Borealis to invest €200 million in new Borstar polyolefin capacity at Schwechat, Austria
Borealis announced its plans to invest €200 million in the construction of a new 350,000 MT/year polyethylene (PE) plant, based on its proprietary Borstar bimodal-PE technology, and a 90,000 MT/year expansion of the existing Borstar polypropylene plant to 300,000 MT/year at its petrochemical site at Schwechat, Austria. The new capacity will come onstream in 2005.
When the new Borstar polyethylene plant is onstream, Borealis will phase out two old LDPE lines and a HDPE line at the production site in Schwechat, resulting in a net capacity increase of around 150,000 MT/ year of polyethylene.
The plant will produce high, medium and linear low density polyethylenes. The new Borstar polyethylene plant will focus on LLDPE for flexible consumer packaging and industrial applications. The expanded PP plant will produce homo, random and impact copolymers.
Comments: Borealis is currently the second largest producer of PE and PP behind Basell. Borealis is eighth largest PE and sixth largest PP producer in the world. Although Borealis is some times considered a giant regional player in Europe, they in fact have a global marketing presence, especially in automotive, appliances, and wire & cable market sectors.
Borealis as an organization is unique in its operations and staffing – with people from various countries within Europe – a true European organization.
Borealis’ Borstar process was a major contribution to the polyolefin industry. Borstar’s primary attribute is that it is a two-stage process that enables the operator to tailor the components made in each stage. Unique products including bimodal molecular weight distribution can be produced. Borstar polyethylene, which has been in the market since 1996, has proven to be an excellent pipe resin (i.e., PE100s). We have covered it several times before in New Generation Polyolefins Bimonthly Review.
Although a robust production technology platform, Borstar licensing went through some problems. The economic situation also impacted Borealis. This new expansion is a positive sign from Borealis that is it coming back to more activity.
Atofina Petrochemicals’ new HDPE resin targets pressure pipe applications
Atofina Petrochemicals Inc. has introduced a new bimodal high density polyethylene resin for pressure-pipe applications. Atofina’s new resin Finathene XT10 N has been listed under ASTM PE3408 by The Plastics Pipe Institute Inc., and is expected to complete tests in late 2003 for designating the material as a minimum recommended strength (MRS) of 10 MPa.
Finathene bimodal grades have been manufactured in North America for more than 20 years and are primarily being used for gas pipeline applications requiring toughness.
Comments: The development of polyethylene grades for pipe applications has steadily increased since Hoechst introduced a high density pipe resin Hostalen GM 5010 (equivalent to PE63) in the early 1960s. Finaintroduced the first hexene-1 based PE pipe resin (3802Y) in 1974, marking the beginning of second-generation pipe resins. In 1997, Fina introduced the first PE100 bimodal hexene copolymer (Finathene XS10).
This resins outperformed the PE100 bimodal butene copolymers on most performance criteria. Producers since then have started to develop PE112 and higher grades. Although the market for PE100 pipe grades has been promising in Europe, the North American market has been somewhat slower to embrace such materials.
China, Malaysia and Thailand polyethylene bag manufacturers face anti-dumping petition
Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bag Committee formed by US producers has filed an anti-dumping petition against imports of PE retail carrier bags from China, Malaysia and Thailand. The bags include plastic merchandise bags, T-shirt sacks, grocery sacks and shopping bags.
The petition claims that the plastic bags are being sold in the United States at dumping margins up to 122 percent for China, 78 percent for Malaysia and 117 percent for Thailand which resulted in an increase in imports from the three countries, causing a decline in U.S. market share, employment and profits.
The U.S. International Trade Commission will begin an investigation to determine whether there is a reasonable indication that the domestic industry is materially injured or threatened with injury with the imports. A determination is expected within 45 days
The petitioners include Inteplast Group Ltd., PCL Packaging Inc., Sonoco Products Co., Superbag Corp., and Vanguard Plastics Inc. In addition, Omega Plastics Corp., Orange Plastics Inc., Trinity Packaging Corp. and Unistar Plastics LLC have indicated their support for the petition. Two Canadian producers, Hymopack Ltd. and Atlantic Packaging Products Ltd., also support the petition.
