Kaustik Volgograd shut PVC production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Volgograd Kaustik, Russia's fourth largest polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer, shut down production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for a scheduled turnaround, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

According to a company representative, scheduled maintenance works started at PVC production on 1 October.
The shutdown will be short and will last for about 12 days. The plant's PVC production capacity is 90,000 tonnes/year.

As it was earlier said, the largest Russian PVC producers SayanskKhimPlast and RusVinyl, whose annual capacity is 350,000/tonnes and 330,000/tonnes , respectively, stopped their lines for maintenances in July-August.

PVC production at Volgograd Kaustik was launched in December 1972 with the assistance of the Japanese firm Kureh's specialists. Nikokhim Group is one of the leaders of the Russian chemical industry, the main production assets of which are located in the southern industrial hub of Volgograd. The holding company includes: JSC Kaustik is the principal plant of the group, manufactures basic products - caustic soda, chloroparaffins, synthetic hydrochloric acid, chlorine trademark, polyvinyl chloride, sodium hypochlorite, etc .; CJSC NikoMag - production of anti-icing materials, magnesium chloride, magnesium oxide and hydroxide; Zirax, Ltd. - production of high-purity reagents for various industries and JSC Poligran - the production of plastic compounds and rigid PVC compounds.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayer has provided a business update confirming its adjusted outlook for 2020, and says it expects 2021 sales to be at approximately the same levels as in 2020 despite significant headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the agricultural market, said Chemweek.

As a result, the company’s board has decided to introduce additional operational savings that may lead to more job cuts. Bayer says it also plans to optimize further its working capital and capital expenditure and is reviewing options to exit nonstrategic businesses or brands that are below the divisional level, it says.

The additional savings from the planned measures will be more than EUR1.50 billion (USD1.76 billion) on an annualized basis from 2024, on top of annualized earnings contributions of EUR2.6 billion as of 2022, which were announced in November 2018, Bayer says. The incremental cash flow from these efforts will mainly be allocated for investments in innovation, profitable growth opportunities, and debt reduction, it says. Bernstein Research (London, UK) estimates that the additional cost savings announced will boost Bayer's margins by approximately 330 basis points (bps) in 2024.

These measures are currently in the early stages of development and will be discussed with the relevant internal bodies, including employee representatives, and announced in detail once finalized, the company says. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to headwinds in 2020 for Bayer with significant currency effects creating an additional burden on sales and earnings growth, the company says. However, Bayer expects to offset the impact of lower revenue in its crop science and pharmaceutical divisions through appropriate countermeasures, such as the acceleration of existing efficiency programs and cost contingencies.

"We believe the additional measures are necessary to accelerate our overall transformation, generate margin improvements, and thus maintain our competitive profile. They will help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our business. We must adapt our cost structures to the changes in market conditions and at the same time generate resources for further investment in innovation and growth. We also remain committed to reducing our net financial debt,” says Werner Baumann, chairman of Bayer.

The effects of the pandemic will be deeper than expected on the company’s crop science business with reduced growth expectations due to low commodity prices for major crops, intense competition in soy, and reduced biofuel consumption, Bayer says. This is compounded by the negative currency effects, some of which are significant as in the case of the Brazilian currency, it says. The company notes that the situation is unlikely to improve considerably in the near term and it expects to take non-cash impairment charges in the mid-to-high single-digit-billion euros range on assets in the agricultural business.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business is anticipated to return to growth in 2021, Bayer says. The company plans to invest further in the business to strengthen its mid- and longer-term growth potential. Bayer’s consumer health business has shown a strong performance and is expected to outpace peer growth in the coming years, the company says.

Meanwhile, Bayer expects core earnings per share in 2021 to be slightly below 2020 levels at constant exchange rates. Bayer’s board intends to retain the company’s dividend policy, which delivers 30–40% of core earnings per share to stockholders each year, with payouts in the coming years expected to be at the lower end of this corridor rather than at the upper end in previous years, it says.

Growth and cash-flow generation in 2021 are expected to be lower than planned and can only be partially compensated by further savings measures, Bayer says. The company will present a detailed forecast for 2021 together with an updated midterm outlook when it publishes its results for the full year 2020.

As MRC informed earlier, Bayer says that its supervisory board has unanimously decided to extend the contract of Werner Baumann, CEO and chairman of the management board at Bayer. Baumann has been the company’s CEO and chairman since May 2016 and his contract was due to expire at the 2021 annual stockholders’ meeting.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall estimated consumption of PC granules totalled 47,300 tonnes in the first two quarters of 2020 (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus), compared to 40,700 tonnes a year earlier. Demand increased by 16% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil and INNIO are delighted to announce the release of Jenbacher N Oil 40 lubricant for all INNIO’s Jenbacher Type 2, 3, 4, 6 and 9 natural gas engines, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This follows the collaboration agreement between the two companies that was announced earlier. Jenbacher N Oil 40 has been developed to meet the evolving needs of natural gas engine lubrication, providing increased engine uptime and enhanced engine reliability, leading to more power generation and revenue potential.

