Hyundai awarded US$169 mln project to build XLPE unit by Borouge
Borouge has awarded a US$169 mln contract to Hyundai Engineering and Construction of South Korea to build a cross-linkable polyethylene (XLPE) unit at its petrochemical plant in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. With an annual capacity of 80,000 tonnes, the unit is an added-value complement to the low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit, enabling the manufacture of innovative plastics solutions for low to high voltage energy cables. This is the final major contract to be awarded for the Borouge 3 mega-expansion project already underway in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Hyundai Engineering and Construction are also providing the Utilities and Offsite facilities for the project.
Indian company to commence construction of 420 KTA PET plant in Egypt
India’s Dhunseri Petrochem and Tea is to commence construction of its new 420,000 tpa polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle resin plant in Egypt as per ICIS. The total cost of the project, which is located at Port Said in Egypt, is estimated at US$170 mln (€124 mln).
Dhunseri’s PET bottle-grade chip unit, which is located at Haldia, West Bengal, has a nameplate capacity of 200,000 tpa. Construction of its second line, with a nameplate capacity of 210,000 tpa, started in November last year and production is scheduled to begin in Q1-2012.
Dhunseri was formerly known as South Asian Petrochem Ltd (SAPL). SAPL was renamed in 2009 after the amalgamation of its operations with Dhunseri Tea and Industries and Dhunseri Polycarbonate.
Arkema teams with lab on photovoltaic project
Arkema Group is teaming with Institut National de l’Energie Solaire (INES) to set up a joint research laboratory dedicated to polymers for photovoltaics.
The joint laboratory near Chambéry, France, will combine Colombes-based Arkema’s expertise in polymers, polymer films and nanomaterials, with INES researchers’ knowledge of design and development of innovative photovoltaic modules, silicon and thin layers.
The project is part of a four-year agreement that the partners said will improve France’s competitiveness in the photovoltaic sector.
Gita Holdings buys Vinyls Italia, to start chlorine, PVC capacity at two sites
Gita Holdings, the Swiss-based fund that has agreed to buy polyvinyl chloride producer Vinyls Italia, plans to increase production capacities and modernize facilities at two of the Italian company’s sites, as per Platts. Gita will invest at least € 300 million (US$406 mln) to increase combined PVC capacity at Porto Marghera and Porto Torres to 475,000 tpa with chlorine capacity rising to 360,000 tpa, caustic soda capacity to 395,000 tpa and ethylene dichloride capacity to 500,000 tpa in the next 6 years. The Swiss fund has agreed to buy and restart Vinyls Italia assets at Porto Marghera, Porto Torres and Ravenna, all of which were halted in May 2009 when the company went into liquidation. The assets are owned by Italian oil major Eni and its chemical subsidiary Syndial. Gita, which will form an Italian-based company to manage the operation, could not be reached for comment.
The company is targeting an increased PVC production capacity of 475,000 tpa at the two sites, up from an existing capacity of 265,000 tpa. It will also modernize the chlor-alkali plant at Porto Marghera to more efficient and EU-compliant membrane technology, at the time increasing output to 160,000 tpa from 140,000 tpar. It also intends to increase vinyl chloride monomer production at Porto Torres. No modernization plans for Ravenna were outlined. The company and unions have a timetable of between two and four months for restarting production at the sites. Production of PVC and other petrochemicals would be adjusted to market needs.
With the construction sector at a low ebb due to the economic cycle as well as the seasonal winter downturn, PVC producers have been looking to increase prices this month to stave off negative margins caused by large contract price increases for ethylene.
Songwon builds presence in Europe
Korean plastics additives supplier Songwon Industrial Co. Ltd. is expanding its reach in Europe, signing Caldic BV as its distribution partner in France and the Benelux region. The new agreement took effect Jan. 1.
Caldic has offices, warehouses, distribution centers and production facilities in 13 countries.
Two more Calif. towns ban plastic bags
Two more California local governments — in Santa Monica and Marin County — have unanimously voted to ban single-use plastic carryout bags. They bring the number of areas in the United States with plastic bag bans to 18, and the number of bans enacted this month to three, with Calabasas, Calif., scheduled to vote on Feb. 1.
Both Santa Monica and Marin County passed their bans, which cover both petroleum-based and bio-based plastic bags, on Jan. 25.
The Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, which has successfully prevented Manhattan Beach, Calif., from implementing its plastic bag ban while the case — now before the state Supreme Court — is decided, says it will sue to prevent the Marin County ban from going into effect.
In addition, South Padre, Texas, passed a plastic bag ban Jan. 19, and San Jose, Calif., passed a plastic bag ban in December — both of which will go into effect Jan. 1, 2012.
The Marin County and Santa Monica bans are similar to the one enacted Nov. 16 by Los Angeles County that goes into effect July 1 for large retailers and Jan. 1, 2012 for smaller stores in the unincorporated areas of that county.
The Santa Monica ban, which was under development for three years, goes into effect in 30 days, but enforcement will be delayed until Sept. 1. The city had planned to vote on the ban a year ago, but delayed its initiative to conduct an environment impact report after the threat of a lawsuit by the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition.
The Santa Monica ban bars all retail establishments from providing lightweight, single-use plastic carryout bags to customer. The Marin County ban applies to supermarkets, grocery stories, delis, convenience stores, drug stores, retailers with $2 million or more in sales, and stores with at least 10,000 square feet that have a pharmacy.
The ban for unincorporated areas of Marin County is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, and requires that stores charge 5 cents for each paper bag handed out. The county had delayed its scheduled vote for three weeks after a threatened lawsuit from the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition.
The coalition already has told the Marin County board of supervisors that it will file a lawsuit within the next 30 days to keep the ban from going into effect because the county did not conduct an environmental impact review, as required by California law.
“We will be suing the county based on our objections,” said the coalition on its website. “The county ignored [the California Environmental Quality Act] completely. It did not even prepare an initial study under CEQA.”
The coalition also said that the 5-cent fee on paper bags in Marin County is not enough of a deterrent to get people to switch to reusable bags, and argued that if paper bag use increases it could have “a significant negative net impact on the environment.”
Both the Marin County and Santa Monica bills exempt restaurants from the ban.
The law defines single-use bags as those less than 2.25 mils thick. To prevent plastic bag manufacturers from increasing the thickness of their bags to bypass the intent of the law, the Santa Monica law defined reusable bags as any bag with handles that is made of cloth or durable washable fabric that is specifically designed and manufactured for multiple reuse, meaning 125 or more uses, with a carrying capacity of 22 or more pounds, and is machine washable.
The Santa Monica ban further requires that grocery stores and pharmacies — but not other retailers — charge customers at least 10 cents for standard-sized paper bags, which must be made of 100 percent recycled material and have a minimum of 40 percent recycled content. The stores — which the city set distribute 95 percent of the carryout bags in the city — will be able to keep the entire fee.
“This minimum cost pass-through is intended to provide a disincentive to customers from using single use paper bags and to incentivize the use of reusable bags,” said Dean Kubani, director of the Office of Sustainability and the Environment for the city of Santa Monica, in his report to council. “While paper bags are made from renewable resources and are not as problematic as plastic bags from a marine debris and litter perspective, the manufacture, transportation, and disposal of single-use paper bags has the potential to generate significant environmental impacts, and therefore increasing their use is not desirable.”
Originally, Santa Monica had planned the paper bag charge to be a fee, with a portion of the revenues going to the city. But it modified the bill in light of statewide Proposition 26, approved by voters last fall, which limits the state legislature and local governments from implementing fees that could be construed as new taxes.
The Los Angeles environmental impact report, which was completed Oct. 28, concluded that the negative impacts of a paper bag include 3.3 times more greenhouse gas emissions than a plastic bag, 1.1 times more consumption of nonrenewable energy, four times more consumption of water and 2.7 times more solid waste. In addition, that report said the paper bags also create 1.9 times more acid rain than a plastic bag.
“Based on a conservative analysis,” said the report, “the county has determined that cumulative indirect GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions resulting from implementation of the recommended ordinances will have the potential to result in significant unavoidable impacts even with implementation of a paper bag fee and promotion and distribution of reusable bags.”
That was one reason Los Angeles County decided to impose a 10-cent fee on paper bags handed out at checkout when it approved its ban on plastic bags Nov. 16.
The Los Angeles County ban is scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2011, for grocery stores with $2 million or more in sales and retail stores with 10,000 square feet or more that have pharmacies. The ban would go into effect at liquor stores, food marts and convenience stores Jan. 1, 2012.
The San Jose ban requires all retailers in the city of nearly 900,000 people to charge at least 10 cents at checkout for paper carryout bags, which must have at least 40 percent recycled content. The San Jose paper bag fee will increase from 10 cents to 25 cents in 2014.
Meanwhile, six towns in Marin County — San Rafael, Novato, Mill Valley, Tiburon, Sausalito and San Anselmo — are working together to develop an ordinance that would ban plastic bags and plastic polystyrene take-out containers.
In addition, the California cities of Fremont, Sunnyvale, Santa Cruz, Trent Hills and Long Beach, and Santa Clara County are also considering legislation to ban plastic bags. Plastic bag bans have also been proposed in the states of Arkansas, Oregon, and Vermont.
Besides Marin County and Santa Monica, San Francisco, Malibu, Palo Alto, Fairfax, Los Angeles County and San Jose have enacted bag bans in California.
Westport, Conn.; Edmonds, Wash., the Alaska towns of Hooper Bay and Bethel, and the counties of Kauai and Maui in Hawaii also have plastic bag bans. The Outer Banks, N.C., counties of Hyde, Dare and Currituck also have a ban on plastic bags, enacted as a single measure for those three counties.
In October, Telluride, Colo., passed a plastic bag ban that goes into effect March 1 and also requires retailers to charge 10 cents for paper bags.
Washington, D.C., has had a 5-cent tax on plastic and paper bags at checkout since Jan. 1, 2010.
EU bans plastics-associated gas reduction from carbon credit system
The European Union’s (EU) climate change committee has banned the generation of tradeable EU carbon credits through investments in emerging market countries to reduce production of two chemicals associated with plastics and polymers.
These are trifluoromethane (HFC-23) when produced as a by-product of making chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22), and nitrous oxide (N2O) from adipic acid production. HCFC-22 is a precursor to tetrafluoroethylene (TFE), whose gas helps polymer manufacture. Adipic acid is used as a monomer to help produce nylon and polyurethane and its esters are plasticisers, notably in PVC.
Currently, companies can generate saleable carbon credits from the EU emissions trading system by reducing the amount of these greenhouse gases when making these chemicals in poorer countries. But this has been opposed by the European Commission, which says these manufacturing improvements are cheap and the amount of investment required is far outweighed by the carbon credits generated.
As a result, this can – said a Commission note “create a perverse incentive to continue to produce or even increase production of it and of HCFC-22, a gas which both depletes the ozone layer and is also a powerful greenhouse gas”.
The Commission also thinks that developing countries could easily make the investments required to reduce HFC-23 and N20 when making HCFC-22 and adipic acid.
EU climate action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said: “These projects raise concerns relating to their environmental integrity, value-for-money and geographical distribution. Some of these credits of doubtful value – continuing to use them…could discourage host countries from…direct action to cut these emissions.”
Kuraray planning new PVOH plant in Texas
Japanese materials firm Kuraray Co. Ltd. has purchased an 81-acre site in Laporte, Texas, where it plans to build a plant making polyvinyl alcohol resin and related products.
The property is located about a mile north of the plant where Kuraray’s U.S. unit — Kuraray America Inc. of Houston — makes Septon-brand thermoplastic elastomers and Eval-brand ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVA) copolymers.
In a Jan. 24 news release, officials with Osaka, Japan-based Kurararay said that the new plant is part of the firm’s plan to expand its core vinyl acetate business, including PVOH, a water-soluble material that can be used in films for packaging, mold releases and transfer printing.
The plant will be Kuraray’s fourth global PVOH production center, joining locations in Japan, Singapore and Germany. Globally, Kuraray operates about 515 million pounds of PVOH capacity, with plans in place to add more than 50 million pounds of capacity in Germany.
Kuraray America employs 210. The number of new jobs created by the new plant was unavailable.
Belarus firm plans new PET resin plant
Belarus resin producer Mogilevkhimvolokno plans to strengthen its PET business through the construction and launch of a new 120,000 metric ton-per-year bottle grade PET polymer plant by 2015.
Mogilevkhimvolokno (Mogilev), the chemicals subsidiary of the country’s Minsk-based state oil and chemicals group Belneftekhim, aims to expand and upgrade its PET production and polymer exports. The firm already operates an existing 80,000 metric ton per year polycondensation plant, but its PET does not meet today’s global quality standards.
The 120 million euro ($163.7 million) PET project covers the purchase and installation of equipment to make bottle-grade PET from purified terephthalic acid (PTA).
Mogilevkhimvolokno, which is based in Mogilev, has been upgrading its other production facilities. Between 2004 and last year, the company invested in the production of nonwoven materials, production of technical yarns including those for tire cord and the modernization of its PET and dimethyl terphthalate (DMT) plants.
New technology for the bottle grade plant will allow Mogilev to reduce the consumption of materials and energy in the polyester production process.
The Belneftekhim offshoot, which has been seeking suitable partners for the project, is also reported to be planning to add downstream facilities for the production of PET films for packaging.
The Mogilev strategy aims at its wider use of its available production capacities, an increase of competitiveness through cost reduction and quality enhancement, and the “reorientation of production applying more advanced and extended processing of raw materials.”
Daimler and Toray announce carbon fiber JV
Daimler AG has taken the next step in its plan to use more carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), announcing on Jan. 24 that it was establishing a joint venture with Toray Industries Inc.
Stuttgart-based Daimler had announced at its TecDay innovation day in October that it planned to build a production facility in Germany for CFRP parts.
At the time, Daimler’s head of research and pre-development, Bharat Balasubramanian, said the automaker was working with Toray Industries on optimizing the resin transfer molding (RTM) process.
Under the joint venture contract signed on Jan. 24, the partners said they will start supplying mass-produced CFRP parts using a short cycle RTM process, which Toray developed for Mercedes-Benz vehicles to be launched in 2012.
In a news release, Daimler said it plans to “actively adopt CFRP parts and increase the number of models using such parts” in order to reduce vehicle weight, which will help improve fuel efficiency and reduce exhaust gas emissions.
Dow Commits to $10-Million Sustainability Initiative (Update)
Dow Chemical and The Nature Conservancy (TNC; Arlington, VA) have launched a collaboration aimed at helping companies “incorporate nature into global business goals, decisions and strategies.” Dow will provide $10 million over the next five years. The Nature Conservancy will provide “strategic, science-based counsel and technical support,” the organizations say. The data and findings from the effort will be peer reviewed and shared publicly, Dow and The Nature Conservancy say.
The initiative will use scientific models, maps, and analysis for biodiversity and “ecosystem services”—the benefits that nature provides for people, like clean air, water, and food—and apply them to Dow’s business decisions. By assessing the value that nature provides Dow’s business, the project will “inform Dow on setting new policies and approaches in the areas of land and water management, and siting considerations,” the organizations say. Scientists from Dow and The Nature Conservancy will implement and refine “ecosystem services” on at least three Dow manufacturing sites.
One of the initiative’s major objectives is to “share all tools, lessons learned and results publicly and through peer-review so that other companies, scientists and interested parties can test and apply them,” the organizations say
“This collaboration is designed to help us innovate new approaches to critical world challenges while demonstrating that environmental conservation is not just good for nature—it is good for business,” says Dow chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris. “Companies that value and integrate biodiversity and ecosystem services into their strategic plans are best positioned for the future by operationalizing sustainability.”
The effort will inform Dow on setting new policies and approaches in the areas of land and water management, siting considerations, the benefits of natural resources on Dow lands and waterways, and more explicit management of biodiversity. Scientists from both organizations will implement and refine ecosystem services and biodiversity assessment models, initially, on at least three Dow manufacturing sites.
A key part of the program is coming up with metrics and models to value nature and then use them to help improve business decision making,” says Neil Hawkins, v.p./ sustainability and environment, health & safety (EH&S) at Dow.
The effort builds on the concept of ecosystem services by starting the effort to establish environmental and economic values around water, biodiversity, and natural resource management, say officials with TNC. TNC “has been interested in finding a corporate partner to demonstrate ecosystems services,” says TNC chief external affairs officer Glenn Prickett. “It has largely been confined to academic study so far but we hope the partnership will Dow will allow practical demonstration.”