Comments: The overseas low cost imports are a real, clear, present and persistent threat to the North American plastics processing industry. The actions by plastics bag manufacturers are justifiable under these circumstances – will provide temporary respite.
With the exception of the machinery cost, most of the plastics processing industry is labor intensive. Until few years ago, the labor portion of the costs wasthe only advantage the overseas producers enjoyed, because of lack of technology and equipment developments in the developing countries.
With the new technological developments in China, and other Asian countries, the technology of plastics processing and the associated equipment have also become relatively cost competitive.
Thus, the developing countries now have the advantages in: (1) labor costs, (2) technology understanding, and (3) theequipment costs. These three major cost components, not to mention the raw material costs in the future, will force the North American plastics processing industry to either compete or join the plastics processing industry in developing countries at their internal cost. Any current governmental actions will only be temporary fixes.
Example: The cost of an extruder for compounding, including controls and silos in North America is approximately $3 million vs. $270,000 for the Chinese made equipment. The labor costs in North America are $18/hour with overheads vs. $3.75/hour elsewhere. It is easier to ship plastic film or bags than shipping the resin across the ocean – in summary the argument that the overseas firms are dumping for margins is true only when they are compared to North American costs/margins and not their real costs. For more information on this issue with specific examples, refer to New Generation Polyolefins (NGP) – Vol. 8, Issue 4.
SolVin plans PVC and vinyl chloride monomer plant closures at Ludwigshafen, Germany
SolVin PVC (a joint venture between Solvay and BASF), a leading European polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer announced its plans to close a 145,000 metric ton-per-year PVC plant and a 100,000 MT/year vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) unit at Ludwigshafen, Germany, because they are not world-scale facilities. The plants will be closed on January 1, 2006, will only be partly replaced by expansions at other SolVin sites. SolVin is 75% owned by Solvay and 25% owned by BASF.
Buyout of DuPont Canadacompleted
The Canadian unit of DuPont, DuPont Canada finally got sold at C$21.75($16.06)/share. DuPont now owns the 24% stake in DuPont Canada that it did not already own. The company says 70.7% of the minority shares in DuPont Canada have been tendered, raising its stake to 93%. DuPont raised its original C$21/share bid to C$21.75/share in late May after only 23% of DuPont Canada’s minority shareholders tendered their stock. The company is expected to call for a special DuPont Canada shareholders meeting in July to complete the transaction.
Comments: The transaction of DuPont Canada to DuPont has no impact on the polyolefins and elastomers. DuPont of Canada, the original developer of Sclairtech has no current involvement with Nova Chemicals. DuPont’s current Versipol technology that may have impact on Canada, if and when it is commercialized.
Wilmington, DE based firm FiberVisions introduces high temperature polypropylene fibers
Polyolefins based synthetic fibers producer FiberVisions, headquartered in Wilmington, DE has introduced a polypropylene staple fiber for high-temperature applications. This fiber is made from FiberVisions®Nforz ET, and can be used for several applications including: (1) high temperature filtration of hot gases and liquids, (2) automobile components (carpets, headliners, interior trim panels and insulation), (3) needle felts that are exposed to heat, and others.
According to the company, the fiber has several advantages including: (1) dimensional stability over a wide range of temperature, (2) chemical resistance, (3) lower density, (4) uniformly high quality fiber, and others. FiberVisions claims that fabrics made with these fibers can be used at 125º C for a long period of time while suffering only a minimal loss of tensile strength
Comments: FiberVisions is a subsidiary of Wilmington, DE based Hercules Inc. FiberVisions, formed in June 1997 was a joint venture between Hercules’ Fibers Division and Jacob Holm & Sons’ Danaklon Group. In 1998, Hercules acquired 49% share of Jacob Holm & Sons Group.
It is the world’s largest producer of thermal-bond polypropylene staple fiber. The company participates in several markets including: disposable diapers and other hygienic products; automotive, decorative and industrial applications. The company has manufacturing facilities in Athens and Covington, GA; Suzhou, China; and Varde, Denmark.
The NForz ET is a further improvement to the NForzpolypropylene staple fibers that are supplied by Fiber Visions. The newly announced NForz’s main strength is high temperature applications (up to 120°C). Currently Fiber Visions hastwocustomers in Europetesting and developing the material. The targetedapplications include liquid filtration media.
