Novoshakhtinsk refinery fully resumes operations

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia's southern Rostov region has fully resumed operations after it was struck by drones in June, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The plant said in June that it was hit by two drones flying from the direction of Ukraine, prompting it to suspend production.

We remind, Gazprom stopped supplying Latvia with gas, the Russian gas giant announced on Saturday citing a violation of the conditions for gas withdrawal. The move comes as a response to the announcement of Latvian energy firm Latvijas Gaze, which said it was buying gas from Russia, but not from Gazprom. During the last month, approximately one terawatt-hour of natural gas was delivered to Latvia from Russia and the payment was made in euros rather than in roubles as required by Gazprom.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, announced today that it has entered into an agreement for the sale of its entire shareholding interest in INEOS Styrolution India to Shiva Performance Materials, said the company.

Shiva Performance Materials Private Limited is part of the Shiva Group, which has businesses in specialty chemicals for pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and other intermediates.

Upon completion of the transaction, Shiva Performance Materials will acquire INEOS Styrolution’s 61.19% equity interest in INEOS Styrolution India.

Steve Harrington, CEO INEOS Styrolution, comments: “The business continues in Shiva Performance Materials’ experienced hands, serving the existing customer base and seeking future growth potential to enhance the Company’s current position in the Indian market".

The transaction triggers a mandatory tender offer (MTO) and the completion is subject to fulfillment of customary conditions.

As per MRC, INEOS and Sinopec have today signed three back-to-back deals worth a combined value of USD7bn.
These landmark agreements are expected to generate a combined turnover of around USD10bn from 7 million tonnes of capacity. The three agreements will significantly reshape Ineos’ petrochemicals production and technology in China.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem, the market leader and a pioneer in the production of biopolymers, entered into an agreement for the acquisition of shares and the subscription of new shares in Wise Plasticos S.A., a company engaged in mechanical recycling, said the company.

Braskem will acquire an equity interest of 61.1% in the share capital of Wise for an estimated amount of RD121 million, part of which will be used to expand its current production capacity by two-fold to around 50,000 tons/year of recycling by 2026.

The transaction, which is subject to approval by the applicable authorities, represents yet another step by Braskem in its strategy to invest in the circular economy by developing sustainable and innovative solutions based on opportunities to improve the plastics recycling chain, which includes the challenge of recycling in Brazil.

Wise, a relevant player in the recycling of polyolefins for consumer goods companies, is a Brazilian company based in Itatiba, Sao Paulo that has operated in the sector for over 15 years. Currently, it has nominal capacity to recycle approximately 25,000 of plastic waste per year and maintains important partnerships with companies such as Unilever and Natura.

The company has a strategic expansion plan to capture opportunities in this market over the coming years focusing on polypropylene (PP) resins using caps, housewares, home appliances and on high-density polyethylene (HDPE) using packaging for personal and home care and cosmetics, corrugated tubing, etc.

According to Edison Terra, vice-president of Olefins and Polyolefins at Braskem, the transaction demonstrates the solidity of Braskem's strategy to accelerate development of the chain and leverage recycling in Brazil: "The transaction with Wise contributes to our macro-goal of eliminating plastic waste, which includes projects focusing on education, recycling infrastructure, mechanical recycling and advanced recycling."

"Braskem and Wise share the same vision and goals, which are to develop the chain and leverage recycling in the country. The two teams will work together and with other players in the sector transparently to foster the market's growth, drive advances in the supply chain and improve products and customer service," said Bruno Igel, will stay on as CEO of Wise.

Until the transaction's approval by Brazil's antitrust agency CADE, nothing will change in the market, and Wise will continue to sell its portfolio normally. After approval of the acquisition of 61% of the company, Wise will maintain its own governance, team and management and will focus on meeting the needs of its current and future clients, now drawing on the support and potential synergies provided by Braskem's entry into its capital.

As per MRC, Braskem Q2 resin sales volume in Brazil increased by 11% compared to the same period last year due to higher market share, which had declined in 2Q21. Compared to Q1, sales volume fell by 1% on stable local demand for polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Oil Additives business line of Evonik has restructured its distribution setup for its products in CIS countries, announcing ADCO as its new distribution partner, said the company.