Terms of the agreement call for scientists from both organizations to implement and refine ecosystem services and biodiversity assessment models at least three Dow manufacturing sites over the next five years. A Dow site in the U.S. will likely be the first, and the partners would consider sites overseas for the other two, Hawkins says. The program should generate the first assessment in about a year.
TNC will also advise Dow on updating its publicly reported sustainability targets as part of the effort. Dow has been looking for methods to incorporate nature into its business decisions and strategies at the site and corporate level. Efforts to quantify nature impacts on company operations on biodiversity and natural resources have largely been anecdotal and Hawkins says that putting data and metrics behind these challenges will allow for better decision-making, he says. “Dow is a metrics-driven organization—we hope this effort provides data that can be acted on,” Hawkins says.
The effort will need to draw broad support from companies, governments, NGOs and others to help build market-based mechanisms, similar to carbon trading, to measure and manage impacts on nature. Markets can be an important tool to help manage these resources, but TNC also hopes the effort provides the data and know-how for more effective regulation and regulatory policies in these areas, Prickett says.
The partners will publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals and hope share all tools and lessons to help advance the efforts. “It would have been easy to give TNC $10 million to buy land,” Hawkins says. “This is a breakthrough collaboration. It’s an agreement about working together [to find] a path forward for how businesses can value nature and build that into internal and external decision-making.”
Asahi Kasei to Build Acrylonitrile Plant in Korea
Asahi Kasei Chemicals (AKC), an Asahi Kasei subsidiary, says it will construct a large new plant for the production of acrylonitrile (AN) at Ulsan, Korea. Construction of the plant, which will have a production capacity of 245,000 m.t./year, is expected to begin in May 2011 and the plant is expected to come online in January 2013. AKC, which is currently the second largest AN supplier in the world, and the largest supplier in Asia, is advancing a program to further expand the company’s AN business, the company says. The new AN plant will be constructed at the production site of Tong Suh Petrochemical, a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Kasei at Ulsan. AKC expects a strong growth in AN demand particularly in Asian markets such as China, Korea, and Taiwan.
AKC currently has a total AN production capacity of 750,000 m.t./year, which includes 300,000 m.t./year at Mizushima, Japan; 150,000 m.t./year at Kawasaki, Japan; and 300,000 m.t./year at Ulsan, Korea.
A previously announced 200,000-m.t./year AN plant is also being constructed at the Map Ta Phut industrial estate in Thailand by PTT Asahi Chemical (Bangkok), a joint venture between AKC, PTT (Bangkok), and Marubeni, and the plant is scheduled to start up in mid 2011.
PTT Asahi Chemical resumed construction of the AN plant at the Map Ta Phut industrial estate in September 2010 following the cancellation of the suspension order by a Thailand court. The AN plant and a 70,000-m.t./year methyl methacrylate plant of PTT Asahi Chemical, were originally expected to start up by the end of 2010. Thailand’s Central Administrative Court (Bangkok) lifted a ban on 74 of 76 suspended projects at the Map Ta Phut industrial estate on September 2, 2010. The court had ordered the suspension of the projects in September 2009 for non-compliance with environmental and health regulations, following protest campaigns by local residents and environmental groups over alleged pollution from plants at the site.
Following the completion of the construction of the AN plants at Ulsan and the Map Ta Phut industrial estate, Asahi Kasei will have a total AN production capacity of 1,195,000 m.t./year.
Eastman Sells Gasification Project
Eastman Chemical has entered into a definitive agreement with Zero Emission Energy Plants (ZEEP; Houston) to sell its interests in a planned gasification project at Beaumont, TX. Eastman suspended work on the project in late 2009. The project will convert petroleum coke into hydrogen and pipeline quality carbon dioxide (CO2). The transaction is expected to close in second-quarter 2011. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“ZEEP is anxious to continue the work started by Eastman on the Beaumont site,” says Ron Oligney, CEO of ZEEP. “This site is uniquely suited for a gasification facility that converts waste petroleum coke into clean energy product.”The primary offtake will be hydrogen, a clean energy feedstock for transportation fuels, fertilizers and chemicals. CO2 produced from the facility will be captured and used to boost oil production in fields near Beaumont and through an existing CO2 pipeline network, ZEEP says.
Eastman recently agreed to sell a shuttered methanol and ammonia plant at Beaumont to Pandora Methanol (Basel, Switzerland) for an undisclosed sum. The sale includes related ammonia tank and methanol terminal assets and a methanol pipeline at Beaumont, Eastman says. The plant is expected to have the capacity to produce about 850,000 tons/year of methanol and about 250,000 tons/year of ammonia.
Eastman purchased the site in 2007 from Terra Industries with the intention of using it for a $1.6-billion industrial gasification project, but the project was scrapped in 2009 due to high capital costs, the reduced spread between natural gas and oil and petroleum coke prices, and uncertainty around U.S. energy and environmental policy.
Pandora Methanol is a subsidiary of Janus Methanol (Basel), a newly formed project development company led by former Methanex executive Deo van Wijk. Janus currently is studying the feasibility of converting methanol to premium gasoline and is planning projects worldwide to make methanol, ammonia and other petrochemicals.
Northern Irish bag tax ‘reckless’ and ill informed
A private members bill that could see a 15p tax on plastic shopping bags in Northern Ireland has been described as “reckless” by East Derry MLA, John Dallat. The SDLP representative, who is generally in favour of a bag tax, claims the current proposals are too vague and therefore unworkable.
The idea for the levy was brought before the Assembly by Sinn Fein MLA Daithi McKay, who believes that his scheme would generate much needed revenue while also safeguarding the environment.
“A levy will significantly reduce the amount of plastic bags in circulation and will help ensure that consumers make the choice of reusing bags rather than accepting a plastic carrier bag every time they go to a shop till,” said McKay.
However, one Northern Ireland plastics merchant described McKay as “ill informed”, especially as the tax would also be applied to biodegradable bags. He added that the levy would prove impossible to collect in any meaningful way and that it would also harm the local economy.
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company has begun trial runs at its 400 KTA high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in Jubail Industrial City, as per Platts. It is not clear when commercial production will begin at the plant.
Trial runs begin at Saudi Kayan’s 400 KTA HDPE plant
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company has begun trial runs at its 400,000 mt/year high density polyethylene plant in Jubail Industrial City, the company said Saturday in a filing with the Saudi Arabian stock exchange Tadawul.
It is not clear when commercial production will begin at the plant.
The plant was started up January 20, the company said, adding that the plant will produce HDPE resins for applications in automotive gasoline tanks, pipes, bottles and containers.
The company is planning to produce pressure pipe-grade material at the plant, commonly known as PE80/PE100, Platts reported previously.
Saudi Kayan is owned by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (35%), Al Kayan Petrochemical Company (20%) and public investors (45%).
Nomaco debuts biodegradable LDPE foam
TARBORO, N.C. (Jan. 25, 1:10 p.m. ET) — Nomaco Inc.’s Engineered Foam Solutions division has introduced NomaGreen, which the company claims is the first biodegradable polyethylene foam on the market.
The Tarboro, N.C., company said in a Jan. 24 news release that it will offer the low density PE plank sheets in the material beginning in February. Unlike starch- or bio-based foams, NomaGreen only begins to biodegrade in a microbe-rich environment, such as a landfill — giving it an indefinite shelf life, Kurt Harmon, Nomaco EFS president, said in the release.
NomaGreen’s proprietary formulation contains an organic additive designed to attract anaerobic microbes, the company said. According to the firm, independent testing using ASTM D5511 standards showed the product achieved 40 percent biodegradation in 120 days.
Qapco LDPE plant to start production by year-end
Qapco general manager Dr Mohamed Yousef al-Mulla and other executives during the recent launch of the company’s new look, features-packed website.
Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) expects its new low-density polyethylene (LDPE-3) plant with a 300,000 tonnes-per-year (tpy) capacity to start production by the year-end.
Qapco’s two existing low-density polyethylene production lines – LDPE 1 & 2 account for more than 400,000 tpy.
“Construction on site reached 2,764,520 man-hours without lost time accident,” Qapco said in a statement.
Qapco, a major global petrochemical producer, is also in the process of tendering for its ethylene plant revamp (EP3) to lift production to 900,000 tpy by mid-2012.
Qapco started its commercial ethylene production in 1980 with a design capacity of 360,000 tpy. The capacity was boosted to 525,000tpy in 1996 and 720,000tpy through an expansion project (EP2) in 2007.
Qatofin was launched in April 2009 with a capacity to produce 450,000 metric tonnes per year of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE).
The required ethylene feed stock is being provided by Ras Laffan Olefins Company.
Qatofin is a joint venture involving Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) (63%), Total Petrochemicals of France (36%) and Qatar Petroleum (1%).
Mesaieed-based Qatofin is Qatar’s first petrochemical facility to produce linear low-density polyethylene, a highly versatile polymer used in the production of a wide variety of plastic products like bags, toys and cable coverings.
Qapco is also gearing up to further expand its sprawling global marketing network. This year the company plans to open new representative offices in Morocco and South Africa.
Qapco’s global marketing network consists of 29 self operated offices and six regional warehouses. This year the company opened representative offices at Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Sri Lanka and Philippines and logistic facilities in Tripoli, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Qingdao (China).
Last year saw Qapco participate in many exhibitions including ChinaPlast Exhibition, Plastex Cairo Exhibition, Germany K-Exhibition and the 5th GPCA Annual Conference & Exhibition in Dubai.
In November last year, Qapco launched its newly designed and user-friendly website, which is packed with a lot of features.
The month also saw Qapco setting a new world record by launching the largest T-shirt in the world to show its support for Qatar’s bid to host FIFA 2022.
Qapco’s Qatarisation drive launched in December saw a gathering of more than 200 national employees, industry officials and representatives of premier educational institutions in the country.
Qapco said it has strong ties with local educational and research centres such as Texas A&M University, where the company employees have been enrolled for various programmes and projects and events are supported.
PTT Chemical Buys Stake in Myriant
Thailand’s PTT Chemical (Bangkok), a major petrochemical producer, has purchased an equity stake in biochemcials firm Myriant (Quincy, MA) worth $60 million, the companies announced today. The companies have also agreed to form a joint venture to deploy Myriant’s technologies in Southeast Asia. Myriant is currently constructing a 30 million lbs/year biosuccinic acid plant at Lake Providence, LA
“PTT Chemical Group invested $60 million in Myriant and will further collaborate with them in the research and development for green chemicals,” says Veerasak Kositpaisal, CEO of PTT Chemical. Kositpaisal called Myriant’s Louisiana biosuccinic acid plant a “the strategic entry point” for PTT Chemical’s involvement in bio-based chemicals. The Southeast Asia jv will source bio-based feedstock from that region with the intend of using the feedstock to produce chemicals there.
Teknor Apex’s medical elastomer plant earns ISO 13485
St. Albans, VT – The compounding plant where Teknor Apex produces the Medalist range of medical elastomers is now certified under the international ISO 13485 standard for quality management in medical manufacturing. ISO 13485 specifies systems for consistent compliance with regulatory and customer requirements and includes provisions for risk management, sterile manufacturing and traceability. “The comprehensive implementation program required for ISO 13485 certification has focused our entire St. Albans operation on processes and procedures that maximize the safety and reliability of the compounds we supply to medical device manufacturers,” said Paul Burke, business director for North America. Developed for device manufacturers, ISO 13485 is not an essential standard for a compounder, noted senior medical market manager Nick Sandland. “Medalist elastomers are already fully compliant with regulations for medical uses and meet stringent standards for biocompatibility and purity,” Sandland said. “Teknor Apex undertook procedures for achieving ISO 13485 certification in order to provide our customers with an extra dimension of quality assurance and to demonstrate our commitment to the Medalist brand.
Sabic to Boost In-House Innovation, Supplementing Acquisitions
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. plans to increase its spending on innovation and developing new products in-house to about $80 million annually, supplementing any diversification through acquisitions.
Over the next few years, spending on research and development will grow to more than 2 percent of sales from 1 percent currently, said Abdularahman al Ubaid, executive vice president of technology and innovation. The company reported sales of 150 billion riyals ($40 billion) last year.
Sabic, which last year bought General Electric Co.’s plastics unit for $11.6 billion, remains open to acquisition opportunities, the executive said. The company is building large R&D centers in India, China and Saudi Arabia. The move highlights Sabic’s aim to move beyond petrochemicals into more value-added products, in a challenge to BASF SE and Dow Chemical Co.
“It is not smart to invent everything in-house,” al Ubaid said in an interview in Dubai today. “Go and get the best knowledge and information around and use it. If there is an opportunity, we will study it,”
PolyOne opens German innovation center
PolyOne opened its newest Innovation Center in Gaggenau, Germany. This facility will support application development for the PolyOne Global Specialty Platform. PolyOne has invested over EUR 1 million ($1.2 million). “The ability to replicate manufacturing conditions will facilitate faster and more efficient product launches for our customers, thereby reducing their time to market, risk and design costs,” said Jean-Marc Verhaeghe, global marketing director, PolyOne Global Engineered Materials. The Gaggenau Innovation Center features an advanced testing laboratory that includes a spectrum of processing and color matching equipment as well as computer simulation software. These state-of-the-art tools are supported by an experienced staff of scientists and engineers. Testing can be conducted for mechanical properties such as modulus, ductility and strength; physical properties such as density, electrical resistance and creep; and rheological and flammability behaviors. Production-grade processing includes twin-screw extrusion lines for TPEs and engineering materials, a profile extrusion line for quality assessment of TPEs, and injection molding machines (one and two component) for sample geometries and prototypes.
DSM and KuibyshevAzot form Russia joint ventures
Royal DSM NVand KuibyshevAzot OJSC are forming two joint ventures related to engineering plastics. One of the deals will make DSM the first Western nylon 6 supplier with its own manufacturing presence in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Heerlen-based DSM announced Jan. 20 that one of the ventures will relate to marketing and sales of engineering plastics in Russia and the former CIS. The second venture will focus on production of compounds at a plant in Togliatti, Russia.
Togliatti-based KuibyshevAzot also will receive a license to DSM’s proprietary cyclohexanone technology, which will be applied at KuibyshevAzot’s caprolactam plant. As a result, the company will boost its capacity to make caprolactam, a feedstock for nylon 6 resin
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“Russia is an increasingly important market for engineering plastics and it is expected that the market for [nylon 6] will double in the next five years,” said Nico Gerardu, a member of DSM’s board responsible for performance materials, in a news release.
“With our partnership with [KuibyshevAzot], I expect that DSM Engineering Plastics will be in an excellent position to capitalize on this anticipated growth,” he said.
On the sales and marketing side, the joint venture will concentrate on nylon 6, both in compounds and high viscosity applications including film. DSM Engineering Plastics will hold a 51 percent stake in the venture.
DSM Engineering Plastics also plans to buy 80 percent of the engineering plastics compounding plant located on KuibyshevAzot’s manufacturing site in Togliatti.
Terms of the deal, and information about the capacity of the plant, were not disclosed.
KuibyshevAzot said it has a leading position in caprolactam and nylon in Russia and CIS and is among the top 10 global producers of these products. The company posted 2009 net sales of 16,039 million rubles ($505.2 million) and 5,300 employees.
EU project looks at options for PLA packaging
Findings of a European Union-funded project looking at the potential to use bio-based polylactic acid (PLA) polymers in packaging applications were published at the K show, revealing both opportunities and challenges.
The EU Eranet Cornet Bio-Packaging project was intended to help make bio-based packaging technologies more accessible to small- and medium-sized processing companies. It involved organizations in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and Slovenia.
The German DKI institute found considerable variation in commercially available PLA grades. It tested PLA and modified PLA materials to determine the “chirality” of the lactic acid monomer (the proportion of D-lactic and L-lactic acid monomer), exposing extreme differences in commercially available PLA. Some processed at 300¡C without signs of degradation, others discolored “under normal conditions”, according to the institute.
While basic PLA properties of aesthetic appeal, gloss and transparency, as well as suitability for extrusion, injection molding and thermoforming, were rated as making PLA an interesting alternative to conventional plastics, there was need for improvement, in heat resistance, brittleness and barrier properties, the project said.
In terms of injection molding VKC Vlaams Kunstoff Centrum in Belgium found it was not the differences between materials, but combinations of process parameters that determine PLA processing performance. Back-pressure in relation to dosing speed was specifically mentioned.
