Biofuel maker CropEnergies profit falls on lower ethanol prices

MOSCOW (MRC) -- German biofuel producer CropEnergies reported a drop in first-quarter core profit on Wednesday, hit by softer ethanol prices and lower production due to maintenance shutdowns, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company's earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 74% to USD27.2 MM in the March to May quarter, compared to the same period last year. Its shares fell 6% in early trading. The subsidiary of Europe's largest sugar refiner Suedzucker said it expected volatility in energy and raw material markets to gradually stabilize, after prices spiked last year due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The price of ethanol is down by 39% year on year in the European Union, according to Refinitiv data. CropEnergies, which makes ethanol and animal feed from renewable materials such as biomass, posted a 21% decline in ethanol production to 221,000 cubic meters during the quarter from 281,000 cubic meters a year earlier.

"It had been expected that this year's Q1 would come in below last year's exceptional result due to the normalization of prices and scheduled maintenance," said Hartmut Moers, an analyst at Matelan Research. Moers added the reported figures were better than the brokerage had anticipated. CropEnergies confirmed its full-year outlook for EBITDA of between EUR140 MM and EUR190 MM.

We remind, Syclus intends to build and operate a plant for the production of renewable ethylene from sustainable ethanol in Chemelot Industrial Park, Geleen, The Netherlands.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Grains merchant Bunge and oil major Chevron said on Wednesday they have acquired Argentina-based agricultural product company Chacraservicios, as the companies look to expand their renewable energy footprint, said Reuters.

Chacraservicios, which is focused on the cultivation of Camelina sativa, a crop with high oil content, will contribute to Bunge and Chevron's global supply chains by adding a new oil source to meet the growing demand for lower carbon renewable feedstocks, the companies said. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Renewable diesel emits lesser emissions by roughly 4.2% for carbon dioxide from the same volume of regular diesel, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, when compared with both biodiesel and regular diesel. That makes it attractive to logistics firms and other companies seeking to lower their supply chain pollution levels.

Expanding production of renewable diesel depends on increasing the supply of oils made from crops. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday cut its estimate of how many acres of soybeans, a key source of vegetable oil, had been planted.

Bunge has in the past two years entered partnerships with Chevron to crush oilseeds for renewable diesel, and with seedmaker Corteva to tailor crops for biofuel feedstocks. Bunge, the world's biggest oilseed crusher, last month agreed to acquire Viterra in a deal that would help it secure a larger role in the expanding renewable diesel industry.

We remind, Chevron Phillips Chemical, Technip Energies and LyondellBasell are collaborating on the design, construction and operation of a demonstration unit for Technip Energies’ electric steam cracking furnace technology, designed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the olefins production process.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Caspian Pipeline Consortium has stopped three pumping stations in western Kazakhstan because of a power outage in the region, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

CPC, the main export pipeline for Kazakh crude oil, continues pumping oil from Tengiz, the country's biggest field by output, but otherwise the work of the Tengiz, Atyrau and Isatai stations has been halted.

The Kazakh government said separately that the offlined unit at the Mangystau power plant whose outage caused a region-wide blackout on Monday would be restarted by July 7.

The blackout has also affected the Atyrau refinery, which hopes to return to full capacity within a week, and a number of oil producers which are expected to fully restore output within a month, according to the government.

We remind, Lukoil and JSC NC KazMunayGas signed agreements regarding the Kalamkas-Sea, Khazar, Auezov subsoil area development project in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea. The agreements define rights and obligations of the subsoil user during joint development activities in the area, Lukoil said in a release. 9 Feb 2023. The offshore oil fields lie about 60 km from the coast at a depth of 7-9 m and could produce 3-4 M tonnes/y of oil. Commissioning is expected in 2028.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kuwait's oil minister said that his country hopes to have a higher oil production quota when it ramps up capacity, and that Kuwait remains committed to OPEC decisions, said Reuters.

The minister, Saad Al Barrak, his country hopes to reach 3.2 million barrels per day of production capacity before the end of 2024. The hope for a higher OPEC quota was not urgent, he told reporters.

"We are committed to agreements with OPEC," the minister told reporters on Wednesday in Vienna where he is attending an OPEC event. "We are talking depending on the market, depending on many things," he added.

Al Arabiya TV earlier reported the comments in an interview with the minister.

We remind, Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) put out a fire at the al-Zour refinery without any reported injuries. The refinery is back to work normally, with production and export operations continuing, Abdullah Fahad Shabib Al-Ajmi added.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lubrizol and Grasim Industries will move forward with the first phase of "India's largest" chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) resin plant, which was announced in 2020, said the company.

The state-of-the-art facility, to be located at Grasim's site in Vilayat, Gujarat, will have a total production capacity of 100,000 tonnes/y of CPVC. Construction on the first phase is scheduled to begin later in 2023.

It was originally expected to be operational in late 2022. Lubrizol recently pledged to invest over USD150 M in the region, which also includes doubling capacity at its Dahej site, opening a grease lab in Navi Mumbai and enabling "significant" in-country job growth and innovation.

We remind, Lubrizol Corporation announces a global collaboration project with Suzano, the world’s leading eucalyptus pulp and paper producer. This market-leading partnership will co-develop natural-based ingredients using renewable materials to the beauty, personal and home care markets. The new relationship combines Lubrizol science, formulation, and market expertise with Suzano knowledge in all varieties and applications of eucalyptus bioproduct cellulosic biomaterials.

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