OMV Europe PE margin down year on year

OMV’s polyethylene (PE) indicator margin for Europe stood at €308/tonne in Q3 2023 versus €312/tonne in Q3 2022 and €320/tonne in Q2 2023, said the Austrian oil, gas and petrochemical group.

For the polypropylene (PP) indicator margin for Europe, the figures were €330/tonne, €357/tonne and €372/tonne, respectively.

For the propylene indicator margin for Europe, the figures were €330/tonne, €574/tonne and €459/tonne, respectively.

For the ethylene indicator margin for Europe, the figures were €455/tonne, €614/tonne and €567/tonne, respectively.

Also in the trading statement, the company put its European refining margin indicator (based on Brent crude) for the third quarter at $14.05/bbl compared with $14.38/bbl in the third quarter a year ago and $7.59 cents/barrel in the second quarter of this year.

We remind, Wood has signed a collaboration agreement with OMV for the commercial licensing of its innovative plastic recycling technology, ReOil. This agreement will support significant advancements in chemical-based plastic recycling, helping to build a circular economy solution for end-of-life plastics that would otherwise be sent to landfill or waste incineration.

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Sanofi has entered into an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, to develop and commercialize the vaccine candidate for extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (9-valent) developed by Janssen, a potential first-in-class product currently in Phase 3, said Chemanager.

Under the terms of the agreement, both companies will co-fund current and future research and development costs. Sanofi said it will pay $175 million upfront to Janssen, followed by development and commercial milestones. There will be a profit-share arrangement in the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain as well as the UK. In the rest of the world, Janssen will receive tiered royalties and sales milestones. Closing of the deal is subject to customary regulatory clearance.

Thomas Triomphe, Sanofi’s executive vice president Vaccines, said: “E. coli is a significant cause of sepsis, mortality, and antimicrobial resistance in older adults, and the number of cases is rising as the population ages.”

Extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli is a leading cause of sepsis, particularly in older adults. The main risk factors, Sanofi said, include age, especially 60+, and chronic illnesses (e.g., diabetes, cancer, or kidney disease). Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) E. coli strains are an ongoing healthcare concern, with extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli a major driver behind the global AMR crisis.

In separate news, Sanofi and Teva Pharmaceuticals announced a collaboration to co-develop and co-commercialize lead candidate TEV’574, currently in Phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, two types of inflammatory bowel disease.

Under the terms of the agreement, Teva will receive an upfront payment of €469 million ($500 million) and up to €940 million ($1 billion) in development and launch milestones. Each company will equally share the development costs globally and net profits and losses in major markets, with other markets subject to a royalty arrangement, with Sanofi leading the development of the Phase 3 program. Teva will lead commercialization of the product in Europe, Israel and specified other countries, and Sanofi will lead commercialization in North America, Japan, other parts of Asia and the rest of the world. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. The partners expect initial program results to be available in 2024.

Paul Hudson, CEO of Sanofi, said: “Anti-TL1As are a promising class of therapies, and we believe that TEV’574 could emerge as a best-in-class option for people living with serious gastrointestinal diseases. This collaboration strengthens our commitment to advancing innovative treatment options for inflammatory conditions with a high unmet need and bolsters our goal to be an industry leader in immunology.”

Teva’s president and CEO, Richard Francis, added: “This is a new era for Teva, and our robust, innovative pipeline is key to our Pivot to Growth strategy. This collaboration further validates the great science that Teva has to offer with our internally developed anti-TL1A.”

We remind, Repsol and Signode have developed a ready-to-use strap for high tenacity applications made of a polypropylene (PP) compound with 30% recycled content. The Spanish petrochemical and the U.S.-based transit-packaging provider claim the solution is a market first.

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Russia, the world's top seaborne exporter of diesel just ahead of the United States, resumed exports of the fuel on Monday after it lifted its ban on most fuel exports following a decline in domestic wholesale prices, said Reuters.

Russian exports of gasoline and cross-border supplies of diesel by rail and road are still prohibited, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday. On Sept. 21 Russia temporarily banned most exports of gasoline and diesel to cope with a domestic market shortage, with pipeline operator Transneft halting diesel shipments from Primorsk from Sept. 22. The ban was partially lifted on Friday.

TASS news agency cited a spokesman for Transneft as saying that the oil pipeline monopoly had restarted diesel exports on Saturday. Pavel Sorokin, Russia's first deputy energy minister, told RBC TV that storage at oil refineries had been full, which could lead to a decline in refining volumes. He also said the ban will be fully lifted once the domestic market is "saturated" with fuel.