However, Austrian plastic beer jug producer Schorm successfully managed to injection mold some PLA jugs.
Work involving Greiner Packaging eliminated injection molding as a suitable technique for production of PLA yogurt containers. This was not only as flow in thin walls could not be overcome with either help from additives or faster molding, but also because the price was too high.
Thermoforming was considered a more suitable processing method. Celabor in Belgium evaluated thermoforming plastic films made from the materials. However, the findings were of limited value because tooling for mass production of thermoformed PLA containers was not available.
It was noted, however, that some PLA grades sealed well while others with narrower processing windows did not.
Austrian company Naku produced some injection blow molded 0.5-litre beverage bottles but reports that control of the interaction between the bottle and the closure is difficult. Blow molding 1.5-litre bottles in PLA was very challenging.
The project also found that PLA sprues and thermoforming skeletons could not be re-used, as is customary with conventional thermoplastics.
Novamont forms North American unit
Italian bioplastics manufacturer Novamont SpA has created a North American unit, Danbury, Conn.-based Novamont North America Inc.
The unit will market Novamont’s Mater-Bi-brand compostable and biodegradable bioplastics.
Novamont announced Jan. 19 that it plans to make “significant investments” in the North America, eventually building an integrated system of agriculture, industry and environment, including a biorefinery.
“The North American composting market has grown significantly in the past decade, and is now ready to make a big step forward due to higher environmental sensitivity, and increased attention on the economics of waste diversion,” said Tony Gioffre, president of Novamont North America, in a news release.
Novamont has 200 employees and 2010 annual sales of $115 million. The company said its current annual production capacity is 80,000 metric tons.
Reynolds closing Pa. food packaging plant
Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd. will close its Reynolds Food Packaging plant in Grove City, Pa.
“We’re doing some consolidation. These operations will be consolidated in other facilities, specifically New York and Illinois,” company spokesman Matthew Gonring said in a Jan.19 telephone interview.
He said 145 employees, represented by the United Steelworkers union, and the company are in negotiations over workers’ possible futures within the Reynolds companies. Gonring did not give a timeline for the plant closure.
He said products produced at the plant include plastic, aluminum and paper products.
Reynolds Group of Auckland, New Zealand, is a subsidiary of Rank Group Ltd., the private investment group owned by billionaire packaging mogul Graeme Hart.
The 250,000-square-foot Pennsylvania plant contained a 9 million pounds-per-year PET sheet extrusion line installed in 2006 as well as thermoforming equipment purchased by Alcoa Inc., which owned Reynolds Food Packaging before Rank Group in 2008 acquired Alcoa’s packaging and consumer businesses.
Reynolds Group in November acquired packaging manufacturer Pactiv Corp. of Lake Forest, Ill., the maker of Hefty trash bags, in a deal worth about $6 billion.
Venture to be renamed Sumika Styron Polycarbonate
The joint venture between Styron and Sumitomo Chemical Ltd. will be renamed Sumika Styron Polycarbonate Ltd., effective April 1.
Styron bought a stake in the joint venture last year, when it assumed ownership of Dow Chemical Co.’s 50 percent stake in Sumitomo Dow Ltd. That followed Dow’s divestiture of Styron to Bain Capital Partners in June 2010.
The joint venture will continue to be headquartered in Tokyo, and will continue to serve its customers and market polycarbonate products in Asia Pacific.
Teknor Apex adds compounding capacity in Texas
Teknor Apex Co. will begin production on a new twin-screw compounding line at its plant in Jacksonville, Texas, by the end of the first quarter.
Officials with Pawtucket, R.I.-based Teknor announced the move in a Jan. 17 news release. The new line will add 5 million pounds of annual compounding capacity in Jacksonville. It will be used to make highly filled compounds, specialty alloys and similar materials.
The new line will expand Teknor’s ability to supply proprietary materials and to make compounds for other suppliers on a toll basis, officials said. It will be Teknor’s third extrusion line at the site and will be operated by the firm’s Specialty Compounding division.
Teknor also performs powder and additive blending in Jacksonville and makes color concentrates at a separate facility there.
Products made in Jacksonville include polyolefin-based compounds, including a material that is used in carbonated soft drink cap liners.
The expansion will be the second in the first quarter of 2011 for Teknor. The firm previously announced it would install a new thermoplastic elastomer compounding line that would add 8 million pounds of annual capacity at its plant in Oldbury, England.
Teknor Apex compounds PVC as well as TPEs and engineering resins, and is a major manufacturer of garden hose. The 86-year-old firm ranks as one of North America’s 30 largest compounders and concentrates makers and has annual sales estimated at more than $600 million.
Octal gets $296 million for PET resin and sheet plant expansion
Octal Petrochemicals LLC FZC said it will complete the second phase of expanding its integrated PET resin and sheet plant in Oman this year thanks to a new round of funding from six Middle Eastern banks.
Octal officials on Jan. 17 inked a deal for $296 million in senior term loans from a financing group including Bank Muscat, Bank Dhofar, National Bank of Oman, Bank Sohar, Ahli Bank and Qatar National Bank.
According to a news release, from Muscat, Oman-based Octal, current shareholders Muscat Overseas and Oman & Emirates Investment Holding Co. also have agreed to provide a junior debt facility of $15 million.
Octal Chairman Sheikh Saad Suhail Bahwan called the signing ceremony, “A landmark for Octal and proud moment for Oman.”
Privately-owned Octal Petrochemicals, a subsidiary of Octal Holding & Co SAOC of Muscat, launched production of amorphous PET sheet in December 2006, in clear and limited colors using a pilot line with capacity of 44 million pounds per year. The plant boosted capacity to 66 million pounds in September 2007.
The full-scale resin and APET sheet facility opened in Salalah, Oman, in January 2009. The plant currently has 882 million pounds of combined product capacity, according to Octal.
Phase two of the complex, which will be commissioned in June 2012, will add an additional 1.2 billion pounds of production, making Octal the world’s largest producer of PET resin on one site, the company said.
“In less than five years our world-scale manufacturing complex and export operation has grown to serve more than 40 countries,” Octal Chief Operating Officer Joe Barenberg said in a Jan. 17 news release from his office in Plano, Texas.
“In particular, we are ideally positioned to serve the needs of the packaging industry and support wholesale conversion to PET sheet,” he said.
“Despite the challenges of the global downturn, Octal has delivered on its promises to support customer needs via continued expansion,” Nicholas Barakat, managing director of Octal, said in the release. “The financial community is once again investing in our business because of their confidence in our operations and ability to realize ambitious growth by significantly broadening our product capabilities.”
The company claims to be the world’s largest producer of PET sheet, with officials forecasting $1.5 billion in annual sales in 2012, once the expansion is complete.
Octal is predicting dramatic sales growth in 2011 and 2012 in expanded service to food and beverages packaging accounts, Barenberg said.
Hilex and Sigma Plastics settle IP lawsuit
Plastic bag and film manufacturer Hilex Poly Co. LLC said that it has settled an intellectual property lawsuit against Omega Plastics Corp. of New Jersey and Omega Extruding Corp. of California, both wholly owned subsidiaries of Sigma Plastic Group.
As part of the settlement, Hilex granted Omega Plastics and Omega Extruding a license to manufacture and sell plastic t-shirt bags based on Hilex’s E-Z-Open patent technology, which it has licensed to companies worldwide.
Board of Nizhnekamskneftekhim Approves Cracker Project
A board meeting of TAIF (Nizhnekamsk, Russia) and Nizhnekamskneftekhim at Kazan, Russia today approved Nizhnekamskneftekhim’s strategic development program covering 2011-16 and through 2020. The meeting, chaired by Albert K. Shigabutdinov, general director of TAIF, a major shareholder in Nizhnekamskneftekhim, concluded that the business plan will ensure the future development of Nizhnekamskneftekhim, one of Russia’s leading petrochemicals players.
The plan calls for the expansion of synthetic rubber production as well as building plants producing undisclosed new types of plastics. It also calls for the phased construction of a 1-million m.t./year ethylene plant. Nizhnekamskneftekhim says the program is in line with the Russian government’s strategy covering the development of the chemical and petrochemical industry through 2015.
Celanese to Invest $600 Million to Build Ethanol Plants at Two Sites in China
Celanese says its Celanese Far East (Hong Kong) subsidiary has signed letters of intent to construct and operate industrial ethanol production facilities in the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park at Nanjing, China, and in the Gaolan Port Economic Zone at Zhuhai, China. Celanese announced last November that it plans to build one or two industrial ethanol complexes in China, and a smaller unit at its Clear Lake, TX site. The plants at Nanjing and Zhuhai will each have an initial capacity of 400,000 m.t./year and will involve an investment of $300 million each. Pending project approvals, they will begin industrial ethanol production within the next 30 months, Celanese says.
The projects will use Celanese’s newly developed technology to produce industrial ethanol, and this process combines Celanese’s acetyl platform with advanced manufacturing technology to produce ethanol from hydrocarbon-sourced feedstocks, the company says. To meet future demand, the technology also allows capacity at each facility to be more than doubled at significantly less than the original investment, Celanese adds.
Industrial ethanol is used in chemical and industrial applications for the manufacture of paints, coatings, inks and pharmaceuticals, and Chinese demand for industrial ethanol is about 3 million m.t./year and is expected to grow 8%-10%/year, Celanese says
Approval on the cards for India’s fifth PCPIR in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu
India’s Union government is expected to give approval to the fifth Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) in Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu in the next 2-3 months. “Things are almost finalised and we are very close to notify Tamil Nadu for its first and the country’s fifth PCPIR within 2-3 months,” said M Raman, secretary, department of chemicals and petrochemicals, ministry of chemicals and fertilisers.
The four PCPIRs approved are at Dahej in Gujarat, Haldia in West Bengal, Paradip in Orissa and Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
US propane, propylene inventories fall by 5.4 million barrels
Total US propane and propylene inventories fell 5.4 million barrels during the reporting week ended January 14, according to data released Wednesday by the US Energy Information Administration, as per Platts. Among major consuming regions, Gulf Coast supplies dropped 3.1 mln barrels to 20.6 mln barrels, while East Coast stocks shed 700,000 barrels to reach 3 mln barrels. Midwest supplies showed a 1.5 mln barrel drop last week. Total supplies in the Midwestern region stood at 20 mln barrels.
Propylene for non-fuel usage represented 5.6% of total propane inventories. Spot propane market participants attributed the large decline in stocks to winter weather demand.
Europe: Massive price hikes stun buyers in the New Year
Buyers of standard thermoplastics were faced with calls for triple-digit price hikes at the start of the New Year as petrochemical feedstock costs surged.
Polyolefins, polystyrene and PET prices increased by more than €100/tonne, which was more or less in line with the upward movement in monomer costs. On the other hand, it looked as though PVC producers would have to settle for far less than they wanted to recover the lost margin over the last three months.
Producers were assisted in their efforts to raise prices by a continuing tight supply situation and good demand.
Material availability remained tight across most product sectors as a result of plant outages and the severe winter weather. There were also very limited volumes of imported material to supplement local supply.
Demand for polymers for food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and winter chemicals packaging was very lively in January. On the other hand, building sector orders for polymer were low as a result of the freezing weather conditions.
India’s Uflex opens packaging plant in Egypt
India’s Uflex Group, which claims to be the world’s fifth largest manufacturer of packaging films (BOPET, BOPP, CPP and coextruded multilayer blown films), has commissioned a greenfield BOPP film plant in Egypt, some 40km from Cairo.
The 8.7m, 500 m/min coextruded BOPP film line is one of the world’s largest. It is supplemented by a 2.85m plasma-enhanced high-barrier vacuum metalliser.
The Flex P Films (Egypt) plant is a subsidiary of Uflex Group. The BOPP and metallising investment is the first phase in a larger project. The second phase will see the installation of a coextruded cast propylene (CPP) film line that will be commissioned in the first half of this year. A second 8.7m coextruded BOPET film line will follow later in the year.
Comments: Uday . Uflex is following the path of capacity expansion and opening up a facility in Egypt is mutually beneficial. This will not just create job opportunities in Egypt but provide Uflex with an opportunity to explore international market and expand its foothold.
Italian bag ban ‘puts thousands out of work
Italian plastics processor trade association Unionplast is ramping up its campaign against the new national law banning non-biodegradable shopping bags. At the same time, proponents of oxy-degradable plastics have written to the Italian government complaining against a ruling last week that such materials cannot be considered biodegradable.
Unionplast took out a full-page advertisement in the Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore late last week to highlight the damage the bag ban, which came into force on January 1, is already having on local industry. It says that many film and bag producers are unable to obtain biodegradable plastics, and they are not allowed to sell existing stocks of bags in polyethylene.
The association’s director, Enrico Chialchia, told PRW that Italy has until now been largely self-sufficient in plastics bags, with imports accounting for only around ten percent of the total market, estimated at over 220,000 tonnes/yr. He estimates that the sector encompasses some 250 companies, employing around 5000 people, many of them in the south of the country, where unemployment levels are the highest. A large number of these companies have already laid off staff, he says, or have actually shut down.
Chialchia says the threat to employment is equivalent to Fiat closing Mirafiori, one of its main production plants (and currently the subject of heated national debate over new contracts). “It’s like the government announced a law allowing only electric cars one day, and implemented it two days later,” he said in the telephone interview.
Unionplast is calling for the government to reconsider its decision, pointing out, among other things, that the new law knocks a big hole in attempts to promote plastics recycling in Italy. It advocates increased use of recyclate in bags. It also points out that many Italian consumers have adopted the habit of using polyethylene bags several times, using them also as containers for household plastics packaging rubbish.
The association’s call for more emphasis on recycling has been backed up by CARPI, a consortium of Italian recycling companies. It says that biodegradable plastics will interfere not only with recycling operations because of compatibility issues, but also with composting operations; it says bioplastics may not degrade at the same rate as other organic waste.
Chialchia says that protests to the European Commission over the legality of the new legislation have already led to the Commission opening a preliminary investigation into the affair, which will probably be followed by a full enquiry in the next few weeks. Numerous groups say that the legislation violates pan-European laws on free trade. They also point out procedural irregularities in the introduction of the legislation. However, Chialchia expects the Italian government to put up a fight. Unionplast met with representatives of the Ministry of Environment last Friday and came away from the meeting with no concessions.
Meanwhile, the Italian Competition Authority last week responded to requests for clarification by environmentalist group Legambiente and from biopolymer producer Novamont by ruling that polyethylene containing additives that cause it to break up via oxidation cannot be considered biodegradable, and so cannot be used for shopping bags. Representatives from the oxy-degradation sector have since written to government ministers responsible for both environment and economic development, urging them to rule against the decision.
Calculating the intrinsic viscosity of PET resin? There’s an app for that
The Hydrolytic Degradation Nomograph app has an easy-to-use graphic interface. Ohio-based Plastic Technologies (PTI) has launched a free iPhone/iPad app to calculate the final intrinsic viscosity (IV) of PET resin. The app is the first of its kind for the plastics packaging industry, according to the company.
“When you buy PET resin, the manufacturer has already indicated what its ideal processing IV should be. However, due the basic nature of PET, the resin will have absorbed moisture which is why it needs to be dried before processing,” said Scott Steele, PTI’s vice-president of global analytical labs, training and enterprise projects.
“Through drying experience and processing expertise, typically there is an estimate as to what the actual viscosity is at the time of processing. However, without knowing the actual IV, you run the risk of creating packaging that doesn’t meet performance specifications.”
The Hydrolytic Degradation Nomograph app uses a graphic representation of numerical values to produce a final calculation. The user indicates the starting IV by sliding a plot point on a vertical scale to the appropriate value. The same is done for moisture percentage. The two plot points are connected by a moveable line. The intersection of that line, on a third vertical plane, is the material’s final IV.
Dynasol forming SBS joint venture in China
Dynasol SA has formed a 50-50 joint venture with Shanxi Northern Xingan Chemical Industry (Xingan) to build a plant making synthetic rubber — in the form of styrenic block copolymers — at a plant in China’s Liaoning province.
The plant will have annual capacity for about 220 million pounds of synthetic rubber, officials with both companies said in a Dec. 14 news release. Material made at the plant will be based on styrene and butadiene and will be used in the automotive market, as well as in cables, adhesives, medical care and asphalt modification, officials said.
China’s rubber demand is growing at a rate of 7 percent annually. The new plant will be part of an existing chemical complex owned by Xingan.
