AMERICAS
Ineos-Sasol break ground on HDPE plant
Ineos and Sasol have broken ground on a new HDPE production plant at Ineos’ La Porte manufacturing plant. The USD 500 million projects would have a production capacity of 470 KTA and are expected to begin operations in 2016.
Comments: This project is among at least 8PE projects that are expected to come on-stream in North America based on the favorable economics offered by shale gas. The new HDPE unit in Ineos’ LaPorte site will be in addition to the existing six PE production lines with a combined capacity of about 790 KTA. Also, this is Sasol’s first project in North America.
W.R. Grace and Milliken combine catalyst and additive technologies
W.R. Grace & Co. is collaborating with Milliken to provide PP catalysts that offer manufacturers new and differentiated resin portfolios with better clarity, cleanliness, processability, and mechanical performance.
DuPont to sell Neoprene business to Denka-Mitsui JV
DuPont will be selling its Neoprene polychloroprene business to Denka Performance Elastomer, a JV owned by Denki Kagaku Kogyo (70%) and Mitsui &Co. (30%). The sale is expected to close in the first half of 2015.
Comments: Denka Performance Elastomer is a joint venture between Denka and Mitsui, established to increase regional presence in the US. The sale is part of DuPont’s strategy to position itself as a high-value and specialty chemicals producer. Denka currently produces 100 KT of chloroprene rubber at its Omi plant in Japan, which is the world’s largest chloroprene rubber manufacturing plant. There are two methods to manufacture chloroprene – the acetylene method and the butadiene method. Denka manufactures chloroprene rubber using the acetylene method in Japan, while the production in North America will be done using the butadiene method.
Lion Copolymers completes Ashland elastomers acquisition
Lion Copolymer has completed the acquisition of Ashland’s elastomer business. Ashland’s elastomer unit located in Port Neches, TX will be renamed Lion Elastomers.
Comments: Ashland currently produces cold and hot emulsion SBR for end-use markets such as automotive, mechanical rubber goods, footwear, adhesives, sealants, etc. Lion copolymer is a producer of EPDM in similar markets. Ashland acquired the emulsion SBR business from International Specialty Products Inc. in 2003. With the divestment, Ashland plans to increase its investments in the high-margin, specialty chemicals business.
Kraiburg planning a Mexico subsidiary
Kraiburg TPE GmBH & Co. is planning to open a wholly-owned subsidiary in Mexico in 2015. Kraiburg de México S de RL de CV will be located in Monterrey, in northern Mexico. Also, Kraiburg plans to open a new warehouse in central Mexico in 2015.
Comments: Kraiburg manufactures compounds in Duluth and has a production capacity of about 6 KTA. The majority of Kraiburg’s products in Mexico find applications in the automotive industry. The new subsidiary will enable Kraiburg to capitalize on the growing automotive market in the region.
Valfilm North America Inc. to buy Dow’s films plant in Ohio
Dow will sell its polyolefins film plant in Findlay, Ohio to ValfilmNorth America Inc., a unit of the Brazilian plastic packaging firm Valgroup Packaging Solutions. Valfilm will restart the plant, which has been out of operation, in February.
Comments: Dow has recently been on a selling spree in an attempt to focus on market sectors in which the company has a strong competitive position. The Findlay plant started manufacturing ENLIGHT polyolefin encapsulant films for use in photovoltaic (PV) solar modules in 2010, as a higher-performance alternative to traditional EVA-based encapsulants. In addition to gaining technical knowledge and intellectual property from the purchase, Valfilm has decided to restart production at the plant to gain a foothold in the North American market.
CPChem completes ethylene expansion in the Sweeny complex
Chevron Phillips Chemical has completed ethylene expansion at its Sweeny complex in Old Ocean, Texas. The expansion has increased its ethylene capacity by about 90 KTA.
Comments: The United States is currently undergoing massive increases in ethylene capacity with 11 new steam crackers in various stages of planning and construction in addition to debottlenecking and expansion of several existing crackers. CPChem has already started construction on a new cracker at the Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas, which is scheduled to be completed in 2017. The relatively small expansion at the Sweeny complex allows the company to take advantage of low production costs due to the oversupplied ethane market before large ethylene capacity additions inevitably drive ethane demand and prices upward.
