Sinopec 2013 net profit up 3.5 %

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), the country's largest oil refiner, announced Sunday its net profits rose 3.5% year on year in 2013, said Xinhuanet.

The net profit stood at 66.13 billion yuan (10.76 billion U.S. dollars) as calculated according to the international financial reporting standards, the company said in a statement filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

By the Chinese reporting standards, Sinopec's business profit gained 9.7% to 96.45 billion yuan in 2013 while the net profit rose 5.8% to 67.19 billion yuan.

The refinery sector gained 3.2% to 131.13 billion yuan last year, which ended the losses of 11.95 billion yuan in 2012 and 37.61 billion yuan in 2011, according to the report.

In 2013, Sinopec produced 443 million barrels of crude oil, up 3.48% from a year ago. Considering the 6.6% decline of the global crude oil price last year, the company's crude oil business profit dropped 21.8% to 54.8 billion yuan.

The company also announced more input in the shale gas business development this year, targeting to expand new production capacity of 1.8 billion cubic meters per year.

Meanwhile, the company will expand business channels and attract more social and private capital in 2014, said Fu Chengyu, chairman of Sinopec Group.

As MRC wrote before, Sinopec Corp. and SIBUR, a leading Russian gas processing and petrochemicals company, entered into a joint venture developed on the site of the Krasnoyarsk Synthetic Rubber Plant (KZSK). Sinopec purchased 25% + 1 share of KZSK.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its principal business includes: exploring, developing, producing and trading crude oil and natural gas; producing, storing, transporting and distributing and marketing petroleum products, petrochemical products, synthetic fiber, fertilizer and other chemical products. Its refining capacity and ethylene capacity rank No.2 and No.4 globally.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In 2015, in volume terms, the global LLDPE production is likely climb to 29 mln tonnes, as per Merchant Research & Consulting, reported Plastemart.

In 2012, the world annual production capacity of polyethylene linear low density (LLDPE) totaled above 34.5 mln tonnes. APAC and North America dominated the market in this respect, accounting for around 57% of the world capacity. From 2008 to 2012, the global LLDPE production followed an upward trend; and in 2012, it recorded a 6.5% YoY increase and almost reached 25.9 mln tonnes. The US, Saudi Arabia, China, Brazil and Canada are the top five LLDPE manufacturers in the world.

Construction and packaging industries are the major LLDPE end-use sectors. Asia accounted for approximately 44% of the global LLDPE consumption. Chevron Phillips Chemical Co, Dow, PetroChina, ExxonMobil Chemical, Nova Chemicals and Braskem SA are the top companies operating in the worldwide LLDPE market.

The world LLDPE market is predicted to witness stable growth in the years ahead, owing to LLDPE capacity additions planned worldwide along with the constantly rising demand for the product.

As MRC wrote previously, the worldwide LLDPE production is likely to see stable growth in the upcoming years to exceed 31.4 mln tons in 2017, as per Merchant Research & Consulting.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Valero Energy has purchased a corn ethanol plant in Mount Vernon, Indiana, from Aventine Renewable Energy, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The plant has a production capacity of 110 million gal/year and uses Delta-T technology, similar to the process already in use at Valero's ethanol plant in Jefferson, Wisconsin.

The Mount Vernon plant is the 11th corn ethanol plant in Valero's system and its second in Indiana. The addition will give Valero more than 1.3 billion gal/year in ethanol production.

The Mount Vernon plant has been shut down for approximately two years, but Valero plans to begin a restart program and resume production within the next several months.

The Mount Vernon plant's logistical advantages include ready access to corn suppliers as well as strong rail, truck and barge transportation, according to Valero officials. The plant is at the Port of Indiana on a location leased from Ports of Indiana, the state port authority. That relationship will continue.

"This purchase diversifies Valero Renewables' portfolio of assets and access to markets, and it will be positive for the Mount Vernon area as well," said Gene Edwards, who has overseen Valero's ethanol plant acquisitions. "We look forward to a strong working relationship with Ports of Indiana, and as the other communities where we have ethanol plants have discovered."

Ports of Indiana CEO Rich Cooper lauded the transaction, noting that it is Valero's first facility located at a major port on the inland waterway system.

"This facility will provide Valero with a tremendous strategic advantage in the production and distribution of ethanol," Cooper said. "This project combines the resources and expertise of a world-class company like Valero with one of the world's richest grain producing regions and this port's multimodal capabilities."

As MRC wrote earlier, Foster Wheeler has signed an evergreen agreement with Valero Energy for the provision of home office engineering and project support services to Valero"s Pembroke refinery and other facilities in the UK.

Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 international manufacturer and a marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products, and power. It is based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. The company owns and operates 16 refineries throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and the Caribbean with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3 million barrels (480,000 m3) per day, 10 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.2 billion US gallons (4,500,000 m3) per year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russian producers of polyethylene (PE) increased the level of capacity utilisation in the first two months this year. Thus, total production of Russian PE increased by 4% to about 298,000 tonnes, compared with 287,000 tonnes in the same period in 2013, according to MRC ScanPlast.

February PE production in Russia exceeded 141,100 tonnes. The rise in PE production mostly resulted from the increased capacity utilisation from Gazprom neftekhim Salavat and Angarsk ZP. Structure of PE production by grades over the reported period was as follows.

February production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) in Russia was about 86,200 tonnes. Total Russia's HDPE production over the first two months of this year rose to 183,600 tonnes, from 177,400 tonnes in 2013.
Gazprom neftekhim Salavat increased its PE production over the reported period by 73%, from the same period in 2013. Kazanorgsintez increased its PE production by 5% in the first two months of 2014, whereas Stavrolen and Nizhnekamskneftekhim decreased their HDPE production.

February low density polyethylene (LDPE) production in Russia was about 55,000 tonnes. Total LDPE production in Russia in January and February 2014 rose to 114,600 tonnes against 109,600 tonnes in the same period in 2013.
Angarsk ZP increased its PE production to 10,700 tonnes over the first two months of the year, compared with 6,900 tonnes year on year.
Other Russian producers, also increased PE production, except Ufaorgsintez that reduced PE output by 3%.

Russian producers did not produce linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) in the first two months of this year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- From January 1, a revision of the EU customs regime, the Generalised Scheme of Preferences, resulted in EU customs tariffs for PE and PP rising from 3% to 6.5% for imports from Gulf Cooperation Council countries such as Saudi Arabia, as per Plastemart.

The impact of the rise in duties on polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) imports was clear as EU imports in January fell compared with December, according to Eurostat data. Major GCC companies include Saudi Arabia's SABIC, Kuwait's Equate, Saudi Arabia's PetroRabigh and Qatar's Qapco. More than half of PE and PP imports into Europe come from GCC countries.

Polyethylene imports were up 9.3% from January 2013 but down 35.4% from December. The biggest fall was seen in linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) from 46,927 tons in Jan 2013 to 43,548 tons in Jan 14 from 63,073 in Dec 2013. High density polyethylene posted a marginal increase from 91,050 tons in Jan 2013 to 116, 868 tons in Jan 2014. Polypropylene imports fell 27.4% from January 2013 and 23.2% from December- from 67,450 tons in Jan 2013 to 48,962 tons in Jan 2014.

As MRC informed previously, With effect from January 1, 2014, the European Union will change the rules on its so-called General System of Preferences (GSP), which provides countries classed as developing with preferential access to the EU market, largely in the form of reduced import taxes. Amendments in the list will remove nations that are classified as high-income or upper-middle income, meaning many companies in the Middle East that are big suppliers of petrochemical products will have to pay 3.5% more in tax to sell goods in the EU.
MRC