Madrid-based Dynasol — a joint venture between Repsol and the Kuo Group — already operates SBC plants in Spain and Mexico. The new capacity will boost Dynasol’s global total by 50 percent.
San Jose, Calif., adopts plastic bag ban
San Jose, Calif., has become the latest — and the largest — U.S. city to ban single-use plastic carryout bags in what could just be the beginning of a string of new plastic bag bans in California.
The plastic bag ban, which will go into effect Jan. 1, 2012, was approved 10-1 by the San Jose City Council Dec. 14. The new law also requires all retailers in the city of nearly 900,000 people to charge at least 10 cents at checkout for paper bags, which must have at least 40 percent recycled content.
More plastic bag bans could be coming soon in other California cities. In the wake of the failure of the state to approve a ban on single-use plastic bags in the legislation session that ended in September, the California cities of Fremont, Sunnyvale, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica and Long Beach, and Marin County and Santa Clara County are now considering legislation to ban plastic bags.
A plastic bag ban has also been proposed in the Arkansas state legislature.
The San Jose ban is similar to the one passed Nov. 16 by Los Angeles County, which goes into effect July 1, 2011 for that county’s unincorporated areas. But unlike the L.A. county ban — which applies only to grocers and pharmacies, the San Jose ban applies to all retailers and there is no short-term exemption for smaller grocers and pharmacies.
However, the law does exempt restaurants and nonprofit secondhand stores from the ban. It allows restaurants to give plastic bags to customers for takeout foods, and permits all stores to hand out plastic bags for pharmaceutical purchases.
There also is an exemption in both the San Jose and L.A. county bans for plastic bags that hold fruit, vegetables or raw meat.
“It’s unfortunate that the city council would take this approach,” said Tim Shestek, senior director of state affairs for the American Chemistry Council in a statement issued by the Washington-based trade association. “Instead of entertaining recycling partnerships and programs, the city council chose a policy that punishes consumers by raising grocery costs unnecessarily. We are growing weary of fees that are nothing more than stealth taxes on consumers.”
ACC is weighing whether to file lawsuits to prevent the bans from going into effect.
The San Jose and L.A. county bans are the most stringent in California. The four other California cities with plastic bag bans — San Francisco, Malibu, Palo Alto and Fairfax — do not require retailers to charge customers for paper bags.
Fourteen U.S. communities, including San Jose and Los Angeles County, have now passed plastic bans. They include the counties of Kauai and Maui in Hawaii, whose bag bans go into effect Jan. 1.
Westport, Conn.; Edmonds, Wash., and the Alaska towns of Hooper Bay and Bethel have plastic bag bans. The Outer Banks, N.C., counties of Hyde, Dare and Currituck also have a ban on plastic bags, enacted as a single measure for those three counties.
In October, Telluride, Colo., passed a plastic bag ban that goes into effect March 1 and also requires retailers to charge 10 cents for paper bags.
In addition, Washington, D.C., has had a 5-cent tax on plastic and paper bags at checkout since Jan. 1. A $1 fee on carryout plastic bags goes into effect on Jan. 5 in Brownsville, Texas, the location of a major paper bag manufacturing plant.
Borealis investing in Porvoo, Finland, plant
European polyolefins producer Borealis AG is spending 17 million euros to upgrade its PE2 polyethylene production capacity in Porvoo, Finland.
The upgrade, which was approved by the Borealis board on Dec. 15, includes a new ethylene compressor and an upgrade to the monomer purification line. It is expected to see output from the Porvoo PE2 plant to increase by 15,000 metric tons annually, from the current capacity of 240,000 metric tons per year.
The Porvoo PE2 plant is Borealis’s demonstration unit for upscaling of new Borstar PE technologies and for introduction of new PE products.
“This investment is yet another milestone in Borealis’s strategy to improve its operational excellence and innovation capability,” said Khadem Al Qubaisi, chairman of the Borealis supervisory board and managing director of IPIC (Abu Dhabi based International Petroleum Investment Co.), which owns 64 percent of Borealis.
Clariant to open R&D facility in Frankfurt, Germany
Clariant AG is expanding its global R&D activities at its site in Frankfurt. The new 23,000-square-meter Clariant Innovation Centre is due to be completed by the end of 2012. It will provide space for 500 people.
The planned facility, which will be located in the Frankfurt-Höchst Industrial Park and represents an investment of more than 50 million euros, will cooperate with all of the R&D satellite sites in Gendorf, Germany; Lamotte, France; and Suzano, Brazil, as well as 40 application centers around the globe.
“After the completion of the successful restructuring, innovation in combination with an increased strategic focus on profitable growth will be a key cornerstone for our company. The goal is to establish Clariant as an innovation leader in the field of specialty chemicals within the next few years,” said Hariolf Kottmann, CEO of Muttenz, Switzerland-based Clariant.
RPC Group to buy Superfos for $316 million
UK-based rigid packaging producer RPC Group plc announced Dec. 16 that it has agreed to buy Danish packaging rival Superfos A/S for 240 million euros ($316.5 million).
RPC said the deal will strengthen its capabilities and competitiveness in the open-top filled injection molded packaging sector, will broaden its product and geographical range, and will enable it to enter into higher growth markets.
RPC expects to benefit in particular from Superfos’s presence in the Nordic countries, where RPC currently has a minimal presence, as well as its locations in the high growth potential markets of Turkey, Tunisia and Poland.
The Superfos business generated sales of 294.5 million euros ($388.4 million) and a profit before non-recurring items of 52.3 million euros ($68.9 million) in 2009.
RPC Group generated sales for the year to April 2010 of £720m ($1.12 billion) and profit of £40.9 million ($63.7 million). The acquisition is expected to close in February, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
“This is a significant acquisition for RPC Group plc which is consistent with our strategy of growing the business organically and through acquisition. This acquisition is an excellent strategic and geographic fit,” said RPC Chairman Jamie Pike, in a news release.
RPC expects to make manufacturing cost savings through pooling of common product manufacturing and improved procurement. It predicts annual pre-tax cost savings of at least £10 million ($15.5 million) within the third full financial year of ownership.
Superfos is one of Europe’s leading producers of injection molded rigid plastics packaging. Currently owned by two Nordic private equity firms -– IK Investment Partners and Ratos -– Superfos has nine production operations across the Nordic region, France, Poland, Spain, Belgium and the UK and processes around 100,000 metric tons of plastic annually.
RPC produces injection molded, thermoformed and blow molded packaging. Injection molding accounted for sales of £303.5 million, with thermoforming accounting for £264.5 million.
Both companies are major players in the European rigid plastics packaging sector. RPC Group ranked second place in the European Plastics News 2010 Rigid Plastics Packaging Producer data report; Superfos ranked in number seven position.
The combined RPC and Superfos grouping will still fall short of European rigid packaging sector leader Alpla-Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co. KG of Hard, Austria. However, it will be the continent’s largest producer of injection molded plastics packaging containers and one of the largest in that business sector worldwide.
Aside from scale, RPC and Superfos are both leaders in development of new injection molded packaging production technologies. RPC has a number of innovative fast cycling injection compression molding tools in production already; Superfos is about to put a new thin wall injection molding technology (Adaptive Flow Moulding) into production at its UK facility at Runcorn.
BASF and Sinopec to expand joint venture
BASF-YPC, BASF SE and Sinopec have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore expansion of their integrated petrochemical joint venture, BASF-YPC Co. Ltd.
In a Dec. 17 announcement, BASF said part of the expansion will be a world-scale hydrogen peroxide-propylene oxide (HPPO) facility.
BASF said the main projects include extension of the C3 and C4 value chains with construction of a 160,000 metric ton-per-year acrylic acid facility, a new butyl acrylate plant, as well as capacity increases at the 2-propyl-heptanol, styrene monomer, and non-ionic surfactants plants.
A superabsorbent polymers (SAP) plant, to be built as the final part of the ongoing expansion project, will get feedstock from the acrylic acid facility.
The projects will collectively total about $1 billion.
The final scope of the investments will depend on the outcome of joint feasibility studies for each project, a joint statement said.
The agreement was signed Dec. 17 in Beijing by Wang Tianpu, vice chairman and president of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), Ma Qiulin, general manager of Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Martin Brudermüller, BASF board member responsible for Asia Pacific, and Albert Heuser, president BASF in Asia Pacific.
BASF plans to invest approximately 2 billion euros in Asia Pacific between 2009 and 2013.
Yum! Brands reports on sustainability goals
Yum! Brands Inc., which operates Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants, reported on its efforts to reducing its plastic use and set up recycling projects in its new corporate social responsibility report.
The Louisville-based firm, the world’s largest restaurant company, reported that since its last report in 2008, Taco Bell has removed more than 710,000 pounds of high density polyethylene from its carry out bags, more than 640,000 pounds of petroleum-based resin from its clear cups, and 617,000 pounds of polystyrene from its Taco Salad containers.
By the end of 2010, KFC restaurants in the United States will reduce foam packaging use by 62 percent and reduce total plastic use by 17 percent. Paper serving boxes are replacing plastic plates “as part of KFC’s plan to reduce its use of nonrenewable resources and to eventually eliminate foam packaging from its restaurants,” the company said in the report.
“We believe we have an opportunity to provide environmentally preferable packaging to our consumers around the globe and reduce our impact on the environment. Our ability to serve food safely, quickly and conveniently is largely dependent upon our use of disposable packaging. In addition, the delivery of food and restaurant products to our restaurants is predicated by the packaging our supply partners deem is safe and convenient,” the report said
Indorama to invest $3.8 billion in PET resin
Indorama Ventures Ltd. plc (IVL) has set an ambitious five-year target to become the undisputed global leader in PET resin manufacturing.
The company said Dec. 17 that it will invest US$3.8 billion to expand its reach in PET, up by a hefty 90 percent from the company’s previously announced US$2 billion investment.
The investment through to 2014 would give the company the capacity to make 10 million metric tons of resin annually, up from its earlier target of 3.2 million metric tons, which would have doubled its current capacity.
“We aim to be the undisputed leader in this industry through scale, innovation and branding,” IVL CEO Aloke Lohia told shareholders during a meeting on Dec. 17 in Bangkok.
Indorama shareholders approved the issuance of 481.59 million transferable subscription rights (TSR) units, priced at Baht36 (US$1.20) per piece. Proceeds from the units would fund the expansion.
IVL has already announced $900 million acquisition and investment especially in China and India. It would be making a further $2.9 billion investment between 2011 and 2014.
Lohia, whose family owns 70 percent of IVL, remains bullish on polyester business, especially as the material starts replacing cotton for clothing as well as glass and aluminum for packaging.
Such market potentials supports IVL investments in greenfield, brownfield and acquisitions, Lohia told shareholders.
IVL is in the midst of completing acquisitions of SK Eurochem in Poland and PT SK Keris together with its subsidiary PT SK Fibre in Indonesia from South Korea’s SK Chemicals.
Following the completion of recently announced acquisitions in China, the United States, Mexico, Europe and Indonesia, Indorama’s global PET polymer capacity will reach 3.03 million metric tons per year. According to the company, 21 percent of that capacity will be in Asia, 51 percent in North America and 28 percent in Europe.
Qatar Petroleum and Shell study chemicals project
Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell plc have agreed to jointly assess developing a major petrochemicals complex, including a mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) plant in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar.
A memorandum of understanding agreement was signed in Doha by Abdulla bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, deputy prime minister and minister of energy and industry of Qatar, and Peter Voser, chief executive officer of Shell.
The project would include a MEG plant of up to 1.5 million metric tons per year using Shell’s proprietary OMEGA (Only MEG Advantaged) technology. It also covers other olefin derivatives. to yield over 2 million metric tons of finished products, said the statement, giving no further details of specific products.
Voser said the project “will combine Shell’s experience and technology with the ambition of the state of Qatar to create further value from its natural gas resources.”
In Qatar, the partners are already building jointly Pearl Gas to Liquids (GTL) and Qatargas 4 LNG, two of the largest projects in the world in Ras Laffan Industrial City.
Toray plans large-scale solar field
Film extruder Toray Plastics America Inc. will build a $2 million solar photovoltaic field on its 70-acre campus in North Kingstown, with construction to begin early in 2011.
Toray — a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Toray Industries Inc. — said the 446-kilowatt solar field will occupy approximately three acres; consist of 1,650 panels with utility-scale, single-access trackers (which allow the panels to follow the sun’s movement across the sky); and would be the largest solar-powered system in Rhode Island.
Toray estimates that the system, which is designed to produce a higher-energy output when compared with conventional fixed-mounted photovoltaic panels, will generate 625 megawatt hours a year, help curb escalating energy costs, and reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 340 tons annually.
“We are seeking any energy-saving project to reduce [electricity use] and also to reduce our CO2 emissions, as far as it is feasible to our company,” Shigeru Osada, Toray Plastics America’s senior vice president, said in a Dec. 21 telephone interview.
When the solar field becomes operational, it will save Toray $70,000 to $80,000 annually, he said.
Meanwhile, Toray remains in opposition to construction of what would be the United States’ first large-scale offshore wind energy farm.
Toray and closure injection molder Polytop Corp. of Slatersville, R.I., in August joined the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation in appealing the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission’s approval of a 20-year contract between development firm Deepwater Wind LLC of Hoboken, N.J., and utility company National Grid USA of New York.
The contract would allow Deepwater Wind to transmit power from Block Island, R.I. — which lies in the Atlantic Ocean about 13 miles south of the mainland — to National Grid customers on the East Coast.
The wind farm, a $220 million project that would result in the installation of five to eight European-style large wind turbines, is scheduled to be operational in 2012, the time frame necessary to take advantage of federal tax incentives.
Under the contract, Deepwater Wind would sell electricity to National Grid for 24.4 cents a kilowatt-hour, with annual price increases of 3.5 percent over the life of the agreement. The baseline price could be lower if construction costs fall below developers’ expectations.
In filings with the state, Toray has argued that the Deepwater Wind project would cost it $304,732 in above-market payments in the first year of operation, and $7.3 million over the life of the contract with National Grid.
“It is not commercially feasible because of $390 million in costs to Rhode Island [electricity customers], which we think should be shared equally,” Osada said.
Led by outgoing state Attorney General Patrick Lynch, groups challenging the legality of the Block Island wind farm contract filed briefs Nov. 22 with the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
Briefs from Deepwater Wind, National Grid and their allies are due Jan. 13, with reply briefs due Feb. 3. Oral arguments in the case are expected to begin next spring.
Deepwater Wind on Dec. 8 announced plans to greatly enlarge the scope of another wind farm proposed off the coast of Rhode Island.
The company said it wants to build as many as 200 turbines about 20 miles off the mainland in addition to the smaller project near Block Island.
The larger project, known as the Deepwater Wind Energy Center, was initially to include 100 turbines that could generate 350 megawatts. The latest proposal would generate 1,000 megawatts.
Osada would not comment on the Deepwater Wind Energy Center project, saying that Toray may take a position once more details of Deepwater Wind’s proposal are made public.
Funding for Toray’s solar field will come from the company, grants and loans from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.’s Renewable Energy fund, and state and federal grants made possible by the Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Construction is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2011.
In 2004 Toray launched a comprehensive sustainability initiative, which it claims saves the company 29 million gallons of water, 8.5 million kWh of electricity, and 10.1 billion BTUs annually.
In addition, the company claims that its recycling program saves 285 tons of wood, 152 tons of metal, 59 tons of cardboard, and 46 tons of paper, bottles, and cans annually, and produces zero landfill waste.
Eastman restarts Longview, Texas, olefin cracker
Eastman Chemical Co. on Dec. 22 announced it has completed the restart of a previously idled cracking unit in Longview, Texas.
The restart increases Eastman’s olefin capacity by about 215,000 metric tons and brings the company’s total number of active cracking units to three.
“The restart of this cracker was prompted by a favorable shift in market conditions for olefin feedstocks which is expected to continue over the next several years,” said Ron Lindsay, executive vice president, Performance Polymers and Chemical Intermediates, in a news release. “Restarting this cracking unit will give us an advantaged cost position over purchasing olefins in the North American market.”
Eastman’s cracking units produce propylene and ethylene.
Billionaire buys half of Russia’s Sibur
Russian billionaire Leonid Mikhelson has purchased 50 percent of Sibur LLC, a major Russian manufacturer of petrochemicals, plastics and rubber, the company announced Dec. 23.
Moscow-based Sibur said that half the shares were acquired in the name of a company known as Miracle, which is controlled by Mikhelson, and the other half were purchased by a subsidiary, and will be re-registered in Miracle’s name once Russia’s anti-monopoly agency has approved the purchase.
