Hexpol posts higher earnings

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hexpol (Malmo, Sweden), a polymer compounder, says net profits in the fourth quarter of 2022 grew by 40% year on year (YOY) to 624.0 million Swedish kronor (USD60.5 million) on sales up 35% YOY to SKr5.49 billion. Adjusted EBITA increased 29% YOY to SKr837.0 million, said the company.

EBITA margin was 15.2%, 0.7 percentage points lower YOY. “[The company posted] good sales in all markets and all product areas. However, at the end of December we saw lower sales compared to the beginning of the quarter, affected by inventory reductions at customers and the effects of the extreme winter weather in USA. Despite that, America showed overall a continued strong development,” says Georg Brunstam, president and CEO at Hexpol.

Hexpol’s compounding business posted a 36% YOY growth in sales to SKr5.15 billion. EBIT increased 55% YOY to SKr767.0 million. Sales of the company’s engineered products were up 18% YOY to SKr347.0 million. The business’s EBIT increased 76% YOY to SKr74.0 million.

We remind, Hexpol has completed the previously announced acquisiton of US thermoplastic compounding company McCann Plastics for USD120m on a cash and debt free basis. McCann Plastics, of North Canton, Ohio, specialises in niche thermoplastic compounds, with a focus on roto moulding applications. Its main end customer segments are general industry, agriculture and specialised cooling boxes. The company, with sales of USD72m in the past 12 months, has operations at two sites in Ohio and employs about 100 people.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Olin Corporation announced financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2022, said the company.

Fourth quarter 2022 reported net income was USD196.6 million, or USD1.43 per diluted share, which compares to fourth quarter 2021 reported net income of USD306.6 million, or USD1.89 per diluted share. Fourth quarter 2022 adjusted EBITDA of USD441.8 million excludes depreciation and amortization expense of USD148.5 million and restructuring charges and other items of USD10.0 million.

Fourth quarter 2021 adjusted EBITDA was USD686.7 million. Sales in the fourth quarter 2022 were USD1,977.0 million compared to USD2,430.4 million in the fourth quarter 2021. Full year 2022 reported net income was USD1,326.9 million, or USD8.94 per diluted share, which compares to full year 2021 reported net income of USD1,296.7 million, or USD7.96 per diluted share.

Scott Sutton, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, said, "In 2022, we repurchased approximately 16% of our outstanding shares from available cash flow, while also reducing our net debt level. With our confidence in our ability to generate meaningful earnings and cash flow even in recessionary economic conditions, we expect to continue our capital allocation strategy, while committing to maintain an investment-grade balance sheet and achieve investment-grade credit ratings. Our 2022 performance continued to demonstrate how our winning model adapted in real-time to emphasize 'value first' versus a volume maximization approach. Despite the recessionary global economic conditions that developed during 2022, we generated over USD1.3 billion of net income and over USD2.4 billion of adjusted EBITDA.

We remind, Olin Corp. (Clayton, Mo.) and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Tokyo) announced that the Blue Water Alliance JV, LLP has received all necessary regulatory approvals and it is beginning operations. Announced in March 2022, Blue Water Alliance (BWA) is a joint venture of Olin and Mitsui. BWA brings together Mitsui’s industry-leading global logistics, long-established supplier and customer relationships, and breadth of product portfolio with Olin’s scale, North American export capability, extensive global terminal network, and production flexibility across the electrochemical unit (ECU) portfolio.

Olin Corporation is a leading vertically-integrated global manufacturer and distributor of chemical products and a leading U.S. manufacturer of ammunition. The chemical products produced include chlorine and caustic soda, vinyls, epoxies, chlorinated organics, bleach, hydrogen, and hydrochloric acid. Winchester's principal manufacturing facilities produce and distribute sporting ammunition, law enforcement ammunition, reloading components, small caliber military ammunition and components, and industrial cartridges.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA on Friday restarted the fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) of its 645,000 bpd Amuay refinery, the country's largest, following an outage that halted operations for eight weeks, three sources from the facility said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Outages and unplanned maintenance often interrupt operations at PDVSA's aging 1.3-MM-bpd refining network, leading to fuel scarcity, especially of gasoline and diesel.

Amuay's FCC is essential for producing enough motor gasoline to meet the country's demand. PDVSA in recent weeks had resorted to the neighboring Cardon refinery's catalytic cracker, which can only process up to 45,000 bpd, for partially offsetting the lost of key operational units at Amuay.

Amuay's 108,000-bpd FCC was out of service since early December due to equipment malfunctioning. The unit is currently processing some 67,000 bpd, one of the sources said.

Amuay and Cardon are part of PDVSA's largest refining complex, the 955,000-bpd Paraguana Center.

