Trinseo slashes dividend to 1 cent/share to improve liquidity

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo is cutting its quarterly dividend by 93% from USD0.14 cents/share to USD0.01 cent, the US-based international engineered materials and styrenics producer said.

The cut, along with reductions in working capital and capital expenditures and an asset sale at Matamoros, Mexico, would improve Trinseo’s cash and liquidity profile by more than USD100m in 2023, it said. It is the second dividend cut this year, following a 56% reduction announced in February.

The decision to cut the dividend was “prudent, given the current low-demand economic environment while enabling continued investment in our growth and sustainability initiatives”, said CEO Frank Bozich.

We remind, Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider, announced the inauguration of its polycarbonate (PC) dissolution pilot facility in Terneuzen, the Netherlands. The new pilot facility is a major step in Trinseo’s commitment to sustainability, part of the journey in realizing the company’s sustainability goals. The guests of honor at the inauguration ceremony included Jo-Annes de Bat, Provincial Executive (responsible for regional economy) of the Netherlands.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Thyssenkrupp Uhde and Johnson Matthey have delivered a product solution to in-crease the ammonia capacity at Koch Fertilizer’s Fort Dodge, Iowa (USA) facility, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

During the revamp of the existing ammonia plant, the team integrated the uhde dual-pressure process, which was installed upstream of the existing ammonia synthesis loop.

Koch Fertilizer, a leading fertilizer manufacturer and distributor, performed a USD140-MM revamp at its Fort Dodge facility to further improve reliability, environmental and safety performance. The investment is expected to increase ammonia production capacity by 85,000 tons per year.

To help achieve the additional capacity, process experts from thyssenkrupp Uhde developed a new cartridge insert for the existing pressure shell based on latest design principles. Thanks to thorough scheduling, most of the installation work was done while the existing plant was running. Commissioning of the new uhde ammonia converter was smooth with Johnson Matthey on-site support and did not impact plant start-up time.

A key challenge was the very low ammonia synthesis operating pressure of only 960 psig/66 barg, which could be solved by combining Johnson Matthey’s high-performance catalyst KATALCOTM 74-1 with an adapted process design from thyssenkrupp Uhde. This joint solution enabled the increased ammonia synthesis capacity. The same combination of the highly efficient uhde dual pressure process for ammonia production and KATALCOTM 74-1 catalyst from Johnson Matthey is already used in all the world’s largest ammonia plants operating with capacities of more than 1 million tons of ammonia per year.

We remind, Thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA (Dortmund, Germany) is partnering with OxyChem to install the latest generation eBiTAC v7 electrolyzers to support the conversion of its Battleground plant in LaPorte, Texas, from the diaphragm to membrane chlor-alkali technology.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- El Campo-based Prairie Energy Partners has chosen Cushing, Oklahoma as the location for its proposed USD5.6-B oil refinery project, despite property tax incentives offered by Victoria County officials in Texas, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Prairie Energy Partners plans to build the first new American refinery in more than 40 years in Cushing, which was once home to multiple refineries. The facility aims to refine 250,000 bpd, with a total of 91 MMbbl annually. The refinery will primarily use blue hydrogen as a fuel source, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Victoria County officials had offered Prairie Energy Partners a generous property tax rebate of 100% for 10 years, followed by 50% for five years and 25% for years 16 to 20. However, they did not agree to the additional request for a 75% sales tax rebate during the construction phase.

Prairie Energy Partners found the tax incentives offered in Cushing, along with its status as the "Pipeline Crossroads of the World," more appealing than the location in Texas. Cushing's proximity to major cities like Oklahoma City and Tulsa also provides a favorable quality of life for the refinery's estimated 423 permanent workers.

We remind, China is both the biggest driver of future demand for crude oil, and the biggest risk to global refining as it will continue to hold much of the world's spare capacity. The International Energy Agency's (IEA) medium-term oil market report, released on Wednesday, forecast that Asia, and particularly China, was the engine of crude oil and refined product demand growth up until 2028.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- China is both the biggest driver of future demand for crude oil, and the biggest risk to global refining as it will continue to hold much of the world's spare capacity, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The International Energy Agency's (IEA) medium-term oil market report, released on Wednesday, forecast that Asia, and particularly China, was the engine of crude oil and refined product demand growth up until 2028.

China is also expected to add the most amount of crude refining capacity over the period from 2022 to 2028, and hold the largest volume of spare capacity, according to the IEA, which acts as an energy adviser to developed nations. The report highlights that this presents both opportunities and risks for the global oil and product markets.

The main risk is that the world's reliance on China's exports of refined fuels increases, but China's exports aren't determined by market imperatives. Rather, China's refined product exports are subject to quotas granted by Beijing, which acts more in what it deems the interests of the domestic economy and markets, rather than what the global markets may be signaling.

The IEA said China had about 3 million barrels per day (bpd) of unused refining capacity at the beginning of 2023. It expects that China's unused capacity will rise to 3.2 million bpd by 2028 as additional refining units are added at a faster pace than throughput volumes.

Over the 2022-28 period China will add 1.5 million bpd of new refining capacity, taking nameplate capacity to 19.7 million bpd, but processing volumes are expected to rise to 16.5 million bpd over the forecast period.

We remind, U.S. crude oil stockpiles posted a surprise large build last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories gained more than expected. Crude inventories rose by 7.9 million barrels in the week to June 9, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a draw of 510,000 barrels. "U.S. crude inventories have jumped higher, hitting the brakes on today's rally, while builds to the products are somewhat inevitable given strong refinery runs," said Matt Smith.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- MEGlobal has nominated its July 2023 monoethylene glycol (MEG) Asian Contract Price (ACP) at USD790/tonne, down by USD50/tonne from its June ACP, said the company.

The price is on a CFR (cost & freight) Asia basis.

We remind, MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) will be USD840/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival June 2023. The June 2023 ACP reflects the short-term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.
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