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Orbia focused on cost in face of weak PVC market
Orbia focused on cost in face of weak PVC market
Houston, 25 April (Argus) — Mexico-based chemicals producers Orbia is focusing on reducing future costs as the broader polyvinyl chloride (PVC) industry faces weakening market dynamics. Orbia said Friday it would focus on maintaining strict discipline on fixed costs, working capital, and capital investments to weather the turbulent global economic landscape. The company is targeting $250mn in savings by 2027, with cumulative savings of $160mn by the end of 2025. The company also expects $75mn of divestments by the end of the year in its building and infrastructure segment. Plants and related infrastructure in Europe were the primary targets of the optimization, according to company officials on the first-quarter earnings call. Orbia chief executive Sameer Bharadwaj said the company could revise capital expenditures lower from its initial $400mn target provided earlier this year should market conditions further deteriorate. Short-term operating costs currently face lower levels with falling ethane prices, a critical feedstock to manufacture ethylene for PVC production. The focus on cost management was spurred by sluggishness in the global PVC market. Chinese and US PVC producers drove export prices lower as a means of moving excess capacity, which Orbia expects to continue. "PVC pricing is as low as it gets" Bharadwaj said. He added producer margins would be squeezed further if product prices continue to decrease. Orbia posted a $41mn profit during the first quarter, down from the $106mn profit a year earlier. Orbia's polymer solutions segment, which includes PVC production, reported $6mn loss during the three-month period because of lower global prices for vinyls and a force majeure at its Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, plant that was lifted in mid-April. Orbia made a $24mn profit during the same period a year ago. The building and infrastructure segment, inclusive of PVC products, posted a $3mn profit for the quarter compared to a $33mn profit a year earlier. By Aaron May Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
LyondellBasell targets 85pc cracker run rate in 2Q
LyondellBasell targets 85pc cracker run rate in 2Q
Houston, 25 April (Argus) — LyondellBasell expects utilization of its olefins and polyolefins plants in the US to increase by 5 percentage points in the second quarter to 85pc of capacity as crackers return from maintenance and an unplanned outage, the company said today. The company expected its first-quarter utilization rate of 80pc because of a planned turnaround in Channelview, Texas, but the rate was still 10 points lower than the first quarter last year. Maintenance teams in Channelview are concluding a 60-day turnaround at the company's largest US olefins producing facility that began in February. That turnaround involved work on one of its two 930,000 metric tonne (t)/yr crackers, its 473,000t/yr Flex-1 metathesis unit, and its C4 processing unit. Another key factor increasing second-quarter operating rates is the restart of the LyondellBasell's 1.54mn t/yr joint venture cracker with Sasol in Lake Charles, Louisiana. This is the company's largest US cracker, which had an unplanned shutdown in the first quarter. Also in the first quarter, a winter storm in January took other olefins-producing assets offline. The second quarter historically is absent of weather events like freezes and hurricanes that can curtail cracker operations. This second-quarter's 5 percentage point increase in operating rates comes against the backdrop of major uncertainty surrounding both US ethane and polyethylene (PE) exports to China. Beijing announced 34pc retaliatory tariffs on US goods on 4 April, then raised these to 125pc on 11 April in response to tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese manufactured goods. The sky-high rates apply to key petrochemical feedstocks LPG and ethane, as well as imports of US polyethylene. If US ethane is not exempted from China's tariff, LyondellBasell said its ethane-based production in the US would likely benefit from lower ethane feedstock costs. US ethane and certain grades of PE may be on a list of 130 products that China plans to exempt from its across-the-board tariffs on US goods, LyondellBasell said, citing "rumors" that it has also heard from its Asian customers. The uncertainty around trade caused LyondellBasell to reduce its planned capital expenditure for this year to $1.9bn, down from $2.2bn. But the company is neither cancelling nor delaying plans for its new $800mn Flex-2 metathesis unit in Channelview, Texas, which was announced at the beginning of March. Construction for that unit will begin in late 2025, and operations are scheduled to begin in late 2028. It will have a capacity of 400,000 t/yr of propylene and is expected to add $150mn/yr to earnings. In LyondellBasell's view, ethylene-to-propylene conversion technology has greater reliability and lower capital and carbon intensity than the major competing technology, propane dehydrogenation (PDH). Overall, the company views reducing its net long position in ethylene and its net short position in propylene as essential. The company during the first quarter closed its Houston refinery, which produced 164,000 t/yr of propylene. By Michael Camarda Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Brazil 1Q PE imports hint at shifting trade patterns
Brazil 1Q PE imports hint at shifting trade patterns
Sao Paulo, 25 April (Argus) — Brazilian polyethylene (PE) imports totaled 459,173t in the first quarter of 2025, down 20.3pc when compared with the 515,063t imported during the same period in 2024. The five major PE exporters to Brazil during the first quarter of 2025 were the US, Argentina, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Leading the pack, the US shipped 310,861t, a 9pc year-on-year decrease. The decline is expected to continue in the second quarter as Brazilian buyers are avoiding any risk coming from the uncertainties caused by US president Donald Trump's tariffs. Argentina followed with 65,025t, a 9pc increase compared with a year earlier, showing that buyers are increasingly looking for different sources for the resin. One source in Argentina confirmed to Argus that the local PE producer is running at higher rates and exporting to Brazil all of the excess that could not be absorbed internally in Argentina. Canada, with shipments of 19,379t, down by 40pc, and Saudi Arabia with 10,541t, a volume 47pc lower than the first quarter of 2024, also lost market share. Imports from Egypt grew significantly to 8,993t in the first quarter, up from 342t in the same period in 2024. Egyptian PE does not pay 20pc import taxes when entering Brazil. Egypt's percentage growth in the Brazilian PE market was followed by Mexico, with a 664pc increase in shipments, possibly intra-company exports from Brazil's resin manufacturer Braskem's subsidiary in Mexico, and by the Netherlands, with shipments up by 278pc year-on-year at 4,046t. The trade shifts in the first quarter could show the start of a change in trade dynamics in the Brazilian PE market following disruptions caused by Trump's tariff policies announced on 2 April. By Fred Fernandes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Water levels delay Tennessee River lock reopening
Water levels delay Tennessee River lock reopening
Houston, 24 April (Argus) — The US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) will delay the reopening of the Tennessee River's Wilson Lock by three weeks after high floodwater disrupted repair plans. The Wilson Lock is now planned to reopen in mid-June or July, the Corps said this week. The lock's main chamber has been closed since September after severe cracks were found in the structure. The Corps initiated evacuation procedures so personnel and equipment could be removed before any water entered the dewatered lock and ruined repairs after high water appeared too close to the lock's edge. The water did not crest above the temporary barrier the Corps installed to keep water out. Delays at the lock averaged around 10 days as of 24 April, according to the Corps. Barge carriers fees have been in place for each barge that must pass through the auxiliary chamber of the lock since 25 September, when the lock first closed. Restricted barge movement placed upward pressure on fertilizer prices in surrounding areas as well. The lock still requires structural repairs to the main chamber gates, including the replacement of the pintle components, the Corps said. This is the fourth opening delay the Corps have issued for the Wilson Lock, with the prior opening dates being in November , then April and then in June . The Wilson Lock will enter its eighth month of repairs next month. By Meghan Yoyotte and Sneha Kumar Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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