Dow secures renewable power for Canadian petrochemical site

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Capital Power Corporation has announced a 15-year renewable power purchase agreement with Dow Chemical Canada ULC, a subsidiary of Dow, for 25 megawatts (MW) of capacity and the associated environmental attributes from our Whitla Wind 2 project, currently under construction in southeastern Alberta, as per the company's press release.

This long-term agreement demonstrates cross-industry collaboration to support grid diversity and increasing renewable electricity - empowering both companies to advance their sustainability priorities, tackle climate change and deliver a low-carbon future. Currently under construction, the 151-MW Whitla Wind 2 project is expected to be online and producing renewable energy by the end of 2021 - completing the Whitla Wind facility, which will be Alberta’s largest wind facility with 353 MW of generation capacity.

“Our longstanding, positive relationship with Capital Power began over twenty years ago, and remains strong today,” said Edward Stones, Global Director, Dow Energy and Climate Change Business. “We continue to partner with suppliers like Capital Power to competitively and sustainably source the power needed for Dow’s global operations. This new agreement further reduces our footprint at Dow’s Prentiss manufacturing site with the added benefit of supporting a more renewable grid in Alberta.”

Dow is a leading user of clean power in the chemical industry and among the top 20 globally. In 2020, Dow increased contracted renewable power by 50% to more than 800 MW of capacity, surpassing the company’s 2025 Sustainability Goal of obtaining 750 MW of its power demand from renewable sources.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, Dow Chemical, one of the largest US petrochemical companies, has begun bringing operations back online "as third-party utility balances and raw materials availability allow," according to the company's statement Sept. 8. The restarts would be gradual, as Dow's complexes involve multiple plants that have to be restarted one by one while checking for any storm-related, as-yet-undiscovered damage. At Plaquemine, Dow has two crackers and multiple polyethylene plants.

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 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Dow Chemical is an American diversified chemical company headquartered in Midland, Michigan. It is a major manufacturer of polymer products, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene and synthetic rubbers. The company produces more than five thousand products at 188 production facilities in 37 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR and TAIF have entered into an agreement finalising the creation of a combined entity that will leverage the facilities of PJSC SIBUR Holding and create the largest petrochemical company in Russia and one of the biggest in the world.

Under the agreement, TAIF shareholders will receive a 15% stake in the new combined company in exchange for 50% plus 1 share in JSC TAIF. To ensure faster integration and higher efficiency of the combined entity’s operations and investment programme, the parties have agreed on an early exercise of an option for the remaining stake of TAIF’s shareholders. SIBUR’s financial obligations in the second phase of the transaction will be secured by several issues of exchange-traded bonds. As a result, in a matter of days required to finalise the deal the combined entity will consolidate 100% of the shares of TAIF Group, which includes petrochemical and energy companies.

The new company will support Russia’s leadership in the chemical, petrochemical and oil & gas sectors while making the country’s products more globally competitive thanks to economies of scale, higher production efficiency, better sales processes and improved customer service in line with global best practices.

Following the completion of all ongoing investment projects, the new combined company will be among the top 5 producers of polyolefin and rubber globally. The company’s investment programme will yield further growth of chemical non-commodity exports and import substitution, and also unlock new ways of tackling sustainability and environmental challenges.

The deal brings together the two companies’ vast expertise in major investment projects and facilitates efficient distribution of feedstock, which will boost Tatarstan's petrochemical cluster and pave the way for new partnerships with the region.

Earlier it was reported that the European Commission on September 2 received a notice of the deal concerning the merger of SIBUR and TAIF. Upon preliminary examination, the commission concludes that the declared transaction may be subject to the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this matter has been postponed.

As MRC reported, on 23 April of this year, SIBUR announced a merger with TAIF by exchanging 15% of its shares for 50% + 1 share in TAIF. The scope of the transaction includes only TAIF's petrochemical and generating companies. TAIF together with SIBUR will spend more than 1 trillion rubles. for the implementation of joint projects. In total, the companies plan to implement over 30 projects. According to figures provided by SIBUR, the joint entity would produce 8.1m tonnes/year of polyolefins, when including upcoming capacities in their Amur GCC and EP-600 large-scale projects.

TAIF JSC is the parent company of the largest non-public group in the Russian Federation. The group's netted revenue over the past 12 months amounted to more than Rb720 bn. TAIF plans to enter the production of commercial products in the amount of more than Rb1.7 trln by 2035. per year, for this planned investment of Rb1.8 trln for the next 15 years.

