Sherwin-Williams to expand architectural coatings facilities

The Sherwin-Williams Company holds a ceremonial groundbreaking to mark the start of construction of a 36,000 square foot extension of its existing 200,000 sq ft manufacturing facility and new 800,000 square foot distribution and fleet transportation centre, said the company.

The project also adds four new rail spurs at the existing manufacturing site and leaves another 200,000 square feet available for future expansion at the distribution site. The project is expected to be completed by end-2024.

Sherwin-Williams plans to invest a minimum of $300 M in the project and add more than 180 full-time jobs at the site over the next three years, which would essentially double the existing workforce.

The company announced in Feb 2022 that it signed an agreement with the state of North Carolina, US, Iredell County and the City of Statesville to significantly expand its architectural paint and coatings manufacturing capacity and establish a larger distribution facility in Statesville, NC, US. The Statesville facility was chosen for its transportation infrastructure, the strength of the current workforce and depth of the local talent pool, the facility's ability to handle additional capacity, and a location that provides for the centralization of existing distribution opportunities for the company's regional operations.

We remind, Sherwin-Williams Company has announced an agreement to acquire Industria Chimica Adriatica (ICA), an Italian designer, manufacturer and distributor of industrial wood coatings used for kitchen cabinets, furniture and decor, building products, flooring and other specialty applications.
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MOL’s third-quarter clean current cost of supplies (CCS) earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for its petrochemical division fell by 90%, year on year, said the company.

The company said its margins for petrochemicals had slumped by 34% during the quarter, year on year. Despite this, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT, or operating profit) more than doubled.

MOL’s petrochemical integrated margin fell to €438/tonne in Q3 2022 from €600/tonne in Q2 2022 and EUR663/tonne in Q3 2021. The quarter-on-quarter decline was mainly attributed by the company to lower polymer/monomer spreads.

Q3 2022 petrochemical product sales stood at 303,000 tonnes, versus 367,000 tonnes in the same period of last year and 277,000 tonnes in Q2 2022.

Petrochemical sales increased quarter on quarter following the completion of planned Q2 2022 maintenance. Overall MOL, an integrated oil, gas, and petrochemicals group, recorded a net profit of Hungarian forint (Ft) 322.3bn (USD775.0m) in the third quarter, equivalent to a gain of 113% from Ft151.4bn in Q3 2021.

Third-quarter group net sales were up 78% year on year to Ft2.88tr. MOL said the estimated impact of fuel price regulation and windfall taxes on the group across central and eastern Europe amounted to approximately USD1.18bn in Q1-Q3 2022.

It added the potential introduction of the EU’s solidarity contribution by individual member states would be set to make a further negative impact on MOL’s profitability.

As MRC reported earlier, MOL Group (Budapest, Hungary) has recently announced that Rossi Biofuel (a joint venture wherein MOL Group and Envien Group are the 25-75% owners) inaugurated a new plant in Komarom, Hungary, which will significantly increase the biofuel production volume in the country. With this investment, MOL Group and Envien Group launched a technology in Europe that can boost greenhouse gas savings by more than 85%. With a capacity of 50,000 tons per year, the plant is the first in Europe to use the RepCat technology offered by Austrian firm BDI-BioEnergy International GmbH, which is highly flexible in terms of raw materials - it allows the processing of greasy wastes of different types and origins, such as used cooking oils, trap grease, animal fats or residues from vegetable oil production. Biodiesel produced in this way is one of the most climate-friendly fuels.

We remind that in March 2021, MOL became a biofuel producer through the realization of an investment in the Danube Refinery. Bio feedstock will be co-processed together with fossil materials increasing the renewable share of fuels and reducing up to 200,000 tons /year CO2 emission without negatively affecting fuel quality.

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AdvanSix’s Q3 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 57% year on year, said the company.

Despite the 18% decline in volumes, sales rose 7% as market-based pricing was favorable, driven by higher pricing across the company’s ammonium sulphate and nylon product lines.

