Oil exports from Iran to rise slightly in February

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iran's monthly oil exports are set to climb slightly in February, as Indonesia takes its first shipment since sanctions on Tehran were lifted last year, a person with knowledge of Iran's tanker loading schedule said, reported Reuters.

Volumes remain below last September's high, however, suggesting that Iran has had difficulty finding more buyers for its oil, even after being exempt from production cuts agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other exporters last November.

Traders had expected it to raise output slightly and boost exports to reclaim market share.

Crude and condensate exports for February will be just over 2.20 MMbpd, up from 2.16 MMbpd this month, which is the lowest rate since July, the person said. Exports rose to as high as nearly 2.6 MMbpd in September.

While crude and condensate exports have slipped, Iran is planning to significantly boost oil product exports this year as it refurbishes refineries, said Abbas Kazemi, Iran's deputy minister of petroleum and president of its national oil refining company NIORDIC.

"In 2017 I see about 600,000 barrels per day of oil product exports. That is the plan," Kazemi told Reuters at an oil conference in Tokyo on Thursday.

Products will include fuel oil, gasoil and kerosene, he said.

Crude oil loadings for Asia, where Iran's biggest customers are located, are set to rise to a three-month high of nearly 1.5 MMbpd in February. Loadings for January, meanwhile, have been running a little above 1.46 MMbpd.

Indonesia is expected to lift nearly 34,000 bpd in February, according to the source.

Exports to Europe are set to total a little more than 610,000 bpd in January and nearly 590,000 in February, compared with a high of almost 800,000 bpd in December, the most since the sanctions were lifted.

The Netherlands is lifting its first crude and loading nearly 70,000 bpd this month, according to the source. It earlier bought condensate from Iran.

That ties in with information from oil trading and shipping sources who told Reuters that two Iranian-owned oil tankers are sailing to Rotterdam, the heart of northern Europe's refining and trading hub.

The development shows Iran breaking through yet another barrier in its bid to regain oil market share lost during years of international sanctions that hindered its sale of crude oil and condensates to the international market.

Iran had been ramping up shipments of oil on foreign owned tankers since restrictions on ship insurance were eased last April. They will be eased further from next month.

In the last month supertankers owned by Greek and Croatian owners have hauled Iranian crude from Kharg Island to Spain, Italy and Thailand according to ship tracking data on the Reuters Eikon terminal.

Italy is loading about 32,000 bpd in January and nearly 110,000 bpd in February, while Spain is loading a similar amount in January and just above 70,000 bpd in February.

"Italy and Spain used to be quite enthusiastic buyers of Iranian crude. In 2011 they were accounting for respectively 7 and 6% of Iranian oil exports," said Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at ship broker Banchero Costa in Singapore.

As MRC informed before, in March 2016, The National Petrochemical Company (NPC) of Iran and France-based Total signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a petrochemical complex in Iran. Total sealed the cooperation agreement with NPC to build a petrochemical complex after signing a separate deal to buy 160,000 bpd of Iranian crude oil. The complex will include a world-scale steam cracker unit in the coastal area. It will be based on a combination of feedstocks comprised of ethane, naphtha and LPG, as well as other available feed. In addition to steam cracker unit, the complex will include relevant downstream units for supplying its products to domestic and international markets, according to various news reports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PolyOne Corporation has reported its fourth quarter and full year results for 2016, with Q4 2016 profit jumping, said the producer on its site.

GAAP earnings per share in the fourth quarter of 2016 increased to USD0.40 from USD0.04 in the fourth quarter of 2015. Adjusted earnings per share was USD0.38 compared to USD0.39 in the prior year fourth quarter. Special items for the fourth quarter of 2016, which primarily included a mark-to-market pension adjustment and restructuring charges, resulted in a net after-tax gain of USD2.2 million, or USD0.02 per share. Special items in the prior year quarter, the largest of which were debt extinguishment costs, resulted in a net after-tax charge of USD30.4 million, or USD0.35 per share.

Full year 2016 GAAP earnings per share increased to USD1.95 in 2016, compared to USD1.63 in 2015. Adjusted earnings per share in 2016 increased to USD2.13, a 9% increase from USD1.96 in 2015.

"I'm pleased we delivered our 7th consecutive year of adjusted earnings per share expansion," said Robert M. Patterson, chairman, president, and chief executive officer, PolyOne Corporation. "Our Specialty Engineered Materials, Performance Products & Solutions (PP&S) and Distribution (POD) segments all delivered record operating income, helping us to overcome a number of macro-economic challenges and weaker performance in Designed Structures & Solutions (DSS)."

"As we discussed on our last earnings call, we anticipated a small reduction in adjusted EPS in the fourth quarter attributable to a number of factors but primarily due to weaker results in DSS and lower demand for oil and gas related applications," Mr. Patterson added. "Looking ahead, I am encouraged by our prospects for the future as we have continued to invest in commercial resources and innovation as well as completed exciting new acquisitions that will accelerate our growth."

In 2016, the company increased its commercial resources by 6%, which was incremental to the 10% expansion of sales associates in 2015. These associates led to a near-immediate impact in POD and PP&S where sales cycles are the shortest within the company, and both segments reported record operating income for the full year 2016. The company expects the additional sales, marketing and technology investments to begin contributing more meaningfully to its longer sales cycle businesses in 2017 and 2018.

