Alujain FY15 net profit falls 36% to SAR 106 mln

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Alujain announces that the Board of Directors of its subsidiary National Petrochemical Industrial Co. (NATPET), which has achieved King Khalid Award for Responsible Competitiveness for the Year 1436/2014, Alujain own (57.4%) of its Capital, has recommended to Ordinary General Assembly to distribute cash dividend from the profits amounting to SR53.5 million at the rate of 50 halala/share, as per the company's press release.

This dividend represents 5% of face value of NATPET share. The eligibility for dividends shall be for the shareholders registered in the registers of NATPET at the end of the day of its general assembly meeting.
Dividend distribution date will be announced later.

Alujain (Jeddah), which has a majority stake in Yanbu based propylene and polypropylene (PP) producer Natpet, reported a 58% decline in fourth-quarter net profit to 27.47 million Saudi riyals (USD7.33 million) compared with the year-earlier quarter. Net profit was down 40% compared with the third quarter. For the full-year 2015, Alujain’s net profit was down 36.44% to SR106.4 million. The company cites a decline in PP prices in the fourth quarter and lower prices and quantities in the whole of 2015.

As MRC informed earlier, Saudi Arabia’s National Petrochemical Industrial Co. (NATPET), a subsidiary of Alujain Corp., has invested USD15 million into Siluria Technologies, a San Francisco-based developer of process technologies for petrochemical value chains, the firms announced in a joint statement. The Saudi producer of propylene and polypropylene (PP) joins other strategic such as the Oman-based Fine-Teck and Germany’s Linde. Last year, Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) pumped USD50 million into Siluria.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar has unveiled plans for a greenfield petrochemical complex and refinery expansion to be carried out jointly by Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) and GAIL in Andhra Pradesh, India, reported Apic-online with reference to local sources.

The government has given its in-principle approval for the project, which will require an investment of approximately Rs 50,000 crore. "This will also bring huge downstream investment opportunities to the state apart from the refinery and cracker units," Kumar said.

HPCL, which currently has an 8.5-million-t/y refinery in Visakhapatnam, last year completed a techno-economic feasibility study for additional refining capacity and a petrochemical complex to be set up in the planned Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Region in Visakhapatnam. The company had earlier proposed building a 15-million-t/y refinery and a complex to produce 1-million t/y of olefins and aromatics.

As MRC informed previously, in late January 2016, HPCL received environmental clearance from Indian officials to expand its Visakhapatnam refinery in Andhra Pradesh.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is an Indian state-owned oil and natural gas company with its headquarters at Mumbai, Maharashtra and with Navratna status. HPCL has about 25% marketing share in India among PSUs and a strong marketing infrastructure. The Government of India owns 51.11% shares in HPCL and others are distributed amongst financial institutes, public and other investors.

GAIL is India’s leading natural gas company with a presence along the entire hydrocarbon value chain spanning E&P, LNG, pipelines, LPG, petrochemicals, city gas distribution, etc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkemaб a France-based chemical manufacturerб has introduced new fine powders grade for outdoor furniture, said the producer on its site.

Thus, the Rilsan fine powders product line has expanded its range of bio-based polyamide coating powders for the outdoor furniture market.

Along with Rilsan T Grey 9102 MAC and Rilsan ES 9132 MAC, Arkema now offers two grey-colored (RAL 7021) grades designed for fluidized bed dipping and electrostatic spraying.

These two grades were formulated to offer outstanding UV-resistance, while keeping core properties brought by Rilsan fine powders PA11 coatings. These properties include: long-term resistance to extreme maritime and industrial environments, anti-graffiti properties, fire resistance, electrical insulation, chemical resistance.

Outstanding mechanical properties are also inherited, which include impact resistance, flexibility, abrasion resistance, a unique grip, and warm-to-the-touch feel.

As a thermoplastic powder for coatings, Rilsan fine powders offer an exceptional choice in processing methods, which allows coating complex parts with various geometries.

Combining beauty and function, Rilsan polyamide 11 coatings offer a solution for the most demanding applications. The Rilsan® brand has become the reference for industries looking for the ultimate solution in metal protection, such as automotive, oil and gas, and fluid transfer.

As MRC informed before, in 2014, Arkema developed two new grades - Luperox organic peroxides and Kynar Flex PVDF resins -specifically designed for electric and electronic wires and cables applications. Arkema introduced its innovative functional polyolefins at trade fair WIRE 2014 among its extensive range (Orevac, Lotryl, Lotader and Evatane trade names) used to manufacture all types of cables whatever their end-application: halogen-free flame retardant (HFFR) cables compliant with the latest fire standards in buildings, cars and telephone networks, medium and high voltage cables, telephone and photovoltaic cables.

Arkema with annual revenue of EUR6.7 billion is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc. Arkema operates 11 organic peroxide plants on the three continents.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos Olefins and Polymers USA has issued a force majeure declaration on co-polymer polypropylene supplies from its Chocolate Bayou chemical complex in Alvin, Texas, said Plastemart citing the letter to customers obtained by Platts.

The force majeure stemmed from "an equipment failure that resulted in limited operations," the letter added.
Ineos produces 440,000 tpa at the Chocolate Bayou site. Trading sources said the force majeure declarations were expected to continue until mid-February.

As MRC informed earlier, in the early December, Ineos Olefins and Polymers USA has issued a force majeure declaration on polypropylene supplies from its Carson, California, facility. The force majeure stemmed from "an inability to acquire feedstock", the letter added. Company sources did not return calls asking what the allocation percentage might be or the duration of the force majeure.

Ineos Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) is likely to shut a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant for a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the plant is likely to be taken off-stream in early March 2016. It is slated to remain under maintenance for a period of around 15 - 20 days.

Located at Map Ta Phut in Thailand, the LLDPE plant has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, PTTGC is studying several options for supplying sufficient raw material to its petrochemical plants, including imports of oil feedstocks after declines in global crude prices. The move is part of a plan to cope with a potential drop in domestic natural gas supply after Thailand's government put bidding for new oil and gas concessions on hold.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.

MRC