JSC Kaustik increased the share of exports of its products last year

MOSCOW (MRC) - The export share of Volgograd-based Kaustik , the fourth largest producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in Russia, accounted for 26.5% of the company's total revenue last year, the company said.

It is reported that this indicator is increasing from year to year due to the expansion of the range of products manufactured at the enterprise, diversification of the sales network, the creation of a system of technical support for consumers and a quality management system. At the end of last year, the company exported 18 types of products to 52 countries of the world.

In particular, the volume of supplies outside Russia of granulated caustic soda last year increased by 3.7%, household chemicals by 41.9%, magnesium hydroxide - by 83.7%. At the end of the first half of 2021, bischofite supplies to foreign markets increased by 35.5%, magnesium hydroxide by 12.8% and granulated caustic soda by 12.4%.

According to the MRC's ScanPlast, Kaustik (Volgograd) last month produced 7,100 tonnes of SPVC, while in June this figure was 7,200 tonnes. During the period under review, the total volume of PVC production at the enterprise reached 50,300 tonnes against 43,700 tonnes in the same period in 2020.

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Report, in the middle of the week, negotiations started regarding the September price level for Russian PVC. At the same time, only one manufacturer began negotiations; other players postponed the price agreement for the next week. But in general, manufacturers are quite optimistic about September and do not plan to seriously adjust their prices, despite a serious increase in imports and a decline in demand for finished PVC products. In addition, prices have resumed on foreign markets in a number of regions.

The holding includes: JSC Kaustik - the main enterprise of the group, produces basic products - caustic soda, chlorinated paraffins, synthetic hydrochloric acid, commercial chlorine, polyvinyl chloride, sodium hypochlorite, etc .; JSC "NikoMag" - production of anti-icing materials, magnesium chloride, hydroxide and magnesium oxide; LLC "Zirax" - production of high-purity reagents for various industries and JSC "Poligran" - production of plastic compounds and rigid PVC-compositions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dangote's oil refinery will buy at least 300,000 barrels per day of Nigeria's crude production, the state oil firm said, after the government granted approval for a 20% equity purchase in the project promoted by Africa's richest man, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"We structured our equity participation on the basis that the refinery must buy at least 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day of our production," said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp's managing director, Mele Kyari. "This guarantees our market at a period when every country is struggling to find market for their crude oil," he told lawmakers in Abuja.

Nigeria produces under 2 million barrels per day and has been seeking to attract a shrinking pool of capital for fossil fuel development. President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law this month an oil overhaul bill that has been in the works for nearly two decades. The government this month gave NNPC the green light to acquire the stake in the oil refinery for USD2.76 billion.

The NNPC has said its move to work with private companies was in line with safeguarding the country's energy security and would not undercut plans to fix its own refineries. Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude oil exporter, imports virtually all its fuel due to moribund state refineries, which has prompted NNPC's interest in Dangote's oil refinery.

The 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery, owned by billionaire tycoon Aliko Dangote, is under construction in Lagos, the biggest city in the most fuel-consuming nation in the region. The refinery is scheduled for commissioning by January.

The NNPC signed term sheets with Dangote Group in June for the stake in its USD19 billion oil refinery and is in talks with banks to borrow to buy the stake.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The fourth-largest US refiner Phillips 66 said it has put the smaller of its two Louisiana refineries up for sale amid continued losses and an uncertain future for motor fuels, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company is holding talks with a potential buyer on the sale of its 255,600 barrel-per-day (bpd) Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, according to two people familiar with the matter. The identity of the potential buyer could not immediately be learned.

US refiners have closed or sold oil processing plants as the COVID-19 pandemic slashed demand for gasoline and jet fuel, generating losses for the industry.

Top automakers are accelerating their shift to electric vehicles, signaling tougher times ahead.

"The US refining business in the future is going to be smaller, not bigger," Chief Executive Officer Greg Garland said earlier this month while laying out Phillips 66's plans to expand its supply of lower-carbon fuels and components for electric car batteries.

Garland predicted gasoline demand in the United States and Europe was at or near its peak. The Houston-based refiner posted a second-quarter profit on strong chemical demand, but work-from-home policies and sagging fuel margins left its refining business in the red.

Phillips 66's pursuit of a buyer for the Louisiana plant continues an industry rationalization of excess capacity, said Garfield Miller, CEO of investment bank Aegis Energy Advisors.

Falling demand amid the pandemic has forced the closure of five US refineries and cut oil processing capacity by 4.5% to 18.13 million barrels per day (bpd), according to the US Energy Information Administration.

The 50-year-old Alliance refinery is located 20 miles (32 km) south of New Orleans along the Mississippi River, where ships deliver crude oil retrieve fuel.

As MRC informed previously, Worley has been recently awarded a front-end engineering services contract by Phillips 66 to convert its San Francisco refinery in Rodeo, California, USA into a renewable fuels-manufacturing facility. Under the contract, Worley will provide front-end engineering design services for the facility, which will be executed by Worley’s North America West team with support from Worley’s Global Integrated Delivery team.

