LyondellBasell reports second quarter 2022 earnings

LyondellBasell Industries announced net income for the second quarter 2022 of USD1.6 billion, or USD4.98 per share, said the company.

The company recognized a USD69 million non-cash impairment charge during the quarter related to the exit from our Australian polypropylene business that impacted earnings by USD0.21 per share. Second quarter 2022 EBITDA was USD2.4 billion, or USD2.5 billion excluding LCM and impairment. Second quarter 2022 EBITDA was further impacted by a USD94 million non-cash pension settlement charge.

"With a diverse portfolio, strong cash generation and disciplined capital allocation, LyondellBasell is already well-regarded as one of the best operated companies in our sector. After my first two months as LyondellBasell CEO, I am convinced that our team has the passion and dedication required to grow these capabilities. Our aim is to build upon our strong position, our scale and our reach to establish LyondellBasell as a leader in serving the world's growing needs for circular and sustainable materials while reducing our carbon footprint. I look forward to sharing more of our plans about how LyondellBasell will advance our strategy and unlock additional value over the coming months," said Peter Vanacker, LyondellBasell Chief Executive Officer.

"Looking specifically at the second quarter, LyondellBasell's global portfolio of businesses delivered strong earnings and cash generation driven by record results from our Intermediates & Derivatives segment and exceptional refining margins. In addition, LyondellBasell is making tangible progress toward our goals to help address the global challenges of climate change and plastic waste," said Vanacker.

LyondellBasell's broad portfolio supported an 18 percent sequential growth in EBITDA during the second quarter. The Intermediates & Derivatives segment delivered record profitability. The Houston refinery ran at a rate of nearly 95 percent to support increased demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Olefins and polyolefins markets reflected distinct regional dynamics. While North American demand for products used in consumer packaging end markets remained strong, the company's volumes in Europe decreased due to downtime at the cracker in France and moderating regional demand near the end of the quarter. In China, markets remained weak due to zero-COVID measures and logistical challenges. Advanced Polymer Solutions results continued to be hindered by automotive production constraints.

LyondellBasell generated USD1.6 billion in cash from operating activities during the quarter. The company remains committed to a disciplined approach to capital allocation. In the second quarter, USD532 million was reinvested back into the businesses and USD2.1 billion was returned to shareholders through the combination of a special dividend, an increased quarterly dividend and modest share repurchases. Strong shareholder returns continue to be a capital allocation priority at LyondellBasell.

During the quarter, LyondellBasell signed several renewable power purchase agreements that will help reduce the carbon footprint of operations. Since the launch of the Circulen portfolio in 2019, the company has sold over 140,000 tons of polymer manufactured from recycled and renewable feedstocks; an amount that represents the annual polyethylene and polypropylene demand from the population of Houston. LyondellBasell is scaling up the Circulen product lines to address the growing demand from our customers and society for renewable and circular materials.

We remind, LyondellBasell has joined the NEXTLOOPP initiative that brings more than 40 major industry players together. Launched in October 2020, NEXTLOOPP aims to create circular food-grade recycled polypropylene (FGrPP) from post-consumer packaging.
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SIBUR introduced the possibility of paying in yuan for Chinese customers, the company said.

Petrochemical SIBUR has introduced a yuan-based settlement option with Chinese clients, the company said. SIBUR, the release notes, has been successfully cooperating with China for more than 10 years. China, the largest importer of polymers, is an important strategic partner for the company. “We have introduced an option for Chinese customers to pay in RMB in China.

This will allow us to provide local customers with flexibility in payment, ”Sergei Komyshan, Executive Director of SIBUR, is quoted in the release.

Earlier, SIBUR started producing maleic anhydride for the Russian market, and this year it plans to start delivering it to China. Maleic anhydride is used in the production of building materials, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.

In 2021, SIBUR exported 500 thousand tons of petrochemical products to China, mainly various polymers and synthetic rubber, this year it is planned to further strengthen the partnership.

We remind, SIBUR has signed a deal with recycler Russian Environmental Operator (REO) for the supply of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) bottles and packaging as feedstock for production of food-grade rPET granules at Polief facility in Bashkortostan, Russia.

SIBUR Holding is the leader of the petrochemical industry in Russia and one of the world's largest companies in the sector with more than 23,000 employees. Over the past 10 years, SIBUR has implemented a number of large-scale investment projects worth about 1 trillion rubles.
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Clariant, a focused, sustainable, and innovative specialty chemical company, today announced its second quarter and first half year 2022 results. In the second quarter of 2022, continuing operations sales were CHF 1.301 billion, compared to CHF 1.032 billion in the second quarter of 2021, said the company.

This corresponds to an increase of 29 % in local currency, 25 % of which was organic, and 26 % higher sales in Swiss francs. For the fifth sequential quarter, both pricing and volume growth positively impacted the Group sales result by 20 % and 9 %, respectively, while the currency impact was -3 %. The particularly strong sales growth at Care Chemicals and Natural Resources outpaced the expansion at Catalysis.

