BP agrees to sale of interest in SECCO to Sinopec

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP announced that it has agreed to sell its 50% stake in the Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Company Limited (SECCO) to Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), BP’s joint venture partner, for a total consideration of USD1.68 bln, as per the company's press release.

"This decision aligns our petrochemicals business in China with our global focus on areas where BP has leading proprietary technologies and competitive advantage. China is a key region for our chemicals business and BP will continue to look for opportunities to build on our position in the country," said Rita Griffin, chief operating officer, BP Global Petrochemicals. SECCO is currently owned by BP (50%), Sinopec (30%) and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited (20%), in which Sinopec holds a majority interest. Based in Shanghai, SECCO is a major producer of olefins - ethylene and propylene - together with polymers and other derivatives including polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylonitrile styrene, polystyrene, butadiene and other products.

"China is a country of great significance to BP given its market potential," said Dr. Xiaoping Yang, BP China president, "BP has been committed to doing business in China for more than four decades. Looking into the future, we plan to continue to invest in China in areas that provide the best growth opportunities for BP, our Chinese partners and the country." The transaction is subject to a number of regulatory approvals and other conditions, subject to which, it is currently anticipated to complete before the end of the year with the consideration payable in instalments.

As MRC informed before, in 2016, BP PLC sold its petrochemical complex in Decatur, Alabama, to Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd. (IVL.TH), for an undisclosed sum, as part BP's plan to restructure its global petrochemicals business. The divestment is in line with BP’s global petrochemicals strategy of pursuing a competitively advantaged portfolio through world-scale, low-cost facilities that utilize BP proprietary technology, including the production of purified terephthalic acid, or PTA, a key raw material in the production of polyester.

BP is a leading producer of oil and gas and produces enough energy annually to light nearly the entire country for a year. Employing about 17,000 people across the country, BP supports more than 170,000 additional jobs through all of its business activities.
MRC

Dow Q1 profit jumps five-fold ahead of merger

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Speciality chemicals leader Dow Chemical, which is merging with DuPont, has reported profits of USD888 million for the first quarter (Q1) of the year, as against USD169 million during Q1 2016, marking an increase of 425 per cent, said the company on its site.

Sales were USD13.2 billion, up 23 per cent versus the year-ago period, reflecting the addition of Dow Corning’s silicones business.

Operating EBITDA rose 20 per cent to USD2.7 billion, driven primarily by broad-based consumer-driven demand.

Price rose 7 per cent, while volume grew 4 percent, excluding the impact of acquisitions, reflecting continued demand drivers in Dow’s key end-use markets of packaging, transportation, infrastructure, consumer care and electronic materials.

Andrew Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer, stated: "This quarter we delivered an all-time record in operating EBITDA. Our results underscore the strength of Dow’s portfolio and the levers we have in place to maintain agility in a rapidly changing business environment."

"Dow’s operational and financial results reflect the strength of our broad geographic footprint, robust consumer-driven demand aligned with our core material science markets and a focused productivity agenda.

"Our disciplined execution against our strategy continues to deliver a fundamental shift in our growth trajectory. We have now extended our streak of year-over-year operating EPS growth to 18 consecutive quarters and achieved 14 consecutive quarters of year-over-year volume gains," he added.

"The global economy is showing signs of positive momentum, with excellent leading indicators across much of the world – though geopolitical risks and volatility will persist. The strength and resilience of our portfolio, combined with our consumer-led market focus, will continue to serve us well in this environment," Liveris concluded.

Meanwhile, Dow and DuPont progressed their proposed merger transaction. The companies achieved key regulatory approvals; reiterated their commitment to the USD3 billion cost synergy target; and mutually agreed that all the intended spin-offs will occur within 18 months of closing, with the post-merger Materials Science Company expected to be the first spin-off if it would not adversely impact the value of the intended spin-off transactions.
MRC

Dow, Aramco JV achieves commercialization of entire plastics franchise

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Dow Chemical Company announced that its JV in the Middle East—Sadara Chemical Company—has achieved a milestone with the commercialization of Sadara’s entire plastics franchise, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The start-up of Sadara’s high-pressure low-density polyethylene plant adds to Sadara’s mixed feed cracker and the three additional polyethylene trains currently in operation.