Mikhelson is the head of Novatek, Russia’s largest independent producer of natural gas. He ranked No. 189 on Forbes magazine’s recent listing of the world’s billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $4.4 billion.
At K 2010 in Düsseldorf, Germany, Sibur President Dimitry Konov told journalists that the company was looking to international markets, particularly in China and Europe. The company had annual sales of more than $7 billion, he said.
In 2009, Sibur produced 597,000 metric tons of polymers and 339,000 metric tons of rubber, he said.
Kautex sees growth in multi-layer fuel tanks
Kautex Maschinenbau GmbH, the extrusion blow molding machinery maker, has come back strongly from the recession, with sales expanding by about 11.5 percent in 2010, to 70 million euros ($93 million), company officials said at K 2010.
Sales Director Jürgen Moitzheim said the company lost sales in Europe but gained business in China, where automakers are buying Kautex machines to blow mold plastic fuel tanks.
Kautex is known for its machines to mold multi-layer fuel tanks and other industrial parts. But executives predict a similar percentage increase for 2011, as the Bonn, Germany-based company pushes its expertise in consumer and industrial packaging machines. At a K show news conference, they said Kautex 2011 sales should hit 78 million euros ($103 million).
In packaging machines, Kautex traditionally has focused on single-layer blow molding, Moitzheim said. But a deal last year gives Kautex access to multilayer, intermittent accumulator heads from Rikutec-Richter Kunststofftechnik GmbH & Co. KG of Altenkirchen, Germany. The technology allows a layer of regrind buried between two virgin-plastic layers, he said.
Last year, Kautex took over international sales and service for the giant Rikutec blow molding machines, used to mold septic tanks and other massive parts.
Kautex highlighted a consumer packaging application at the K show. A long-stroke KLS 8-100 molded shampoo bottles. The bottles were conveyed through a wall to the adjoining booth of Delta Application Technics bvba of Belgium, where they through a fully automated series of downstream equipment, including leak detection, laser marking, weighing, vision inspection and tray packaging.
Of course, Kautex intends to maintain its leading position in multilayer fuel tanks. The company has developed its C3LS technology Moitzheim said allows you to open the parison and install internal components inside the tank. The six-layer system meets the latest California PVEZ and LEV3 regulations.
In another innovation: Kautex developed a turnkey project in Asia for blow molding a composite cylinder for holding liquid petroleum gas.
DuPont expanding Shanghai R&D facility
DuPont Co. is doubling the size of its research and development facility in China to focus on new materials for photovoltaic, bio-based and automotive applications, as part of what the company said is a strategy to accelerate growth in developing economies.
The Wilmington, Del.-based company plans to add about 200 science and technology jobs at its facility in Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai over the next two years, doubling employment there. The company said in a Dec. 21 news release that demand for those technologies is “rapidly increasing” in the Asia Pacific region.
“Asia Pacific and other regions around the world are undergoing transformational change, driven primarily by global population growth and a rising middle class” said Senior Vice President and Chief Science and Technology Officer Douglas Muzyka. “This research expansion, along with similar lab expansions in Brazil and India, is another important step to meet specific customer needs in key growth markets.”
DuPont said it opened research centers in Paulinia, Brazil, and Hyderabad, India, in 2010, along with two new solar energy centers in Switzerland and the United States, and agriculture research facilities in the Ukraine, United States and the Philippines.
The company opened the Shanghai facility in 2005.
Italy imposes ban on single-use polyethylene bags
Four years after it was originally proposed, Italy has imposed a ban on single-use polyethylene-based retail carryout bags. Italy is the first country in the European Union to ban plastic bags.
Ireland has had a tax on plastic carryout bags since 2002. That tax was initially 15 cents, but was raised to 22 cents in 2007.
The plastic bag ban in Italy, adopted Dec. 22, went into effect Jan. 1 for the country, which has an estimated population of 60 million. However, retail stores and supermarkets will be allowed to use up their stock of plastic bags. But they will have to hand them out for free, rather than charging for them — their traditional practice.
In a statement, Stefania Prestigiacomo, Italy’s Minister of the Environment, Land and Sea, called the ban “a step forward of fundamental importance in the fight against pollution, making all of us more responsible for reuse and recycling”
According to the Italian environment group, Legabiente, annual plastic bag use in Italy has been around 20 billion plastic bags — or more than 330 per person.
More than 100,000 citizens had petitioned the government for a ban. A number of Italian cities, including Venice and Turin, had previously enacted plastic bag bans.
Stores in Italy now will only be able to offer biodegradable, cloth or paper bags to their customers. It is estimated the amount that stores will charge for biodegradable bags will be at least twice as much as they had charged shoppers for the polyethylene plastic bags.
Major European film manufacturer RKW buys U.S.-based Danafilms
RKW SE, one of Europe’s largest film extruders, has expanded its stake in the North American market with the purchase of Danafilms Inc.
Danafilms has plants in Westborough, Mass. – its headquarters – and Franklin, Ky. The company was founded in 1970 by Sherman Olson, who will remain as president.
Danafilms products include lamination, label, lidding and barrier films. Its principal customers are in the converting segment of the plastics industry, serving the food and beverage, pet food, landscape/gardening and industrial sectors. The company also supplies custom film for specialized industrial applications.
Frankenthal-based RKW Group is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of polyethylene and polypropylene films, nonwovens and nets. The company has 19 plants in Europe, Egypt and Vietnam, and it has a sales office in Atlanta. European Plastics News last year named RKW one of Europe’s 10 largest film manufacturers.
Danafilms ranked No. 88 in Plastics News’ recent survey of North American film extruders, with sales of $49 million. The Franklin plant recently added 55,000 square feet of space, essentially doubling its size, and it is in the process of adding a multilayer Windmöller & Hölscher film line that was running at K 2010.
RKW said Danafilms customers will continue to deal with existing relationships and RKW products and services will be added to Danafilms’ portfolio.
“Joining the RKW Group is an important step for Danafilms’ further growth, stability and sound future,” RKW CEO Roland Roth said in a news release.
Danafilms’ Olson added: “Danafilms’ employees have built a strong foundation from humble beginnings. By joining the RKW Group, we have access to the resources of one of the global leaders in the industry.”
Dow touts Sealution
Dow Chemical Co. launched its new line of Sealution peel polymers at Pack Expo. The polyolefin-based, single-pellet formulation can be used in cast and blown film applications and with polyethylene or polypropylene substrates. Dow said the polymers are suitable for a range of peel/seal applications such as pouches and lid stock, and offer consistent easy-open functionality with no-tear stringing.
As well, Midland, Mich.-based Dow has extended its Amplify functional polymers line of interlayer adhesion products for barrier packaging. The new Amplify TY line joins barrier materials together with film or substrates used in flexible packaging. Amplify products also can be used in rigid packaging such as multilayer bottles, blow molded industrial containers and thermoformed barrier sheets.
Dow brought a new generation of its Continuum EP high density PE resins to Pack Expo, held Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 in Chicago. The product family, launched at NPE2009 in Chicago, includes two bimodal resins, EP-6630 HDPE for blow molded bottles, and ADMDA-6670 EP HDPE for large molded parts such as drums.
The materials allow for reductions of raw materials and energy use, the company said.
Sugar-based PET bottle hits the UK
Groupe Danone-owned water brand Volvic has launched its “greener bottle,” made with 25 percent recycled plastic and 20 percent plant material, in the UK market.
The bottle has a 38 percent lower packaging carbon footprint and 16 percent lower lifecycle footprint than the previous 50cl Volvic bottle, thanks to the materials used. The plant material – BioPET – is made from PET produced using some feedstocks manufactured from fermented and dehydrated sugarcane waste. The resulting bottle is 100 percent recyclable, says the firm.
The bio material is made in India, using sugarcane molasses from the country, spokesperson Felicity McKane told European Plastics News.
Volvic is also reducing the weight to 15 grams from 17 grams and the bottles, which are already on sale in France and Germany, are manufactured at the company’s own facilities in France.
McKane said that the company is not commenting on how the initiative will affect manufacturing costs but said that consumers will not pay more for their regular bottled water purchases.
Stéphane Cousté, director of the nature committee at Evian Volvic Worldwide, described the new design as a “real breakthrough”, which is part of plans to reduce the global carbon footprint of the Volvic brand by 40 percent by 2012.
Over the past 15 years, Volvic has reduced the weight of its plastic packaging by 30 percent, the firm said.
City bans PS takeout containers
The city of San Clemente has banned the use of expanded polystyrene containers by restaurants, supermarkets, delicatessens and other retail food vendors, effective July 1.
The ban, passed unanimously Jan. 4 by the five-member city council, bans all PS trays, plates, bowls, lids, cartons, cups, hinged and lidded containers and any other PS items designed for one-time use for prepared food, takeout food or leftovers from partially consumed meals. It does not apply to single-use disposable straws or utensils.
A similar ban in Hayward, Calif., also will go into effect July 1.
Three dozen California communities — 33 cities and three counties — plus the cities of Portland, Seattle and Issaquah, Wash., have bans on PS takeout containers.
In addition, Los Angeles and four other counties in California have PS bans at citywide facilities and events.
Comments: The ban on only one type of one time use containers (PS) will not slow down nor stop the site of litter that apperas on roads and water ways across the country. Other one use containers will replace the ones being banned. we need the public to stop littering and recycle everything that can be recycled. Polystyrene can be recycled into several useful products. Readers remember back in the 80’s we went through this same process with paper grocery bags and the destruction of the forest to make paper bags, we thought at the time that plastic one-use bags were the answer. Now we are banning the plastic bags and the polystyrene one-use containers. Let’s make people more aware of the problems they are causing by littering period, not only with polyStyrene but with any object they throw away that can be recycled.
South Padre Island, Texas, votes to ban plastic bags
South Padre Island will soon become the second city in Texas and 16th area in the United States to ban single-use plastic carryout bags.
The town’s city council voted unanimously Jan. 5 to ban plastic bags, first on a voluntary basis, starting Feb. 1, and then on a mandatory basis Jan. 1, 2012. The ban would become law if council approves the measure again at its second vote, scheduled for Jan. 19.
“We are partnering up with our businesses to reduce the negative impact plastic bags have on our beautiful South Padre Island and Laguna Madre Area,” said Victor Baldovinos, director of environmental health for South Padre Island, in a statement issued by the city.
A de facto ban on single-use plastic carryout bags went into effect Jan. 5 in Brownsville, Texas. Stores will no longer be able to purchase plastic bags to hand out to customers, but will be able to sell their existing stock of plastic bags, at a price of $1.99, until those supplies are depleted.
“We have a duty to protect our natural environment and I believe residents as well as our many visitors expect us to take the steps necessary to do so,” said South Padre city councilwoman and sponsor of the ordinance, Alita Bagley, in a statement issued by the city Jan. 6. “This is one more step we have taken to further show our commitment to protecting our environment.”
Stores in South Padre Island will only be able to hand out paper bags and compostable non-petroleum-based plastic bags or sell reusable bags after the ban becomes mandatory.
The compostable bags must certified by ASTM biodegradability standards and differentiated from single-use plastic bags by color coding. The paper bags must have at least 40 percent recycled content and the words reusable and recyclable displayed in a highly visible manner.
All told, 16 communities in the U.S., when you include Brownsville, have plastic bag bans. In addition, Washington, D.C., has had a 5-cent tax on plastic and paper bags at checkout since Jan. 1, 2010.
Cepsa finalizes San Roque deal
Spanish oil and chemicals group Companía Española de Petróleos SA (Cepsa) has finally acquired the Artenius San Roque PET production plant of leading European PET polymer producer La Seda de Barcelona for 32 million euros.
The deal sees the 175,000 metric ton per year San Roque resins operation in southern Spain renamed CQ PET (Cepsa Quimica PET), which is to keep a 40-strong workforce. A further 19 former San Roque employees will be hired in different departments of Cepsa’s petrochemicals offshoot Cepsa Quimica, the new owner stated.
Cepsa Quimica plans to restart the PET plant within the first three months of 2011 as La Seda group suspended production at San Roque in September 2008. Cepsa Quimica, which runs the nearby 480,000 metric ton per year Guadarranque purified terephthalic acid plant was previously the unit’s chief raw supplier of the PET intermediate.
The acquisition brings Cepsa important synergies, not only giving it a captive PTA market, but also offering substantial cost savings through the expansion of its presence in the polyester supply chain as well as fixed cost savings, the group said.
Madrid-based Cepsa said the takeover would secure employment for workers involved directly in the San Roque operation but also indirectly linked jobs.
For Barcelona-based La Seda the transaction marks the completion of another stage in its disposal of non-core businesses, which is part of the group’s ongoing restructuring program.
Cepsa finalizes San Roque deal
Spanish oil and chemicals group Companía Española de Petróleos SA (Cepsa) has finally acquired the Artenius San Roque PET production plant of leading European PET polymer producer La Seda de Barcelona for 32 million euros.
The deal sees the 175,000 metric ton per year San Roque resins operation in southern Spain renamed CQ PET (Cepsa Quimica PET), which is to keep a 40-strong workforce. A further 19 former San Roque employees will be hired in different departments of Cepsa’s petrochemicals offshoot Cepsa Quimica, the new owner stated.
Cepsa Quimica plans to restart the PET plant within the first three months of 2011 as La Seda group suspended production at San Roque in September 2008. Cepsa Quimica, which runs the nearby 480,000 metric ton per year Guadarranque purified terephthalic acid plant was previously the unit’s chief raw supplier of the PET intermediate.
The acquisition brings Cepsa important synergies, not only giving it a captive PTA market, but also offering substantial cost savings through the expansion of its presence in the polyester supply chain as well as fixed cost savings, the group said.
Madrid-based Cepsa said the takeover would secure employment for workers involved directly in the San Roque operation but also indirectly linked jobs.
For Barcelona-based La Seda the transaction marks the completion of another stage in its disposal of non-core businesses, which is part of the group’s ongoing restructuring program.
DuPont expanding Czech PVB sheet plant
Global giant DuPont Co. has launched a $14 million plant in the Czech Republic producing its Butacite G PVB (polyvinyl butyral) interlayer film sheet for laminated glass.
Butacite G is manufactured from 100% recycled PVB and is used in safety glass for the automotive and construction industries. Increasingly, the technology is employed in the fast-growing photovoltaic sector, according to DuPont.
The new plant in Holesov, which is set to become DuPont’s “hub in Central Europe,” opened late last year and has so far created 70 jobs. The group sees the Czech Republic as a promising growth market for its new local production.
“This represents DuPont moving further into Central and Eastern Europe, and contributing to these economies. In terms of environmental benefit, the patented technology used to produce Butacite G at this facility substantially reduces the amount of scrap material that otherwise would need to be land filled or incinerated,” said Stephen Cox, vice-president of the DuPont glass laminating business.
The company, which manufactures similar products in the United States, Germany and South Korea, considers the plant represents a milestone in DuPont’s continuing commitment to Central and Eastern Europe. It has been in the region for some 20 years.
Its glass laminating business provides a broad portfolio of highly engineered polymer resin and sheet products, including EVA, PVB and ionomer, focused on safety glass solutions. The national offshoot of DuPont is based in Prague and employs 115.
Dow ceases sale of TPO and PVC roofing products
Dow Roofing Systems LLC announced Jan. 11 that it will cease the sale of thermoplastic polyolefin and PVC roofing membranes and accessories in North America, effective Jan. 31.
“Dow Building Solutions remains committed to the roofing market and will continue to provide the roofing industry with our preferred portfolio of products,” said Scott Young, president and general manager of Midland-based Dow Roofing Systems, in a news release.
These include Styrofoam polystyrene foam insulation products, Thermax polyisocyanurate insulation and Dow Powerhouse solar shingles.
Dow Roofing Solutions was formed through the acquisition of Stevens Roofing Systems in 2008.
Arkema speeds up PVDF project in China
Arkema Group has announced plans to add capacity to its soon-to-open Kynar PVDF fluorinated polymer production plant in Changshu, China.
The company announced on Jan. 6 that it will increase production of the plant by 50 percent by mid-2012. The Colombes-based firm did not provide details about the plant’s current or planned capacity.
The company said the additional capacity is needed to meet demand from customers that make electrodes for lithium ion batteries, backsheet for photovoltaic panels, and water filtration products.
The initial capacity was aimed at the industrial paint market.
