract prices of ethylene and propylene for April were agreed by EUR50-60/tonne below the March level, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

European PE and PP prices are falling for the second month in a row. Due to the low demand in foreign and domestic markets European makers of PE and PP were forced to cut prices in March, despite the significant increase in prices of feedstock. By the second half of March the prices of European high density polyethylene (HDPE) had been cut to EUR1,200-1,290/tonne, FCA; homopolymer propylene prices fell to EUR1,140-1,220/tonne, FCA.

Discussion of European prices of polyethylene and polypropylene for April, began on 2, April. Some European producers plan to keep March price for April, but this is more about to the producers, who in March reduced prices greatly.

This week the price of high-density polyethylene for CIS countries were discussed at EUR1,180-1,260/tonne, FCA. The deals for polypropylene were voiced at EUR1,140-1,200/tonne, FCA, for PP-homo.

MRC