Besides, in October 2020, Phillips 66 said it plans to reconfigure its refinery in Rodeo, California to produce renewable fuels from used cooking oil, fats, greases and soybean oils.

We remind that US-based Phillips 66 remains open to developing another ethane cracker for its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) joint venture, the refiner's CEO said in March 2018.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Phillips 66 is a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company. With a portfolio of Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties businesses, the company processes, transports, stores and markets fuels and products globally. Phillips 66 Partners, the company’s master limited partnership, is integral to the portfolio. Headquartered in Houston, the company has 14,300 employees committed to safety and operating excellence. Phillips 66 had USD55 billion of assets as of Dec. 31, 2020.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude inventories last week dropped for a third straight week while fuel demand rose to its highest since March 2020, reported Reuters with reference to the Energy Information Administration's statement.

Crude inventories fell by 3 million barrels in the week to Aug. 20, slightly higher than analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.7 million-barrel drop. At 432.6 million barrels, crude stocks were at their lowest since January 2020.

After 10 consecutive weekly drawdowns, stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. crude futures rose by 70,000 barrels last week, the EIA said.

"A tick higher in refinery runs and a tick lower in imports has yielded a third consecutive draw to crude inventories - dropping them to their lowest since late January 2020," said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData. "The inventory draw came despite a tick lower in refining activity on the US Gulf Coast."

Refinery crude runs rose by 66,000 barrels per day and refinery utilization rates rose by 0.2 percentage point to 92.4% of total capacity.

Net US crude imports rose last week by 426,000 bpd, the EIA said.

US total product supplied, a proxy for fuel demand, rose last week to 21.8 million bpd, the highest since March 2020, the data showed.

Both crude and gasoline prices gained after the report. US. crude rose 8 cents, or 0.2%, to USD67.62 a barrel by 11:13 a.m. ET (1513 GMT), while Brent was up 48 cents, or 0.6% at USD71.53 a barrel. US gasoline futures were up 2.5%.

As MRC informed previously, crude oil stockpiles fell modestly in early August, while gasoline inventories dipped to their lowest level since November, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Crude inventories fell by 447,000 barrels in the week to Aug. 6 to 438.8 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel drop. Overall crude inventories have been on the decline for several weeks due to increased demand.

We remind that US crude oil production is expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.12 million bpd, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly report, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesia's plans to raise the mandatory bio-content in its palm oil-based biodiesel to 40% may face further delays, after the high price of the vegetable oil has made the programme too costly, a senior government official told Reuters.

Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer and exporter, has a mandatory biodiesel programme with 30% palm oil content, known as B30, but intends to expand the use of the oil for energy to save on fuel imports. Authorities had planned to increase the mix to 40% in July this year, but the timetable for the B40 programme is now unclear.

"We don't have a timeline yet for B40, although from the technical side, we're ready," Dadan Kusdiana, a director general at the energy ministry, said in an interview. He said implementing B40 in 2022 will be "challenging". Indonesia funds its biodiesel programme with proceeds from palm export levies.

However, authorities have revised levy rules three times since last year as they sought to support the biodiesel programme after prices soared, but without hurting exports. Malaysian palm oil futures hit a record of 4,560 ringgit (USD1,089.35) a tonne on Aug. 12 and have been trading around 4,300 ringgit recently, about 60% higher than a year earlier.

Dadan said 45 trillion rupiah to 46 trillion rupiah (USD3.1 billion-USD3.2 billion) is needed this year to fund the difference between using regular diesel and the palm-based fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) for B30. If prices stayed constant, mixing 40% FAME would require around 60 trillion rupiah (USD4.16 billion), he said, while noting adopting B40 would likely boost palm oil prices by shrinking global supply, making the programme even more expensive.

"That is what we're considering, how capable are we in terms of the levies. We have to provide bigger financing, but it doesn't have to come from higher levies," Dadan said, without elaborating on alternatives. The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) had already said in January it expected B40 to be delayed beyond 2022.

On the technical side, Dadan said the water and monoglyceride contents in FAME must be reduced for B40 to work, requiring new investment by biodiesel producers. Although biodiesel promises lower emissions, the use of palm oil as a feedstock raises concern about deforestation in the clearance of land to grow it. The European Union is planning to phase it out as fuel for transport. (USD1 = 14,425.0000 rupiah) (USD1 = 4.1860 ringgit).

As per MRC, India's July crude oil imports slumped to their lowest in a year, tanker arrival data from industry sources showed, and are likely to rebound in August as refiners are expected to boost runs after maintenance of units. Crude imports in July fell 12.5% month-on-month to 3.4 million barrels per day (bpd), but rose 12.8% year-on-year, as refiners shut units for maintenance and cut crude imports anticipating lower fuel demand during the monsoon season. Government data released on Tuesday showed India's oil imports declined to about 15.02 million tonnes, about 3.5 million bpd.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC