BASF partners with Chinese automaker on digital coatings solutions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF and one of the leading automotive manufacturers in China, Guangzhou Automobile Group New Energy Co. Ltd. (GACNE), a subsidiary of GAC, signed a cooperation agreement earlier this week in Guangzhou, China, to further strengthen their strategic partnership to explore digital coatings solutions for the automotive industry, said the company.

Launched in China for the first time, the new platform will support paint shops to improve quality and enhance efficiency. "We are excited to embark on the path of digitalization with GACNE, an innovative and pioneering partner,” said Patrick Zhao, Senior Vice President, BASF Coatings Solutions Asia Pacific. “Digitalization is one of BASF’s strategic levers and has become an integral part of our coatings business. With this collaboration, we not only create a new customer experience for GACNE, but also grow our mutual business through new business models and eventually enhance our overall competitiveness and efficiency."

Under this cooperation agreement, BASF will provide a digital platform that enables GACNE to digitalize and integrate initially scattered data, and to measure its data readiness and maturity through data analysis. BASF’s digital platform will be customized to focus on improvement of GACNE’s paint shop operations and decision making with more efficient ways of data reporting, processing and analyzing. BASF experts have provided training sessions to GACNE’s users of the platform. Further modules and solutions can be added and customized based on GACNE’s feedback and evolving digital needs.

"Digitalization and smart manufacturing are key concepts when we designed and built the plant. Digitalization level will be a KPI to evaluate our company’s performance,” said Xi Zhongmin, Vice General Manager of GACNE. “BASF has been GACNE’s trusted partner since 2018, and we are the first OEM to utilize total-layer coating solution from BASF. I look forward to further cooperation in new technologies and other digital solutions between the two companies."

Since starting their collaboration, BASF has supported GACNE to launch its paint shop and provided technical expertise, including comprehensive color development and paint shop management. BASF has become the 100% coating supplier of GACNE since then, including e-coat, primer, basecoat and clear coat. The portfolio also includes digital solutions for quality and efficiency improvement of the whole coating process, based on the automotive industry’s challenges and digital needs.

We remind that BASF has restarted its No. 1 steam cracker following a maintenance turnaround. Thus, the company resumed operations at the plant on September 30, 2019. The plant was shut for maintenance in mid-August, 2019. Located at Ludwigshafen in Germany, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 235,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 125,000 mt/year.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 267,630 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 20% year on year. Homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers accounted for the main decrease in imports.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of EUR59 billion in 2019.

Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd (GAC) was established in 1997 and has set up joint ventures with multiple international partners, located across Guangdong, Zhejiang, Hubei and Xinjiang in China. The company produces passenger and commercial vehicles, engines, car parts, car accessories, motorcycles and parts, and conducts research in automotive engineering technology. GAC owns two brands: Trumpchi, and Aion – an electric car brand under GACNE, one of the leading new energy vehicle manufacturers in China.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Valero Energy Corp’s Memphis, Tennessee, crude oil refinery is operating at two-thirds of its 180,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity because of low demand in the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with plant operations.

The Memphis refinery cut production by as much as 50% in early April and has been raising production gradually since then, the sources said.

As MRC wrote previously Valero Energy Corp restarted the small CDU at its Port Arthur refinery after repairing a valve on 25 September 2019. And in late October 2019, Valero Energy Corp shut the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Port Arthur refinery. The 75,000-bpd AVU 147 CDU was shut to repair a heat exchanger.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of chemical products, posted revenue of USD64.4 billion (Taiwan dollars) in first quarter (Q1) FY20 ended on March 31, 2020, compared to the revenue of USD89.2 billion in same period prior year, said Fibre2fashion.

Company reported total loss of USD4.3 billion compared to profit of USD9.1 billion in Q1 FY19. Operating loss for the reported quarter were USD1.9 billion compared to operating profit of USD8.2 billion in same period prior year. Total other comprehensive loss for the period were USD47.2 billion compared to comprehensive income of USD11.8 billion in Q1 FY19.

Net loss attributable to owners of the parent during Q1 was USD4.6 billion compared to net income attributable to owners of the parent of USD8.5 billion in same period prior year.

The Formosa group manufactures and sells a variety of petrochemical products, including the spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing of rayon and nylon fibre.

As MRC informed earlier, Formosa Petrochemical plans to shut down its No.3 cracker in Taiwan for maintenance in mid-August, 2020. The 1.2-MMt/y No. 3 cracker is due to be offline until end-September.

