Trinseo raises March PS, ABS and SAN prices in Europe

Trinseo raises March PS, ABS and SAN prices in Europe

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 polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) in Europe, according to the company's press release as of March 2.

Effective March 1, 2022, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below rose, as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR125 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR125 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR110 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR110 per metric ton.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo reduced its prices for all PS grades on February 1, 2021, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS -- by EUR40 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech HIPS - by EUR40 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Russia, this month's prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's PS increased by Rb6,000/tonne, whereas March prices of Penoplex's material grew by Rb8,000/tonne. During last week, prices pf Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's GPPS rose and were at Rb196,000-205,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

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

Refining profits may surge further after US ban of all Russian oil imports

Refining profits may surge further after US ban of all Russian oil imports

Refining profits, or margins, from turning crude oil into products such as gasoline and diesel are ballooning, and could surge further after the US, the world's top oil consumer, on Tuesday banned all Russian oil imports in retaliation of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, reported Reuters.

The US ban on the world's biggest oil exporter of over 7 MMbpd of crude and petroleum products is expected to make it more difficult for domestic refiners to source the feedstocks needed to make diesel and other products, market participants said.

Until now, Russia's energy exports had been exempted from international sanctions by most nations. The US ban, announced by President Joseph Biden, was joined by Britain, which said it would phase out oil imports by the end of the year.

The move against Russian oil pressured the already tightly supplied market even more. Since the Feb. 24 invasion, global benchmark Brent crude futures have soared about 35% to hit USD133.15 a bbl on Tuesday, while US crude has surged 40% to USD129.44 a bbl.

European benchmark diesel's six-month spread surged to record-high backwardation of USD509.75 a ton on Tuesday, due to fears of disruptions to Russian supplies.

The US is not a big importer of Russian crude, but it imported about 350,000 bbl of unfinished oils every day in 2021, according to US Energy Department figures. Those products are used in refining to be turned into fuels for general use, of which Russia is a big supplier. They include unfinished oils such as naphtha, some types of fuel oil, and feedstock for refiners of heavy crude.

Those products are crucial for processing into other refined goods that the US exports, largely to South America and Mexico.

Margins to produce distillates in the US, such as heating oil and diesel climbed as high as USD63.26 a bbl on Tuesday, their highest since April 2020, when crude futures turned negative during the coronavirus pandemic.

US gasoline margins rose to USD36.39 a bbl on Monday, also its highest since April 2020, but since edged down to around US31 per bbl on Tuesday.

The 3-2-1 crack spread, a proxy for refining margins, surged to USD41.19 a bbl on Tuesday, the highest since at least a year ago, according to available data from Refinitiv Eikon.

As MRC informed before, Finland's Neste has replaced most of its Russian crude oil purchases with other crudes such as North Sea oil due to the crisis in Ukraine. Previously the Finnish refiner purchased from Russia some two-thirds of the crude oil it uses.

We remind that Neste has successfully concluded its first series of trial runs processing liquefied waste plastic at its Porvoo refinery in Finland. After kicking the series off with its first-ever industrial scale trial run with liquefied waste plastic in 2020, Neste has conducted additional runs in 2021. In the course of the trial runs, Neste has been able to upgrade liquefied waste plastic to drop-in solutions for plastic production and develop industrial scale capabilities to upgrade recycled feedstocks. Trials pave the way for continuous and commercial activities. Neste has set itself the goal of processing more than 1 MM tons of plastic waste per year from 2030 onwards.

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 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas.shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

Sinopec plans to sell 50% stake in Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical

Sinopec plans to sell 50% stake in Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical

Sinopec is offering to sell a 50% stake in Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical for Chinese yuan (CNY) 10.3bn (USD1.6bn), said the company.

The 50% stake includes 15% that is owned directly by Sinopec and 35% owned by its subsidiary Sinopec Gaoqiao Petrochemical. Shanghai SECCO was formed in 2001 as a joint venture between BP East China (50%), Sinopec (30%) and Sinopec ShanghaiPetrochemical (20%). In 2017, BP sold all its interest to Sinopec Gaoqiao Petrochemical.

SECCO produces around 3.2m tonnes/year of chemical products, including ethylene, propylene, polyolefin, styrene, polystyrene, aromatics and acrylonitrile, among others. The company hopes to attract strategic partners to improve its capabilities in petrochemical chain and support its transition, Sinopec said.