In the second quarter of 2022, sales expansion was significant in all geographic regions. The 40 % sales growth in North America was followed closely by Latin America with a 39 % increase, underpinned by expansion in all three Business Areas. In Europe, the 29 % local currency growth was driven by strong expansion in Care Chemicals. The 22 % growth in Asia-Pacific was augmented by 25 % expansion in China, at Catalysis in particular. The Middle East & Africa also increased sales by 14 %.

In the second quarter of 2022, Care Chemicals increased sales by 46 % in local currency. This progress was driven by double-digit expansion in Consumer Care and Industrial Applications, especially Crop Solutions, Personal Care, Home Care, and Coatings. Catalysis sales rose by 8 % in local currency, primarily due to expansion in Specialty Catalysts and the emission-control businesses. Natural Resources sales increased by 24 % in local currency with growth attributable to all three Business Units, especially Additives.

The continuing operations EBITDA increased to CHF 216 million, and the corresponding 16.6 % margin clearly exceeded the 15.8 % reported in the second quarter of the previous year. This improvement was propelled by pricing measures that fully offset the increased raw material cost (approximately 36 %), supply chain constraints, and higher energy and logistics cost. Additionally, operating leverage from higher sales, and cost savings (CHF 4 million savings from performance programs) contributed positively to the margin expansion. The absolute EBITDA increased by 33 %, exceeding the underlying CHF 149 million (14.0 % margin) pre-pandemic level reported in the second quarter of 2019.

First Half Year 2022 – Further profitability improvement generated by specialty chemical portfolio, pricing, and cost discipline. In the first half year 2022, continuing operations sales were CHF 2.563 billion, compared to CHF 2.034 billion in the first half year 2021. This corresponds to an increase of 29 % in local currency, 25 % of which was organic, and 26 % in Swiss francs. Both pricing and volume growth had a positive impact on the Group of 18 % and 11 %, respectively, while the currency impact was -3 %.

In the first half year 2022, sales growth exceeded 20 % in local currency in all geographic regions. The particularly strong performance in North America is partly attributable to the weak comparison base of the first half year 2021, which was confronted with an especially challenging environment in Oil Services and weather-related disruptions in the first quarter of 2021.

We remind, Clariant has been awarded a major contract by Wanhua Chemical Group to supply catalysts for its new maleic anhydride plant, which will be one of the largest in the world. Designed to produce 200 kilotons of maleic anhydride annually, the plant will rely on Clariant’s SynDane catalyst for the production process. The facility will be located in Yantai city, Shandong province, and is scheduled to commence operation in 2023.
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Eastman reported a decline in Q2 gross profits as cost of sales outpaced sales during the quarter, said the company.

The company reaffirms guidance of USD9.50-USD10.00 adjusted EPS for 2022, building on strong underlying performance in the first half.

Eastman reaffirmed its 2022 guidance, which calls for adjusted earnings to be USD9.50-10.00/share, with operating cash flow around USD1.5bn.

"We are doing an outstanding job of implementing price increases to recover spread compression from significantly elevated costs of raw material, energy, distribution and other inflationary pressures," CEO Mark Costa said.

"We also expect to continue raising prices, particularly in our specialty product lines, in response to persistently high inflation," Costa said. The company said it continues to see strong performance in its chemical intermediates segment.

As per MRC, Eastman announced a planned increase of its Therminol 66 heat transfer fluid manufacturing capacity in Anniston, USA. The plant expansion is expected to be complete in 2024. With the expansion of its capacity for Therminol 66, Eastman increases its production volume for this heat transfer fluid in the US by 50?%. The expansion of the company’s plant in Annistion, USA, is expected to be completed in 2024.

Eastman is a multinational chemical company serving customers in approximately 100 countries. Sales in 2015 amounted to around USD9.6 Billion. The company is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA. The company employs approximately 15 thousand people around the world.

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Celanese Corporation (CE) reported second-quarter earnings of USD434 mln, said the company.

On a per-share basis, the Irving, Texas-based company said it had profit of USD3.98. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and to account for discontinued operations, were USD4.99 per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of USD4.57 per share.

The chemical company posted revenue of USD2.49 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected USD2.48 billion.

For the current quarter ending in October, Celanese expects its per-share earnings to range from USD4 to USD4.50.

Celanese shares have decreased 29% since the beginning of the year. Shares hit USD119.78, a fall of 22% in the last 12 months.

As MRC reported earlier, in H2, 2021, Celanese Corporation announced a force majeure (FM) in China for vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) shipments from its plant Nanjing, China. Celanese temporarily shut down its acetic anhydride and VAM production in Nanjing to comply with requirements of government departments in order to achieve dual energy consumption targets in the Jiangsu Province in 2021. Thus, its VAM plan with the capacity of 300,000 mt/year was shut on 17 September, 2021, and its resumed operations on 9 October, 2021.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 8,500 employees worldwide and had 2021 net sales of USD8.5 billion.
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