The material will be introduced first in Europe, depending on the response and then globally. Industry speculation is that the fibers are glassfilledpolypropylene in order to resist long term heat ageing.
Zeon Chemicals – Highlights Zeotherm TPV for under the hood applications
Zeon Chemicals developed a new family of high-performance, heat and oil-resistant TPVs from an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Advanced Elastomers L.P (Now, part of ExxonMobil).
Zeon developed Zeotherm to fill the niche of both good oil resistance and high temperatures (302° F and as low as -40° F). Zeotherm can be used in automotive shaft and bearing seals, transmission cooler hose and air-conditioning hose covers.Zeon currently priced the product at about $6/pound. Zeotherm TPVs are available in two grades –Zeotherm 100-80B and 100-90B, both based on Zeon’s thermoset polyacrylate elastomer dynamically vulcanized in a polyamide matrix. The product is currently in the commercial testing stage.
Comments: TPVs –the dynamically vulcanized blends of thermoset rubbers and thermoplastics pioneered by Monsanto (AES, now ExxonMobil) covers a wide range of formulations based on selected blends of thermoset rubbers (EPDM, Nitrile, fluoro, silicone, butyl acrylic and others) with selected thermoplastics (PP, PS, Nylon and others). The basic Monsanto patents by Coran and Patel encompass a universe of combinations. Any organization developing the products has to obtain license to practice the technology.
Nippon Zeon Co. Ltd from Japan and Zeon Chemicals L.P headquartered in Louisville KY, has been active in developing PVC/NBR blends and PVC elastomers since circa 1985. Zeon’s major core strength has been with NBR and related blends. Zeon Chemicals LP purchased DSM Copolymers’ NySin – NBR business in 1999 to expand on their product capabilities.
Nippon Zeon introduced Zeotherm high performance TPVs in February 2003. Zeotherm products are based on polyacrylate elastomers dispersed in polyamide matrix. The products were developed under a right to practice license from AES.
In general, the oil and heat resistance properties of the blend are imparted by the thermoset rubber selected for the combination. E.g., Santoprene – a blend of PP and EPDM has lower oil and heat resistance compared to Geolast – a blend of PP and nitrile rubber. Most of the currently commercially available TPVs with the exception of Geolast are based on EPDM and have limited applicability in the under the hood applications that require higher heat/oil resistance.
Zeotherm essentially extended the technology with their Zeotherm products. Zeotherm should have excellent potential in the under the hood applications which were limited with the existing TPVs.
The major factors that will impact the Zeotherm’s applications will be: (1) price – ranging from $6 -$50/pound, (2) automotive approvals, (3) design in applications and (4) the niche opportunities.
For more information – See our multiclient study on Elastomeric Polyolefins including TPOs, TPVs and PVC Elastomers.
European Union considers passing “Polluters Law”
Based on a new bill, if approved, the companies in European Union would have to pay for cleanup of environmental contamination due to its operations. This bill has been preliminarily approved by European Union’s Council of Ministers.
It will be further reviewed by Members of Parliament. Companies would not be required to pay for cleanup, if the contamination was the result of activities allowed by the regulatory authorities of the member state. The liability in those cases would pass to member state governments.
Comments: This is a land mark decision on making the organizations responsible for the contributory pollution. The argument applies to “resulting pollution” and is not to be considered a fee for permission to pollute.
The system very well addressed the unknown affects of the pollutants at the time of pollution and makes the organizations responsible for future impacts.
Mitsui Chemicals America introduces HILET – polyolefin porous membranes
Mitsui Chemicals introduced HILET porous membranes derived from ultra high molecular weight polyethylene HI-ZEX® MILLION. The membrane material has a narrow uniform pore size distribution without the use of any organic fillers. HILET features high permeability therefore low flow resistance during filtration and separation. In addition the material retains the chemical stability of PE.
These membranes can be used for ultrafiltration to separate pollutants in a wide spectrum of commercial and industrial applications including food & beverage, biotechnology and industrial wastes. Purification applications range from hemodialysis and drug detoxification to industrial treatments such as removal of later in wastewater and biodegradable pollutants in paper.
