Trinseo raises November prices for PC/ABS grades in the EMEA region

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe, have announced a price increase for all PULSE polycarbonate (PC)/ acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) in the EMEA region, according to the company's press release.

Effective November 1, 2021, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products stated above rose by EUR300 per metric ton.

The present price increase in response to unprecedented and escalating pressure from energy prices and apply to all current agreements and contracts for deliveries as of November 1, 2021 and are subject to further potential adjustments linked to fluctuating energy prices.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo also raised its prices for all PC grades in the EMEA region on November 1, 2021 by EUR300 per metric ton.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to Belarus) decreased by 14% and reached 62,000 tonnes in January-August 2021 against 72,100 tonnes in the same period of 2020.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.0 billion in net sales in 2020, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,600 employees.
MRC

1. Eni income indicator Q3 exceeded forecasts

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eni's chemical business managed by Versalis swung to a third-quarter adjusted operating profit of €25m from a loss of EUR53m in the same period of last year on the back of higher margins, said the company. Sales of petrochemical products were 1.03m tonnes in the third quarter, down by 7% year on year. Petrochemical product margins improved significantly on the back of "macroeconomic recovery, which mitigated competitive pressure, and contingent factors due to temporary supply shortages during the first half of the year", the company said in a statement. "The exceptionally strong products spread versus feedstocks recorded in the second quarter 2021 moderated in the third quarter as plants affected by contingent issues returned to normal activity", it said.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures extended gains in mid-morning trade in Asia Nov. 2 after a bullish overnight session, as supply remained tight amid ongoing outages in Africa and ahead of the OPEC+ meeting on Nov. 4, reported S&P Global.

At 11:10 am Singapore time (0310 GMT), the ICE January Brent futures contract was up 21 cents/b (0.25%) from the previous close at USD84.92/b, while the NYMEX December light sweet crude contract rose 13 cents/b (0.15%) at USD84.18/b. Both benchmarks had settled higher by 0.5%-1.2% overnight.

Output from OPEC remains partially crippled after outages last month at Nigeria and Libya knocked out at least 100,000 b/d of supply.

While some analysts have voiced caution on the pace of the increase in oil prices, others have grown more bullish, citing the ongoing global energy crisis and years of underinvestment in capacity.

"Crude prices are rallying after OPEC+ failed to hit their production goals and both Kuwait and Iraq signaled they support keeping the gradual 400,000 b/d output plan intact," said OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya.

Analysts from Bank of America said Nov. 1 that they expect crude prices to reach USD120/b by the end of June 2022.

ING analysts Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao pointed to the widening backwardation in WTI time spreads in recent weeks, citing inventory levels in US storage hub Cushing, Oklahoma reaching critically low levels.

"The WTI prompt time spread continues to hold firm and in fact the spread hit an intraday high of USD1.88/b yesterday (Nov. 1). The strength in the WTI structure is largely due to the continued decline in inventories at the WTI delivery hub, Cushing," Patterson and Yao said.

Latest figures from the US Energy Information Administration had showed crude inventory levels at Cushing declining to 27.3 million barrels as of Oct. 22 -- a low not seen since October 2018. Investors will now be looking towards this week's inventory report from the EIA for guidance on the next move in prices.

OPEC+ ministers are set to meet on Nov. 4 to discuss the course of action for December, where output is expected to increase by 400,000 b/d, according to a July agreement. The coalition is under pressure from several consuming countries, including the US, Japan and India, to further ramp up its output to temper oil prices that have surged amid a global gas crisis, outages and a lack of oil investments due to climate change pledges.

As MRC informed before, US commercial crude stocks fell 3.48 million barrels to 413.96 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 17, to more than 8% below the five-year average, Energy Information Administration data showed. Stocks were last lower Oct. 5, 2018.

