As per the current scenario, Brent crude climbed to $32.30 a barrel, incurring a gain of 1.8 per cent from yesterday. Whereas, U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled at $ 22.88 a barrel, up by 2.1 per cent from previous revision.

1. StocksTumblebyCoronaFear,SomeCompaniesAnxiousWhileOthersSmile
Key Headlines
• U.S. Chemical Companies’ Shares Fall while Asia’s Rise After OPEC+ Reduces Production Cut Targets
• U.S. Refineries Shut or Induce Production Cuts in Tandem with Waning Oil Demand
• Aramco Cuts Oil Prices for Asia Post the Historic Deal
• PetChem Curtails Output, Cuts Oleochemical Prices
• Hindalco Signs $2.8 Billion Deal to Acquire Aleris
Asia Pacific Chemicals Pricing (Key Products)
• Ethylene- Firmer crude as the OPEC+ countries agree for curtailing their refinery outputs, pulled up the prices
of feedstock ethylene by almost $15 per MT. Ethylene prices rose to $380/tonne CFR South East Asia.
• Benzene- Benzene prices witnessed almost no change amid muted demand and reduced offtake from the
buyers. CFR India prices of the product were settled at $380/tonne, showing no change on Tuesday.
• Propylene- China’s propylene spot prices rallied to $990-$1100 ex-tank East China, due to upward revision by
major players. Prices have shown strong increment due to increasing demand from downstream PP market
• Styrene Monomer: Improved Chinese market outlook and improvement in demand have shot up the feedstock
SM prices to $610/ tonne CFR China.
• Toluene: Soft downstream demand as result of production cuts and shutdowns due to contain the spread of
coronavirus have almost stagnated the prices of Toluene since Monday. Prices were slightly pushed up on
Monday owing to firmer crude. On Tuesday, the prices of Toluene were assessed to be stable at $340/tonne
CFR South East Asia.
Crude Oil Scenario
Oil prices witnessed prominent gains on Tuesday on the
back of a news which stated that U.S. shale gas
producers will be reducing their outputs to a record low
in the second half of April. This slash in production is a
positive indication to recover the losses over prolonged collapse in the prices of oil, but dilemma remains over the
decline being strong enough to combat global demand destruction. Furthermore, the energy minister of U.S notified
that in the next OPEC meet scheduled in June this year, Saudi Arabia could impose further production cuts depending
upon the severity of demand crises. As per the current scenario, Brent crude climbed to $32.30 a barrel, incurring a gain
of 1.8 per cent from yesterday. Whereas, U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled at $ 22.88 a barrel, up by 2.1 per
cent from previous revision.
Index Units Prices
WTI Crude Oil USD/bbl. 22.88
Brent Crude USD/bbl. 32.30
Natural Gas (U.S.) USD/MMBtu 1.646
Edition: 15th April 2020 #TheChemAnalystExpress

2. Exclusive News & Analysis
Asian Companies Welcoming Gains, Turn Optimistic as the Virus Seems to Depart
Asian Petrochemical sector witnessed a sudden rise in share values on high hopes of outbreak coming to an end after
summiting to the highest record in the worst hit areas. The industry further underwent a sigh of relief with oil prices
edging high after significant cuts in U.S. shale gas production this month. In addition, cautious optimism over the restart
of production in several industrial sectors of India such as fertilizers, plastic manufacturing, automobile, rubber,
agrochemicals and electric and electronic equipment
has also pushed the players to indulge in the market at
the lowest point to incur gains post the struggle of
Pandemic.
After termination of lockdown in China, major
manufacturers resumed their production activities
aiming to restart the trade dynamics to procure gains.
Apart from China, manufacturers in other leading
countries have also stepped up for the investment in
shares of chemical and petrochemical market to secure
their finances and to expand their involvement in
business to strengthen the prolonged dull market
dynamics of the Industry.
• Mitsui Chemicals, a reputed chemical
manufacturing company of Japan registered a
rise in its share by 0.21 per cent.
• South Korea’s Lotte Chemical incurred a prominent upsurge in shares by around 7 per cent.
• Hang Sensex Index of Hong Kong was also up by 0.77 per cent.
• Shares of a Japan based stock exchange company, Nikkei 225, rose by nearly 2 per cent.
• KOSPI Index of South Korea followed a rise in share by more than 1.69 per cent.
As per the analysts, the sudden rise in share values of Asian Petrochemical Sector is a ray of hope which would improve
the demand outlook of commodities, eventually leading to active gains in their business segments by the second half
of financial year.
U.S. Shares fell Underwent downfall in Share value
U.S market has reported a slump in shares of many of its
players on the back of negotiations in a supply reduction
agreement between OPEC and its allies. After
consecutive rise in the last three sessions, the U.S.
equity index incurred a slump on Monday as investors
remained cautious against bearish market sentiments of
commodities amid coronavirus outbreak. With ongoing
preventive measures such as lockdowns and trade
disruptions, analysts have anticipated corporate
finances to plummet by more than 10 per cent in the
first quarter of the current financial year.
Company Name Location Percentage
Change
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings
Corporation
Japan 0.65%
Hanwha Corporation South Korea 1.96%
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical
Company Limited
Hong Kong 2.51%
LG Chem Limited South Korea 3.33%
Lotte Chemical Corporation South Korea 7.22%
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. Japan 0.21%
Nan Ya Plastics Corporation Taiwan 3.98
Company Name Percentage Change
Axalta Coating Systems -2.36%
Dow -1.80%
Dupont -6.03%
Huntsman -2.20%
Eastman -2.98%
LyondellBasell -1.51
Sherwin-Williams -0.60
Table 1: Some Popular APAC Companies Experiencing Gains in Stock
Table 2: Some Popular U.S Chemical Company Shares