Arkema had first announced plans to build the Kynar plant at its Changshu site in 2007, with the plant scheduled to come on stream in March 2011.
Arkema also has Kynar plants in Calvert City, Ky., and Pierre-Benite, France.
“Asia is a key region for the ongoing rollout of our Kynar PVDF commercial expansion strategy. This capacity increase will rank the Changshu plant as a world-scale site, capable of offering a comprehensive offering of local service to our Asian customers in our various markets,” said Erwoan Pezron, global director of Arkema’s PVDF business, in a news release.
TSRC to buy Dexco Polymers
Taiwanese synthetic rubber producer TSRC Corp. has announced it will buy U.S.-based thermoplastic elastomers maker Dexco Polymers L.P. from the partners that own the venture, ExxonMobil Chemical Co. and Dow Chemical Co.
TSRC will pay $168 million for the company, according to a number of reports in the Asian press.
Dexco Polymers produces SIS and SBS thermoplastic elastomers at its plant in Plaquemine, La.
TSRC said the acquisition will help it to upgrade its technology, provide its customers a wider array of products and diversify its customer base throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe.
The deal still requires regulatory approve in the U.S. and Taiwan, which is expected to happen by the second quarter of 2011.
TSRC, formerly was known as Taiwan Synthetic Rubber Corp., produces SBR and polybutadiene rubber. Its SBR is used in passenger tiers, shoe soles, conveyor belts, tank and tractor tracks and other products. The firm also makes Taipol TPE for adhesives, industrial compounds and shoes.
Mexichem buying US-based compounder AlphaGary for $300 million
Mexichem SAB de CV is paying $300 million to buy compounder AlphaGary Corp. from Rockwood Holdings Inc.
Princeton, N.J.-based Rockwood announced the planned acquisition on Dec. 17.
“The deal will be completed some time in the next few months,” Timothy McKenna, vice president of investor relations at Rockwood, told Plastics News.
According to Mexichem, which is Latin America’s largest manufacturer of PVC pipe, vinyl resins and compounds, AlphaGary has annual sales of $231 million.
“With this acquisition, we can combine AlphaGary’s research and development potential and innovative products with Mexichem’s geographic diversification, thus generating important synergies,” Mexichem said in a statement posted on the Mexico City Stock Exchange web site.
Leominster, Mass.-based AlphaGary develops high technology compounds for niche applications and has multinational clients in such sectors as communications cables, disposable medical devices, crown and closure sealants, automobile components, building materials and consumer products.
Its range of compounds includes flexible PVC and halogen-free alloys, styrenic-based, vinyl-based and olefinic-based TPEs, nylon alloys, polyurethane blends and cross-linkable polyethylene.
AlphaGary has four production facilities in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. Two sites are designed with segregated areas for the manufacture of medical device and beverage sealant compounds.
“We identified this [AlphaGary] as a non-core business several years ago,” McKenna said, “practically since the time we went public.”
He declined to say when Rockwood opened negotiations with Mexichem and whether the New Jersey company had spoken to other potential buyers.
“I can’t characterize the negotiations with Mexichem,” he said. “I think it’s a good deal for both parties.”
McKenna said Rockwood will use the proceeds from the sale for debt reduction.
With its headquarters in Mexico City, Mexichem produces a variety of chemical products at 40-plus plants in Latin America, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Taiwan.
In October it announced net sales of $26.9 billion pesos ($2.157 billion) in the first three quarters of the year, up 19.4 percent compared to the same period in 2009.
Since launching a $1 billion program of acquisitions three years ago, it has spent an estimated $500 million. The deal with Rockwood, if approved by antitrust authorities, will push that to an estimated $800 million-plus.
In late November, Mexichem restated its ambitions for the Americas and Europe, saying on the Mexico City Stock Exchange web site that “we are continuing with our expansion plans.”
At the time, the company said it was undertaking feasibility studies into potential business opportunities in Latin America, the United States and Europe that satisfied Mexichem’s “growth, efficiency and profit criteria.”
In a statement Rockwood chairman and CEO Seifi Ghasemi said “the completion of the sale of this compounding business is another step in concentrating our portfolio on high-margin specialty chemicals and advanced materials businesses.”
Rockwood employs 9,500 worldwide and has annual net sales of about $3 billion. The company focuses on global niche segments of the specialty chemicals, pigments and additives and advanced materials markets.
AlphaGary is the largest division in Rockwood’s specialty compounds segment.
PTT Pcl’s long-awaited group consolidation plan on hold
PTT Pcl has put a long-awaited group consolidation plan on hold because it wants to focus on legal problems at affiliate IRPC Pcl as well as other matters, as per Reuters. State-controlled PTT plan to consolidate its petrochemical and refinery businesses had been widely expected to involve a merger between IRPC and PTT Aromatics and Refining Pcl to create Asia’s eighth-largest oil refiner. The legal problems at IRPC have triggered speculation that PTT may consider a possible merger between PTTAR and PTT Chemical Pcl PTTC.BK, leaving out IRPC. The consolidation plan led to expectations the move would help cut costs and boost efficiency within the PTT group. But the process has been repeatedly pushed back and previous reports of delays have hurt the shares.
Thailand’s IRPC Pcl plans expansion of propylene capacity by 58% by 2014
Thailand’s IRPC Pcl (IRPC) plans to expand propylene capacity by 58% by 2014, as per Reuters. IRPC, 37% owned by Thailand’s top energy firm PTT Pcl plans to seek approval this month to go ahead with plans to expand annual capacity of propylene by 160,000 tons. Construction of a new propylene plant is expected to be completed by 2014 in addition to a previously announced “de-bottlenecking” expansion that would raise its propylene capacity by 100,000 tpa in 2012. IRPC’s current capacity of 450,000 tpa of propylene will rise to 710,000 tons by 2014.
Qatar in talks with Total and Royal Dutch Shell for petrochemical co operation
As it seeks to find more ways of using its rich gas resources, Qatar (world number one exporter of liquefied natural gas), is in talks with Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc about possible construction of a petrochemical complex.
Total has designs ready for a new petrochemical complex in Qatar if a US$6 bln project announced by Exxon Mobil Corp. early this year is canceled. State-controlled Qatar Petroleum signed an agreement with Exxon in January to build a petrochemical complex that would be the emirate’s biggest single energy-related project ever. Exxon’s planned facility was to include a 1.6 mln tpa steam cracker, two 650,000 tpa polyethylene plants and a 700,000 ton ethylene glycol unit.
Qatar Plastic Products Company plans to boost flexible packaging capacity
Qatar Plastic Products Company (QPPC) plans to boost flexible packaging capacity to 13,000 tons in 2011. The production boost has been necessitated by growing demand from its major customers – Qapco, Q-Chem I and Q-Chem II. QPPC is one of the largest downstream companies in Qatar, developing and manufacturing flexible packaging, using low-density polyethylene (LDPE). QPPC is a joint venture promoted by Qatar Petrochemicals Company, Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company and Italian firm Febo.
Equate Petrochemicals launches first green carbon project
Equate Petrochemicals Co. has launched the Gulf state’s first green carbon project which will use over 150,000 tpa of carbon dioxide (CO2). Under the scheme, Equate will capture CO2 emissions which will then be carried by a pipeline and injected into a special plant under construction. Operations are expected to commence in 2012 and will reduce CO2 emitted by Equate by 60-70% annually.
Greencarbon Company, a private Kuwaiti firm, is building the plant at a cost of US$65 mln (€49 mln) and CO2 will be used in food and beverage industries. The company also launched another environment-friendly scheme — Plant Water Recycle Project, with the aim to recover 80% of Equate process water which can be used for irrigation.
BASF SE management and employee reps sign new agreement for Ludwigshafen site
BASF SE management and employee representatives have signed a new site agreement for the company’s Ludwigshafen site. “Safeguarding the future through flexibility and operational partnership,” is the new agreement that applies to approximately 33,000 BASF SE employees at the site for the period from the beginning of 2011 to end of 2015. It replaces the site agreement from end of 2004 which expires at the end of 2010. ‘A no-redundancy pledge’ is a key element of the agreement. Another is the company’s promise to spend €9 to 10 bln on measures to safeguard the site’s future through to the end of 2015. Approximately two-thirds of the amount will be used on investment, modernization and maintenance to keep the Ludwigshafen site performing at its best in terms of technology and organization and thus strengthening core operations. The investment thus remains at the high level of the past years. Research and development expenditure will also be at the level of previous years and will account for more than one-third of the total amount. Ludwigshafen will remain the central platform for global research and development at BASF. In a bid to meet the challenges posed by increasingly unpredictable fluctuations in market demand, management and employee representatives have agreed on a package of measures to enhance the flexibility of HR systems in the site agreement.
The Site Agreement highlights continuation of “flexible personnel deployment” as a key flexibilization element. During the economic crisis up to 600 employees from plants with low capacity utilization were deployed for a temporary period in other plants where there was more work to be done. Fluctuations in production capacity utilization could thus be better offset. Both sides have also agreed to a possible increase in the proportion of temporary staff to enhance flexibility even further. Another key element of the site agreement is a joint commitment toward safeguarding employment through training, personnel development and qualification, and the Generations@Work program to address demographic change.
Pirelli signs agreement with Sibur
Moscow – The state corporation Rostechnologii, the OJSC Sibur Holding and the Pirelli signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to conclude a series of deals on joint activities in the tire industry and steelcord production, as well as in the sphere of high-tech production and the supply of products derived from the processing of synthetic rubber. It is expected that these agreements will be signed before June 2011. This document announces joint activities between Rostechnologii and Pirelli in reorganizing and improving the effectiveness of the tire business of Sibur, one of the major players in the Russian petrochemical industry. This memorandum provides for the involvement of the assets of Sibur- Russian Tyres in creating two joint ventures, established with the companies Pirelli and Rostechnologii (joint venture 1 and joint venture 2). The first joint venture will involve the assets of Sibur-Russian Tyres, which correspond to the standards set by Pirelli in terms of tire production for different purposes, and these assets shall be selected through a streamlining and reorganization processes carried out by three partners. Furthermore, Sibur will promote sale of the assets of joint venture 1, in accordance with the standards of Pirelli. The assets will be selected as a result of this reorganisation process and the respective decisions adopted by the three partners. Joint venture 1 shall receive 90% of the assets and 10% shall be held by Sibur. Prior to the completion of the transaction, the partners will manage the assets on the basis of special agreements, which will allow achieving a production volume of three million tiyres by the end of 2011. The second joint venture will receive assets for the production of automobile tires for the industrial sector (delivery for their configuration), as well as tires for heavy-duty trucks and agricultural machinery. This joint venture will aim to meet the increasing demand observed on the Russian market. SIBUR will transfer the second joint venture, established with Pirelli and Rostechnologii equal stakes of 40.1% in the company Sibur-Russian Tyres. Pirelli will also gain control over a 10% stake in Sibur-Russian Tires in exchange for technological and managerial contributions to the development of the tire holding. Pirelli will provide its technology and will participate in the technological development of the respective plants, including the application of its own know-how in terms of logistics, quality control and the organisation of the company’s activities. After completion of the transfer of assets and restructuring share Sibur in OAO Sibur-Russian Tyres will be 49.9% (currently the share of Sibur is 100%). The reorganization process will be implemented after the three partners of the business plan and related business services. The partners shall also conclude agreements in the sphere of the production and supply of synthetic rubber, according to which Sibur shall, on a long-term basis, supply raw materials for Pirelli and the two joint ventures. They would also provide for the joint development of production of new high-tech products made of rubber for the manufacture of modern high-quality tires. In addition, according to the memorandum, Pirelli and Rostechnologii will build a production plant in the Samara region – in the special economic zone (SEZ) of Togliatti – which will be dedicated to producing metal cord used in the steel radial tires. A project for the construction of a plant for the production of super large tires should also be elaborated. This new partnership does not rule out the possibility of the continued strategic partnership with the company Tatneft, in particular with its tire business, as outlined in the documents previously signed between Sibur and Tatneft.
FKuR and Synbra test stereo complex PLA
FKuR has teamed up with Synbra to test a stereocomplex PLA (sc-PLA) which has a higher melting temperature than conventional PLA.
The two companies have created the new material, based on non-genetically modified carbohydrates, by blending 100% pure PLLA with PDLA.
The sc-PLA has a melting temperature of 220°C, 50°C higher than conventional PLA, said FKuR.
FKuR is working with the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT to develop a new generation of high performance bio compounds.
“Synbra’s GMO free resins pave the way to new markets and the technical capabilities of the stereo complex offer us incomparable opportunities to design high engineered bio-compounds,” Edmund Dolfen, managing director of FKUR Kunststoff, said in a statement.
Class A performance for LyondellBasell shareholders
LyondellBasell has announced that the automatic conversion provision has been triggered for its Class B common stock to convert to Class A common stock. Each holder of Class B shares as of the close of business on 6 December will automatically receive Class A shares on a one-for-one basis, with no action required by shareholders.
The conversion is pursuant to the terms of the Class B common stock, which provided that Class B would convert to Class A common stock once the shares traded above $21.22 for at least 45 trading days within a period of 60 trading days, and closed above the threshold on both the first and last days of the period.
All LyondellBasell common stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ‘LYB’ symbol following the conversion. LyondellBasell currently has approximately 566 million ordinary shares outstanding.
New York to be venue for LyondellBasell’s first Investor Day
LyondellBasell will hold its first Investor Day in New York on 8 December. It will feature presentations from senior company executives and will be broadcast live over the web.
Speakers at Investor Day will include CEO Jim Gallogly, chief financial officer Kent Potter, senior vice-president for olefins and polyolefins for Europe, Asia and International Bob Patel, and senior vice-president for manufacturing in the Americas Karen Swindler.
Presentation slides will be available at the time of the presentations in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website. An audio replay of the presentations will also be available until 29 December.
LyondellBasell has announced that the automatic conversion provision has been triggered for its Class B common stock to convert to Class A common stock. Each holder of Class B shares as of the close of business on 6 December will automatically receive Class A shares on a one-for-one basis, with no action required by shareholders.
The conversion is pursuant to the terms of the Class B common stock, which provided that Class B would convert to Class A common stock once the shares traded above $21.22 for at least 45 trading days within a period of 60 trading days, and closed above the threshold on both the first and last days of the period.
All LyondellBasell common stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ‘LYB’ symbol following the conversion. LyondellBasell currently has approximately 566 million ordinary shares outstanding.
New York to be venue for LyondellBasell’s first Investor Day
LyondellBasell will hold its first Investor Day in New York on 8 December. It will feature presentations from senior company executives and will be broadcast live over the web.
Speakers at Investor Day will include CEO Jim Gallogly, chief financial officer Kent Potter, senior vice-president for olefins and polyolefins for Europe, Asia and International Bob Patel, and senior vice-president for manufacturing in the Americas Karen Swindler.
Presentation slides will be available at the time of the presentations in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website. An audio replay of the presentations will also be available until 29 December.
Moody’s Upgrades LyondellBasell Credit Rating
Moody’s Investors Service (New York) has raised its credit rating for LyondellBasell to ‘Ba3’ from ‘B1’. Both ratings are speculative-grade. The company’s credit outlook is positive. The upgrade is due in part to LyondellBasell’s retiring $777 million in debt earlier this month.
“LyondellBasell has substantially outperformed our expectations over the last two quarters, which has greatly improved their financial flexibility; this should allow management to maintain very conservative financial metrics over the next year or two, at a minimum,” says Moody’s senior v.p. John Rogers.
However, Moody’s remains concerned about LyondellBasell’s lack of an independent board of directors. The ratings agency expects that this will be addressed at a shareholder meeting next year, and may upgrade the company to a ‘Ba2’ rating should an independent board be established at the time. LyondellBasell’s management has said that it is aiming to secure an investment-grade credit rating, which would require an upgrade to ‘Baa3,’ at the very least. Moody’s says such a rating “is unlikely over the near term” due to governance issues, a limited operating history, and the company’s secured debt structure.
Moody’s Investors Service (New York) has raised its credit rating for LyondellBasell to ‘Ba3’ from ‘B1’. Both ratings are speculative-grade. The company’s credit outlook is positive. The upgrade is due in part to LyondellBasell’s retiring $777 million in debt earlier this month.
“LyondellBasell has substantially outperformed our expectations over the last two quarters, which has greatly improved their financial flexibility; this should allow management to maintain very conservative financial metrics over the next year or two, at a minimum,” says Moody’s senior v.p. John Rogers.