Basell plans to expand its PP plants
Basell is very optimistic about the anticipated 2003 second half growth for polypropylene in North America. Basell has made a major bold move towards North America with the re-start 900 million pounds of PP capacity in the next two years at their Bayport, TX and Lake Charles LA facilities. In addition Basell is also planning on marketing approximately 800 million pounds PP from the Conoco-Phillips plant in Linden, NJ.
Basell anticipates the economic recovery in the second half of 2003 will spark new growth and will reach a total sell-out condition by 2004.In addition, Basell introduced new grades of OxyPP, metallocene PP with improved clarity, impact performance and cost efficiency in packaging and consumer products, and AdStif– their thermoformable grades of PP.
Comments: Basell’s optimism is a welcome relief to the polyolefin industry. Dr. Seetha Coleman, Basell’s Senior Vice President of PP Innovation will discuss the future potential for PP product developments in our upcoming FlexPO conference Sept 17-19th. Her presentation will focus on value enhancement of PP and opportunities in intermaterial competition.
Wayne, NJ based International Specialty Products Inc. (ISP) to buy Ameripol Synpol’s emulsion SBR production facility in Port Neches, TX
Wayne, New Jersey based International Specialty Products Inc. (ISP), plans to buy emulsion SBR production facility of Ameripol Synpol located in Port Neches, TX. ISP plans to buy the unit through its ISP Synthetic Elastomers LP unit.
Wilmington, DE based Ameripol Synpol has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy since December 2002. A notice about the auction scheduled for the 8th of July, invoked interest only by ISP Synthetic Elastomers. ISP is eligible for a break-up fee and expense reimbursement of $900,000 and an overbid protection of $1.5 million due to its bonafide interest. Besides the plant at Port Neches, Texas, which is being shut down, Ameripol Synpol also intends to sell its former emulsion SBR plant at Odessa, Texas.
Comments: Ameripol Synpol organization has undergone several financial and market related problems for the last 6-7 years. Some of the issues were related to outdated technology and facilities. In 1995-98 Ameripol-Synpol attempted to address the technology obsolescence through development of and R&D and Technology center – though unsuccessful.
German firm Bruckner Maschinenbau GmbH to supply BOPP line in China
Siegsdorf, Germany based Bruckner MaschinenbauGmbH will supply the largest biaxially oriented polypropylene film line in China. The company will deliver BOPP film line to Anhui Guofeng’s film plant in Hefei, China.
The 33-foot-wide line will have the capacity to produce more than 10,000 pounds per hour in gauges of 12-60 mils. Anhui Guofeng already operates two Bruckner stretching lines. Bruckner has already shipped 3 of such BOPP lines globally.
Comments: Bruckner is the world’s largest supplier of BOPP film lines. Between 1981-2002, Bruckner has supplied almost 58 BOPP lines to China. The line speed varies from 150-450, while the width of these lines ranges from 3.2-8.2.
The Chinese BOPP market has grown at very fast pace over the last decade. This has stirred various capacity expansions and China has been importing BOPP film production lines from Bruckner. Some of the BOPP production lines are imported from companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Toshiba from Japan, Marshall from United States, and Cellier from France.
For more information on BOPP film markets, refer: 1. Multiclient study on “Global PP Films – 2001-2006”2. Article on “BOPP Film Market In China” – NGP Vol. 8, Issue 4 (April 2003).
Honeywell’s Spectra Poised for Growth
Honeywell’s Spectra fibers – Ultra High Density High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHD-HMW-PE) originally developed by Allied as a part of their high density polyethylene operations is expected to grow in double digits.
Spectra Technologies business, now a part of Honeywell has just completed a $20 million expansion of its plant in Colonial Heights in Va., and expects to announce the construction of a new plant next fall. According to Honeywell, the biggest growth for Spectra has been in Asia. In North America the plant had been running flat out since 9/11. Spectra fibers, at present time are the only known alternative to Kevlar in protective apparel.
Comments: High-performance synthetic fibers (HPSF) are defined to include properties such as: (1) higher tensile strength, (2) higher yield/break strength and (3) higher impact resistance and (4) lower/reasonable density.
