Trinseo earnings, revenue miss in Q3

Trinseo reported a Q3 net loss and lowered its guidance for the full year, said the company.

The company swung to a net loss because sales fell and costs rose. The company noted declines in sales volumes and customer destocking, particularly in Europe, as well as in consumer durables and building and construction.

Demand was weak because of geopolitical uncertainty in Europe, continued COVID lockdowns in China, a slowdown in US residential construction and minimal improvement in automobile production.

High energy prices in Europe increased uncertainty for Trinseo's customers and contributed to negative styrene margins throughout the quarter.

Trinseo's earnings took further hits from negative net timing and a one-time charge related to raw-material contract obligations and inventory write-downs.

Sales volumes fell because of weaker demand in construction, consumer electronics, health and automobiles. The segment could not fully pass through the rise in natural gas prices in Europe. In North America, demand was stable, with some weakening in construction markets.

Declines in sales volumes more than offset higher prices that Trinseo obtained by passing through higher costs for raw materials. The drop in volumes was pronounced in building and construction and appliances.

We remind, Trinseo said that it has begun an information and consultation process with the Works Council of Trinseo Deutschland GmbH regarding the potential closure of its styrene monomer production site in Boehlen, Germany. The plant, which has a nameplate capacity of 300,000 tonnes/y, has generated negative profitability of around USD30 M over the last four quarters ending 2Q 2022.
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Westlake’s Q3 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 25% year on year, the US-based chemical producer reported on Thursday, citing a number of reasons, said the company.

The year-on-year earnings decline was led the Performance and Essential Materials segment, which saw lower sales prices and lower integrated margins in polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin, lower chlorovinyls production and sales volumes, as well as higher global fuel and power prices.

However, global sales prices for caustic soda rose, and PE sales volumes increased.

"The third quarter saw significant erosion in global macroeconomic indicators and sentiment,” said CEO Albert Chao. “The rapid rise in global fuel and power prices continued, which, along with inflationary pressures, impacted global demand across our businesses, and particularly our European operations,” he said.

“Significant economic headwinds and slowing industrial activity in Europe were compounded by lagging growth in Asia and a meaningful drop in residential construction activity in North America,” he said. “Combined, these effects led to diminished demand across our businesses and lower prices for many of our products," he said.

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

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ADNOC Refining, Eni, and OMV announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company, Veolia Middle East (Veolia), and Vision International Investment Company (Vision Invest) to acquire its waste management operations in Al Ruways Industrial City, Abu Dhabi, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under the agreement, signed at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, ADQ, Veolia, and Vision Invest consortium will own and operate two world-scale waste management plants, which sustainably treat and dispose of industrial waste generated from across ADNOC’s operations.

The agreement supports ADNOC’s role as a catalyst for the UAE’s economic growth and industrial diversification by attracting additional international investment and strategic partnerships to Al Ruways. The partnership will also enhance the competitiveness of ADNOC Refining by allowing the company to focus on its core refining operations.

Abdulla Ateya Al Messabi, CEO of ADNOC Refining, said: “We welcome the consortium as our latest strategic partners in Al Ruways. This agreement demonstrates ADNOC’s focus on forging strategic partnerships to promote capital efficiency and unlock growth opportunities in Al Ruways and Abu Dhabi as a leading destination for international investors. The partnership also supports the UAE’s industrial growth through the provision of leading world-scale waste management capabilities. Such win-win partnerships further accelerate the delivery of ADNOC’s mandate to grow the UAE’s economic base and deliver lasting value through our downstream businesses."

Speaking jointly on behalf of the consortium, the Chief Executive Officer of Veolia, Estelle Brachlianoff, and the President & CEO of Vision Invest Mr. Omar Al-Midani said: “We are honored to partner with ADNOC Refining to operate these first-class facilities, utilizing the existing trained and expert team, supplemented by the consortium’s worldwide experience in hazardous waste management.

“Through this partnership we will ensure continuity, reliability and safety of the transferred assets to a world-leader specialized in waste treatment, with an operational philosophy centered around safety. The consortium truly believes a partnership with ADNOC will be mutually beneficial and generate significant value, supporting Abu Dhabi’s strategic vision of ensuring sustainable development while preserving the environment."

