MOSCOW (MRC) -- AdvanSix’ third-quarter net income swung to a USD43.9m profit on the back of strong pricing and volumes amid tight industry supply, said the company.
Raw material pricing pass-through increased by 22% year on year during the quarter following rising prices for benzene and propylene, the raw materials for key feedstock cumene.
Improved demand for ammonium sulphate, nylon and caprolactam drove an 8% increase in sales volumes.
Planned plant turnarounds are expected to impact full-year profits by USD30m.
“"Our performance was supported by strong pricing and volume improvement including continued contributions from differentiated products amid favourable end-market conditions and tight industry supply,” said CEO Erin Kane.
Strong chemical intermediates demand is expected to continue but supply and demand for acetone in North America are likely to become better balanced.
North American nylon market conditions are expected to remain tight for the foreseeable future, while agricultural sector fundamentals are forecast to stay strong through the 2022 planting season.
“We continued to execute well in the third quarter while supporting our customers to successfully navigate
the current set of industry dynamics," said Erin Kane, president and CEO of AdvanSix. "Our performance
was supported by strong pricing and volume improvement including continued contributions from differentiated products amid favorable end market conditions and tight industry supply. Our earnings results were above the high-end of the outlook we provided at our September 28th Investor Day driven primarily by better-than-expected pricing, net of raw material costs, as well as the timing of ammonium sulfate sales."
We remind that AdvanSix, a new resin and chemical division of Honeywell, completed a planned turnaround at its phenol and acetone plant in Frankford, PA, USA. The maintenance works at the plant with a capacity of 1.1 billion pounds of phenol per year (about 500,000 tons per year) and 608 million pounds of acetone per year (308,400 tons per year) began at the end of March 2017 and was expected to take 2 -3 weeks. This plant is the third largest producer of phenol and acetone in North America. AdvanSix uses cumene derived from benzene and propylene to produce phenol and acetone.
Phenol is the main feedstock component for the production of bisphenol A (BPA), which, in its turn, is used to produce polycarbonate (PC).
According to MRC's ScanPlast, the total consumption of PC granulate in Russia decreased in January - August 2021 (excluding imports and exports to Belarus) by 14% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 62,000 tonnes against 72,100 tonnes a year earlier.
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