PKN Orlen to import more oil from Saudi Arabia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PKN Orlen, Poland’s largest fuel company has signed an annex to the long-term agreement with the Saudi Aramco oil company, increasing oil supplies by 100,000 metric tonnes per month, reported Polandatsea with reference to the Polish company's statement.

Under the new conditions, the Orlen Group refineries will receive about 300,000 tonnes of oil every month from the Persian Gulf, which means over 20 percent of the raw material for Orlen refineries will come from Saudi Arabia. Under the new terms, the contract with Saudi Aramco will be implemented from May 1 to December 31, 2018, and has an option to extend it for the years to come.

PKN Orlen said in a press statement, that it intends to use the Saudi oil for processing at its refineries in Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania.

"PKN Orlen’s management has been consistently implementing a policy of diversification of its raw material supply", said Daniel Obajtek, CEO of PKN Orlen. "The increased imports from Saudi Arabia are the next step in this strategy. The oil from Saudi Arabia is of good quality, which guarantees a high yield of products received from the oil refining process", he pointed out.

PKN Orlen also imports crude oil from Norway, the United Kingdom, Iran, Nigeria, Venezuela and the United States. Thanks to the diversification strategy, currently 30 percent of all oil imports come from other suppliers than Russia.

As MRC wrote previously, in May 2016, PKN ORLEN signed a contract with Saudi Aramco for the supply of ca. 200 thousand tonnes of crude oil monthly to its refineries. The contract was effective from May 1st to December 31st 2016, with an option of automatic renewal for successive years. The oil is to be processed by all PKN ORLEN's refineries in Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.

PKN Orlen is a major Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer. The company is a significant European publicly traded firm with major operations in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, and the Baltic States. It currently (2015) ranks 353, with a revenue of over USD33.8 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced price increases for all polycarbonate (PC) grades, as per the company's press release.

Effective May 1, 2018, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below rose as follows:

- CALIBRE PC resins - by EUR70 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo last raised its prices for PC grades on 1 February 2018, as stated below:

- CALIBRE PC resins - by EUR150 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.4 billion in net sales in 2017, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,200 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayer AG, a Germany based multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company, yesterday announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2018, as per the company's press-release.

The company reported a 2.0% increase in group sales, to EUR9.138bn. EBITDA before special items was down EUR2.896bn, which the company stated was due to currency effects and the figure is level with the prior year quarter on a currency adjusted basis. The company's net income was down by 6.2% to EUR1.954bn, and core earnings per share was down 1.3% at EUR2.28.

On presenting the interim report on Thursday, Werner Baumann, chairman of the Bayer board of management, said, 'We posted growth at Pharmaceuticals and in the Animal Health business.' He confirmed the currency-adjusted Group outlook for 2018 and said, 'We have made good headway strategically and have made major progress with the proposed acquisition of Monsanto.'
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - India asked Japan on Tuesday to help build infrastructure needed to boost the usage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in India and elsewhere in Asia, India's oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said after a meeting with Japan's trade minister Hiroshige Seko, as per Hysrocarbonprocessing.

India wants to increase the share of gas, which is a cleaner fuel than oil, to 15 percent of its energy usage by 2030 from 6.2 percent currently.

"Explored opportunities for Japanese investments in India's gas infrastructure and SPR (strategic petroleum reserve) program," Pradhan tweeted after a meeting with Seko.

The two ministers also discussed the possibility of developing joint energy projects in Africa, Pradhan said. Seko's visit to New Delhi has come at a time when India is preparing to create a network with other major oil consumers in Asia, such as China, South Korea and Japan, to negotiate better terms with sellers.

The world's biggest LNG buyers, all in Asia, are increasingly clubbing together to secure more flexible supply contracts in a move that shifts power to importers from producers in an oversupplied market.

The world's three biggest LNG buyers - China, Japan and South Korea - joined together last year in March to secure flexible supply contracts.

India was not part of that group. However, in October the Indian cabinet approved a plan allowing New Delhi to work with Japan to make long-term LNG import deals more affordable for its consumers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fujian Refining & Petrochemical (FREP) has undertaken a planned shutdown at its polypropylene (PP) plant in Fujian Province, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has halted operations at the plant on April 23, 2018 for turnaround. The plant was likely to remain off-line for around 7-8 days.

Located in Fujian province, China, the PP plant has a production capacity of 220,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, in H2 March 2016, FREP restarted its polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) units following an unplanned shutdown. They were shut on March 15, 2016 owing to a technical glitch at its upstream cracker. Located in Fujian province, China, the two PE units have a production capacity of 500,000 mt/year each while the two PP units have a production capacity of 330,000 mt/year and 220,000 mt/year.
MRC