Cepsa's earnings up in Q1 2022 on high crude oil prices and stronger refining margins

Cepsa's earnings up in Q1 2022 on high crude oil prices and stronger refining margins

Cepsa reported a net income at current cost of supply of EUR58 MM (USD61.97 MM) in the first quarter, up by 9.4% year on year, pushed by high crude prices and stronger refining margins, reported Reuters.

Along with sharply higher crude prices, the value of refined products like gasoline and petrochemicals have been soaring globally, fueled by a strong post-pandemic recovery and most recently by the conflict in Ukraine.

Cepsa's refining margin expanded to USD2.5 a barrel in the first quarter from USD1.9 a barrel a year earlier, the company said, despite higher prices for natural gas, which is a primary feedstock for refineries,

Core earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) at current cost of supply for the first quarter came in at 605 MM euros, an 86.7% increase compared with the same period last year.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2020, driven by a shared vision of sustainability and strong collaboration, DSM, SABIC, Cepsa, Fibrant, and Viscofan together created a multi-barrier casing for meat products made via advanced recycling of post-consumer plastics.

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.

Cepsa is a Spanish petrochemical company. Full name Compania Espanola de Petroleos S.A. The company is headquartered in Madrid. Refining is one of the main activities of CEPSA. The production of asphalt and other road surfaces is another of the company's core activities; nine CEPSA factories are engaged in the production of these products.
MRC

BASF to wind down activities in Russia and Belarus except for business that supports food production

BASF to wind down activities in Russia and Belarus except for business that supports food production

As announced on March 3, 2022, BASF has not conducted new business in Russia and Belarus, in light of the war of aggression against Ukraine ordered by the Russian government, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

BASF strongly condemns the Russian attack on Ukraine and the violence against the civilian population. The Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE has now decided to also wind down the company’s remaining business activities in Russia and Belarus by the beginning of July 2022. Exempt from this decision is business to support food production, as the war risks triggering a global food crisis.

This decision is driven by the recent developments of the war and in international law, including the fifth E.U. sanctions package. Currently, 684 employees work for BASF in Russia and in Belarus. The company has decided to continue to support its employees in both countries until end of 2022.

Detailed plans for an orderly cessation of BASF’s business in Russia and Belarus are currently being developed. In 2021, Russia and Belarus accounted for around 1 % of BASF Group’s total sales.

As per MRC, BASF and Henkel jointly commit to replacing fossil carbon feedstock with renewable feedstock for most products in Henkel’s European Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care businesses over the next four years following a successful pilot with Henkel’s cleaning and detergent brand Love Nature in 2021.

As MRC reported previously, BASF is to increase its production capacity for plastic additives at its sites in Pontecchio Marconi, Italy and Lampertheim, Germany. BASF did not disclose, however, current or future capacities for its production of plastic additives hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS).

We remind that BASF is strengthening its global catalyst development and helping customers to bring new products faster to the market. As part of this strategy, BASF is building a new pilot plant center at its Ludwigshafen site. The new Catalyst Development and Solids Processing Center will serve as a global hub for pilot-scale production and process innovations of chemical catalyst.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
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Air Products partners with World Energy to build new USD2 B major expansion project in California

Air Products announced that it is teaming up with World Energy to build a new USD2 B major expansion project at World Energy’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production and distribution hub in Paramount, California, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The L.A. county facility is the world’s first commercial scale and North America’s only SAF production facility and its total fuel capacity will be expanded to 340 MM gallons annually.

The long-term, take-or-pay agreement with World Energy includes Air Products’ construction and ownership of a new hydrogen plant to be operated by Air Products and renewable fuels manufacturing facilities to be operated by World Energy. The project is scheduled to be onstream in 2025 and continues Air Products’ leadership in driving the energy transition through world-scale projects.

As part of the agreement, Air Products has extended its Southern California hydrogen pipeline network to supply hydrogen to the existing World Energy facility and to further increase supply reliability for all of Air Products’ hydrogen pipeline network customers in Southern California. The expanded pipeline network will also enable Air Products to provide low-or-zero-carbon hydrogen in the future. Air Products and World Energy will collaborate on innovations to transition to green hydrogen inputs, further reducing the carbon intensity of the fuels it produces.

The SAF produced by World Energy is a 100 % sustainable fuel made entirely of renewable resources and contains no fossil-based feedstock. It is not co-processed with fossil fuel in traditional oil refineries, and its carbon attributes comply with all state and US federal regulations for advanced biofuels. Its lifecycle carbon emissions are currently up to 80 % lower than conventional jet fuel. It is currently approved at a 50/50 blend level with conventional jet fuel for commercial use. World Energy is collaborating with other industry leaders to gain approval for pure 100 % renewable SAF use in regular commercial aviation to enable a future of carbon net-zero fossil-free flight. SAF allows aviation to be powered by the sun’s energy, captured by organic materials, and converted into high-energy-density liquid fuels.