However, Moody’s remains concerned about LyondellBasell’s lack of an independent board of directors. The ratings agency expects that this will be addressed at a shareholder meeting next year, and may upgrade the company to a ‘Ba2’ rating should an independent board be established at the time. LyondellBasell’s management has said that it is aiming to secure an investment-grade credit rating, which would require an upgrade to ‘Baa3,’ at the very least. Moody’s says such a rating “is unlikely over the near term” due to governance issues, a limited operating history, and the company’s secured debt structure.
Berry to consolidate Ontario plants
Berry Plastics Corp. is consolidating operations at two Canadian plants it acquired as part of its recent acquisition of Pliant Corp.
Dan Landry, economic development manager with the city of Orillia, Ontario, confirmed in a Dec. 7 e-mail that officials received unofficial word that the plants, which employ about 90, would shed some workers.
“That’s all we know at this point, as no one from Berry would return our calls to date,” he said.
Berry officials were unavailable for comment, but the Orillia Packet & Times newspaper reported Dec. 7 that Berry said 25 jobs will be affected by a plan to close down its Hughes Road site in order to consolidate operations at the company’s Forest Avenue location.
The move is a “strategy to streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve [Berry’s] ability to service our customers,” the newspaper reported.
Berry of Evansville, Ind., on Dec. 3 finished its acquisition of Schaumberg, Ill.-based Pliant, obtaining 100 percent of the company’s common stock in a deal first announced in October 2009.
According to Dec. 3 Pliant news release, the newly acquired business will be operated as Berry’s Specialty Films Division and will be run by former Pliant Chief Operating Officer R. David Corey. Berry’s current Flexible Films Division will now be known as the Film Products Division.
According to a Nov. 10 news release, Berry estimates that its net sales will total approximately $1.2 billion during its fiscal 2010 fourth quarter, representing an increase of 45 percent over $795 million in the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter.
Pliant operates 16 manufacturing facilities around the world, and employs approximately 2,800 with annual sales of about $900 million.
New York-based private equity firm Apollo Management LP owns stakes in both film producer Pliant and Berry, a major North American injection molder, film extruder and thermoformer.
Eastman Chemical expands in Estonia
Eastman Chemical Co. is expanding Benzoflex plasticizers capacity at its Estonian plant in Kohtla-Jarve.
The Kingsport-based company acquired the production line earlier this year when it bought Genovique Specialties Corporation, a global producer of specialty plasticizers, benzoic acid, and sodium benzoate.
According to the company, current production capacities are expected to be increased by 11,000 metric tons.
Ron Lindsay, Eastman’s executive vice president, said the Estonian plant is an essential part of Eastman’s global plasticizers business.
Lindsay added that additional capacity for will allow the company to meet the ever growing demand consumer demand for an environmentally safe alternative to traditional phthalate plasticizers.
A derivative of benzoic acid, Benzoflex is used in adhesives, sealants and fillers, as well as products made of PVC, such as vinyl coatings.
BASF and Petronas to study expansion of Malaysia JV
BASF SE and Petronas of Malaysia have signed a memorandum of understanding to undertake a study to produce specialty chemicals in Malaysia, a move that would extend the two parties’ existing business collaboration in the country which includes a plant making butanediol used in the manufacture of polyurethane products.
The partners are considering a potential joint investment sum of about $1.3 billion, according to a Dec. 6 joint news release.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two parties will evaluate the technical, commercial and economic viability of jointly owning and operating world-scale facilities for the production of specialty chemicals including non-ionic surfactants, methanesulfonic acid, iso-nonanol as well as other C4-based specialty chemical products. The final scope of the investments will be determined following the outcome of the study, which is targeted to be completed in 2011.
Dow Brazil invests $2 million in technology center
Dow Brazil is investing up to $2 million in a technology center for engineering plastics, composites and polyurethanes on the outskirts of São Paulo. This will be the company’s first such unit in the region, although Dow has been active in South America since 1956.
When it opens in January, the center will be one of the most modern and well-equipped laboratories in Latin American, Dow said in an announcement at the Feiplar Composites & Feipur trade show, held Nov. 8-12 in São Paulo. The lab will occupy about 13,000 square feet in Jundiaí.
Ford to use recycled denim as soundproofing
Old blue jeans are getting a second life in new cars.
Ford Motor Co. is using recycled denim as soundproofing material in the 2012 Ford Focus.
“Ford is continually looking for greener alternatives,” said Carrie Majeske, product sustainability manager. “One of our key goals is to use more recycled or renewable materials without compromising performance or durability. Recycled content is a way to divert waste from landfills and reduce the impact of mining virgin material.”
Other recycled materials in the vehicles include recycled resins for underbody systems, recycled yarns on seat covers and recycled beverage bottles in battery trays.
Teknor adding 8M pounds to UK capacity
A new thermoplastic elastomer compounding line will allow Teknor Apex Co.’s plant in the United Kingdom to do more of what it does best: quick turnarounds on specialty products.
The 50,000-square-foot plant in Oldbury, England, can do made-to-order work in as little as two weeks, but can complete work in half that time during a production cycle, Europe Managing Director Simon Hubbard said in an interview at K 2010.
“We fit a niche, because a lot of companies don’t want to do small runs on big lines,” he added. The plant does a number of jobs in the 4,000- to 7,000-pound range, working in natural colors as well as in blacks for a variety of consumer and industrial customers.
The TPE line will add almost 8 million pounds of annual capacity and will be the second in Oldbury for Pawtucket, R.I.-based Teknor. The line is expected to be fully operational during the first quarter of 2011.
Teknor also operates several lines in Oldbury compounding reinforced nylon and other engineering resins. An existing TPE pilot line there will be used for research and development work and small-lot orders.
The 65-employee plant also is expected to be running three shifts by mid-2011. The additional work will allow the site to add six jobs, Hubbard said.
About 60 percent of the plant’s output is sold to customers in the U.K., with most of the remainder sold to other customers in Europe. Teknor acquired the Oldbury plant, which was built in the 1950s, as part of its 2005 purchase of Chem Polymer Ltd.
Production volume at the site for 2010 has recovered from a rough 2009, and now is even higher than it was in 2008, Hubbard said at the Düsseldorf show, held Oct. 27 to Nov. 3.
“Our volume is stronger now than it’s been in 10 years,” he said. “This is the right market for us to be in.”
The new line will be used to supply styrenic TPEs, including:
* Monprene-brand compounds for a range of consumer and industrial applications.
* Tekbond-brand bondable TPEs for overmolding.
* Elexar-brand TPEs for wire and cable products.
* Medalist-brand medical compounds, which can be based on a variety of TPEs.
The addition of the line is the latest step in a flurry of TPE activity by Teknor in 2010. In September, the firm bought the Sarlink-brand thermoplastic vulcanizate business from Royal DSM NV for an undisclosed price. Sarlink has annual sales of $65 million and produces its material at plants in Leominster, Mass., and Genk, Belgium.
Teknor also recently commercialized new Medalist TPE compounds that, company officials said, can achieve the properties of PVC.
Teknor Apex compounds PVC as well as TPEs and engineering resins, and is a major manufacturer of garden hose. The 86-year-old firm ranks as one of North America’s 30 largest compounders and concentrates makers and has annual sales estimated at more than $600 million.
New owner in sight for Spanish PET plant
Spanish oil and chemicals group Companía Española de Petróleos SA (Cepsa) has signed an initial agreement to acquire the Artenius San Roque, Spain, PET resin plant from leading European polymer producer La Seda de Barcelona.
But the takeover deal is still subject certain conditions, among them the successful conclusion of workforce restructuring at San Roque’s Cádiz site by Barcelona, Spain-based La Seda. That is due to be completed in several weeks time, stated the firm.
Earlier this year, La Seda revealed it had received three separate bids to buy the San Roque plant, which has a PET resins capacity of 175,000 metric tons per year.
Operations at the southern Spanish facility have been suspended since September 2008. Up to then, Madrid-based Cepsa Química was the San Roque’s main raw materials supplier.
Last year, the group threatened to shut down the plant altogether if it could not reach agreement to reduce its labour, raw materials and energy costs.
San Roque plant should be back on stream early next year following a successful take over, according to Cepsa.
The deal marks another step in La Seda’s disposal of a number of non strategic operations, part of the group’s ongoing restructuring programme approved by its shareholders back in December 2009.
The acquisition will expand the polyester value chain of Cepsa Química. Cepsa operates its Guadarranque plant producing PET intermediate purified terephthalic acid, near the La Seda facility in southern Spain. It also runs a PTA plant in Montreal.
A. Schulman slates India plant for ’11
Compounding leader A. Schulman Inc. will open its first Indian plant by the end of 2011.
The plant, in Vadodora, at first will operate a single Farrel continuous mixing line and make additive masterbatches, said A. Schulman Asia’s general manager and chief operating officer, Derek Bristow.
The 25-employee plant will sell the additive masterbatches into biaxially oriented polypropylene film and other markets, Bristow said at K 2010, which ran Oct. 27 to Nov. 3 in Düsseldorf. India’s flexible packaging sector has enjoyed strong growth in recent years as India’s massive consumer market has blossomed.
Rotational molding material demand in India also is very strong, Bristow said. Schulman’s sales in the country are expected to come from a mix of domestic businesses and multinational companies that are establishing themselves there, he added. “A lot of local businesses are really growing in India,” he said said in a K-show interview.
The plant will be Schulman’s fifth in the Asia-Pacific region, joining locations in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. The latter two plants were added to the Schulman stable earlier this year when the firm acquired ICO Inc.
Schulman’s China plant makes masterbatch concentrates and compounds based on engineering plastics, while its Malaysian plant makes masterbatch concentrates and specialty rotomolding powders. In Indonesia, Schulman makes masterbatch concentrates. The firm’s Australian plant produces specialty rotomolding powders.
Bristow said this year the Asian market has recovered from any slowdown in business it may have experienced in 2009.
“There was a bit of a slowdown, but now there’s a lot of activity,” he added. “A lot of [processing] machinery guys are selling equipment to Asia.”
Fairlawn, Ohio-based Schulman just completed a fiscal year in which overall sales grew 24 percent to almost $1.6 billion. The firm also showed a $44 million profit after losing more than $2 million in fiscal 2009.
In Asia Pacific, Schulman’s sales grew 87 percent to almost $85 million, while gross profit from the region shot up 83 percent to almost $12 million.
Looking ahead, Bristow said that Schulman might grow its presence in Asia by acquiring other materials firms. Doing so would allow the company to increase capacity without investing in new extrusion lines.
“Market fundamentals are strong and, overall, we’re optimistic,” he said. “The plan is not to go with commodity growth, but with high-value-added niche products.”
Ineos enters styrenics business with BASF
BASF SE and Ineos Industries Holdings Ltd. announced Nov. 30 that they have signed a letter of intent to combine their styrenics businesses into BASF’s Styrolution business unit.
Ownership of Styrolution, based in Frankfurt, will be split 50/50 between the companies and BASF will receive a cash consideration once the transaction is completed. No other financial details were given.
BASF had announced the creation of Styrolution in October, which formed the business by carving out the bulk of its own styrenics operations, which had been under review since 2007.
At the time, the company had refused to comment on whether it was looking for partners.
“The joint venture will deliver new opportunities for innovation and growth that will provide significant benefit to our customers,” Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of Ineos Capital, said in a statement. “The world scale-assets will secure a sustainable and competitive business that is capable of meeting the long-term needs of a rapidly changing market.”
Under the terms of the new deal, BASF and Ineos will combine business activities in styrene monomers, polystyrene, ABS, styrene-butadiene block copolymers and other styrene-based copolymers as well as copolymer blends.
BASF plants in Germany, Belgium, South Korea, India and Mexico, and Ineos plants in Canada, the United States, Germany, France and Sweden, will all become part of the new company.
The former Ineos Nova joint venture will be included in Styrolution. Calgary, Alberta-based Nova Chemicals Corp. on Nov. 12 confirmed that it had sold its stake in the venture to Ineos for an undisclosed price.
BASF’s Roberto Gualdoni will take the role of CEO of Styrolution, and Christoph de la Camp, currently chief financial officer at Ineos Nova, will become CFO.
BASF employs approximately 1,460 in its styrenics business and is expected to generate sales of more than 3 billion euros in 2010. Ineos employs about 2,200 in its styrenics activities, which will generate an estimated 2 billion euros in 2010 sales.
Mexichem mulls acquisitions in Americas and Europe
Big spending regional PVC pipe and resins giant Mexichem SAB de CV has restated its ambitions for the Americas and Europe as it bids to become a major global player.
“We are continuing with our expansion plans,” it told investors via the Mexico City Stock Exchange website on Nov. 25.
Feasibility studies are constantly being conducted into potential business opportunities in Latin America, the United States and Europe that satisfy Mexichem’s “growth, efficiency and profit criteria,” it added.
Based in Mexico City, the company has not officially stated how much it has spent since launching a $1 billion acquisition spree three years ago. The total, however, is likely to be in excess of $500 million.
Its latest acquisitions were Mexican rivals Plásticos Rex SA de CV and PVC resins producer Policyd SA de CV from Cydsa SAB de CV, of Garza García, near Monterrey, northern Mexico, in October.
It is already Latin America’s largest manufacturer of PVC pipe, vinyl resins and compounds and produces a variety of chemical products at 40-plus plants in the region, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Taiwan.
In October it announced net sales of $26.9 billion pesos ($2.157 billion) in the first three quarters of the year, up 19.4 percent compared to the same period in 20.
EU bans BPA in baby feeding bottles
A European ban on feeding bottles for babies containing bisphenol A (BPA) is being imposed by the European Commissions beginning in June, as a result of fears that additive could harm the immune system of infants.
“The decision taken today [Nov. 25] is good news for European parents who can be sure that, as of mid-2011, plastic infant feeding bottles will not include BPA,” said John Dalli, the EU’s health and consumer affairs commissioner.
“There were areas of uncertainty, deriving from new studies, which showed that BPA might have an effect on development, immune response and tumor promotion,” he added.
Brussels-based trade group Plastics Europe said it was “deeply disturbed” by the decision, pointing out that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said in September that there is no evidence to support a ban on the use of BPA in food contact materials.
“This decision undermines the systems and processes which ensure the safety of food and food contact materials in the EU”, said Jasmin Bird of the PC/BPA-group. “It is not necessary to ban polycarbonate baby bottles.”
Bird said regulatory bodies should be cautious when there are gaps in scientific data but said. “For BPA the database is very comprehensive, a fact also noted by both EFSA and World Health Organisation (WHO). Industry strongly urges the “sound science” principle to remain the basis of regulatory decisions.”
In the United States, major manufacturers of baby bottles said in 2009 that they will stop selling bottles made with BPA.
Comments (1)
There is a BIG difference between “containing” (line 2 above) and “made with” (last line). I’ve been saying this for years, but no-one wants to hear it. I wonder why?
Until we face this difference squarely, we’ll have confusion. We need to ask:
1. Can PC be made with another monomer?
2. How much residual BPA is in today’s PC?
3. How is this exposure related to the exposure in the studies that show damage?
4. If there is substantial BPA exposure from current resins, can it be realistically reduced?
5. Can there be a consensus on how much can be allowed?
We do this with lead and even arsenic, why not with organics? The above is science, not politics, and I am more and more coming to doubt that it will ever be reponsibly dealt with. ALG
Chinese Coal-to-Chemicals Firm Licenses Unipol Polyethylene Technology
Univation Technologies has licensed its Unipol polyethylene technology to PuCheng Clean Energy Chemical Co. The process will be used in a 300,000-m.t./year high- to linear low-density polyethylene plant, which will be built at Weinan, China. It will form part of one of China’s largest coal-based chemicals production complexes. Ethylene feedstock will come from a combination of coal-to-methanol and methanol-to-olefins plants. Completion is expected in 2013. Univation says it plans to open a UCAT high productivity catalyst manufacturing plant in Jiangsu Province next year.
Earlier this year LyondellBasell licensed its polypropylene (PP) technology to PuCheng. The 400,000 m.t./year PP plant will be based on the Spheripol process and will also be completed at Weinan in 2013.
Dow Chemical Shifts Strategy on Plastics
Dow Chemical says it will likely retain its leading linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) franchise in any future deals involving its plastics business. A planned sale of a 50% stake of Dow’s basic plastics business collapsed in late 2008 when Kuwait’s Petrochemicals Industries Co. (PIC) pulled out of a planned joint venture. Dow officials are no longer seeking to find a replacement partner for Kuwait in that venture. “You should expect us to transact differently,” Dow Chemical chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris told reporters at a press conference in Midland, MI Monday.
