Reliance Industries posted a 46% increase in quarterly profit

India's Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 46.3% jump in profit for the June-quarter, as cheaper Russian crude and strong demand for fuel boosted refining margin at its dominant oil-to-chemical business, said Timesofindia.

The Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate said consolidated profit rose to 179.55 billion rupees (USD2.25 billion) in the three months ended June 30 compared with 122.73 billion rupees a year earlier.

The refining-to-retail conglomerate saw a 55% rise in revenue to 2.23 trillion rupees compared to the same period last year. Total costs surged 51% to 1.98 trillion rupees with raw material costs rising 76% during the quarter, the filing said.

In Reliance’s polymers business unit, demand in India improved by 9% YOY during the quarter with increased economic activity, and was 8% above pre-pandemic levels with domestic markets seeing healthy demand from sectors such as agriculture, consumer durables, automotive, e-commerce, food packaging, and infrastructure, says the company.

Reliance’s polyethylene (PE) margin averaged $415/metric ton during the fiscal first quarter against USD508/metric ton in the prior-year quarter. Reliance says that naphtha prices averaged $827/metric ton, up 39% YOY.

The polypropylene (PP) margin averaged USD421/metric ton compared with USD652/metric ton a year earlier. Higher feedstock prices weakened the margin, Reliance says. The polyvinyl chloride (PVC) margin averaged USD576/metric ton in the fiscal first quarter against USD689/metric ton a year earlier. The company says the margin decline was led by a reduction in PVC prices and a sharp increase in naphtha costs. Logistics constraints, higher ocean freight costs, and regional availability constraints continue to support domestic prices, Reliance says.

As MRC informed before, in November 2021, Reliance Industries and Saudi Aramco decided to re-evaluate their agreement for the Middle Eastern producer to buy a stake in the refining and petrochemical business of India's biggest private refiner, and both companies would look at broader areas of cooperation due to the changing energy scenario.

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.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. The company produces polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride and other petrochemical products.
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MRC) -- Refined coal production in the United States dropped to nearly zero during the first quarter of 2022 as refined coal consumers used their remaining small stockpiles, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Refined coal is most commonly made by mixing proprietary additives to feedstock coal. At the end of 2021, the refined coal production tax credit (created by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004) expired, which could be affecting refined coal production and consumption.

Additives are used in refined coal to help capture emissions when the coal is burned. For example, these additives increase mercury oxides, which technologies—such as flue gas desulfurization scrubbers and particulate matter control systems—can then capture. Without these additives, ash would not capture much of the elemental mercury in coal, which would instead be released into the environment.

The production tax credit helped coal-fired electric power plants reduce these emissions. Refined coal production facilities could claim the tax credit for up to 10 years, but they had to meet certain conditions, including:

The tax credit was designed to increase with inflation. In 2021, the tax credit value was USD7.38 per short ton, an increase from USD4.38 per short ton in 2012. By comparison, the IRS’s reference price of feedstock coal was $45.64 per short ton during 2021, a decrease from $55.80 per short ton during 2012. According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office audit report, refined coal producers claimed approximately $8.9 billion in tax credits between 2010 and 2020.

Annual refined coal consumption in the United States peaked in 2021 at 162 MM short tons. That year, refined coal accounted for 31% of coal-fired electricity generation. During the first quarter of 2022, refined coal held a share of U.S. coal-fired electricity generation below 10%, which we mostly attribute to the expiration of the refined coal production tax credit.

As per MRC, the U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) eased by 0.1% in June following gains of 0.5% in May and 1.0% in April. Chemical output was mixed across regions. The U.S. CPRI is measured as a three-month moving average (3MMA). On a 3MMA basis, chemical production within segments was mixed in June. There were gains in the production of synthetic rubber, industrial gases, coatings, manufactured fibers, synthetic dyes and pigments, adhesives, other organic chemicals, crop protection chemicals, other specialty chemicals, and fertilizers. These gains were offset by lower production of plastic resins, organic chemicals, and consumer products.
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Oil production at Brazil's Petrobras fell in the second quarter as asset divestments and increased work stoppages took their toll, while the company's refinery utilization rate hit a whopping 97%, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In a securities filing, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the state-run firm is formally known, said crude production came to 2.114 MMbpd, down 5.2% from the previous quarter and 5% from the same period a year ago. Including natural gas, the company produced 2.653 MM barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), down 5.1% in both quarterly and annual terms.

