China index of export container transport down 6% MoM in April

The China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI), the index of export container transport, witnessed a decline of 6 per cent month on month (MoM) to reach 3,131.53 in April 2022, according to data released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, said Fibre2fashion.

The drop was led by the sub-reading for the Persian Gulf/Red Sea service that dropped by 15.8 per cent month on month in April, followed by the sub-reading of the South America service which decreased by 14.3 per cent compared to the previous month, said Chinese media reports quoting the data shared by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.

Japan service’s sub-reading witnessed an increase of 6.3 per cent in April, compared to March. The index tracks contractual and spot freight rates for 12 international shipping routes from Chinese container ports. It is based on data from twenty-two international carriers. It was set at 1,000 in 1998.

As per MRC, oil prices were mixed as investor fears of a global recession spurred by lockdowns in China and weak economic data vied with signs the European Union was stepping closer to an import ban on Russian crude.
Brent crude was down 18 cents, or 0.2%, at USD111.37 a barrel at 1342 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 2 cents, or less than 0.1%, to USD110.51 a barrel. The fall in oil prices "is chiefly due to the weak Chinese economic data, as the lockdown measures are having a direct impact on the world’s second-largest market," said Barbara Lambrecht, energy analyst at Commerzbank.
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Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its Austrian chemicals partner Borealis plan an initial public offering of their petrochemicals joint venture Borouge, the latest step in the Abu Dhabi state energy group's asset monetisation programme, said Reuters.

The offering will consist of around 3bn ordinary shares representing 10% of the petrochemical producer’s issued share capital, Borouge said in a statement. The offering will run from 23 May to 28 May for retail investors.

The company expects its shares to be admitted for trading on the ADX on 3 June. Borouge is a 50:50 joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Austria-based producer Borealis.

Under the IPO plan, ADNOC will hold a 54% shareholding in Borouge, while Borealis' stake will be 36% in the joint venture firm. Borouge’s production capacity currently stands at around 2.7m tonnes/year of polyethylene (PE) and 2.2m tonnes/year of polypropylene (PP), according to the company.

The company in March this year started up its new 480,000 tonne/year fifth polypropylene (PP) unit at its Ruwais site.

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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Sea-borne oil has thrown a lifeline to refiners in eastern Germany and Poland, with non-Russian deliveries into the Polish port of Gdansk hitting at least seven-year highs this month as they switch away from Russian supply, said Reuters.

Imports booked for May into Gdansk from Egypt, the United States, Norway, Britain and West Africa had hit 8.4 million barrels by May 16, their highest level according to Refinitiv Eikon ship tracking data that goes back to 2015.

At the same time, Russian crude booked for May into Gdansk and the port of Rostock stood at 700,000 barrels, down from a high of 12.9 million in May 2019, the data showed.

“Non-Russian sea-borne crude volumes towards Gdansk have increased at the expense of Russian barrels,” said Ioannis Papadimitriou, senior freight analyst with oil analytics firm Vortexa. The steep rise in such supply comes as Europe works toward an outright ban on Russian oil.

Imports into Gdansk from Norway in April and from the United States and via Egypt in May all hit highs, the Refinitiv data showed. Norwegian imports in April hit 2.2 million barrels, similar to U.S. volumes booked for May while those booked via Egypt this month have hit 5.7 million so far, the data showed.

“Poland is replacing Russian oil by Saudi crude oil supply via the Egyptian port of Sidi Kerir,” said Ehsan Ul-Haq, senior oil analyst at Refinitiv. “Crude imports from countries other than Russia are now at the highest in history."

In January, Saudi Aramco agreed to buy a 30% stake in Lotos, Poland’s second largest refinery, and to increase oil supplies to Poland’s top energy firm PKN Orlen to 200,000-337,000 barrels per day (bpd), denting Russia’s dominance in the region.

As per MRC, Oil prices were mixed on Monday as investor fears of a global recession spurred by lockdowns in China and weak economic data vied with signs the European Union was stepping closer to an import ban on Russian crude.
Brent crude was down 18 cents, or 0.2%, at USD111.37 a barrel at 1342 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 2 cents, or less than 0.1%, to USD110.51 a barrel. The fall in oil prices "is chiefly due to the weak Chinese economic data, as the lockdown measures are having a direct impact on the world’s second-largest market," said Barbara Lambrecht, energy analyst at Commerzbank.

As per MRC, Russian fuel oil arrivals in the UAE oil hub of Fujairah are set to jump sharply to about 2.5 MM barrels this month, data shows, in a sign that flows of Russian oil and refined products are shifting away from Europe.

We remind, oil prices fell on Monday as concerns over weak economic growth in China, the world's top oil importer, overshadowed fears supply might be crimped by a potential European Union ban on Russian crude.
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US producer Chemours is partnering with corporate, academic and government experts to develop a sustainable way of recovering titanium dioxide (TiO2) and polymers from plastic products, said the company.

The three-year project, which is called Remove2Reclaim, aims to develop larger detection and extraction recycling technologies to separate TiO2 and polymers from plastic products so they can be re-used. As a result, there can be greater applications and a wider range of end-use products made from recycled plastic. The project has already led to innovations in identifying and sorting plastic waste that contains TiO2 and solvent-based methods of removing TiO2.

The project, which began in the fall of 2020, also includes producers such as INEOS, Styrolution, Matco Plastics, and two Belgian universities, Ghent University and KU Leuven, as academic partners, as well VLAIO, the Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship Agency.

Industry players have increasingly focused on sustainability, particularly in the circular economy, which focuses on reducing waste and increasing sustainable feedstock. Chemours is a global producer of TiO2, fluoroproducts, and chemicals such as sulfuric acid and methylamines.

TiO2 is used as a white powder pigment in products such as paints, coatings, plastics, paper, inks, fibres, food and cosmetics.

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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Clariant and its main shareholder Saudi Basic Industries Corp are to end a so-called "governance agreement" defining their relationship, stirring speculation SABIC could launch a full takeover bid for the Swiss chemicals firm, said Reuters.

Speculation was prompted by Clariant's announcement that an agreement between it and SABIC will expire on 24 June. This means that Clariant could be vulnerable to a takeover, as petchems major SABIC can now exceed its 33.3% share in the company and would be able to nominate more than four supervisory board members.

The stock price gained 7.81% on the Swiss stock exchange over the course of the morning, although in the wake of an accounting investigation, remains 1.89% below the level of a year prior.

The governance agreement between the two firms will expire at Clariant’s annual general meeting (AGM) on 24 June, after being established in September 2018.

In response to the news, the Swiss firm acknowledged that SABIC could increase or decrease its stake in the company as any other shareholder, and that the bolster to Clariant’s share price reflected speculation in the market.

As per MRC, Clariant, a focused, sustainable, and innovative specialty chemical company, today announced that the investigation of accounting issues related to provisions and accruals (as disclosed by Clariant on 14 February 2022) conducted by independent advisors and external counsel (Deloitte and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher), has been concluded.

We remind that in October 2020, Clariant announced the construction of a new state-of-the-art catalyst production site in China. This project represents a significant investment which further strengthens Clariant’s position in China and enhances its ability to support its customers in the country’s thriving petrochemicals industry.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.

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