Raw material pass-through pricing was favourable by 4%, following a net cost increase in benzene and propylene, both inputs to cumene, which is a key feedstock for the company's products.

Earlier it was written, AdvanSix announced a preliminary update on its 3Q 2022 planned turnaround activities and its expected 3Q 2022 financial results. The company expects 3Q 2022 adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of USD31 M to USD34 M.

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Huntsman third-quarter (Q3) sales and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) fell, year on year, as business becomes “increasingly difficult” across the globe, especially in Europe, said the company.

CEO Peter Huntsman said Europe has been the hardest hit region from surging energy prices, adding the current crisis and an energy ‘new normal’ could cause lasting damage to European chemical's global competitiveness.

The company’s polyurethanes (PU) division posted the most negative results, with sales and EBITDA falling; this division produces chemicals such as polyols, methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), as well as thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) and coatings, among others.

The divisions called Performance Products and Advanced Materials, however, increased sales and earnings during the third quarter.
Despite the hit in Q3, Huntsman’s January-September sales and earnings remain higher than in the same period of 2021.

CEO Huntsman painted quite a catastrophic picture of the EU economy, which has been badly hit by the war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices. He linked the current woes to the long-term competitiveness of European chemicals production, as now more than ever before, the production of chemicals in Europe comes at a high price as surging utility costs hurt energy-intensive sectors.

Huntsman said on Friday it will implement further cost savings programmes which are to go “above and beyond” the company previously announced savings. "The global business environment has become increasingly difficult with growth slowing across many of our end markets. Specifically in Europe, the inflationary impact from record high energy prices combined with declining demand is pressuring our European facilities and margins in ways no one anticipated ... A 'new normal' will not include favourable energy prices and competitiveness the EU once enjoyed,” said the CEO.

“To mitigate these market conditions, in the short term, we have significantly reduced our production rates … [and] we are committing to further realign our cost structure above and beyond our previously announced cost optimisation programs with additional restructuring in Europe.” He fell short of giving more Europe-specific details. However, he said the company has already identified, globally, $40m in potential restructuring to the end of 2023.

In September, Huntsman slashed its Q3 guidance due to Europe’s woes; the company’s CEO, meanwhile, warned in August that high energy costs and the inability to pass them onto customers were threatening the future of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) manufacturing in Europe.

We remind, Huntsman Corporation announced the start of commercial operation of a new methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) splitter at its Geismar site in Louisiana. The USD180 million splitter gives Huntsman the ability to produce more high value, differentiated grades from the crude MDI manufactured at the plant, thereby enabling growth in key customer applications.
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Abu Dhabi Chemicals Derivatives Company RSC Ltd (“TA’ZIZ”) and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), have agreed to launch TA’ZIZ EDC & PVC, a world-scale chemical production partnership at the TA’ZIZ Industrial Chemicals Zone in Ruwais, said Transportandlogisticsme.

The new joint-venture will construct and operate a Chlor-Alkali, Ethylene Dichloride (EDC) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) production facility, with an investment of more than USD2 billion.

Representing the first production of these chemicals in the UAE, the project will enable the substitution of imports and the creation of new local value chains, while also meeting growing demand for these chemicals globally.

The TA’ZIZ Industrial Chemicals Zone is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and ADQ.

The project builds on ADNOC and Reliance’s long-standing strategic partnership and is Reliance’s first investment in the MENA region.

The signing of the joint venture terms, which are subject to regulatory approvals, was witnessed by His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO and Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Mukesh D. Ambani.

The joint venture terms were signed by Mr. Khaleefa Al Mheiri, Acting CEO of TA’ZIZ and Mr. Kamal Nanavaty, President Strategy and Business Development of Reliance Industries Limited.

We remind, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) plans to build a steam cracker in Ruwais, in line with its goal of more than doubling the chemical production capacity at the TA’ZIZ Industrial Chemicals Zone. A feasibility study on the project is under way, with the design phase set to commence in the first quarter of 2023, ADNOC said in a statement on 3 November.
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