We remind, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) completed the construction of China’s first megaton carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) project, the Qilu-Shengli Oilfield CCUS (the “Project”) on January 29, which will reduce carbon emission by 1 million tons per year, the equivalent of planting nearly 9 million trees and shutting down 600,000 economy cars.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the world's largest integrated energy and chemical companies. Business of Sinopec Corp. includes oil and gas exploration, production and transportation of oil and gas, oil refining, petrochemical production, production of mineral fertilizers and other chemical products. In terms of oil refining capacity, Sinopec Corp. ranks second in the world, and fourth in terms of ethylene capacity.
mrchub.com

Solvay suspends its operations and new investments in Russia

Solvay suspends its operations and new investments in Russia

Belgian chemicals group Solvay is suspending operations and new investments in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, reported Reuters with reference to the company's statement on Monday.

“Solvay has decided to suspend its operations and new investments in Russia,” CEO Ilham Kadri said in a statement, citing the conflict in Ukraine.

The suspension is temporary and will be reviewed in due course, a spokesperson said, adding that the company had put a task force in place to manage the impact of the measures.

The company has 26 employees in Russia who will continue to receive salary and benefits during the suspension.

Solvay’s direct sales in Russia account for less than 1% of the group’s total revenue and its core profit from Russia and Belarus this year is projected at EUR100 MM (USD109 MM), the company said.

As MRC reported earlier, in August, 2020, through the acquisition of the Solvay polyamide (PA) business, BASF enhanced its R&D capabilities in Asia Pacific with new technologies, technical expertise, and upgraded material and part testing services. BASF is planning to integrate the R&D centers from Solvay into its R&D existing facilities in Shanghai, China, and Seoul, Korea. The enhanced capabilities will boost BASF’s position as a solution provider to develop advanced material solutions for key industries.

Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 24,100 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities.
MRC

U.S. to ban Russian oil imports

U.S. to ban Russian oil imports

U.S. President Joe Biden was expected to announce a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports on Tuesday in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine, sources familiar with the matter said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The White House said Biden was scheduled to announce actions at 10:45 a.m. (1545 GMT) on Tuesday against Russia over Ukraine, but did not specifically mention oil imports. Oil prices jumped on the news, with Benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 for May climbing by 5.4% to USD129.91 a bbl by 1345 GMT.

Biden has been working with allies in Europe, who are far more dependent on Russian oil, to isolate Russia's energy-heavy economy and President Vladimir Putin. Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday the United States may move ahead with a ban on Russian oil imports without the participation of allies in Europe.

The U.S. imported more than 20.4 MM bbl of crude and refined products a month on average from Russia in 2021, about 8% of U.S. liquid fuel imports, according to the Energy Information Administration, and any ban is likely spike gasoline prices and inflation even further. The U.S. also imports a negligible amount of coal from Russia.

U.S. Senator Chris Coons said the administration was coordinating with European allies "and making sure that we've done the groundwork to understand how to effectively implement a ban on Russian energy." "We are going to see increased gas prices here in the U.S. In Europe, they will see dramatic increases in prices. That's the cost of standing up for freedom and standing alongside the Ukrainian people, but it's going to cost us," Coons told CNN.

The White House was previously coordinating with U.S. congressional leaders working on fast-tracking bipartisan legislation that would ban Russian imports; any White House ban of Russian imports would make any such bill moot. Republican lawmakers took to social media to welcome the decision, while criticizing Biden's green energy policies, and calling for the administration to support more oil and gas production at home.

U.S. Representative Susan Wild said Americans need to realize the larger sacrifice needed. "Obviously nobody wants to pay more for gas," Wild, a Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said on MSNBC.

As per MRC, the U.S. took aim at Russia's oil refining sector with new export curbs and targeted Belarus with sweeping new export restrictions, as the Biden administration amps up its crackdown on Moscow and Minsk over the invasion of Ukraine. The new round of sanctions announced by the White House ban the export of specific refining technologies, making it harder for Russia to modernize its oil refineries. The White House also applied a sweeping set of export restrictions levied against Russia last month to Belarus, arguing the controls would help prevent the diversion of items, including technology and software, in the defense, aerospace and maritime sectors to Russia through Belarus.

As per MRC, ExxonMobil said it will exit a major oil and gas project and cease investing in Russia, making it the latest western oil company to cut ties with the country following its invasion of Ukraine. The Texas-based energy supermajor said it was “discontinuing operations” at the Sakhalin-1 project in Russia’s far east, one of the largest foreign-operated oil and gasfields in the country. Exxon follows BP, Shell and Norway’s Equinor, which have said they will dump stakes in projects and sell out of Russian state-backed energy groups after Moscow was hit with a barrage of western sanctions.
MRC