"Sadara is a vital growth investment aligned to Dow’s long-term strategy to go narrower and deeper into our core growth markets," said Andrew Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer. "The completion of this milestone positions Dow to strengthen our global materials science franchise by capturing additional consumer demand and extending our competitive advantage through industry-leading integration and feedstock flexibility."

Sadara’s mixed feed cracker—the largest single unit at the facility—began operations in August 2016. The first three polyethylene production units came online in December 2015, April 2016 and September 2016, and each are reactor qualified and have met their license warranty runs. Thirty-two polyethylene products have been qualified to date, serving more than 350 customers in 58 countries. Construction of all of Sadara’s 26 production facilities was completed in December 2016.

"Sadara’s plastics units enable Dow to offer a technology-differentiated portfolio in expanding economies across Asia Pacific, India, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa," said Jim Fitterling, Dow’s president and chief operating officer. "Our customers have been eagerly anticipating this new volume and will benefit from Sadara’s broad product offering and close proximity to these fast-growing regions."

The remaining units at the complex are on schedule for a sequenced start-up throughout 2017, including ethylene oxide, propylene oxide and their derivatives (butyl glycol ethers, propylene glycol, amines, and polyols) and isocyanates.

Sadara is a JV developed by Dow and Saudi Aramco. The Sadara chemical complex is the largest of its kind ever built in a single phase. The more than three million metric tons of performance-focused products will add new value chains to the Kingdom’s vast petroleum reserves, resulting in the diversification of the economy and region.
MRC

Linde sees increases in its Q1 revenues and operating profit

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The encouraging signs in the gases industry in 2017 continue with the news that The Linde Group saw positive business trends in the first quarter, achieving increases in both revenue and earnings compared to first quarter 2016, said Gasworld.

In the Q1 2017, group revenue from continuing operations rose by 6.6% to EUR4.39bn, when compared with the Q1 2016 figure of EUR4.115bn.

The main factors contributing to this increase were positive trends in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), and Asia-Pacific segments and higher revenue in the group’s Engineering Division.

Group operating profit from continuing operations rose by 5.7% to just over EUR1bn (2016: EUR985m). After adjusting for exchange rate effects, group revenue was 4.2% higher than in the prior-year period and group operating profit increased 3.1%.

At 23.7%, group operating margin was similar to the figure for Q1 2016 of 23.9%. "We have made a proper start to the new financial year, in line with our forecast,"reflected Professor Dr. Aldo Belloni, CEO of Linde AG.

"Our positive business performance is testament to our solid business model. At the same time, the efficiency improvement measures we introduced at the end of 2016 are starting to have an effect."
MRC

Lotte Chemical Titan brought on-stream PP plant in Malaysia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lotte Chemical Titan, part of Lotte Group, has restarted a polypropylene (PP) plant following an unplanned outage, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Malaysia informed that the company has recently resumed operations at the plant. The plant was taken off-line on April 10, 2017 due to water supply disruption.

Located in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, the plant comprising two units have a total production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group plans to list its Malaysian petrochemical unit in the third quarter, company filings show, in an initial public offering that sources say could raise as much as USD1.5 billion. The listing could be one of the biggest IPOs in years in Malaysia, which has not seen any listing of USD1 billion and above since the USD1.5 billion IPO of Astro Malaysia Holdings in 2012.

Lotte Chemical Titan produces Malaysia's most comprehensive portfolio of olefins and polyolefins which contribute to the enhancement of everyday life. Lotte Chemical Titan's production site in Malaysia consists of eleven process facilities, two co-generation plants and three tank farms. They are located on 2 sites in Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Langsat in the state of Johor. In 2006, Lotte Chemical Titan acquired PT Lotte Chemical Titan Nusantara, Indonesia’s first and largest polyethylene plant in the country. This acquisition boosted the polyolefins capacity by approximately 50%, thus making the company one of the largest producers in South East Asia. Lotte Chemical Titan was acquired by Lotte Chemical Corp., forming part of the Lotte conglomerate of Korea, in 2010. The company thus became one of Lotte Chemical Corp.’s largest overseas subsidiaries.
MRC