In comments accompanying the results, Petrobras attributed the decline to the sale of 10% of its Sepia and Atapu fields to a pair of Chinese state-run companies, China National Offshore Oil Corp and China National Offshore Development Corp. The company also completed a smaller divestment to Brazilian oil independent 3R Petroleo Oleo e Gas SA.

Second quarter production was also affected by an increase in maintenance stoppages, Petrobras said. The company characterized the production decline as in line with expectations, and said it was not revising its 2022 production guidance of roughly 2.6 MMbpd.

Two major platforms, the P-68 and the Carioca FPSO, continued to ramp up, while the Guanabara FPSO came online. Refinery utilization rates came in at 89%, up 2% in quarterly terms and 14% in annual terms. Its refineries were running nearly full tilt, at 97%, at the end of June.

Petrobras warned there would be a significant number of planned stoppages at its refineries in the second half of the year, particularly during the fourth quarter.

As per MRC, Petrobras’ PBR eligibility committee recently stated that two of the Brazilian government's seven nominees for a refurbished board at the company did not meet the requirements to hold the position. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro picked the two ineligible nominees – Jonathas Assuncao Salvador Nery de Castro and Ricardo Soriano de Alencar. Both of them, however, are not qualified to become the board members of PBR based on the company’s internal bylaws, the committee established, per the minutes of its last meeting.

As per MRC, Petrobras’ PBR eligibility committee recently stated that two of the Brazilian government's seven nominees for a refurbished board at the company did not meet the requirements to hold the position. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro picked the two ineligible nominees – Jonathas Assuncao Salvador Nery de Castro and Ricardo Soriano de Alencar. Both of them, however, are not qualified to become the board members of PBR based on the company’s internal bylaws, the committee established, per the minutes of its last meeting.
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Dow and Mura Technology have announced plans to build multiple advanced recycling facilities in the US and Europe, which the companies say could add as much as 600 kilotons (KT) of aggregate advanced recycling capacity by 2030 and will apparently enable the HydroPRS technology to be scaled globally, said Packagingeurope.

In 2021, Dow and Mura initially announced plans to collaborate. The companies say they are now aiming to scale the advanced recycling of plastics with multiple new facilities in both Europe and the US, which could each offer 120 KT in annual advanced recycling capacity. Overall, the project could reportedly offer up to 600 KT in annual advanced recycling capacity by 2030, which the companies claim is the largest commitment of its kind.

As part of the partnership, Dow will become a key off-taker of Mura’s feedstock, which is reportedly derived from plastic waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill or incineration. Dow claims this will allow it to use recycled plastic feedstock for the development of new, virgin-grade plastics and to reduce reliance on fossil-based feedstocks.

Marc van den Biggelaar, Advanced Recycling Director for Dow, explains: “The strengthening of Dow and Mura’s partnership is another example of how Dow is working to build momentum around breakthrough advanced recycling technologies.

As per MRC, Dow has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese food and beverage firm Want-Want for zero-solvent emissions and to develop a circular economy for flexible packaging, said the company.
The agreement intends to strengthen value-chain partner cooperation with customised adhesives solutions to meet the demands of the industry for more eco-friendly packaging options. With Dow’s water-based and solventless adhesives technologies, Want-Want will shift to more sustainable laminating adhesives for all of its flexible packaging.
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Dow posted second-quarter net income of USD1.7 billion, down 13% year-on-year (YOY) as price increases as well as earnings recovery in performance materials and coatings were more than offset by sharp hikes in raw material and energy costs, said the company.

Reported earnings were USD2.31/share, down 15% YOY but 8% above the mean consensus estimate. Net sales were USD15.7 billion for the quarter, up 13% YOY with gains in all operating segments and regions.

Gains in the Performance Materials & Coatings segment were more than offset by higher raw material and energy costs across the company, as well as lower equity earnings.

Sequentially, Q2 operating EBIT fell 2% from Q1, with gains in Packaging & Specialty Plastics more than offset by declines in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure.

Net sales rose 13% year on year to a USD15.7bn, with gains in all operating segments and regions. Sequentially, sales were up 3% with gains in all regions except Asia Pacific, which was impacted by pandemic-related lockdowns in China, the company said.

We remind, Dow, recycler KW Plastics of Troy, Alabama; molder Core Technology Molding Corp. of Greensboro, North Carolina; and sustainable golf company Evolve Golf of Wilmington, North Carolina, collaborated to reuse high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic mesh fencing from the previous year’s GLBI in the form of 20,000 ball markers and 5,500 divot tools for this year’s event.
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