Indian Oil buys 3 mln bbl Russian Urals crude via tender

Indian Oil buys 3 mln bbl Russian Urals crude via tender

Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, bought 3 mln bbl of Russian Urals from trader Vitol for May delivery, trade sources said, its first purchase of the grade since Russia invaded Ukraine, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Western sanctions against Russia have led many companies and countries to shun its oil, depressing Russian crude to record discount levels. IOC said in late February it would buy Russian oil on delivered basis to avoid any complication relating to fixing vessels and insurance.

Sources said IOC does not see any problem in paying for the cargo as oil as a commodity is not banned and it was not dealing with a sanctioned entity. Vitol sold the cargoes at a discount of USD20-25 a bbl to dated Brent, one of the sources said. The companies typically do not comment on commercial deals.

Separately, IOC also bought 2 MM bbl of Abu Dhabi's Murban crude and one mln bbl each of Nigeria's Akpo and Forcados, and Cameroon's Kole, they said. Price details were not immediately available.

As per MRC, Rosneft signed a deal to supply refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC) with up to 2 million tonnes of crude next year. The deal was signed on Monday among a number of other agreements made during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India. Rosneft will supply up to 2 million tonnes of Russian oil loading from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk. The deal follows several supply agreements between the companies in recent years.

We remind, Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), the country's top refiner, will increase crude purchases from Iraq by 11.5% in 2022 to 390,000 bpd, partly to make up for a shortfall from Mexico and a possible supply cut from Kuwait. Iraq is the top supplier of oil to India and its market share there is set to rise as another refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. will also buy more crude from the Middle Eastern nation. India is the world's third biggest oil importer.
mrchub.com

Trinseo again raises March PC prices in Europe

Trinseo again raises March PC 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 polycarbonate (PC) grades in Europe, as per the company's press release.

Effective March 8, 2022, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot PC prices for the products listed below were adjusted to reflect current market conditions as follows:

- CALIBRE PC resins - by EUR500 per metric ton.

As MRC informed earlier, Trinseo last raised its prices for all PC grades in Europe on 1 March 2022 by EUR160 per metric ton.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus) totalled 89,300 tonnes in 2020, up by 14% year on year (78,500 tonnes a year earlier).

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 USD4.8 billion in net sales in 2021, with 26 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 3,400 employees.
MRC

Trinseo again raises March PS, ABS and SAN prices in Europe

Trinseo again 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 8.

Effective March 8, 2022, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below rose to reflect current market conditions as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR350 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR350 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR350 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR350 per metric ton.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo raised its prices for all PS, ABS and SAN grades on Narch 1, 2022, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS -- by EUR125 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech HIPS - by EUR125 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR110 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR110 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

North American chem rail traffic rises for fourth week

North American chem rail traffic rises for fourth week
North American chemical railcar traffic rose for the fourth straight week, led by the US where loadings rose 17.8% from depressed levels during last year’s US Gulf Coast winter storm, according to data for the week ended 5 March from the Association of American Railroads.

For the first nine weeks of 2022 ended 5 March, North American chemical railcar traffic was up 5.2% year on year to 420,894 railcar loadings.

In the US, chemical railcar loadings represent about 20% of chemical transportation by tonnage, with trucks, barges and pipelines carrying the rest. In Canada, producers rely on rail to ship more than 70% of their products, with some exclusively using rail.

As per MRC, North American weekly chemical railcar traffic rose 11.6% year on year, led by the US where loadings rose 22.1% from depressed levels during last year’s US Gulf Coast winter storm. For the first eight weeks of 2022 ended 26 February, North American chemical railcar traffic was up 4.0% year on year to 372,286 railcar loadings.

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.
mrchub.com

Saudi Aramco to develop major refinery and petrochemical complex in China

Saudi Aramco to develop major refinery and petrochemical complex in China

Saudi Aramco said on Thursday its JV in China will develop a major integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in the northeast of the country, reported Reuters.

The project, expected to be operational in 2024, combines a 300,000 bpd capacity refinery and ethylene-based steam cracker, with Aramco set to supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude oil feedstock.

Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company is a JV between Aramco, North Huajin Chemical Industries Group and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group.

As MRC informed before, in June 2020, Aramco finalized its USD69 billion acquisition of a 70% stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the Middle East's biggest petrochemical maker. SABIC reported more than a fivefold year-on-year increase in its Q3 net profit to USD1.49 billion thanks to higher average sales prices.

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.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco's value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
MRC