Trinseo raises October PS, ABS, and SAN prices in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe, have announced a price increase for all polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) in Europe, according to the company's press release as of 5 October.

Effective October 1, 2020, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below rose as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR75 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR75 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR50 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR30 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo last raised its prices for all PS, ABS and SAN grades on 1 September 2020, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS -- by EUR30 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech HIPS - by EUR30 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR35 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR30 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, October prices of Russian PS continued their upward trend. A shortage of material remained in the domestic market. Traders said Nizhnekamskneftekhim reduced its offer prices for this month's PS purchases to 40%. October prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's GPPS grew for the agreed with buyers quantities to Rb89,000-95,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, whereas HIPS - to Rb93,000-99,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

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 USD3.8 billion in net sales in 2019, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,700 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem S.A. has informed its shareholders and the market that, in view of an identified cyber-attack occurred in its Information Technology environment, the protection system interrupted, as a precautionary measure, the access to some of its servers and software, impacting its operations, as per the company's statement.

The company has been making every effort to normalize its systems in accordance with its information security protocols and will keep the market informed, to the extent required by applicable law.

As MRC reported previously, Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem's 450,000 mt/year polypropylene (PP) plant in LaPorte, Texas, along the Houston Ship Channel completed its initial commercial production, as per the company's statement as of Sept. 10. "The launch of commercial production at our new world-class PP production line in La Porte clearly affirms Braskem's position as the North American polypropylene market leader," Braskem America CEO Mark Nikolich said in a statement. With a USD750 million investment, the new PP plant's construction started in October 2017 and was completed in June, 2020.

Braskem operates five other US PP plants in Texas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, with a cumulative capacity of 1.57 million mt/year that the company acquired. The new plant in La Porte, Texas, is Braskem America's first PP new build.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Strengthening hurricane Delta forced the closure of 29.2% of offshore crude oil production in the U.S.-regulated northern Gulf of Mexico by midday Tuesday, regulator U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said, as per Reuters.

The storm, already a dangerous category 4, also turned off 8.6% of natural gas output from the Gulf of Mexico, BSEE said.

As MRC informed earlier, hurricane Sally crawled offshore along the US Gulf Coast on Wednesday, moving away from oil fields while soaking the region with heavy rains that could dampen fuel demand in the US southeast. The hurricane has shut more than a quarter of US offshore Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production and stirred heavy seas that closed ports from Louisiana to Florida. It moved at a snail's pace toward a Wednesday landfall on the coast between Mississippi and Florida.

As MRC wrote earlier, US Gulf of Mexico producers have shut in roughly 27% of offshore oil and natural gas output ahead of the landfall of Hurricane Sally, which was slowly heading towards the Alabama coast Sept. 15, according to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Producers have shut in 497,072 b/d of crude and 760 MMcf/d of gas output, 26.87% and 28.03% of total offshore US Gulf output, respectively. A total of 152 platforms and rigs were evacuated, according to BSEE.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Weir Group Plc announced it had agreed to sell its oil and gas division to US heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc for USD405 million in cash, as the engineering company focuses on its mining business, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Shares of Weir surged 22.5% to 1,568p, on track for their best day in more than 20 years.

The deal, which follows a collapse in global oil prices and a swathe of bankruptcies in the sector, will have a USD70 million US cash tax benefit for Weir, the company said.

In July, Illinois-based Caterpillar, considered a bellwether for economic activity, warned of continued sluggishness in equipment sales due to the coronavirus pandemic, with its main customers in highly cyclical businesses such as mining and construction.

In a separate statement, Caterpillar said the deal covered more than 40 Weir Oil & Gas manufacturing and services locations and about 2,000 employees.

“This acquisition will expand our offerings to one of the broadest product lines in the well service industry,” Joe Creed, Vice President of Caterpillar’s Oil & Gas and Marine Division said.

The transaction includes Weir’s North American and international oil and gas operations, comprising its Pressure Pumping and Pressure Control business units, and associated after-market spares among other things.

Weir Group Chief Executive Officer Jon Stanton said the deal was a major milestone as the group transforms into a premium mining technology business.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year and Weir said it would help strengthen its balance sheet for future investments.

Jefferies analyst Andy Douglas said the deal removes a “problem child”, leaving Weir with a “very strong” business. He added that the price was higher than Jeffries had expected.

Weir said its oil and gas business had gross assets of $966.61 million at June 30.

As MRC wrote before, global oil demand may have already peaked, according to BP's latest long-term energy outlook, as the COVID-19 pandemic kicks the world economy onto a weaker growth trajectory and accelerates the shift to cleaner fuels.

Earlier this year, BP said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40 per cent in 2020, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.

And in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan-based PCB maker Apex International is stepping up construction of new production facilities in Thailand seeking to meet ever-expanding demand resulting from supply relocation to Southeast Asia, according to DigiTimes.

Apex's board of directors has just approved a plan to purchase a plot of land in Sinsakhon Industrial Estate for THB290 million (USD9.21 million) to house new production lines in Thailand, according to a company statement.

Apex has invested big in expanding capacities of its two existing wholly-owned plants in Thailand, with one of them dedicated to production of TV PCBs for major brand vendors and the other for manufacturing PCBs for other applications. A third plant, now under construction, will be for rolling out automotive PCBs and some high-end boards, according to company sources.

Southeast Asia is gaining momentum as a new production base for notebook, networking and DRAM module boards amid the intensifying US-China trade tensions and Korean memory makers strengthening production deployments in the region, industry sources said.

Now among the top-10 PCB makers in Thailand, Apex has landed stable orders from many ODMs and terminal clients as a result of its long-term deployments there, the sources said. The company is poised to see more growth momentum in the wake of global supply chain diversification through building new production facilities in Southeast Asia, the sources indicated.

As MRC reported earlier, Covestro has launched a new production line for polycarbonate (PC) films in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Thailand. With the new capacity, the company aims to meet the rapidly growing demand in the Asia-Pacific region and to strengthen its own position as a market leader in this field. The films are mainly used in the automotive, telecommunications, medical technology and ID document sectors. The project is the first step in a global expansion of Covestro's plastic film production. The total investment of more than 100 million euros also includes an expansion of the associated infrastructure and logistics to shorten delivery times. More than 100 new jobs will be created worldwide.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, overall estimated consumption of PC granules in the Russian market reached 58,000 tonnes in January-July 2020, up by 22% year on year (47,500 tonnes).
MRC