Benefits of the new technology include extended and unique condemning limits for longer drain intervals without compromising protection of critical engine parts and components. INNIO’s myPlant Asset Performance Management solution can be used to monitor oil consumption, exhaust gas temperature and oil change intervals along with the full offer of oil analyses, technical expertise and borescopic inspections of Mobil ServSM. These analytics will help predict oil lifetime and ensure the performance and protection of the gas engine, to provide a life cycle cost reduction of up to 30% .

“We have evaluated Jenbacher N Oil 40 in a long-term, multi-site testing program with different situations (e.g., a German university, a Russian factory and a greenhouse facility in the UK),” said Andreas Kunz, chief technology officer at INNIO Group, “The high performance lubricant was tested and validated over several Jenbacher engine types under the most demanding circumstances. The new oil has demonstrated its capabilities in each to help optimize oil consumption, reduce waste and lower spare parts costs.” “ExxonMobil and INNIO engineers focused on INNIO Jenbacher gas engines lubrication requirements in more than 160,000 hours of field data across multiple engine platforms. This contributed to the development of the new Jenbacher N Oil 40 that helps to double both oil and filter life(**),” added Elisabetta Scossa, Europe Energy manager of ExxonMobil. “In addition, operators will appreciate that this one lubricant can be used in the entire Jenbacher natural gas engine portfolio and, therefore, can optimize inventory costs for operators with multiple types of Jenbacher engines."

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Marathon Petroleum Corp., the largest U.S. oil refiner, began cutting jobs on Tuesday across the company, according to people familiar with the matter, as the COVID-19 pandemic sapped demand for motor fuels, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

U.S. refiners have posted large losses this year as fuel consumption tumbled amid lockdowns and work-from-home policies to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Thin profit margins have been undercut by the need to operate plants at less than 80% capacity. Marathon officials are “communicating with our employees about measures we announced earlier this year to strengthen Marathon Petroleum for short-term and long-term success,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. She declined to comment on specific actions.

The Findlay, Ohio-based company has been shedding units to improve results. It had 60,000 employees as of Dec. 31, with two-thirds in retail operations that are being acquired by 7-Eleven Inc, an arm of Japan's Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd. About 60 salaried staff were let go by midday on Tuesday at Marathon’s large Galveston Bay plant in Texas and another 60 people were dismissed at the company’s Los Angeles refinery, the sources said.

The Galveston Bay operation may lose as many as 100 workers this week and up to 200 before the reductions end, one of the people said. As of Tuesday night, 45 salaried employees had been let go at the Garyville, Louisiana, refinery, sources said.

In August, Marathon began closing refineries in Martinez, California, and Gallup, New Mexico, eliminating 800 jobs. The latest cuts are across the company, one of the people said. It is expected to report a $623 million third-quarter loss on Nov. 2, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. It lost USD9.2 billion in the first half of the year, mostly on impairment charges.

Last week, LyondellBasell Industries also disclosed plans to cut 10% of staff at its Houston oil refinery because of heavy losses. Plant operations would be challenged for several years because of the drop in demand, a LyondellBasell executive said.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sherwin-Williams (SW) has increased its full-year 2020 earnings and sales guidance due mainly to stronger-than-expected architectural coatings demand. The company now expects full-year earnings to total USD20.96-21.46/share, compared with prior guidance of USD19.21-20.71/share, said Chemweek.

Sales are now forecast to grow by 3-5% year-on-year (YOY), compared with a prior forecast calling for a low-single-digit percentage decrease. For the third-quarter, segment results have shown a stronger trajectory than expected. “The Americas group (TAG) third quarter net sales are expected to be up a low-single-digit percentage compared to our previous guidance of flat to up a low-single-digit percentage,” SW says. “The consumer grands group (CBG) third quarter net sales are expected to be up a low-twenties percentage compared to our previous guidance of up a low-double-digit percentage. The performance coatings group (PCG) third quarter net sales are expected to be flat to down a low-single-digit percentage compared to our previous guidance of down a low-to-mid-single-digit percentage."

The outlook for full-year segment sales has also improved. CBG sales are expected to increase by a double-digit percentage for the full-year, with TAG sales expected be flat to up by a single-digit percentage, and PCG forecast to fall by a low-to-mid single-digit percentage. The forecast for full-year earnings of USD20.96-21.46/share represents a 12.5% YOY increase at the midpoint.

"Demand for architectural coatings has been stronger than expected in the third quarter, led by our DIY, residential repaint and new residential segments,” says SW chairman and CEO John Morikis. “Demand on the industrial side of our business has also improved, led by continued strength in packaging and emerging momentum in other segments, most notably in automotive refinish and industrial wood. As a result, our sales expectations for the third quarter and full year 2020 have improved." SW will report third-quarter results on 27 October.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC