Window and door maker Energi Fenestration sold to three Canadian firms

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a deal that involves Canadian plastics pioneer Vic De Zen, Los Angeles-based private equity firm OpenGate Capital has sold Energi Fenestration Solutions Ltd., a maker of rigid and cellular vinyl window and patio door profiles, to three Canadian companies, each of which are acquiring various portions of the business, said Canplastics.

The financial terms of the deals have not been disclosed. One of the buyers is Woodbridge, Ont.-based Vision Group of Companies, which makes PVC and fibreglass columns, vinyl fences, PVC railing, patio doors, basement windows, and custom profiles. “The integration will be complete within the coming months and we will be able to maximize our manufacturing, purchasing, and human resources,” Vision Group chairman and CEO De Zen said in a May 18 statement.

Energi was formerly a division of Axiall Corp.’s Royal Building Products portfolio, which was part of De Zen’s old Royal Plastics Group business, so the deal returns ownership of Energi to one of its predecessors. When OpenGate acquired Energi through a corporate carve-out from Axiall Corp. in 2016, it rebranded the business and transformed it into a wholly independent, standalone entity.

A second buyer is Sainte-Julie, Que.-based Novatech Group, which acquired Energi Terrebone Patio Doors, which operates out of Terrebone, Que. In a statement, Novatech officials said the company plans to make “significant investments in the coming months” at the Terrebone facility. “Effective immediately, the current Novatech sales force will be responsible for patio door sales out of Terrebonne,” the statement said. “The customer service team in Terrebonne will remain in place for all inquiries and orders."

Third, Energi’s extrusion plant in Laval, Que. has been sold to a group of former Energi executives, who have now started up a new company in Laval called Thermoplast Extrusions. “The transaction is effective immediately and…the entire team remains in place,” the group said in a statement.

As per MRC, Novatec Solar and BASF have commissioned a solar thermal demonstration plant based on a new type of molten salt technology, known as direct molten salt or DMS technology. The plant is located on the site of the solar-thermal power plant PE1 in southern Spain. The innovative feature of the new plant design is that the solar collector uses inorganic molten salt as heat transfer fluid. Most solar thermal power plants currently use heat transfer oils, which have a limited qualification temperature. Using inorganic salts as heat transfer fluid allows operating temperatures above 500°C, resulting in a significant increase in power yield.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PVC production reached 346,100 tonnes in the first four months of 2021, down 1% year on year. All producers decreased production volumes over the reported period, with the exception of the Bashkir Soda Company.
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Dalian Petrochemical increases gasoil exports by 40% in May

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroChina's flagship refinery Dalian Petrochemical in northeastern Liaoning province, will boost gasoil exports by 40% in May, reported S&P Global with reference to a source with knowledge of the matter.

Planned gasoil exports will be raised to 280,000 mt, from 200,000 mt in April. Gasoline and jet fuel exports will be largely unchanged at 280,000 mt and 120,000 mt, respectively, from last month.

Dalian will also cut the run rates by about two percentage points month on month to about 84% of its nameplate capacity in May. The refinery will shut its No. 1 crude distillation unit of 6 million mt/year for about five days for a check-up, which will cut its crude throughput slightly.

Meanwhile, PetroChina's Liaoyang Petrochemical refinery in northeastern Liaoning province plans to export 80,000 mt of gasoil in May, double the 40,000 mt it exported in April, a refinery source told S&P Global.

As MRC informed before, state-owned PetroChina, Asia's largest oil and gas producer, has reported its biggest quarterly profit in seven years, citing rising oil and gas prices and a recovery in Chinese fuel demand from last year's deep coronavirus slump. The company swung to a 27.7 billion yuan (USD4.28 billion) first-quarter net profit, having posted a loss in the same period last year, and announced that it is setting up a new investment vehicle with a focus on strategic assets and low-carbon projects.

We remind that PetroChina shut its Guangxi Petrochemical in southern Guangxi province on February 9, 2020, for scheduled 50-day maintenance. The maintenance helped the refinery to offset stock pressure after product demand slumped due to the coronavirus outbreak.

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.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.
MRC

Fire breaks out at Ufaneftekhim of Bashneft

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire broke out at the site of Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim branch in Ufa, reported Interfax with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in Bashkiria.

The fire was quickly extinguished by the operational services of the branch. No one was injured.

Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim explained that a small volume of oil caught fire at the industrial site, the area of the fire did not exceed 15 sq. m.

The company does not see environmental threats: constant environmental monitoring is carried out on site. The main production of the plant is operating normally.

At present, the weather in Ufa is very hot. On May 25, due to the expected heat of 32 degrees in the city, it was decided to ban the movement of heavy trucks during the day. The ban will be in effect until the end of the month.

Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim, along with Bashneft-Novoil, Bashneft-UNPZ is part of the Ufa group of the Bashneft refining complex.

As MRC informed earlier, January fire at Ufaorgsintez (a subsidiary of Bashneft, part of PJSC "NK Rosneft") did not lead to a shutdown of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) production capacities. On 25 January, two containers with a methane-hydrogen fraction caught fire at the Ufa plant, and the blaze was extinguished in the morning of 26 January. The plant's customers said the fire was not critical for polymer production. PP production continued operating normally, whereas the LDPE production temporarily reduced its capacity utilisation, thus, production of 158 grade polyethylene (PE) was suspended.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Ufaorgsintez was operating with higher capacity utilisation in March, the plant's PP production totalled about 11,400 tonnes versus 9,500 tonnes a month earlier. The Ufa plant's overall PP output reached 32,800 tonnes in the first quarter of 2021, down by 3% year on year.

Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim produces high-octane gasoline, diesel and boiler fuel, bitumen, coke, lump and granular sulfur, liquefied gases, benzene, ortho- and paraxylenes, and specializes in the processing of several types of hydrocarbon raw materials. The enterprise includes gas catalytic, commercial, service production, as well as production of aromatic hydrocarbons. The installed capacity is 24.1 m tonnes/year of hydrocarbons.
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 26.05.2021

1. ACC CAB rises by 1,2% in May

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), increased 1.2% on a sequential three-month-moving-average (3MMA) basis in May, according to CISION with reference to ACC's statement. This follows a 1.0% increase in April. The CAB was up 18.6% on a year-on-year (YOY) basis, as the year-ago period included the deep trough of the COVID-19 recession.“The latest CAB reading is consistent with marked expansion of commerce, trade, and industry,” says Kevin Swift, chief economist at ACC.

MRC

UPP starts marketing PP cargoes from its new plant in South Korea

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ulsan Polypropylene (UPP), a joint venture between PolyMirae Company Ltd and SK Advanced, has started marketing polypropylene (PP) cargoes from its new plant in Ulsan, South Korea, according to CommoPlast.

Since mid-May, the company has been offering homo-PP yarn and injection parcels to Vietnam at USD1240/ton CIF term - the lowest for non-dutiable origins at the moment.

The plant uses Spheripol PP technology licensed by LyondellBasell and receives propylene feeds from the nearby SK Advanced’s PDH plant. The PP unit has a production capacity of 400,000 tons/year.

As MRC wrote previously, in October, 2020, Advanced Petrochemical signed an amendment to the partnership agreement between its subsidiary, Advanced Global Investment Co. (AGIC), and SK Gas Petrochemical Pte. Ltd. (SKGP), a unit of SK Gas Co. Ltd.. Under the amendment, an isopropanol (IPA) plant with a capacity of 70,000 tons per annum will be added, along with the Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) and Polypropylene (PP) plants that were already announced earlier. The company said in a bourse statement that by adding the IPA plant with an estimated cost of SAR 300 million (USD80 million), the total cost of the project for the three factories is currently estimated to be approximately SAR 7.05 billion (USD1.88 billion).

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.

PolyMirae is a joint venture between LyondellBasell (50%) and Daelim (50%), currently operating 4 PP Spheripol production lines in Yeosu with a total capacity of 700,000 tons/year.

SK Advanced is a joint venture within SK Gas, Advanced Petrochemical Company, and Petrochemical Industries Company, and operates a 600,000 tons/year PDH plant in Ulsan.
MRC