We remind, PDVSA has assigned a third crude cargo to Chevron Corp under a U.S. authorization that restarted exports to the United States after a nearly four-year pause. Chevron received a U.S. license in November allowing it to revive its oil output and expand operations in Venezuela, part of Washington's effort to encourage talks towards elections in the OPEC country, which has been under U.S. oil sanctions since 2019.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Roehm announced the opening of its flagship Innovation Center. This “Center of Excellence” is equipped with a state-of-the-art materials development laboratory, featuring advanced processing capabilities for material compounding, injection molding, and extrusion, said the company.

The 2,000 square foot lab has a full range of physical, mechanical, thermal, and optical material characterization techniques. Expanded functionality will provide enhanced support and solutions for Roehm customers. The Innovation Center marks the largest non-production investment for Roehm in the region. The 15,000 square foot facility is located in Wallingford, Connecticut – close to a Roehm manufacturing plant. The site is home to technical, processing, and formulation polymer experts committed to the development of new CYROLITE® and ACRYLITE® molding compound solutions for the medical, automotive and lighting industries, as well as the household goods sector.

“The space fosters collaboration of OEM’s, processors, and Roehm experts to create new PMMA-based solutions that meet the demanding requirements of our medical, and general industry clients,” says Thomas Spagnuolo, Vice President and General Manager of Molding Compounds at Roehm America. “Improved technical resources provide our team with the tools needed for advanced product development with our customers.”

The Innovation Center will soon be certified with ISO and IATF accreditations. The modern onsite lab features temperature and humidity control, ideal for plastic formulation and processing optimization. The new site is also home to a visitor’s center - showcasing Roehm’s history of innovation, an internal/external training facility, and a customer hub built to respond quickly to customer requests such as technical data, samples, and application support.

As the global headquarters for medical research and development, the Innovation Center is the central hub for the development of new CYROLITE® solutions in the medical device industry. The team will support medical OEM for infusion therapy, blood management, diagnostics, and other technologies. Activities also include development, design, and processing support for ACRYLITE® applications in automotive lighting, extrusion, optics, and distribution in the Americas region. This work will encompass body add-on components as well as signal and interior lighting for the automotive industry. Applications such as appliances, general lighting, and custom-made compounds will be supported at this facility as well.

“The new Innovation Center will deliver enhanced capabilities crucial to the advancement of material solutions and technical services that exceed our customers’ expectations and fuel the growth of Molding Compounds,” says Renlong Gao, Head of Innovation Center.

News of the Innovation Center launch at the start of this year reaffirms Roehm’s commitment to growth in the Americas’ Region along with two previous significant investments last year, including the newly constructed headquarters in Parsippany, NJ and the new world-scale methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant in Bay City, TX.

We remind, Rohm extends the shut down of several methacrylate monomer production units in Worms into November. Rohm remains your reliable and committed Methacylates producer in Europe with two strong production sites in Worms and Wesseling serving our valuable customers.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Independent Russian oil refiner Forteinvest has clinched a deal that will see Russian gasoline sent to Pakistan by land for the first time, two industry sources said on Friday, as Russian refiners seek alternative markets for motor fuels days before an EU import ban, said Reuters.

Forteinvest has sold to a trader an initial 1,000-tonne lot of gasoline from its Orsk plant for delivery to Pakistan and has more requests to supply gasoline, diesel and LPG to the country, the sources added.

The refined products will be shipped from the Orsk refinery in Russia's Orenburg region near the Kazakhstan border to Afganistan by rail and reloaded into tank trucks for delivery to Pakistan, as Russia and Pakistan don't have direct rail connections, the sources said. Forteinvest did not respond to a request for comment.

The move comes days ahead of a new set of Western sanctions, as G7 countries, and the 27-nation EU as a whole, seek to limit Russia's revenue from oil exports without disrupting world supply. A price cap on imported Russian oil products is due to come into force on Feb. 5, along with an EU import ban on Russia's refined products.

Russia could start exporting oil to energy-starved Pakistan after March if terms are agreed, Russia's energy minister said on Jan. 20. Russia will sell crude, petrol and diesel oil to Pakistan at discounted prices, Pakistan's state minister for petroleum said in December, days after he led a government team to Moscow to negotiate the deal. Pakistan's foreign minister is due to hold talks in Moscow on Monday.

Historically, Pakistan has had no major commercial energy ties with Moscow. It currently depends on oil from Gulf countries, which often extend facilities such as deferred payments and can supply with lower transport costs, given Pakistan's proximity.

In 2022, Russia shipped to Afganistan by rail some 120,000 tons of gasoline from Orsk, Omsk, Salavat, Taneko and TAIF oil refineries, as well as some 41,000 tons of diesel of Belarusian origin and from Russian oil depots. Russia has also exported to the country some 104,000 tons of LPG, rail data shows.

We remind, BASF investors said that oil and gas business Wintershall Dea's exit from Russia, though painful, clears the way for plans to take it public and for BASF to focus on its chemicals operations. BASF late Tuesday flagged a 7.3 B euro (USD7.9 B) writedown on Wintershall Dea (WD), as the energy business, in which Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's investment firm LetterOne owns a 27% stake, pulls out of Russia.

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