SIBUR manufactures and sells petrochemical products on the Russian and international markets in two business segments: olefins and polyolefins (polypropylene, polyethylene, BOPP, etc.), as well as plastics, elastomers and intermediate products (synthetic rubbers, expanded polystyrene, PET, etc.)
MRC

1. Lower diesel exports from China proving a boost to Asia refiners

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Slumping diesel exports from China are proving a boon to other refiners in Asia, with the profit from producing the fuel rising to the highest in 18 months, reported Reuters. China has been Asia's second-highest exporter of gasoil, the building block for middle distillate fuels that include diesel, heating oil and jet kerosene, but its shipments have slumped in recent months amid lower refinery processing and a lack of export permits. China's diesel exports dropped in August to the lowest since May 2015, slumping to 540,000 tonnes, equivalent to about 135,000 barrels per day (bpd), from 1.39 million tonnes in July, according to official customs data released on Sept. 18. Diesel exports have been on a downward trend since March this year, when they were 2.81 million tonnes, or about 680,000 bpd. The total for the first eight months of the year is now 3.5% below the same period in 2020.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were lower in mid-morning trade in Asia trade Sept. 24 amid profit-taking after an overnight rally, but the outlook remains bullish, reported S&P Global with reference to market sources.

At 10:40 am Singapore time (0240 GMT), the ICE November Brent futures contract was down 15 cents/b (0.19%) from the previous close at USD77.10/b, while the NYMEX November light sweet crude contract was 20 cents/b (0.27%) lower at USD73.10/b.

"There seems to be some profit-taking this morning. We will expect higher volatility in the coming day as crude is in a recalibration mode with an eye on the Europe gas crunch," Vandana Hari, CEO of Vanda Insights, said Sept. 24.

ANZ research analysts noted that Brent crude oil prices were still at a three-year high above USD77/b and that a prolonged recovery from Hurricane Ida disruptions and robust demand were eating into oil stockpiles.

Other analysts shared similar sentiment, with IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong saying that recent drawdowns in US crude inventories have added support in the oil market.

US oil supply remains tight in the wake of Hurricane Ida as operators in the US Gulf of Mexico struggle to return to full production. Around 294,214 b/d or 16.18% of total Gulf production remained shut-in as of Sept. 23, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Despite the proportion of offline production easing from a week earlier, full recovery in the near term was unlikely due to damage to pipeline infrastructure.

As informed earlier, Shell said earlier this month it observed damage from Hurricane Ida to its transfer station West Delta-143 offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. West Delta-143 serves as the transfer station for all production from its assets in the Mars corridor in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico to onshore crude terminals. Shell said then it was not yet safe to send personnel offshore to learn the full extent of the damage and estimate the effect on production.

We remind that in late August, 2021, US crude stocks dropped sharply while petroleum products supplied by refiners hit an all-time record despite the rise in coronavirus cases nationwide, the Energy Information Administration said. Crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 27 to 425.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.1 million-barrel drop. Product supplied by refineries, a measure of demand, rose to 22.8 million barrels per day in the most recent week. That's a one-week record, and signals strength in consumption for diesel, gasoline and other fuels by consumers and exporters.

We also 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) - Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNKh, part of TAIF Group) plans to place exchange-traded bonds totaling Rb17.2 bn, follows from the company's message.

The placement of Rb17.2 mln bonds with a par value of Rb1,000 is scheduled to begin on 22 September. The company collected offers from potential buyers on Thursday. The maturity of the securities is 7 years.

The loan is planned to be attracted under the program of exchange-traded bonds with a total volume of Rb40 bn rubles, which Nizhnekamskneftekhim approved back in 2018. The first coupon rate of the bonds is set at 8.2% per annum.

Currently, there is one issue of NKNK's exchange-traded bonds in the amount of Rb15 bn due in 2028. The funds of the second issue of exchange-traded bonds, as well as of the first issue, will be used to finance the investment program.

Earlier it was reported that Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNKh, part of TAIF Group) predicts an increase in sales of rubbers and a decrease in sales of plastics in physical terms compared to last year.

As per ICIS-MRC Price report, Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNKh, part of TAIF Group) shut its polyethylene (PE) production capacities for a scheduled turnaround on 17 September. According to the producer"s clients, producer started the scheduled shutdown of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) on 17 September. The shutdown will be short and will last for about 10 days. As it was reported earlier, Nizhnekamskneftekhim shut its ethylene production for scheduled turnaround from 14 September to 16 September.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim is one of the largest petrochemical companies in Eastern Europe, occupying a leading position among domestic producers of synthetic rubbers, plastics and ethylene. Part of the TAIF group of companies, Tatarstan. The nomenclature of manufactured products includes more than 120 items. The products of the joint-stock company are exported to 50 countries in Europe, America and Southeast Asia. The share of exports in the total volume of production is about 50%.
MRC