Reliance profit doubles due to petrochemicals rebound

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India's Reliance Industries (RIL) said its quarterly profit doubled, led by a rebound in its petrochemicals and retail businesses, but fell short of analysts' estimates as costs jumped 10%, reported Reuters.

The oil-to-telecoms conglomerate, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, said consolidated profit climbed 108% to 132.27 billion rupees (USD1.79 billion) in the three months to March 31. Analysts on average had expected 134.91 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data.

Revenue at Reliance's oil-to-chemicals unit - home to both its refining and petrochemicals operations - rose 4.5% in the March quarter. The Mumbai-headquartered company benefited from pent-up demand globally for petrochemical products like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics, as business activity began to pick up after a coronavirus-hit 2020.

Reliance has built leading businesses in telecom and retail in recent years to diversify away from its mainstay energy arm, which has been recovering slowly from a coronavirus-driven slump in demand. Its retail business of more than 12,000 stores and supermarkets posted a 20% jump in revenue as shoppers bought more groceries and apparel, resulting in all-time high revenues in those two categories, Reliance said. Still, India's ongoing massive second wave of the virus, which has spurred lockdowns in many cities, had hit footfalls at stores as well as consumer sentiment, it said.

As MRC informed before, amid a surging second wave of COVID-19 in the country, RIL has increased output of medical oxygen to 1,000 mt/day, making it India's largest producer of medical-grade liquid oxygen from a single location. Reliance ramped up production from near-zero to 1,000 tonnes per day and now produces over 11% of the country's oxygen demand. It has rallied its resources to meet the daily need of over 1 lakh people every day.

We remind that RIL shut its PVC plant in India for maintenance in April 2021. The unit in Dahej with an annual capacity of 315,000 tons/year was taken offline by 5 April 2021 and resumed operations on 20 April.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PVC production reached 259,400 tonnes in the first three months of 2021, down 3% year on year. All producers decreased their output over the stated period.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. The company produces polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride and other petrochemical products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell (LBI), the world's largest polyolefins producer, declared a force majeure (FM) on shipments of some polypropylene (PP) grades from its Wesseling plant in Germany as of May 20, according to NCT with reference to market sources.

Thus, the FM was declared for all PP Moplen grades produced at this plant with the capacity of 238,000 mt/year.

However, the reactor issies, which resulted in force majeure, were found at one line of this plant with the capacity of 135,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, LBI also declared FM on supplies of some PP grades from its Ferrara plant in Italy as of May 3. This plant is able to produce 285.000 tons/year of PP. At the time of press, no details were shared regarding the reason or duration of the FM.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Until now, there have been no commercial drop-in solutions for replacing fossil gasoline to reduce high amounts of greenhouse gas emissions from conventional petrol cars, without investing into new vehicles or modifying the old ones. Neste, the world's leading producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), may be the first to have developed a renewable gasoline for such commercial use in the existing fleet, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The final phase of testing is now beginning with the target to complete commercial tests of the fuel, and thereby enabling significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline and hybrid cars.

The EU recently increased its target for the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. There are also ambitious national targets in Sweden and Finland, for example, including separate emissions reduction mandates for the gasoline pool. However, the currently existing alternatives for gasoline-powered cars do not enable a significant reduction in fossil gasoline use in a short enough time frame.

Steps are now being taken to solve this challenge: with Neste's renewable gasoline, greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by up to 65% over the fuel’s life cycle when compared to fossil fuels. The aim for Neste is to improve this figure, to eventually achieve up to 90% emission reduction with the fuel use. This would mean that greenhouse gas emission over the life cycle of the fuel would be equivalent to those from an electric vehicle.

The product fulfills EN228 standard and can be used in both existing and new gasoline and hybrid cars. Renewable gasoline can, therefore, provide yet another tool for the EU to achieve the ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 from the levels in 1990.

As MRC reported earlier, Neste, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. and Toyota Tsusho Corp. have announced they are joining forces to enable Japan’s first industrial-scale production of renewable plastics and chemicals from 100% bio-based hydrocarbons. In this collaboration, Mitsui Chemicals will use Neste RE, 100% bio-based hydrocarbons produced by Neste, to replace a part of the fossil feedstock in the production of a variety of plastics and chemicals at its crackers within Osaka Works during 2021.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, said that it would resume purchases of Iranian oil if Washington lifts sanctions against Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme, reported Reuters.

The European Union official leading talks to revive Iran's nuclear deal said on Wednesday he was confident an agreement would be reached as the negotiations adjourned, although European diplomats said success was not guaranteed with very difficult issues remaining.

"We were buying Iran crude earlier before sanctions, and I don't have any doubt why we will not buy Iran crude because that favours the Indian refining system if the sanctions are lifted," S. K. Gupta, head of finance at IOC, told an analyst call.

India, the world's third largest oil consumer and importer, halted oil imports from Tehran in 2019 as a temporary waiver granted to some countries expired. Former US President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.

US President Joe Biden's administration and Iran have engaged in indirect talks to revive the pact for Tehran to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for a lifting of sanctions.

Indian refiners are planning to replace some of their spot purchases with Iranian oil in second half of this year as the US and Iran inch closer to a deal.

"Supplies from Iran will brings additional balance to the market which helps consuming countries," said M.K. Surana, Chairman of state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp.

He said HPCL will also consider buying Iranian oil if sanctions are lifted and hoped that Iran will continue to offer discounts on crude and shipping.

As MRC informed before, Technip Energies has been recently awarded a significant Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning (EPCC) contract by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) for its BR9 Expansion Project in Barauni, Bihar, in the Eastern part of India. This EPCC contract covers the installation of a new Once-through Hydrocracker Unit (OHCU) of 1 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) capacity, a Fuel Gas Treatment Unit (FGTU) and the associated facilities.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A leak detected on Saturday at the catalytic cracker of Iran's Abadan refinery was stopped and the unit was restored, the Iranian Oil Ministry's news website SHANA reported, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Hamid Reza Torki, the refinery's safety chief, denied reports on social media and news websites that an explosion had occurred at the refinery and that three workers had been injured, the state broadcaster IRIB said.

SHANA quoted the refinery as saying repairs were carried out swiftly and that there were no injuries or damage to facilities.

The head of the local environmental protection department meanwhile said a complaint was filed with judicial authorities against the refinery for pollution allegedly caused by the leakage, the state news agency IRNA reported.

The reports did not say whether production was affected at the Abadan refinery, Iran's oldest and largest.

As MRC informed earlier, an Iranian oil refinery caught fire in the southwestern part of the country, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, leaving six people injured. Firefighters on the scene at the Abadan refinery have brought the blaze under control, a local official was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency, adding that the fire would be contained in an hour. The cause of the incident was still unknown, Tasnim said. The damage to the plant at Abadan had no impact on oil exports from Iran, the world’s fifth-biggest exporter, as it is involved in producing gasoline and some other fuels, not the production of crude.

As MRC wrote earlier, Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world"s third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia"s estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC