OCI Partners LP, Nederland, Texas, reported a net loss of $1.43 million on revenues of $74 million for the second quarter ending June 30, 2017, an improvement over the year-ago loss of $15.4 million on revenues of $56 million. EBITDA was up 140 percent, to $23.9 million from the year-ago $10 million.
Based on second-quarter results, the OCI board approved a cash distribution of $0.12 per common unit, or approximately $10.4 million. It is to be paid Sept. 8 to unitholders of record at close of business Aug. 18.
The company said results were negatively impacted by unplanned outages in April and May that reduced ammonia utilization to 87 percent and methanol to 72 percent. Year-ago outages had put utilization rates at 91 percent and 77 percent, respectively.
As previously announced April 27, both methanol and ammonia plants tripped, and upon restart a leak was discovered in one of the waste heat boilers that needed repair. OCI opted to take the opportunity to carry out several other repairs that had been scheduled for a later date. While the ammonia plant was restarted May 2, it ran at reduced rates until the restart of the methanol plant May 22. Since the methanol restart, both plants have been running at capacity.
While ammonia and methanol production was down from the year-ago quarter, prices were mixed, with ammonia down and methanol seeing a significant increase. Natural gas prices were also up, but the company said they were still very attractive.
| Production (000 mt) | 2Q-17 | 2Q-16 | 1H-17 | 1H-16 |
| Ammonia | 72 | 75 | 155 | 163 |
| Methanol | 164 | 174 | 380 | 399 |
| Avg Price | ||||
| Ammonia ($/mt) | 291 | 301 | 265 | 298 |
| Methanol ($/mt) | 331 | 192 | 343 | 191 |
| Natural Gas ($mmBtu) | 3.32 | 2.13 | 3.22 | 2.13 |
For the first six months, the company was in the black at $12.3 million on revenues of $167 million, up from a year-ago loss of $21.5 million on $126 million, respectively. EBITDA was up 125 percent, to $63.4 million from $28.3 million.