EUROPE
Poligal invests in new CPP film line in Portugal
Poligal will be investing about USD 8.7 million in a new cast polypropylene film line at its facility in Arcos de Valdevez, northern Portugal. The new unit is expected to have a capacity of 12.6 KTA and is set to produce the film with a thickness in the range of 18 -150 μm.
Comments: Western Europe has a large and established market for cast polypropylene (CPP) film with a variety of applications including food, industrial, and medical packaging. Weak demand growth in CPP film and demand shrinkage in biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film due to the recession has caused very few capacity additions in the region over the past five years. Spain and Portugal, however, experienced a flurry of activity in the polypropylene film sector in 2013-2014. Polivouga Indústria de Plásticos S.Ahas started building its first BOPP plant in Portugal that is scheduled to come on stream in early 2016 and Desprosa, the only other polypropylene film manufacturer on the Iberian Peninsula has been acquired by global BOPP giant Taghleef Industries. Poligal sees an opportunity to increase its market share in Portugal, where much of the market is still supplied by imports.
Sibur develops new rubber grades
Sibur has developed new solution-SBR grades for tire products. Two grades- SSBR–HV and SSBR-LV have been designed for different types of tires. The commercial scale production is expected to begin in 2015.
Comments: Sibur along with NKNK are the two leading synthetic rubber producers in Eastern Europe. Solution SBR is considered a high-performance material that finds several end uses in automotive applications such as gaskets, hoses, seals, etc. where it contributes towards light-weighting and increasing fuel efficiency. Sibur could potentially market these new products into Western Europe and Asian automotive markets.
ASIA PACIFIC
Reliance to sign an agreement with Sibur
Reliance Industries will be signing an agreement with Sibur for the construction of a butyl rubber production complex in Gujarat, India. Reliance’s oil refinery will provide the raw materials for production, while Sibur will provide the technology.
Comments: Construction of the butyl rubber facility in Jamnagar will be the primary focus of the JV between Sibur and Reliance Petrochemicals. The plant will operate at a capacity of 100 KT. With the announced JV capacity for butyl rubber, India will be self-sufficient which will save around $360 million in butyl rubber imports. Medium-term growth in demand for butyl rubber is expected in India at around 6.3 percent per annum, primarily on account of the country becoming a manufacturing hub for small cars. Reliance Jamnagar refinery has enabled Jamnagar to emerge as a ‘Refinery Hub’ in India, which caters to the increasing domestic demand in India. Jamnagar houses one of the world’s largest refining complexes with an aggregate refining capacity of 1.24 million barrels (197,000 m3) of oil per day. With the addition of the butyl rubber facility, Reliance will add another wing to its ever-expanding facility in Jamnagar.
Hanwha acquires Samsung’s plastics and chemical assets
Hanwha Group will be acquiring plastics and chemical assets from Samsung Group. Hanwha will acquire a 57.6% stake in Samsung General Chemical, as well as Samsung’s share of the Samsung Total joint venture.
Comments: This is a significant deal between two of South Korea’s largest chemicals producers. With this acquisition, Hanwha becomes the largest petrochemical producer in Korea. The deal has resulted in the diversification of Hanwha’s products to include propylene derivatives, styrene monomer, and para-xylene.
Dynasol to open rubber JV in China
Dynasol will begin production at its JV in China with Shanxi Northern Xing’an Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., in the first half of 2015. The JV, Liaoning North Dynasol Synthetic Rubber Co. Ltd. will have a production capacity of 100 KTA for SSBR and thermoplastic rubber.
Comments: Dynasol is a joint venture between Mexico-based elastomers producer Kuo Group and Spanish energy group Repsol. The company currently produces SSBR, SBR, and hydrogenated SEBS in Mexico and Spain. The new joint venture in China is part of the company’s plans to expand its regional presence into China – the largest and fastest-growing market for rubbers. The new plant will also increase Dynasol’s capacity by 50%.