Encina secures USD55 mln for plastic waste-to-aromatics recycling business

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Encina Development Group, a producer of circular chemicals from waste materials, announced that it has secured a total of USD55 MM of equity capital, which included participation from institutional investors IMM Investment Global and SW Recycle Fund through a USD32 MM private placement, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The private placement was oversubscribed following strong institutional support. IMM Global will join the company’s board of directors as a result of their investment. Encina will use the newly secured capital, in addition to USD20 MM in earlier secured equity financing, to move forward with the commercialization of its plastic waste-to-aromatics recycling business.

Encina’s circular chemical products are marketed to global customers who adhere to ISCC+ certification standards, and who are seeking to manufacture end products requiring circular content in their products. Current projects include planned facilities in the U.S., as well as offshore projects in Asia and South America. Each of the facilities is expected to process approximately 450,000 tpy of plastic waste material.

"We would like to thank all of our shareholders for their strong support, and faith in our management team. We are committed to deploying our technology to capture waste streams such as plastic scrap, which would have been harmful to the environment through possible incineration, land filled, or ocean waste – which can now be reclaimed and used as feedstock to produce circular chemicals to help foster better environmental outcomes for everyone on a global basis,” said Mr. David Schwedel, Founder and Executive Director for Encina.

Youngjoon Lee, CEO and Managing Partner of IMM Global said, “we are excited to partner with Encina to further drive the company’s growth plan, and we are aligned with their goals to help foster a circular economy on a global basis. Encina has a world class management team, operating technology, and a scalable platform that is well positioned to expand at multiple locations in the coming years."

As per MRC, Encina Development Group (Encina; The Woodlands, Texas) and Flint Hills Resources say they are exploring a collaboration to produce renewable chemicals and fuels from plastic waste. The two have signed a non-binding term sheet that proposes construction of a facility in Corpus Christi, Texas. Flint Hills would market the aromatic products produced at the Encina Corpus Christi facility and work with its affiliates to market renewable aromatic products from other Encina plants in the US.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- 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.
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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 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

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 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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- 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.
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