The company's vitality index, which reflects the percentage of revenue from specialty products introduced in the last five years, remained world class at 42%. Notable new product advancements include ColorMatrix liquid fiber colorants that improve production efficiency and speed to market for textile applications, WithStand antimicrobial additives that help prevent surface bacteria, and Gravi-Tech high-density polymers that elevate the texture, feel and aesthetics of luxury packaging.

Important new technologies have also been added through strategic acquisitions. In the last 14 months, the company has completed five specialty acquisitions: Magenta, Kraton's TPE Assets, Gordon Holdings (Gordon Composites and Polystrand), Comptek and SilCoTec. These include new thermoset and thermoplastic composites, which represent the next frontier in lightweighting technology, thermoplastic elastomer adhesives and protective films. Most recently, the company purchased Comptek and SilCoTec, both small, privately owned and innovative providers of colorants, additives and formulations for niche applications in healthcare and aerospace.

As MRC informed before, in January 2016, PolyOne Corporation announced the acquisition of Magenta Master Fibers (Magenta), an innovative developer of specialty solid color concentrates for the global fiber industry. PolyOne purchased Magenta from BASF for USD22 million, which represents a multiple of 6.8x EBITDA. The acquisition was expected to add USD16 million to revenues and be accretive to earnings in 2016.

PolyOne Corporation is a global provider of specialized polymer materials, services, and solutions with operations in specialty polymer formulations, color and additive systems, polymer distribution and specialty vinyl resins.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Repsol’s Chemicals division has signed a technology licence agreement with Chinese company Tianjin Bohua Chemical Development, a subsidiary of Bohai Chemical Group, to produce propylene oxide (PO) and styrene monomer (SM) - raw materials for products like polyols, glycols, polystyrene, EPS, ABS and synthetic rubber. reported GV.

Repsol will transfer the technology for the construction of a plant in Tianjin, with a production capacity of 200,000 t/y of PO and 450,000 t/y of SM. The agreement enhances Repsol’s position as a technology provider, following a 2013 agreement through which the company licensed technology for flexible and polymer polyols in the Jilin province.

Repsol built its first PO/SM plant in Puertollano, Spain, in the early 1970s. In the year 2000, the company built a new PO/SM plant in Tarragona, double the size of the original facility.

As MRC reported earlier, in 2016, Repsol completed the construction works of its new metallocene polyethelene (MLLDPE) plant at its Tarragona site and began manufacturing material and its marketing.

Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co.’s net profit of SAR 103.6 million for the fourth quarter 2016 came 12% below Aljazira Capital’s estimate of SAR 118 million on higher feedstock cost and operational expenditure, the brokerage firm said in an earnings review, reported Agraam.

A rise in financial charges also negatively impacted Saudi Kayan due to its highly leveraged balance sheet with long-term obligation of SAR 24.8 billion. The company is expected to report a finance charge of SAR 245 million, higher than estimated at SAR 202 million.

However, Kayan’s sales in 4Q-2016 reached SAR 2.45 billion, beating Aljazira Capital’s estimate of SAR 2.32 billion due to the higher-than-expected operating rate.

"We believe that the maintenance on March/April-2016 had positively impacted the overall performance, and we expect a more improved performance in FY2017," the firm said.

Gross margin is expected to slightly increase to an average of 18.4% in FY17 compared to an average of 16.2% in FY16 due to the impact of that maintenance.

In Q4, Asian average prices of Kayan key products such as, HDPE, PP and MEG products average prices increased by 1% QoQ, 3.3 percent QoQ and 16.8% QoQ, respectively.

Aljazira Capital has a 'neutral rating on Saudi Kayan with a target price of SAR 8.80 per share.

As MRC informed before, in February 2016, The Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company awarded the construction of an additional cracking furnace at its steamcracker complex at Jubail Industrial City to Taiwan's CTCI. The award is for CTCI to provide preliminary engineering, procurement and construction work to add another furnace to the gas cracker, currently with an ethylene capacity of 1.48 million mt/year. The additional furnace is expected to increase Saudi Kayan's ethylene production by 93,000 mt/year.

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company is a manufacturing affiliate of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic).
MRC

МОSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel has signed a framework joint development agreement with specialty chemicals company Itaconix to explore opportunities for the production of bio-based polymers, said the company on its website.

With this agreement, AkzoNobel will pursue the development and commercialization of bio-based polymers. Itaconix will contribute a proprietary polymerization technology to turn itaconic acid – obtained from sugars through fermentation – into polymers.

"This innovation enables the production of polymers from renewable ingredients, which fits closely with our Planet Possible sustainability agenda of doing more with less," explained Peter Nieuwenhuizen, RD&I Director for AkzoNobel’s Specialty Chemicals business. "These bio-based polymers offer unique properties in applications essential to our everyday lives, ranging from water quality to cleaning and hygiene."

Itaconix is a US subsidiary of Revolymer, which is also working with AkzoNobel on a marine coatings project. Kevin Matthews, CEO of Revolymer, said: "AkzoNobel has worldwide capabilities to utilize our itaconic acid polymers in many application areas. We believe this agreement is an important step for the further development of bio-based chemistry on a large scale."

Nieuwenhuizen added that the deal is the latest example of AkzoNobel’s commitment to fostering innovation and approaching the topic in an open and collaborative way.

Earlier this month, the company launched Imagine Chemistry, an open innovation challenge aimed at start-ups and chemistry professionals to find new opportunities for innovation and sustainable growth.

As MRC informed earlier, AkzoNobel added marine and protective coatings capacity at its existing performance coatings site at Lipetsk, south of Moscow.

Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people.

MRC