"We will take further steps depending on the situation," he said. Tankers loaded with diesel LSEG data showed that one tanker carrying a cargo of diesel left the Russian Baltic port of Primorsk on Monday and three more were docked ready for loading. All four vessels were chartered in September and had been waiting offshore since the export ban was introduced.

The Chiba, Prime V, Romeos and Eternal Sunshine are each expected to carry about 33,000 metric tons of ultra-low sulphur diesel. Diesel is Russia's biggest oil product export, at about 35 million metric tons last year, of which almost three-quarters were shipped via pipeline. Russia also exported 4.8 million tons of gasoline in 2022.

Of that, 3.5 million tons of gasoline and 6.6 million tons of diesel were exported by rail, according to the LSEG data. Russia has been tackling both shortages and high fuel prices in recent months, which have hurt farmers in particular during the harvesting season. Since the ban was introduced, wholesale diesel prices on the local exchange have fallen by 21%, while gasoline prices are down 10%.

We remind, private Russian oil producer Lukoil will lend Azeri state oil firm Socar $1.5 B as part of a broader deal that will allow Socar's 200,000-barrel-per-day Turkish STAR refinery to process Russian crude again. The deal will give Lukoil another customer in close proximity to Russian ports after most European refiners stopped importing its crude to comply with European Union sanctions imposed after Moscow launched what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine in 2022.

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Axens has chosen to join forces with Hunan Changyuan Lico, a major producer of cathode-active materials in China, said the company.

Pooling their expertise and innovation capabilities will enable them to establish themselves in a highly competitive market, while contributing to the development of the battery industry in France and Europe.

To comply with European directives and to preserve metal resources, this plant project will also take into account the recycling of critical metals from various sources.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on September 18, 2023 by the Chairmen of the two partner companies will enable the teams to continue working exclusively on technology transfer, project deployment and product qualification.

The new plant in France is scheduled to be operational in 2027, and will meet both the need to localize battery production and the need to recycle critical components. It will thus contribute to the reindustrialization of France in a forward-looking sector, and will help strengthen the national and European automotive industries.

We remind, Axens has signed an agreement with KazMunayGas (KMG) to supply the process design package for its proprietary AlphaButol technology for producing high-purity 1-butene, which is required for producing PE. KMG has plans for a 1.2 million t/y PE plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. French technology and engineering group Axens has signed an agreement with KazMunayGas (KMG) to supply the process design package for its proprietary AlphaButol technology that produces high-purity 1-butene, which is required for producing PE. KMG plans to build a 1.2 million t/y PE plant in the Atyrau region of Kazakhstan – a timescale for the project has not been disclosed.

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Symrise AG has increased its holdings in the US company Kobo Products Inc. The transaction increases the Symrise stake in the pigment and powder specialist to 49%, said the company.

The transaction creates further opportunities for both companies in the fields of mineral UV filters and decorative cosmetics. Kobo customers will also benefit from expanded capacities and global supply chains. With this step, both partners have expressed their strong commitment to this partnership and the added value it will create for customers and consumers.

“Kobo Products Inc. is the perfect partner for our activities in the field of inorganic sunscreen filters and color solutions for decorative cosmetics,” said Dr Jorn Andreas, the Executive Board member responsible for Scent & Care at Symrise. “With its innovative product range, Kobo perfectly complements our own portfolio. The corporate cultures of Kobo and Symrise also harmonize on all levels. For all these reasons, we feel very happy about this second investment and the expression of our confidence in Kobo that it makes.”

The partnership with Kobo began in 2021 and has successfully evolved ever since. This second investment and the related increase of the Symrise holding to 49% represent the logical next step in the companies’ partnership. The expanded partnership with Kobo includes an agreement on the future disposition of shares of Kobo?s capital stock and the governance of Kobo. The funds raised in this transaction are to be used to expand capacity and enhance the supply chain to continue its growth trajectory and further optimize its business operations.

“Symrise has established itself as a reliable and trusted partner over the past two years,” said David Schlossman, President and majority owner of Kobo Products Inc. “Their second investment is exactly the commitment we were seeking in a partnership of this kind. The Symrise teams have been extremely welcoming to us and engaged in the products. We have a lot of exciting work ahead that will surely create new opportunities for our customers and employees.”

We remind, in 2021 Symrise has acquired a 25% share in Kobo Products, a powder and dispersion specialist headquartered in South Plainfield, New Jersey, USA. Symrise said the investment is a strategic step to expand into inorganic UV filters and decorative cosmetics.

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