3. Industry Research
International Plant Shutdowns
• Shell Shuts Its Perdido Hub After Leakage in Exxonmobil’s HOOPS
Shell has reported temporary shutdown at the Perdido spar in the Gulf of Mexico after a subsurface leak in the
ExxonMobil-operated Hoover offshore oil pipeline system (HOOPS). Shell said that without accessing that pipeline
system, and with no other alternatives, Perdido had to enforce the shutdown. The Perdido spar is a production hub
for the Great White, Tobago and Silvertip fields and is grounded in 2,450 m (8,038 ft) of water in Alaminos Canyon block
857. Shell’s Perdido is the world’s deepest offshore oil drilling and production platform having the capacity to handle
100,000 b/d of oil and 200 MMcf/d of gas.
• Texland Petroleum Shuts Oil Wells in The Wake of Economic Downturn in U.S.
North America’s Texland Petroleum LP has decided to shut each of its 1,211 oil wells and stop production activities by
May after U.S. President Donald Trump promised to curtail U.S. oil outputs. The company’s decision to agree to this
“Never done before “output cut was amid the slump in demand and strained market dynamics of the crude oil, after
the country became the epicenter of the pandemic with number of positive cases crossing China’s number. The
company officials stated that crashing prices and muted demand left no choice but to shut its oil wells.
• Uranium Giant, Cameco Shuts its Uranium Hexafluride Plant
World’s largest uranium producer, Cameco Corporation, recently announced its plans to shut down a fuel service facility
after suspending its uranium production at its key mine, Cigar Lake. Uranium is a key chemical element used as a fuel
in nuclear power plants primarily run by utilities. Cameco is shutting its uranium hexafluoride plant at its Port Hope
conversion facility for four weeks as the company struggles to maintain workforce amid challenging circumstances due
to Covid-19.
India Plant Shutdowns
• Indag Rubber’s Nalagarh Plant Under Temporary Shutdown
India’s Indag Rubber Ltd. has temporarily shut its rubber manufacturing plant located in Nalagarh. The company is
engaged in manufacturing and selling of precured tread rubber bonding repair and extrusion gum, rubber cement and
associated products, which are used for fixing old used tyres. The company has two plants at Bhiwadi in Rajasthan and
at Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh.
• Blast at Galaxy Surfactant’s Factory in Tarapur
Amid lockdown measures imposed over the country to contain coronavirus spread, a chemical factory of Galaxy
Surfactants Ltd., located in Tarapur MIDC underwent an explosion. The company is involved in manufacturing of
cleaning chemicals and alcohol. Under the state-imposed lockdown measures, the factories manufacturing essential
items are permitted to operate under certain terms and conditions. The cause of the blast is still not clear; however,
the blast was heard up to 5 Kms from the spot with two deaths and one injured reported till date.
Global Plant Resumptions
• Shells Lifts Force Majeure from Forcados Terminal
Global oil producing giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has reopened the pipeline transporting the
crude oil Trans Forcados pipeline which is operated by Heritage Energy Operational Services Ltd. The company had shut
this pipeline on April 4, 2020, which was later declared as a force majeure on April 6,2020. This reopening would be a
major boost to the Nigerian economy and a major source of revenue for its government.
• DCM Shriram Resumes Operations at Baruch Plant
Indian company DCM Shriram Limited resumed production at its caustic soda plant located in Bharuch on Thursday, 9th
April, 2020 .The company officials stated that the plant has been resumed with production capacity of 150 TPD level
(about 10% of the total capacity) which will gradually improve over the next few days depending upon the market

4. situation and Government decisions over lockdown measures. Moreover, the production of Stable Bleaching Powder
(SBP) and Fertilizers at the Kota plant has also resumed.
Mergers and Acquisitions
• Hindalco Signs Deal to Acquire Aleris
Aditya Birla Group’s flagship company Hindalco successfully completed the closure of a $2.8 billion deal towards
acquisition of Aleris Corporation. The deal would allow the buyout of Aleris by Novelis Inc and marks Novels’ entry into
aerospace sector. The company signing this deal amid challenging circumstances reflects a long-term strategic outlook.
Aleris is a global leader involved in manufacturing and sales of aluminum rolled products. The deal emerges when the
metal sector is already under a downturn due to Covid-19. As per ABL, the deal would enable Aleris to diversify its
metals downstream portfolio and penetrate into aerospace.
• Ascent Steps into Its First Acquisition in Cuba
Oil and gas giant, Ascent Resources has entered the Carribeann market for the first time by acquiring UK-based
Energetical Limited, which has exclusive rights to secure a production sharing contract (PSC) on a producing onshore
Cuban oil license. Energetical provides exclusive rights to the Block 9B in Cuba which occupies Majaguillar and San Anton
fields, located on the north coast of Cuba. The production capacity of the block currently touches 190 gross barrels of
oil per day (bopd) from three wells. Ascent is looking for more acquisitions to develop a wider Cuban portfolio across
its oil and gas sector, along with its existing oil and gas units in Slovenia.
Strategic Investments
• Exxonmobil Curtails Borr Contracts Offshore Nigeria
ExxonMobil has decided upon early termination of the contracts for the jackups Gerd and Groa offshore Nigeria. The
contracts’ estimated duration was 365 days and 200 days, respectively. The rigs are expected to initiate contracts in 3Q
2020. The contracts for both rigs require 180-day notice for early termination. The company said that the major reason
for the early termination of Borr jackup contracts is the current downfall in the crude oil market.
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