Nederland, Texas—OCI Partners LP reported a first-quarter net loss of $6 million on revenues of $70 million, compared to year-ago earnings of $893,000 and revenues of $38 million. However, first-quarter EBITDA was $18.2 million, up from $9.6 million. The company was still in the process of debottlenecking its operations during the year-ago period. The first-quarter saw utilization rates of 99 percent for methanol and 107 percent for ammonia. Sales prices for both commodities were down for the quarter. The company produced 88,000 mt of ammonia at an average price of $295/mt, compared to the year-ago 21,000 mt and $509/mt, respectively. It produced 225,000 mt of methanol at $189/mt, down from 57,000 mt and $366/mt, respectively. However, natural gas costs were down at $2.13/mmBtu from the year-ago $3.21/mmBtu. The company has approved a quarterly cash distribution of $0.06 per common unit. Going forward, the company said tight ammonia supplies in the Midwest could help support prices in the next few weeks. It also noted that USDA is reporting that corn planting is slightly ahead of year-ago levels despite recent rain and cold weather and fieldwork in several states.
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