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Romania Petrochemicals Report Q1 2012
Business Monitor International, Nov 2011, Pages: 49
Business Monitor International's Romania Petrochemicals Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, petrochemical associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Romania's petrochemicals industry.
MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
The future of the Arpechim refinery, which was closed by Petrom, coupled with the privatisation of downstream petrochemicals producer Oltchim are crucial to the survival of the Romanian petrochemicals industry, according to BMI’s latest Romania Petrochemicals Report.
Much of the country’s petrochemicals production is reliant on the refinery, which is smaller and has more complex logistical issues – namely a lack of seaport access for imported oil – that make it commercially unviable, at least as a stand-alone operation. The closure of the refinery cuts off naphtha feedstock supply to the 200,000tpa cracker Oltchim acquired from Petrom in early 2010. The restarting of the 56,000tpa propylene production facility in June 2011 was a boost to local PP production, although this represents only a small portion of Romanian petrochemicals production. Until the situation is resolved, the country’s petrochemicals industry will operate below its full potential, although this will be partly outweighed by growth in production at Rompetrol’s HDPE plant in Navodari.
Oltchim, which is 51% owned by the government, announced in November 2010 that it had been unable to raise the working capital to buy the raw materials needed to restart the Arpechim petrochemical unit, the closure of which has led to severe shortages of feedstock at the firm. Oltchim cut its output to 30% of nameplate capacity in August, September and October 2011 to cut costs because the company cannot finance its working capital. Oltchim reported losses of RON70mn in H111 and its debts were RON2.4bn by mid-2011. This has caused consternation among the company’s minority shareholders with threats to sell their stakes should the government fail to restructure the company.
The integration of the Arpechim refinery with Oltchim’s petrochemicals operations will be crucial to creating a fully integrated petrochemicals company. However, if it is carried out through nationalisation, the move would be a backward step for a government that had committed itself to liberalising its energy sector through a programme of deregulation and privatisation. Moreover, the government has committed itself to privatising Oltchim under a deal with the IMF.
BMI's Business Environment Ratings
Romania ranks in seventh place in BMI’s Business Environment Ratings for the Petrochemicals industry in the CEE, with 45.8 points out of 100, down 0.4 points since the previous quarter due to a decline in its market risk score. This puts it 0.4 points behind Slovakia and 5.8 points above Bulgaria. The country’s score has remained relatively stable as a result of optimistic forecasts, particularly given the long-term outlook for the economy’s structural characteristics and the improved position of financial markets.
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