Iranian gas, petrochemical export earnings surge in year to March

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iranian gas export revenues surged by more than 250% in the year to March, while earnings from petrochemical exports doubled, said Rueters.

Oil Minister Javad Owji said, overall energy export earnings, including crude, rose by 2.5 times but he only gave a breakdown for gas and petrochemicals. Iran does not release figures related to oil exports.

The increase in revenue was partly due to more exports and because Iran managed to collect more of the proceeds from exports in spite of U.S. sanctions, the minister said.

"Through various methods, our government has collected all the revenues from its exports of oil, gas, gas condensate and oil products," Owji said.

Gas export revenues rose to USD4.6 B from USD1.27 B last year, and revenues from petrochemical products exports doubled to USD12 B, the minister said.

As per MRC, Asian refiners, traditionally big buyers of Iranian oil, are keen to resume imports from Iran if there is an agreement to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, which could pave the way for more supply on global markets and soften prices. Most Asian buyers halted Iranian oil imports in 2019 after former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran's oil exports. Indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. on the nuclear deal resumed last week. Western diplomats have indicated they hoped to have a breakthrough by now, but tough issues remain unresolved.

We remind, 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. 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.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- German specialty chemicals firm LANXESS said that it swung to a net income of EUR29m in the fourth quarter of last year amid a sharp rise in sales, said the company.

For the full year of 2021, the company’s net income fell by 69.8%, the company said in a statement. In 2020, LANXESS reported high extraordinary proceeds generated from the sale of the stake in chemical park operator Currenta.

EBITDA margin pre-exceptionals fell to 13.4% in 2021 from 14.1% in 2020, weighed by “significantly higher costs and one-time effects”, the company said. "We expect energy and raw material prices to continue to rise in the first half of 2022,” said Matthias Zachert, the Chairman of the Board of Management of LANXESS.

"Global supply chains also remain fragile. Nevertheless, we would anticipate further significant earnings growth in this fiscal year,” he said, adding that the impact of the war in Ukraine is yet unforeseeable.

LANXESS anticipates an earnings jump in the first quarter of 2022 and expects EBITDA pre exceptionals to come in between EUR280m and EUR320m (previous year: EUR242m).

As per MRC, LANXESS to produce Polyamide 6, Polyamide 66 and Polybutylenterephthalate (PBT) at its Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany, location, making significant steps toward a new throughput range. With this technology, constructed around the high-performance ZSK 92 Mc18 twin screw extruder, LANXESS is producing demanding compounds at throughputs never achieved before.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals concern with a turnover of EUR7.2 billion in 2018. The group employs approximately 15,400 people in 33 countries. Currently, the concern includes 60 manufacturing enterprises. LANXESS's core business is the development, production and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. The concern is included in the lists of the world's leading sustainability indices: the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World and Europe) and FTSE4Good.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell faces writedowns on USD400 MM in Russian downstream assets, it said, having announced USD3 B worth of other projects previously, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The oil major announced on Feb. 28 that it would quit its ventures in Russia with Gazprom and related entities including the flagship Sakhalin 2 LNG plant and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.

"It is expected that these decisions ...will impact the carrying value of the related assets and lead to recognition of impairments in 2022," Shell said in its annual report on Thursday.

The downstream assets come on top of USD3 B mentioned in its Feb. 28 announcement, a company spokesperson said.

Shell's production from Russian oil and gas projects reached stood at 140,000 bpd of oil equivalent compared with around 2.2 MMbpd of oil equivalent total volumes for sale, according to its annual report and a spokesperson.

As MRC informed earlier, on February 27, Shell’s U.K. rival BP announced plans to shed its almost 20% stake in Rosneft, which is controlled by the Russian state. Norway’s Equinor said Monday that it would halt new investment in Russia and begin selling its holdings in the country.

We remind that Shell Chemicals expects its new petrochemical complex in southwest Pennsylvania to come online by the end of 2022, Royal Dutch Shell CFO Jessica Uhl said February 3, during the company's Q4 2021 earnings call.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas Hydrogen Sdn Bhd and ENEOS Corporation (ENEOS) have signed a Joint Feasibility Study Agreement (JFSA) to advance the studies for a commercial hydrogen production and conversion project in Kerteh, Terengganu, said th company.

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) said under the JFSA, both parties will pursue detailed technical and commercial feasibility studies for the production of low carbon hydrogen from Petronas’ existing facilities, production of green hydrogen from a new hydro-powered electrolyser facility, and hydrogen conversion into methylcyclohexane (MCH).