The facilities treat industrial waste generated during ADNOC’s oil and gas extraction and refining processes and will continue to perform this role. The team members working across both plants will join the Veolia-led operating company and benefit from the group's know-how in industrial waste management.

The consortium’s acquisition of the waste management plants adds to several other strategic partnerships built by ADNOC with a number of local and international partners in Al Ruways. These include TA’ZIZ, which has signed agreements with a number of international partners including Reliance Industries, Fertiglobe, Mitsui and GS Energy. Al Ruways is also home to Borouge, a leading petrochemical company with ADNOC owning a majority 54% stake and Borealis holding a 36% stake, which listed 10% of its total issued share capital on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), marking Abu Dhabi’s largest International Public Offering (IPO) to-date.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

We remind, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and GAIL (India) Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore collaboration opportunities in liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply and decarbonisation, including short and long term LNG sales agreements. The agreement also includes potential optimization of LNG trading activities, the review of joint equity investments in renewables and the monitoring of greenhouse gasses for LNG cargoes, to support low carbon LNG supplies.
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Britain has sanctioned four Russian steel and petrochemical business owners, including the former head of steel producer Evraz, the government said on Wednesday, its latest measures taken against Moscow over the war in Ukraine, said Reuters.

Those sanctioned include Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov, who Britain described as known associates of oligarch Roman Abramovich, himself sanctioned earlier this year. Abramov has an estimated net worth of 4.1 B pounds (USD4.7 B) and Frolov 1.7 B pounds, the foreign office statement said. They were targeted for their involvement in the extractive, transport and construction sectors, it added.

Frolov is the former chief executive officer of Evraz, which was also sanctioned by Britain for operating in sectors of "strategic significance to the government of Russia". "Today we are sanctioning an additional four oligarchs who rely on Putin for their positions of authority and in turn fund his military machine," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.

"By targeting these individuals, we are ramping up the economic pressure on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and will continue to do so until Ukraine prevails." The sanctions implemented include travel bans, asset freezes and transport sanctions, the foreign office said.

The British government, which has been led by three prime ministers this year, has been consistent in its stance on the war, having imposed sanctions on hundreds of Russian individuals and entities since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

On a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after taking office last week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised him that the country's support for Ukraine would be steadfast and "as strong as ever under his premiership". The government said it has also sanctioned Airat Shaimiev, who has an estimated net worth of 902 MM pounds, and Albert Shigabutdinov, with an estimated net worth of 977 MM pounds.

Shigabutdinov controlled roughly 96% of chemical and petrochemical processing in the Tatarstan region of Russia, including the production of crude oil, the statement said.

We remind, the eighth package, currently in draft form and seen by EURACTIV, is being discussed between EU ambassadors this week and is likely to be finalised before an informal EU summit in Prague next Friday. The European Commission proposal might prove particularly heavy for the Russian industry and citizens, as the list of sanctioned companies includes many big names, while restricted products span across multiple key sectors.
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Koksan Pet ve Plastik A.S is proud to announce that it has successfully commissioned its new PET resin plant with additional 216,000 Mton/year capacity under the UHIF (Uhde - Inventa Fischer) license with MTR (Melt-to-Resin) technology production as of 1 November 2022, said Ccfgroup.

The production site, located in the company’s HQ Gaziantep in Turkey, also located in the company’s first plant that has been in operation since 2013 and it has the same production capacity of 216.000 tons/year. The new plant will be able to produce not only bottle grade PET resin but also Textile and Film grade polyester resins as well.

With this capacity expansion, Koksan will reach an annual capacity of 432,000 tons, making it Turkey's largest and Europe's 2nd largest bottle grade pet resin producer under one roof. With this Bottle Grade Pet Resin production volume, Turkey will be the country with the largest production capacity in Europe.

According to company sources, KOKSAN is aiming to meet Turkey’s needs through domestic consumption (which helps to decrease import) and export the remaining volumes, particularly to the Europe, North Africa and the United States markets.

ThyssenKrupp entered into an agreement with Koksan in April 2021 to use ThyssenKrupp Melt-To-Resin (MTR) technology.

Along with its Bottle Grade Pet Resin production, Koksan continues successful production of Pet preforms in two locations, PE closures, Pet sheets and PE Stretch films with approximately 1500 employees.
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