As MRC reported previously, earlier this month, Air Products announced that it had acquired Air Liquide’s industrial gases business in the UAE, including liquid bulk, packaged gases and specialty gases; and Air Liquide’s majority share in MECD, which owns and operates a liquid CO2 production facility in Bahrain.

And in March, 2022, Italian oil and gas company Eni and Air Liquide entered into a collaboration agreement aimed at assessing decarbonization solutions in the Mediterranean region of Europe, focusing on hard-to-abate industrial sectors. The two companies join forces to enable CO2 capture, aggregation, transport and permanent storage.

We remind that Eni is evaluating conversion of its Livorno refinery in northwest Italy into a biorefinery, as part of the Italian company's wider strategy to make its activities more environmentally sustainable. Eni has already converted two of its Italian refineries and is looking to almost double its biorefining capacity to around 2 million mt/year by 2024, and expand this to at least five times by 2050, as part of its pledge to achieve complete carbon neutrality by 2050.

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

Borealis to build plant to purify py oil from chem recycling

Borealis to build plant to purify py oil from chem recycling

Borealis plans to build a plant in Stenungsund, Sweden that will upgrade pyrolysis oil (py oil) produced from chemically recycling plastics, said the company.

Under a licence agreement, Borealis will use Axens's Rewind Mix process technology for the unit, Axens said. The company will provide the process design package as well as the proprietary equipment, catalysts and adsorbents. The plant could start operations in 2025, pending a final investment decision (FID), Axens said. It will have a capacity to process 50,000 tonnes/year of pyrolysis oil.

The purified py oil will resemble virgin material, which could then be processed in a cracker to make feedstock for plastics, Axens said. Axens said the upgrading unit is a key part of the proposed chemical recycling plant that Borealis could build in Stenungsund. Axens did not provide details about the chemical recycling plant. ”Borealis has set ambitious targets to create a circular economy for plastic, as a part of our sustainability journey,” said Anders Froberg, Borealis director of manufacturing excellence and transformation.

We remind, Borealis (Vienna), a leading producer of polyolefins, has delayed the start-up of a new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant at its existing production site at Kallo, Belgium, which is the company's biggest investment in Europe, until Q3 2023, citing Covid-19. The plant in Kallo in the port of Antwerp was previously targeted to begin operations by the end of next year.

Borealis is owned by OMV AG and Mubadala Investment Co., the Abu Dhabi state investment company. Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
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Fire at Chembond Chemicals plant in India kills one

Fire at Chembond Chemicals plant in India kills one

A fire at Chembond Chemicals’ plant in Maharasthra, India has killed one person, said the company.

The fire, which broke out at the plant in Tarapur at 9:30 am India time (04:30 GMT) on 21 April , was immediately brought under control, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). “The cause of the fire will be assessed in due course,” it added.

Operations at the plant have been temporarily suspended as the fire had damaged raw materials and finished goods stored at the plant, the machinery and the building, Chembond said. The plant will resume operations once it receives necessary approvals from statutory authorities, it added.

In addition to this, the fire has resulted in damage to raw materials and finished goods stored in the plant, the machinery and building, thereby disrupting the operations of the plant.

In a filing the company said, "Production operation at the said plant is suspended temporarily until the survey by the Insurance company. We would like to clarify that the Company has adequate insurance coverage and has given the required intimation to the Insurance company. Insurance survey is expected to be conducted in due course."

It further added, "The Company is in the process of ascertaining the actual loss caused due to the fire. We are undertaking adequate measures to ensure refunctioning of the plant at the earliest subject to obtaining of necessary approvals from statutory authorities."

As per MRC, a fire and chlorine spill at Olin Corp’s plant in Plaquemine, a tenant at the Dow Chemical facility, was reported to Iberville Sheriff’s office around 8:40 p.m., sheriff’s office official Clint Moore told Reuters by telephone.
Louisiana authorities lifted a shelter-in-place order within five hours of issuing it after a chlorine leak on Monday.

Also, an explosion at illegal oil refining depot in Nigeria's Rivers state has killed over 100 people overnight. "The fire outbreak occurred at an illegal bunkering site and it affected over 100 people who were burnt beyond recognition," the state commissioner for petroleum resources, Goodluck Opiah, said. As MRC informed earlier, Dangote's 650,000-bpd oil refinery being built in Nigeria is due to begin production by the 4Q of 2022.
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