As MRC wrpte previously, Formosa took off-stream its No.2 cracker in Taiwan on 1 June, 2020. No reason for unplanned closure was given. The cracker is expected to be idle during one week. Located at Mailiao in Taiwan, the No.2 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 1.03 million mt/year, propylene production capacity of 515,000 mt/year and butadiene production capacity of 162,000 mt/year. Formosa, Asia's top naphtha importer, operates three naphtha crackers in Mailiao. These units have a total capacity of 2.93 million tpy of ethylene.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp is a Taiwan-based company principally engaged in the manufacture and sale of chemical products. The main products of the Company include petrochemical plastic raw materials, synthetic fiber products and common fluid products. Its petrochemical plastic raw material products include benzene, paraxylene (PX), o-xylene (OX), toluene, styrene monomer (SM), phenol, acetone, pure terephthalic acid (PTA), polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and polycarbonate resin (PC), among others. Its synthetic fiber products include mirabilite, synthetic fiber yarn, cotton yarn, blended yarn, staple fiber cloth, long-fiber cloth and nylon yarn, among others. Its common fluid products include electricity, filtered water, chilled water, soft water, pure water and steam. The Company operates businesses in Mainland China, Asia, the Middle East, America and Europe, among others.
MRC

1. Tasnee reports 94% plunge in Q1-20 losses

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The National Industrialization Company (Tasnee) has reduced its net losses after Zakat and tax by 94% annually in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020 to reach SAR 76.5 million, said Mubasher. The company generated SAR 659.4 million worth of revenues in the first three months of 2020, down by 10.8% year-on-year (YoY) when compared to SAR 739.2 million, according to a bourse filing on Sunday. The decrease in net loss is largely due to the non-cash losses that resulted from re-measurement of discontinued operations of Cristal business classified as held for sale in Q1-19 amounting to SAR 1.45 billion. In addition, financing costs, Zakat provision and income tax declined. This came despite the drop in average selling prices of all products and slumping demand of some products due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, a lower share of profit from investments in associates and joint ventures (JV), decrease in other income, and a rise in general and administrative expenses.



MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Construction of the 55 Bcm/year Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany is still set to be completed at the end of 2020 or the start of 2021, a senior official at Russian gas giant Gazprom said June 22, despite the threat of expanded US sanctions against the project, reported S&P Global.

Gazprom's head of investor relations, Anton Demchenko, told investors the company continued to pursue its completion.

"I can briefly confirm that we continue to work on this project and expect that its construction will be completed at the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021," he was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

Gazprom could not be immediately reached to confirm the comments, which are in line with remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin in January who said the pipeline would be completed by the end of 2020 or in the first quarter of 2021.

Just 160 km (99 miles) of Nord Stream 2 is left to lay in Danish waters out of the total 2,460 km length.

The Gazprom-owned Nord Stream 2 development company had hoped to bring the project online by the end of 2019, but first permitting issues in Denmark and then the US sanctions meant the project has been delayed.

The 55 Bcm/year pipeline is crucial to Russia's plans to scale down from 2021 the use of the Ukrainian transit corridor in its gas supplies to Europe.

With the uncertainty over how the line will be finished, the US is also pressing to introduce expanded sanctions against the project.

At the start of June, a new US Senate bill was introduced that aims to block completion of the project by expanding existing sanctions to target more companies involved in laying the line's final segment, including insurers and service companies.

Nord Stream 2 has also been fighting for an exemption from the amended EU Gas Directive and has now appealed against a May 15 ruling by the German regulator Bundesnetzagentur that rejected a request for a waiver.

Nord Stream 2 in January asked the regulator for a derogation from the EU's amended gas directive rules, which came into effect in May 2019.

Such a derogation would have allowed the German section of the pipeline to be exempted from third-party access and unbundling rules, and requirements on transparent tariffs.

However, the regulator ruled that Nord Stream 2 had not been completed by the time the amendments came into force, meaning the pipeline was not eligible for a waiver.

"Nord Stream 2 has filed an appeal to the Higher Regional Court in Dusseldorf against that decision," Nord Stream 2 said in emailed comments June 22.

"Nord Stream 2 maintains that on the effective date of May 23, 2019, the pipeline had been completed from the perspective of economic functionality," it said.

"Based on the applicable legal framework at that time, the company had made irrevocable investments worth billions of euros long before the European Commission announced its plan to amend the Gas Directive."

Separately, Gazprom Export's head of pricing, Sergei Komlev, told investors June 22 that the company expected its average gas export price in 2020 to be USD130-USD140/1,000 cu m.

That is in line with a previous estimate by Gazprom in April of around USD133/1,000 cu m.

Komlev, cited by Russian news agencies, also said Gazprom was in talks with some long-term contract holders about price revisions, but that there was no plan for a serious revision given changing long-term market conditions.

As MRC reported earlier, Denmark expects to rule "within four weeks" on a request from the developer of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany for permission to lay the line in Danish waters using ships with anchors, a spokesman for the Danish Energy Agency said June 17.

We remind that Gazprom neftekhim Salavat shut down its dioctyl phthalate (DOP) production for a scheduled maintenance. Market participants and a plant"s representative said Gazprom neftekhim Salavat took off-stream its DOP production for a long scheduled turnaround. The outage began on 12 May and will last for about 30 day.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russian producers of unmixed PVC decreased capacity utilisation in April. However, Russia's overall PVC output totalled 351,000 tonnes in January-April 2020, up by 2% year on year.
MRC