Daily Brief Energy/Materials: Youlchon Chemical, Growatt Technology, Dongkuk Steel Mill, Syngenta AG, Marathon Oil, Albemarle Corp, Medco Energi and more

• Following the spin-off, Dongkuk Steel Mill (001230 KS) will be deleted from the Korea Stock Exchange Kospi 200 Index (KOSPI2 INDEX) and replaced with Youlchon Chemical (008730 KS). 
• Youlchon Chemical (008730 KS) just missed being added to the index at the June rebalance but will be added a couple of weeks after the regular rebalance.
• Shorts on Dongkuk Steel Mill (001230 KS) have increased over the last month but overall short interest is way below historical levels.

• Growatt Technology (1833969D CH), a leading PV inverters manufacturer, is pre-marketing a US$400 million HKEx IPO, according to press reports.  
• We previously discussed the IPO in Growatt Technology IPO: Growing Watts, Growatt Technology IPO: The Bull Case and Growatt Technology IPO: The Bear Case. 
• The updated PHIP which disclosed the 2022 results and latest developments suggests that Growatt continues to deliver profitable and cash-generative growth. 

• Applying the T+3 relisting date as the effective date will again lead to noteworthy changes to the timeline of rebalancing flow trading.
• It seems unnecessary to concentrate shorting on the trading halt day for Dongkuk Steel. We should aim for price corrections driven by passive flows on the T+2 period before effective.
• Despite the Dongkuk Steel shareholders’ approval on the 12th, Youlchon Chemical’s price experienced a significant decline. The ongoing risk of major shareholder stake sales appears to have overshadowed this event.

• Swiss agricultural giant Syngenta Group is moving its $9.4 billion initial public offering to the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and dropping a plan to go public on the Nasdaq-like STAR Market, the company said Thursday.
• The unit of Chinese state-owned ChemChina said it made the decision after China fully rolled out its registration-based share issuance system across all boards in February.
• Syngenta Group will be a better fit on the main board, making the stock available to more diversified investors, Syngenta said.

• It was a successful first quarter for Marathon Oil as it delivered an all-around beat with strong financial and operational performance.
• The company exceeded its commitment to return at least 40% of its cash flow from operations to shareholders, generating strong free cash flow despite not receiving any EG cash dividends.
• First-quarter oil production was consistent with guidance, and the company expects an improving trend in the second and third quarters.

• Albemarle had a mixed Q1, with net sales below market expectations though EBITDA was up nearly four times to $1.6 billion resulting in an earnings beat.
• Albemarle selected a site for their U.S.
• Mega-Flex lithium processing facility in Richburg, South Carolina, and announced restructuring their MARBL joint venture in Australia.

Lucror Analytics Morning Views comprise our fundamental credit analysis, opinions and trade recommendations on high yield issuers in the region, based on key company-specific developments in the past 24 hours. Our Morning Views include a section with a brief market commentary, key market indicators and a macroeconomic and corporate event calendar.

• Medco Energi