Until DuPont developed Kevlar in the early 60s, there was no such material available. The end uses for such a fiber were non-existent. Metal wire substituted for all the needs (albeit at a much higher density). Kevlar, due to its unique properties had to create the market via consumer and end user education. Kevlar and the companion – Nomex both based on aramids took over 15-20 years to establish the markets and be profitable.
Spectra Fibers introduced in the early 80s by Allied Corporation were originally positioned as a low cost alternative to Kevlar in high strength and protective apparel. The two major disadvantages of Spectra –inherent to polyolefins –low stretch and flammability prevented Spectra from becoming a true competition to Kevlar.
Allied focused its effort on the composites and as a blending material for the strength applications in ropes & cordage and protective apparel. Now 25 years later, Spectra is able to benefit from post September 9/11 surge in demand.
Several organizations in the 90s have attempted to develop alternative materials to Kevlar, with limited success, because of the cost position and marketing savvy of DuPont. Just think – what do you call the helmets worn by soldiers – KEVLAR; What do law enforcement personnel wear to protect themselves?–KEVLAR – Nothing else!
More on ExxonMobil’s Vistamaxx™specialty elastomers
ExxonMobil recently introduced its new line of elastomeric polymer offering under the Vistamaxx trade name. The resin will be produced via the ExxonMobil’s EXXPOL® metallocene catalyst technology at its newly built 90 KT solution plant in Baton Rouge. Commercial quantities are expected to be available some time in mid-2004.
Comments: This new family of resins will help bridge the gap between crystalline PP and amorphous EP Elastomers. The product line allows ExxonMobil to have a more complete product offering including crystalline polyolefins, Vistalon® EP Elastomers, Exact® Plastomers, and Santoprene®TPEs. ExxonMobil first alluded to the Vistamaxx product line at CMR’s FlexPO 2001, where it was introduced as “Propylene Plastomers”. These resins exhibit exceptional elongation and elasticity, and are easily compatible with isotactic polypropylene. Due to these, as well as other properties, Vistamaxx is in an opportunistic position to compete in applications requiring elastic performance properties.
Japan PolyChem and Chisso Corporation to form polypropylene (PP) joint venture
Japan PolyChem’s PP business has reached an agreement with Chisso Corp, Japan, to setup a joint venture for PP production, starting early October 2003.
The new company will be called Japan Polypropylene Corporation and will be owned 65% by Japan PolyChem and 35% by Chisso.
Comments: Japanese polyolefin industry is hit by several factors including increased competition from foreign companies established outside of Japan, start-up of new large-sized facilities in Asia and the Middle East, and imposition of tariff reductions by 2004. The tariffs on imported polyolefins in Japan will be reduced in 2004.
Chisso is originally a combination of Tosoh and Chisso’s PP operations. JPC is a combination of thePP operations of Mitsubishi and Tonen. The new JV of JPC and Chisso will therefore have all of the components from Mitsubishi, Tonen, Chisso and Tosoh. In addition Chisso has a long relationship with Amoco (now BP), especially in high crystalline PP.
Formosa Petrochemical (FPC), subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Group plans initial public offering (IPO) on Taipei Stock Exchange
Formosa Petrochemical, a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Groupannounced its plans to sell 0.28% of its equity in an initial public offering (IPO) of shares on the Taipei stock exchange.
The company plans to sell 19.5 million shares at a price above NT$30 (87 cents)/sharein the second half of this year.The IPO will be managed by Taipei based Capital Securities Corp.
Comments: The Formosa group like the Malaysian based Titan group had been one of the families owned and operated organizations in North America. These groups for the most part remained family owned and run. It is a novel idea for Formosa to get into this plan.
Idemitsu Petrochemical considering alpha-olefins expansion in Japan
Idemitsu Petrochemical is looking at constructing a 100,000 MT/year alpha-olefins plant in Chiba, Japan. The company plans to make a final decision on the $425 million investment within two years. The timing will depend on market developments. The project is a result of a 173,000 MT/year ethylene expansion at Idemitsu’s Tokuyama, location that was completed last fall.
The company had previously transferred ethylene from Chiba to compensate for a deficit at Tokuyama. Idemitsu operates a 58,000-m.t./year alpha-olefins unit at Chiba.
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