Cost reductions at Arkema limit fall in 2009 operating profit

March 12 (plasteurope) -- Arkema has reported a 38% year-on-year fall in operating profit (EBITDA) to EUR 310m in 2009. The company said that it had limited the impact of falling volumes by accelerating cost reductions while generating high cash flow.

Sales in the year fell by 21% to EUR 4.44 bn, with volumes showing a 14% decline over 2008 due to the effect falling demand combined with customer destocking in the first six months of the year. Prices fell over the year, reflecting lower raw material costs, in particular ethylene and propylene and a fall in caustic soda prices.

MRC

MRC Reference

Arkema.

The share in the Russian market in 2008:

PVC - 0.2%;

EVA - 1.1%.

Annual sales growth in Russia, during the recent 5 years:

PVC - 69%;

PE - 121%.

Imports by polymers processing technologies:

coating;

cable extrusion.

March 12 (plastemart) -- Based on Russia's plentiful feedstock resources, petrochemical major Sibur is studying the construction of large-scale petrochemical and polymer production as per ICIS. Since domestic demand is limited, the projects would be export-oriented, targeting China primarily.

But building the necessary pipelines to transport the feedstock across huge distances to the cracker locations will be a mammoth task. Russia has the feedstock and capabilities to convert this feedstock into polyolefins at a competitive cost. Transvalgaz is exploring the feasibility of necessary gas processing and feedstock transportation from Western Siberia to North-West Russia.

Sibur is also discussing with Gazprom a cracker project in Russia's Far East region, either in Vladivostok or Khabarovsk. Vladivostok is the preferred location because the port is ice-free.

MRCMRC Reference

Sibur Holding is the largest Russian petrochemical group.

Shareholders:
Gazprombank (70% minus 1 share);
Gazfond (25% plus 1 share);
5% reserved for option program.

The share in the Russian market in 2008:

polyethylene - 11.1%;

polypropylene - 16% (including PP-random - 11.2%);
ABS - 5.2%;
PVC - 8.1%.

March 12 (plastemart) -- Japan's Mitsui Chemicals Inc expects to restart its 553,000 tpa naphtha cracker in Chiba around late March after repairs.

The cracker was originally shut on Feb. 28 due to a problem and has failed to restart earlier this month, resulting in a loss of about US$33 mln.

March 12 (plastemart) -- Spain's Repsol is to shut down its petrochemical units producing styrene, propylene oxide and glycols at the refinery indefinitely. It has also halted the hydrocracker at its Puertollano refinery for 3 months due to low refining margins.

Since the cracker was operating at minimum levels and production at the petrochemical units had already stopped, the effect on output will be very limited. Repsol does not plan to lay off any of the 90 workers affected by the stoppages.

MRC

PP output went up by 27% and moved at 53.86 kt. Nizhnekamskneftekhim was the one that demonstrated the most serious increase in PP production (by 39%). At the same time, Ufaorgsyntez cut down output by 34%. Lack of propylene in January was the reason of reduced utilization of PP production capacities at the enterprise.

PP exports went up by 14%. PP-homo exports (nearly 90% of overall PP exports) increased 3%. Over the course of the two recent months, PP-homo exports moved at nearly 25 kt. Weak demand in the domestic market and high prices in the foreign markets facilitated higher exports.

Polypropylene imports went up by 13%. PP-impact imports demonstrated the highest growth rates (by 36%). Major volumes of PP-impact were imported to the injection moulding sector. High imports of copolymers and weak buying activity in the Russian market resulted in oversupply in January. Demand for copolymers became stronger only at the end of February.

MRC

For more detailed information on the Russian PP market, see MRC Monthly Report.