MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical's (PTTGC) fourth-quarter net profit surged to Thai baht (Bt) 6.41bn from the same period last year on the back of higher product prices, with sales up 3% year on year, said Chemweek.
Its full-year 2020 results, however, reflected a general weakness in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with a 20% decline in sales nearly wiping out its profit. The company's EBITDA margin rose to 12% in the fourth quarter of 2020 from 5% in the same period of 2019, supported by strong margins at the olefins and derivatives business.
Its olefins and derivatives business for the period posted an adjusted EBITDA margin of 23%, more than double 10% registered in the same period a year earlier. PTTGC's average polyethylene (PE) prices in the last three months of 2020 were up 22% year on year at USD1,074/tonne.
For the full year of 2020, PTTGC's net profit shrank to Bt200m as average product prices slumped due to poor demand amid the coronavirus pandemic. The PX market was under pressure from weaker demand from downstream purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyester markets, it said. Some demand support was provided by downstream polyethylene terephthalate (PET), mainly for food packaging and single-use bottles.
As per MRC, PTT Global Chemical has put plans for the construction of a massive petrochemical plant in eastern Ohio on hold while it conducts another feasibility study. The proposed project, which was announced in 2015, has faced a series of delays.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
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