Westlake Q1 sales and profit increased significantly

Westlake’s Q1 sales rose 72.1% year on year and net income more than tripled on strong demand and higher prices and margins, said the company.

Significantly higher sales prices and margins across most of Westlake’s businesses, as well as contributions from recently acquired businesses, drove the Q1 results, it said. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 135% to USD1.3bn and the EBITDA margin rose to 32% from 23% in Q1 2021.

"We continued to see robust residential construction and remodeling activity drive demand for PVC [polyvinyl chloride] resin, as well as for products in our Housing and Infrastructure Products segment," said CEO Albert Chao.

"The growth in the US economy and the diminishing impact of COVID-19 continue to spur consumer and industrial demand with improvements in manufacturing and packaging benefiting caustic soda and polyethylene (PE) usage," Chao said.

As per MRC, Westlake Chemical Corporation, the world's petrochemical major, has officially changed its name to Westlake Corporation. Westlake is now organized under one unified brand name with two financial reporting segments: Housing & Infrastructure Products and Performance & Essential Materials.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of unmixed PVC was about 999,300 tonnes in 2021, up by 7% year on year. The emulsion and suspension PVC market showed stronger demand, despite over a twofold price increase. December estimated SPVC consumption was 81,200 tonnes (excluding deliveries to the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan) versus 74,690 tonnes a month earlier.

Westlake Corporation is a global manufacturer and supplier of materials and innovative products that enhance life every day. Headquartered in Houston, with operations in Asia, Europe, and North America, we provide the building blocks for vital solutions — from housing and construction, to packaging and healthcare, to automotive and consumer.
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BASF increases prices for its refinery catalysts portfolio globally, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With immediate effect, BASF’s Refinery Catalysts business will increase prices for its portfolio globally. The price adjustment is in response to continuously surging raw material, transportation, and energy costs.

As per MRC, BASF and SINOPEC have broken ground for the expansion of their Verbund site operated by BASF-YPC Co., Ltd. (BASF-YPC), a 50-50 joint venture of both companies in Nanjing. The expansion includes new capacities of several downstream chemical plants and a new tert-butyl acrylate plant, to serve the growing demand from various industries in the Chinese market.

As MRC reported earlier, in November 2021, BASF increased its production capacity for advanced additives at its wholly-owned site in Nanjing, China. The new asset with state-of-the-art technologies will allow BASF to produce high molecular weight dispersing agents, slip and leveling agents and other additives locally for Asian markets.

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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Versalis, Eni's chemical company, is expanding its Revive portfolio to include a new product for food packaging made with 75% domestic post-consumer polystyrene, said Packagingeurope.

The product, referred to as Versalis Revive PS Air F - Series Forever, is the result of the company’s existing collaboration with Forever Plast S.p.A., and has been developed as part of a collaborative project with various players in the polystyrene industry value chain, including Corepla, ProFood and Unionplast.

This collaboration has given rise to a tray that is suitable for food and is composed of recycled polystyrene developed by the companies that are members of Pro Food. According to the company, the solution is also recyclable. The tray consists of an inner layer containing Versalis Revive PS Air F - Series Forever and two outer layers made from virgin polystyrene. This structure, known as the A-B-A functional barrier, ensures food contact compliance.

The functional barrier design and stringent testing were developed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV), a Germany-based applied research institute that works with industry to develop viable technologies for bringing innovative products to the market.

This new solution is scheduled to be marketed over the next few weeks and is mainly aimed at the meat and fish packaging market.

The Versalis Revive range comprises products made exclusively from mechanical recycling of post-consumer plastics and plastics from the industry supply chain. In addition to Versalis Revive PS, other polymer-based products are available on the market, including expandable polystyrene (Versalis Revive EPS) and polyethylene (Versalis Revive PE).

As per MRC, Versalis confirms the transformation of its activities at Porto Marghera and the implementation of new industrial initiatives in the area. These initiatives complement Eni's plans in the petrochemical and biorefinery field for a total of more than EUR500 million in investments, and aim to accelerate the energy transition and the development of chemistry from the circular economy. This implementation will see more than 600,000 tonnes/year of CO2 emissions being cut.

