India cuts windfall tax on petroleum crude

The Indian government will cut the windfall tax on petroleum crude to 6,700 rupees (USD81.03) per metric ton from 7,100 rupees starting on Saturday, according to Reuters.

The government will also raise the windfall tax on diesel to 6 rupees per liter from 5.50 rupees, the notification said.

The windfall tax on aviation turbine fuel will increase to 4 rupees per liter from 2 rupees, while the levy on petrol will remain at zero, according to the notification.

In August, the government raised the windfall tax on petroleum crude to 7,100 rupees per ton from 4,250 rupees per ton.

India imposed the windfall tax on crude oil producers in July last year and extended the levy on exports of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel after private refiners wanted to make gains from robust refining margins in overseas markets, instead of selling at home.

We remind, India's imports of Russian oil fell in August to a seven-month low as refiners curbed purchases due to planned maintenance outages at some plants and lower discounts for Russian grades. However, oil imports from Saudi Arabia surged to a multi-month high, according to preliminary data from Kpler and Refinitiv trade flows. Refiners in India have been snapping up discounted Russian oil after some Western buyers shunned purchases over Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

mrchub.com

Russia's seaborne diesel and gasoil exports in August rose by 2% from a month earlier to about 3.85 million metric tons on healthy fuel production, as per Reuters.

Idle primary oil refining capacity for August was estimated at 3.1 million metric tons versus 2.458 million metric tons in July, Refinitiv Eikon data and Reuters calculations showed.

After the full EU embargo on Russian oil products took effect on Feb. 5, Turkey remains the main destination for Russian diesel and gasoil seaborne exports, reaching about 1.56 million metric tons in August, or about 40% of total month supplies, LSEG data shows.

Diesel loadings to Brazil from Russian ports, mainly from the Baltic port of Primorsk, could decline in August to nearly 550,000 metric tons after 650,000 metric tons in July, according to the shipping data.

Last month, about 880,000 metric tons of Russian diesel were heading to African countries, mainly to Togo, Tunisia, Ghana, Morocco and Libya. Another 360,000 metric tons of diesel from Russia in August was destined for ship-to-ship transfers near the Greek port of Kalamata and Malta, LSEG data shows.

The final destinations for these cargoes are not yet known, and traders said they expected them to be in Turkey or the Middle East countries.

All the shipping data above are based on the date of cargo departure. About 220,000 metric tons of diesel loaded in Russian ports in August does not yet have a confirmed destination.

We remind, India's imports of Russian oil fell in August to a seven-month low as refiners curbed purchases due to planned maintenance outages at some plants and lower discounts for Russian grades. However, oil imports from Saudi Arabia surged to a multi-month high, according to preliminary data from Kpler and Refinitiv trade flows. Refiners in India have been snapping up discounted Russian oil after some Western buyers shunned purchases over Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

mrchub.com

BASF has commenced construction of its syngas plant at the Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. This world-scale syngas facility, fully integrated into the Verbund site, is scheduled to start up in 2025, said the company.

BASF will adopt unique process concepts in the syngas plant to reduce carbon emissions compared to conventional syngas plants, contributing to BASF’s sustainability goals.

The state-of-the-art facility will produce syngas and hydrogen for captive use within BASF’s production Verbund. The production technologies deployed in the syngas plant will mainly utilize CO2 off-gas, a by-product of the ethylene oxide process and excess fuel gas from steam cracker operations, to manufacture syngas. “The technical concept of this syngas plant is the first of its kind in China, underscoring our commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Compared to other technologies, these innovative process technologies help to reduce the Zhanjiang Verbund site’s direct CO2 emissions and particularly lower the carbon footprint of our oxo and ethylene oxide products,” said Bir Darbar Mehta, Senior Vice President of Petrochemicals Asia Pacific at BASF.

Besides the above-mentioned raw materials, the syngas plant can utilize further feedstocks, ensuring more reliable production. Electricity will be supplied by the site-wide grid which is expected to be powered with 100% renewable energy by 2025.

We remind, BASF, Huntsman and their Chinese partners in the joint venture Shanghai Lianheng Isocyanate Co (SLIC) complete the planned separation of their joint MDI production in Caojing. The two MDI (diphenylmethane diisocyanate) plants at the Caojing site in China will be operated independently by the two companies in the future. Huntsman, together with Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical, and BASF, together with Shanghai Hua Yi (Group company) and Sinopec Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical, will each take over one of the MDI plants.

mrchub.com

MRC --Saudi Basic Industries Corp said it had agreed to sell subsidiary Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed) to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) for an enterprise value of 12.5 billion riyals (USD3.33 bn), said the company.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of the first quarter of 2024, and proceeds from the sale will be used to support SABIC's growth in the chemicals industry, according to a company statement to the stock exchange.

The final sale price will be disclosed closer to the completion date. SABIC, one of the world's biggest petrochemical companies, reported a massive slump in its second-quarter net profit on lower average sales prices and weaker demand. It said it wants to focus on core businesses as the rationale for the divestment.

The fair valuation of Hadeed's net assets is expected to result in a non-cash loss of between 2 to 2.5 billion riyals in Q3 earnings, SABIC said.

We remind, Saudi Arabia's Yanbu National Petrochemical Company (Yansab) said the temporary shutdown of its plants, which started on August 14, 2023, will continue for another 11 days. Currently, the necessary repairs are being carried out to resolve the technical glitch, Yansab said in a statement to the Saudi stock exchange on Monday. The petrochemical company is a subsidiary of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC).

mrchub.com

Global plastic films and aluminium extrusions manufacturer Tredegar has agreed to sell its flexible packaging films business, Terphane, to Oben Group affiliates, said Packaging-gateway.

Terphane’s sale has been finalised for a net debt-free base consideration of USD116m. Headquartered in Brazil’s Sao Paulo, Terphane exports to nearly 29 countries, with its manufacturing facilities located in Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Brazil and Bloomfield, New York.

Currently, Terphane employs around 500 people. Tredegar anticipates realising USD85m in after-tax cash proceeds from the completion of this transaction, after subtracting expected withholding taxes by Brazil, escrow funds and US capital gains taxes.

However, Tredegar said that this estimated actual after-tax proceeds “may differ” at the conclusion of deal. This difference can be due to possible changes in deductions during “potentially lengthy interim period”, expected to range between 8 and 14 months, before the closing date.

Tredegar president and CEO John Steitz said: “We believe that purchase by Oben of Terphane will enhance scale and growth opportunities in keenly competitive global flexible packaging market.” Completion of this deal is now subject to the fulfilment of some customary conditions, including clearance from competition authorities in Brazil and Colombia.

Tredegar’s financial advisor and the US corporate counsel for this transaction were JP Morgan Securities and Hunton Andrews Kurth, respectively.

We remind, SK Innovation has become the first in the oil refining industry to complete a Life Cycle Assessment (hereafter, LCA) for its entire oil-petrochemical related products. The company aims to strengthen its response to domestic and international clients who are increasingly focused on ESG evaluation standards, and plans to utilize the findings for process improvement data.

mrchub.com