MRPL records Rs 406 crore net profit

MRPL has posted a net profit of Rs 406 crore in the first quarter of 2015-16 as against a loss of Rs 36 crore during the corresponding previous quarter.

The increased profit is on account of increased margins in the products coming out of the secondary units in Phase III units, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) Chairman D K Saraff told reporters here.

The profit also increased on account of increase in the gap between the prices of crude oil and those of refined products during the first quarter 2015-16 as compared to the corresponding previous quarter, Saraff said.

The company's refining throughput was 3.89 MMT as against 3.20 MMT in the corresponding quarter of previous year, Saraff said.

The GRM for the quarter was posted at USD 6.62/bbl as against USD 0.66 /bbl during the corresponding quarter, he added.

Saraff said the company has successfully started commercial production of polypropylene from its 440 KTPA (Kilo-Tonnes Per Annum) Polypropylene Unit (PPU) on June 18, 2015.

"With this, MRPL's Phase-III of refining expansion is fully completed," he said.

Saraff said the company has initiated downward integration by amalgamation of ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Limited (OMPL) with MRPL.

"OMPL has recently commissioned a state-of-the-art Aromatic Complex with 914 KTPA capacity of Para-Xylene and 283 KPTA capacity of benzene adjacent to the refinery," he said.

The company could evacuate higher volumes of products in domestic market thereby reducing the exports, Saraff said.

The percentage of domestic volume during Q1 of FY 2015-16 stood at 70 per cent as against 60 per cent in the first quarter of 2014-15, Saraff said, adding, "Typically net price realised in domestic market is more than that in export.