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) -- Russia's overall polyethylene (PE) production totalled 2,419,500 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

September total PE production in Russia dropped to 237,900 tonnes, whereas this figure was 276,000 tonnes a month earlier; Gazprom neftekhim Salavat and Kazanorgsintez's production capacities were shut for scheduled turnarounds. Thus, overall PE output reached 2,419,500 tonnes in January-September 2021, compared to 2,204,200 tonnes a year earlier. Production of all PE grades increased, with LLDPE accounting for the greatest increase in the output.

The structure of PE output by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

September production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) reached 146,400 tonnes, compared to 158,500 tonnes a month earlier; Gazprom neftekhim Salavat and Kazanorgsintez shut their production capacities for scheduled maintenance in the first autumn month. Russian plants' overall HDPE output reached 1,474,500 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 8% year on year.

September total production of low density polyethylene (LDPE) fell to 44,100 tonnes from 55,600 tonnes in August, the plants in Kazan and Salavat were shut for repairs. Thus, overall output of this PE grade totalled 485,700 tonnes over the stated period, up by 4% year on year.

September LLDPE production decreased to 47,300 tonnes from 61,900 tonnes a month earlier, all producers reduced their LLDPE output. Overall LLDPE production rose to 459,300 tonnes in January-September 2021 from 370,400 tonnes a year earlier.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- HollyFrontier Corporation has announced the completion of the previously announced acquisition of the Puget Sound Refinery, the on-site cogeneration facility and related logistics assets, from Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil Products US for aggregate cash consideration ofUSD$613.6 million, which consists of a base cash purchase price of USD350.0 million, hydrocarbon inventory with an estimated closing value of approximately USD266.2 million and other closing adjustments and accrued liabilities of USD2.6 million, as per the company's press release.

HollyFrontier expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to HollyFrontier’s earnings per share and free cash flow.

Mike Jennings, President and CEO of HollyFrontier commented, “The Puget Sound Refinery has a strong record of financial and operational performance that we believe will complement our existing refining business. The refinery supplies transportation fuels into the premium Pacific Northwest region and sources advantaged Canadian crude, further enhancing our refining asset base. We are committed to the continued safe and environmentally responsible operations of the facility and welcome Puget Sound’s highly skilled workforce to the HollyFrontier family.”

The Puget Sound Refinery is strategically located on approximately 850 acres in Anacortes, Washington, approximately 80 miles north of Seattle and 90 miles south of Vancouver. The 149,000 barrel per day facility is a large, high quality and complex refinery with catalytic cracking and delayed coking units and is well positioned geographically and logistically to source advantaged Canadian and Alaskan North Slope crudes.

In addition to refining assets and an on-site cogeneration facility, the transaction includes a deep-water marine dock, a light product loading rack, a rail terminal, and storage tanks with approximately 5.8 million barrels of crude, product and other hydrocarbon storage capacity.

As MRC reported earlier, Shell has been planning to shrink its refining and chemicals portfolio from 14 to six sites with chemical business synergies including its Deer Park, Norco, Pernis, Pulau Bukom, Rheinland and Scotford sites. In 2020, it began shutting its 211,146-bpd Convent, Louisiana refinery after failing to find a buyer for the plant.

Earlier that year, Shell sold its 156,400-bpd Martinez, California, refinery and logistics assets to PBF Energy for USD960 million plus the price for oil and refined products on hand.

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 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.

HollyFrontier Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is an independent petroleum refiner and marketer that produces high value light products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other specialty products. HollyFrontier owns and operates refineries located in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Washington and Utah and markets its refined products principally in the Southwest US, the Rocky Mountains extending into the Pacific Northwest and in other neighboring Plains states. In addition, HollyFrontier produces base oils and other specialized lubricants in the US, Canada and the Netherlands, and exports products to more than 80 countries. HollyFrontier also owns a 57% limited partner interest and a non-economic general partner interest in Holly Energy Partners, L.P., a master limited partnership that provides petroleum product and crude oil transportation, terminalling, storage and throughput services to the petroleum industry, including HollyFrontier Corporation subsidiaries.
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