As per MRC, Versalis S.p.A. (San Donato Milanese), the chemical company of Italian energy major Eni, has licensed to Enter Engineering Pte. Ltd. a Low-Density Polyethylene/Ethyl Vinyl Acetate (LDPE/EVA) swing unit to be built as part of a new Gas-to-Chemical Complex based on MTO-Methanol to Olefins technology to be located in the Karakul area in the Bukhara region of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Eni is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. It has operations in in 79 countries, and is currently Italy's largest industrial company. The Italian government owns a 30.3% golden share in the company, 3.93% held through the state Treasury and 26.37% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Another 39.40% of the shares are held by BNP Paribas.
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Chemours reported on Monday a year-on-year rise in Q1 net income because sales rose faster than costs, said the company.

Quarter on quarter, volumes rose by 3%, although production continued to be constrained because of limited supplies of ore, which are needed to make titanium dioxide (TiO2). Chemours expects challenges in securing ore supplies will continue into the second half of the year.

For Thermal & Specialized Solutions, volumes rose 1% and pricing rose 40%. Chemours noted strong end-markets with the exception of automobiles. The automotive industry continues to struggle with shortages of semiconductors.

Meanwhile, regulators around the world continue to phase out older generations of refrigerants, which is increasing demand for newer products such as Chemours' Opteon line of hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs). Quarter on quarter, volumes rose by 23% and pricing rose by 21%. The segment makes fluorochemicals.

For Advanced Performance Materials, volumes rose by 3% and pricing rose by 15%. Pricing rose to offset higher costs for raw materials and energy. In addition, Chemours sold higher-margin products to the advanced electronics and clean-energy markets.

Volumes rose because of higher global demand in nearly every region and end-market. Quarter on quarter, volumes rose by 6% and pricing rose by 5%. The segment makes fluoropolymers such as Teflon.

As per MRC, Chemours has suspended business with Russian entities in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing military attack on Ukraine and the resulting humanitarian crisis.

As per MRC, Chemours says it is looking to achieve a 60% absolute reduction of operations-related greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In addition to refrigerants, Chemours is a major producer of titanium dioxide, industrial fluoropolymer resins and derivatives and other chemical solutions.

Chemours is a global leader in titanium technologies, fluoroproducts and chemical solutions, providing its customers in a wide range of industries with market-defining products, application expertise and chemistry-based innovations. Chemours ingredients are found in plastics and coatings, refrigeration and air conditioning, mining and oil refining operations and general industrial manufacturing. The company has approximately 6,500 employees and 30 manufacturing sites serving approximately 3,300 customers in approximately 120 countries in North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Chemours is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware and is listed on the NYSE under the symbol CC.
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Marathon Petroleum’s first-quarter (Q1) sales and income shot up on the back of healthy operations at its Refining & Marketing (R&M) division, said the company.

The jump in income and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was possible due to healthy results at Marathon's R&M division, with the segment reporting adjusted EBITDA of USD1.4bn compared with USD23m in the Q1 2021.

The company said R&M margins were USD15.31/bbl in Q1 2022, up from USD10.16/bbl in the same quarter in 2021.

Between January-March, crude capacity utilisation stood at 91%, resulting in a total throughput of 2.8m bbl/day; in Q1 2021, crude capacity utilisation stood at 83%, with a total throughput of 2.6m bbl/day.

"This quarter we advanced our low carbon strategy with the announcement of our intent to form a joint venture with Neste at our Martinez Renewable Fuels Facility and a 15% Scope 3 absolute GHG [greenhouse gases] emission reduction target,” said Marathon’s CEO, Michael J. Hennigan.

As per MRC, Shell Plc’s trading unit Shell Western Supply and Trading, along with US refiners Valero Energy and Marathon Petroleum, are rushing to secure Ecuadorian barrels after America banned imports of Russian crude.

We remind, Neste Corporation has signed definitive agreements for the establishment of a 50/50 JV with US-based Marathon Petroleum. The JV will produce renewable diesel following a conversion project of Marathon's refinery in Martinez, California (the Martinez Renewable Fuels project). The closing of the JV is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including obtaining the necessary permits, which depend upon certification of a final Environmental Impact Report.
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