The lubricant additives business develops formulation solutions and base oil technologies that improve fuel economy and flow efficiency of automotive lubricants for passenger cars and commercial vehicles and increase energy efficiency and productivity of industrial lubricants for construction, mining, agricultural, and manufacturing equipment.

"We are happy to announce the deepening of our partnership with our long-term partner ADCO, which is already partnering us in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Bulgaria for over 40 years. I am certain that the excellent experiences made with ADCO’s customer focus, and broad supply network in other countries will contribute to the success of the Oil Additives business line in CIS region too” said Dominik Bohm, Customer relations director EMEA Evonik Oil Additives.

ADCO has officially taken over distribution of Evonik Oil Additives in July 2022. The portfolio contains VISCOPLEX and VISCOBASE viscosity index improver, pour point depressants and synthetic base oils.

We remind, Evonik can better serve all global customers and improve its supply position. Increasing the manufacturing capacity for TEGOSOFT MM MB with a second site also enables Evonik to better cater to the increasing market demand for enzymatic-produced emollient esters in the Asia Pacificsaid the company. This development underlines Evonik’s consistent commitment to enhance the availability of products according to RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) mass balance supply chain, a crucial step to the path of achieving its sustainability vision.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Showa Denko (SDK) announces that, taking the Company's recent performance into account, it revises its forecast of consolidated business results for the first half of the year ending on December 31, 2022 and that for the full year ending on December 31, 2022, both of which were announced on February 13, 2022, said Bloomberg.

In the first half of 2022, Semiconductor and Electronic Materials segment showed good performance. Net sales in that period are expected to be in slight excess of the previous forecast, which was announced on February 14, 2022, due partly to a weak yen and a rise in prices of products, despite a decrease in sales volumes. Operating income is expected to exceed the previous forecast by about 7.7 billion yen due partly to a weak yen and a rise in prices of products, despite a rise in prices of raw materials, a rise in the cost of energy including electricity rates, and a rise in the cost of transportation.

Ordinary income is expected to exceed the previous forecast by about 19.3 billion yen due partly to the recording of valuation profit concerning the Group's assets booked in foreign currencies caused by rapid depreciation of
yen, and an improvement in the balance of financial account. Net income attributable to owners of the parent is also expected to exceed the previous forecast by about 25 billion yen due partly to the increase in ordinary income,
and change in the period to record an extraordinary loss which is expected to be accrued as the cost of structural reform from the first half of 2022 into the second half of 2022.

With regard to the Company's full-year performance forecast for 2022, net sales are expected to exceed the previous forecast due partly to a weak yen and a rise in prices of products. However, we leave the forecast of operating income for 2022 as it is in the previous forecast, which we announced on February 14, 2022, due partly to a rise in prices of raw materials, a rise in the cost of energy, and a rise in the cost of transportation. We expect that ordinary income for 2022 will exceed the previous forecast due partly to our recording of valuation profit concerning the Group's assets booked in foreign currencies and an improvement in the balance of financial account. Net income attributable to owners of the parent is also expected to exceed the previous forecast.

Performance forecast and other statements pertaining to the future as contained in this document are based on the information available as of today and assumptions as of today regarding risk factors that could affect our future
performance. Actual results may differ materially from the forecast due to a variety of risk factors, including, but not limited to, the influence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the world economy, the international
situation, costs of naphtha and other raw materials, demand or market conditions for our products such as graphite electrodes and other commodities, and foreign exchange rates. We undertake no obligation to update the forward-
looking statements unless required by law.

As MRC reported earlier, in March 2018, Showa Denko shut its crackert in Oita (Japan) for a scheduled maintenance. The turnaround at this cracker with the capacity of 691,000 mt/year of ethylene lasted until April 19, 2018.

Showa Denko K.K. is a major manufacturer of chemical products serving from heavy industry to computers and electronics. The Petrochemicals Sector provides cracker products such as ethylene and propylene, the Chemicals Sector provides industrial, high-performance and high-purity gases and chemicals for semicon and other industries, the Inorganics Sector provides ceramic products, such as alumina, abrasives, refractory/graphite electrodes and fine carbon products.
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