"The agreement is part of the long-term Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed last August for the development of a clean hydrogen supply chain between Malaysia and Japan," it said in a statement.

According to the statement, the facilities are projected to have a total hydrogen production and conversion capacity of up to 50,000 tonnes per annum by 2027 for export in MCH form to Japan, where the clean hydrogen will be distributed to Japanese industries through ENEOS’ refineries.

Through ENEOS, the hydrogen-to-MCH project has been selected as one of the Green Innovation Fund projects by the Japanese government -- a testament to the project's viability and competitiveness, which is a critical aspect in the development of the nascent clean hydrogen supply chain. The two trillion Japanese yen funding was introduced to support green research and development projects as well as facility developments to propel Japan’s ambitious decarbonisation plans, which include achieving the three million tonnes per annum clean hydrogen demand target by 2030.

Petronas and ENEOS are also exploring other hydrogen projects and technology opportunities, both domestically and internationally. Petronas said since 2020, it has entered into several strategic partnerships with international and domestic players to grow its hydrogen production capabilities and delivery networks, covering low-carbon and green hydrogen.

It had also announced the setting up of a new, independent entity that would focus on cleaner energy solutions and capture opportunities in the energy transition sphere alongside its core portfolio. Petronas said the entity will provide customers with lower carbon solutions through three initial core offerings – renewables, hydrogen and green mobility.

Recently, the Company announced that it will set up a new, independent entity focused fully on cleaner energy solutions and will capture opportunities in the energy transition alongside its core portfolio. The entity will provide customers with lower carbon solutions through three initial core offerings – renewables, hydrogen and green mobility.

As per MRC, Petronas Chemicals Aromatics shut down its paraxylene production facility at Kerteh, Malaysia in February for scheduled maintenance. This production facility with a capacity of 550,000 tonnes of paraxylene per year will be under repair for about 50 days.

Petronas is a Malaysian government-owned oil and gas and petrochemicals company and a Global Fortune 500 company. It currently operates and operates in markets in more than 60 countries.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The global plastic additives market is estimated to grow from USD45,600 million in 2020 to USD 59,900 million by 2027, at a CAGR of 5.6%, according to SpecialChem.

Rising demand from the packaging sector is driving the growth of the plastic additives market.

Based on the application, the market is segmented into packaging, consumer goods, construction, automotive, flame retardants, others.

Packaging segment has largest market share during the forecast period polymers are widely used in the packaging and decoration of end-user items in the packaging industry.

Certain polymer features, such as lightweight, availability in a variety of colors, low reactivity, chemical, moisture and flame resistance, and so on, are driving the rising use of polymers in the packaging business.

The use of appropriate plastic additives helps to increased lifetime, appearance, thermal protection, clarity, reduced haze, and better mechanical qualities, all of which are critical elements in packaging.

Packaging is widely utilized for industrial and residential uses. Lifestyle changes and globalization have accelerated the growth of the packaging business, which has boosted the plastic additive market. The rising use of plastics in everyday applications is also driving the plastic additives market.

Roofing, storage containers, pipes, flame retardants, cables, electronics, toys, kitchenware, safety gear, cosmetic items, household products, seat belts, door panels, greenhouse films, and silage sheet are some of the main applications of plastic additives.

The COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 had a detrimental impact on the market. COVID-19 revealed a number of issues for a variety of businesses. The entire planet appears to have gone into lockdown in order to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Markets were hampered by uncertainty and limitations. Furthermore, the pandemic reduces investment and delays ongoing initiatives in all countries around the world.

Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Asia-Pacific region controlled most of the worldwide market. Due to low-cost raw materials and labor availability, China is one of the most profitable markets for plastic additives.

As MRC reported earlier, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, aims to display endless possibilities with innovative material solutions that improve energy efficiency, prolong product lifecycles, and enable recycling at CHINAPLAS 2022. Among the sustainable solutions to be shown at CHINAPLAS is IrgaCycle. Enabling recycling by improving the properties of recycled plastics is IrgaCycle, a new range of additive solutions that can help increase the percentage of recycled content in several end-use applications such as packaging, automotive & mobility, and building and construction.

We remind that Kraton Corporation has recently announced its CirKular+ performance enhancement series C2000 and C3000 have been approved as fully compatible with recycling of polypropylene (PP) containers in Europe.
MRC