Dow will still seek joint ventures or divestitures for commodity portions of the plastics business, mainly high-density PE (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP), but will seek to keep and grow “higher-value add polyolefins” such as linear low density (LLDPE) where it has the leading global market share. “Technology differentiation and marketing-powered innovation are rewarded [in LLDPE] and we have continued to strengthen this franchise,” Liveris says.
The company had the opportunity to complete a plastics deal in first-half 2010 but pulled back after failing to achieve an attractive valuation, Liveris says. “We resisted exiting at a low multiple,” he adds.
Liveris said that a plastics deal was not imminent but could occur in the next 12-24 months. “We have many options for these businesses, and creating a growth franchise for them remains a high priority,” Liveris says.
The outlook in the ethylene/PE chain is strong, Liveris says. “We believe industry pundit forecasts for 2011 are too bearish, both in terms of demand growth as well as effective operating rates,” Liveris says. Ethylene derivatives should continue to grow at about 1.4 times GDP, he says. “We question why effective operational performance [in ethylene/PE] will be materially different from that of 2010,” Liveris says.
“Most new capacity has come on line, and–as predicted–it has not ramped up as quickly as expected,” Liveris says. “Couple this with continued and real underlying demand growth and you have an effective operating rate for the industry that has been substantially above nameplate.”
In the U.S., increases in shale gas production will continue to improve Dow’s cost position. “We [believe we] will have a favorable oil to gas ratio for some years to come,” he adds.
Dow says that binding arbitration continues with PIC in London over the collapse of the K-Dow jv. “We remain resolute that we will receive a favorable outcome, and expect this to happen by mid-2011,” Liveris says.
Dow also reaffirmed its “near-term” earnings target of $3.50-$5.50/share. Analysts expect Dow to post 2010 earnings of $1.70/share, according to a survey of estimates by Thomson Reuters (New York). “We anticipate solid year-over-year earnings gains in 2011 and again in 2012,” Liveris adds.
Petronas Plans to Finance New Plants, Acquisitions with Proceeds from IPO
Petronas Chemicals, the petrochemicals arm of Petronas, currently in the process of an initial public offering of shares (IPO), plans to use some of the expected $4 billion proceeds to fund a new investment program and acquisitions. The company announced the plans in a listing prospectus published today. The IPO is expected at the end of this month, the company says.
Petronas, as part of the new investment plan, is exploring the possibility of building a new ammonia and urea complex on a greenfield site off the coast of East Malaysia, where it has access to natural gas feedstock. Sources tell CW that the company is looking to build the plants in the State of Sabah where it already operates methanol production facilities. Petronas is Southeast Asia’s third largest urea producer by volume but does not as yet operate plants in the State of Sabah.
Petronas Chemicals is also at a preliminary engineering design phase to build a new refinery and petrochemical complex in Peninsular Malaysia. The company did not discose the site for the complex. Petronas appointed CIBM (Kuala Lumpur), as principal adviser in the IPO. Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley are joint global coordinators and bookrunners of an institutional offering outside Malaysia.
LyondellBasell’s Profit Skyrockets on Strong Polyolefins Demand
LyondellBasell announced third-quarter net income of $467 million (84 cts/share), compared to a net loss of $651 million in the third-quarter of 2009, driven by increased demand for polyolefins and higher selling prices for ethylene.
“Globally, our olefins and polyolefins results were approximately equal to the strong results of the second quarter,” says James Gallogly, CEO of LyondellBasell. “As a result, we generated significant cash during the quarter and further improved our liquidity. In early October, we completed our listing on the New York Stock Exchange, another milestone in the creation of the new LyondellBasell.”
Operating income in the company’s olefins and polyolefins– Americas business more than tripled, to $448 million, on increased average ethylene selling prices, strong polyethylene sales, and unchanged operating costs. Total polyolefins sales volumes increased about 4%, to 100 million lbs compared to the third quarter 2009, on increased polypropylene sales.
Olefins and polyolefins– Europe, Asia, International business reported operating income up 95%, to $231 million, on higher olefins margins due to tight market conditions, and increased sales volumes due to the completion of maintenance turnarounds at the company’s Berre, France olefins and polyolefins plant during the second quarter.
Meanwhile, operating income for LyondellBasell’s intermediates and derivatives segment nearly tripled, to $207 million, on higher sales volumes of propylene oxide derivatives and improved margins of most products.
Industry conditions have held up reasonably well during October, Gallogly says. “However, we expect to see the typical seasonal impacts in the refining and oxyfuels area as well as end-of-year holiday reduced sales to some customers. With these anticipated impacts, our outlook for the quarter is somewhat tempered compared to the strong second and third quarters,” he says.
Dow breaks ground for acrylic and styrene-acrylic polymers plant in Vietnam
Dow Advanced Materials, a division of The Dow Chemical Co., has broken ground on a new manufacturing facility in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam for the production of acrylic and styrene-acrylic polymers used in the paint, coatings, construction, packaging, home and personal care industries. The new plant, scheduled to go on-stream in September 2011, will be shared by three Dow Advanced Materials businesses—Dow Coating Materials (DCM), Dow Building & Construction (DB&C), and Dow Adhesives & Functional Polymers (AFP). “Growing demand for our polymers from global and local paint and coating manufacturers located in Vietnam was the primary driver for building the new plant,” said Yoke Loon Lim, general manager, Southeast Asia, Dow Advanced Materials. “More than 90% of our capacity will be sold to Vietnam-based customers, the majority of which are multi-national companies.”
Paint and coatings customers use DCM acrylic and styrene-acrylic based specialty polymers as binders, rheology modifiers, and other additives for the development of a wide range of architectural and industrial products. DB&C customers use related specialty polymers to produce a wide range of products, such as specialty cements, concrete sealers and construction adhesives, caulks and sealants. Dow AFP customers include Vietnam-based food and beverage packagers, textile companies, and home and personal care manufacturers. “The new acrylics plant in Vietnam is part of our ongoing, tailored and flexible expansion strategy in Asia,” said Bruce Hoechner, vice president, regional director, Asia Pacific, Advanced Materials Division and general manager, Asia Pacific, Dow Coating Materials. “We have designed the new plant in order to provide in-region support to our customers and offer them the customized solutions they need.”
UNIPOL PE Process selected for 300,000 tpa HDPE/LLDPE swing plant in Shaanxi Province
Univation Technologies LLC announced that PuCheng Clean Energy Chemical Co. Ltd (PuCheng) has selected Univation’s UNIPOL PE Process for a 300,000 tpa high density polyethylene/ linear low density swing plant. The Unipol PE Process facility will be fed by ethylene from a combination of coal-to-methanol and methanol-to-olefins technology. The facility will be located in Shaanxi Province, People’s Republic of China with a planned start-up in 2013. “We are honored that PuCheng has chosen Univation’s UNIPOL PE Process for their first polyethylene plant and we welcome them to the family of PE licensees worldwide,” noted Cindy Shulman, President of Univation Technologies. “Our customers select UNIPOL PE Process technology because it offers safe and reliable operations with the most competitive economics, while producing the broadest range of PE products that can be adapted to serve the market’s changing needs.” Univation is committed to continually investing in process and catalyst technology to drive down system costs and improve overall output and performance. In 2011, Univation will open its state-of-the-art UCAT J, high productivity catalyst manufacturing plant in Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China to reinforce commitment to customers and the region.
Successful startup of Dow and Siam Cement Group JV
Start up of the Solution Linear Low Density Polyethylene II train (SPE II) has been successful. SPE II is owned by Siam Polyethylene Co. Ltd, a joint venture between Dow Chemical Company (Dow) and Siam Cement Group (SCG), located at the existing Map Ta Phut manufacturing facility. Output from SPE II will be commercially available this month onwards. “The start up of the SPE II train further strengthens our leadership position and technology expertise in the global octene-based polyethylene market. This new train not only demonstrates Dow’s commitment to Asia Pacific, but also provides our customers with potential differentiation opportunities that will drive their business growth”, said Peter Wong, Commercial Vice President, Plastics, Asia Pacific, Dow Chemical Pacific (Singapore) Pte Ltd.
SCG-Dow Group is a joint venture formed in 1987 by The Dow Chemical Company and Siam Cement Group (SCG). The Group is comprised of four joint venture companies that manufacture and supply markets across Asia Pacific with a portfolio of products, including styrene monomer, styrene-butadiene latex, polyethylene, polystyrene and compounding products.
Acquisition of Titan Chemicals completed by South Korea’s Honam
South Korea’s Honam Petrochemical Corp. has completed the acquisition of Malaysia’s Titan Chemicals Corp. Bhd., as per Platts. The acquisition was announced by Honam, South Korea’s second largest ethylene maker on July 16. The deal involved buying a 73% stake in Titan from the Chao Group and a Malaysian state-run fund. Honam’s plans include acquisition of Titan shares from the market to gets its stake holding to 100%. The total cost of the acquisition is expected to be Won 1.5 trillion (US$1.28 bln).
Titan is Malaysia’s premier and largest integrated olefins and polyolefins producer. It has a capacity to make 1.2 million of olefins, 1.5 million mt of polyolefins, 0.2 million mt of aromatics, 0.1 million mt of butadiene and 38,000 mt of BOPP film through facilities and plants located in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Borealis presents first pilot projects to enhance the use of recycled polyolefins
Borealis has presented it’s first pilot projects to enhance the use of recycled polyolefins at K 2010. The project highlights a shopping cart and shopping basket made from a combination of recycled polypropylene (PP) with Borealis’ enhanced polypropylene (PP) grades for recycling, achieving the same superior material characteristics while significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the applications.
The development of the company’s first pro-recyclates grades PP4R 500 and PP4R 100 is another milestone in Borealis’ strategy to investigate different options to support the recycling of its advanced polyolefins solutions. The shopping carts are made of a combination of 67% high impact PP4R 500 PP and 33% recycled PP material. The shopping baskets are made of 75% recycled PP and 25% PP4R 100. Both grades are enhanced grades developed by Borealis to meet the requirements for use in a combination with recycled material.
The environmental benefits of both pilot applications are significant. The use of recycled PP delivers a 15% improvement in the carbon footprint of the shopping cart and a 30% decrease for the shopping basket. Both pilots were manufactured with the support of. In both cases the recycled PP material was produced from mixed PP post-consumer waste.
“Developing outlets for recycled polyolefins is essential for the future of both polyolefin and the recycling industries,” says Gerd Löbbert, Borealis Executive Vice President for Polyolefins. “With this pilot project, we are investigating the development of sustainable and innovative solutions that enable the combination of recycled PP with our advanced polypropylene material.”
Reliance to invest upto US$4.5 bln in three US shale gas
India’s Reliance Industries plans a total spending on the three US shale gas projects of about US$4-4.5 billion by 2014. The company is in no hurry to forge more such partnerships for now. The spending will start ramping up in 2011 and hit a plateau in 2013/14 when RIL would have between the three partnerships drilling of about 500-600 wells per year. The peak net cash outflow will be most likely in 2014. RIL’s next priority is to consolidate the three projects, scale them up, and get them to be profitable.
Braskem announces construction of a green propane plant in Brazil
Pactiv to close plant, reports flat Q3 profit
Pactiv Corp. will close its City of Industry, Calif., packaging plant by the end of March, affecting 250 employees.
The 200,000-square-foot facility principally produces polystyrene containers used in fruit and vegetable packaging, the Lake Forest, company said in a Nov. 1 news release.
The decision to close the plant was driven by a shift in market demand from PS to PET containers, the company said.
“We need to produce what our customers want and with the material of preference,” Kevin Quinn, Pactiv’s vice president of operations, said in the release.
Pactiv separately operates a specialty packaging plant in City of Industry that will be unaffected by the PS facility shutdown.
Also on Nov. 1, the company reported third-quarter 2010 profit of $79 million on sales of $944 million, compared with profit of $79 million on sales of $839 million for the year-ago period.
According to Pactiv, its recent $200 million acquisition of thermoformer PWP Industries Inc. of Vernon, Calif., added $42 million to third-quarter sales.
“We had good volume performance in the quarter in markets that continue to be weak, with organic volume growth of 6 percent and the PWP acquisition adding 5 percent,” Chairman and CEO Richard Wambold said in the release.
“However, margins were compressed as raw material costs increased in the quarter, and we incurred approximately $11 million of higher operating costs related to the startup of new production processes and equipment.
“In addition, there was approximately $9 million in expense related to the proposed sale of Pactiv.”
Pactiv is being acquired by Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd. of Auckland, New Zealand, a subsidiary of billionaire Graeme Hart’s Rank Group Ltd. The deal, expected to close at the end of the year, is valued at about $6 billion.
Pactiv, the maker of Hefty trash bags, is in the final phase of a two-year, $12 million equipment upgrade to increase capacity for its line of expanded PS food-processor trays. The program to update extrusion, thermoforming, padding and packaging equipment at four U.S. plants is expected to be complete in early 2011.
Teknor Apex wraps up Sarlink acquisition
Teknor Apex Co. has completed its acquisition of Sarlink. The deal includes Sarlink’s employees, technologies, compounding capabilities and sales operations on three continents. These have now become part of Teknor Apex’s thermoplastic elastomer division. Both parties declined to specify the purchase price.
“The Sarlink acquisition makes Teknor Apex the most diversified independent compounder of TPEs, with eight generically different polyolefin, styrenic and TPV chemistries and strong positions in automotive, consumer product, industrial, medical, wire and cable and packaging markets,” said Teknor Apex vice-president Suresh Swaminathan.
“This broad capability enables us to recommend only the very best TPE formulation for a customer’s application and back it up with experienced technical and engineering support.”
Compounder A. Schulman preparing to open first plant in India
Compounding leader A. Schulman Inc. will open its first Indian plant by the end of 2011.
The plant at first will operate a single Farrel continuous mixing line and will make additive masterbatches, A. Schulman Asia general manager and chief operating officer Derek Bristow said in an interview at K 2010.
Located in Vadodora, the 25-employee plant will make additive masterbatches, selling into biaxially oriented polypropylene film and other markets, Bristow added. India’s flexible packaging sector has enjoyed strong growth in recent years as growth from India’s massive consumer market has blossomed.
The plant will be Schulman’s fifth in the Asia Pacific region, joining locations in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. The latter two plants were added to the Schulman stable earlier this year when the firm acquired ICO Inc.
Bristow said that the Asian market in 2010 has recovered from any slowdown in business it may have experienced in 2009.
“There was a bit of a slowdown, but now there’s a lot of activity,” he added. “A lot of (processing) machinery guys are selling equipment to Asia.”
Fairlawn, Ohio-based Schulman just completed a fiscal year in which overall sales grew 24 percent to almost $1.6 billion. The firm also showed a $44 million profit after losing more than $2 million in fiscal 2009.
In the Asia Pacific region, Schulman’s sales grew 87 percent to almost $85 million, while gross profit from the region shot up 83 percent to almost $12 million.
Mexichem completes long-delayed acquisitions
Mexichem SAB de CV, Latin America’s largest manufacturer of PVC pipes, vinyl resins and compounds, has completed its acquisition of pipe maker Plásticos Rex SA de CV and PVC resins producer Policyd SA de CV, it said Oct. 28.
After blocking the deal on two occasions Mexico’s antitrust body, the Comisión Federal de Competencia (CFC), approved the deal between Mexichem, of Mexico City, and Cydsa SAB de CV, of Garza García, near Monterrey, northern Mexico, on Aug. 24 but imposed four conditions.
In a statement on the Mexican Stock Exchange web site Mexichem said it has complied with all the conditions. However, it gave no details and a CFC spokeswoman said the authority would make no further comment.
One of the conditions was that Mexichem withdraw from a proposed purchase of a pipe producing plant, originally included in the deal, to avoid “excessive concentration” in the production of PVC pipes or, alternatively, sell off an equivalent production capacity.
As a result of synergies and operating efficiencies, “this agreement will allow the PVC productive chain in Mexico to remain competitive in North America,” Mexichem said in the Oct. 28 announcement.
Policyd and Plásticos Rex have plants in Altamira, Monterrey, Poncitlán, Mexico City and in the neighboring State of Mexico and have annual sales of about $270 million, Mexichem added.
Cydsa announced in April 2008, that Mexichem had proposed it swap Plásticos Rex and Policyd for a Mexichem caustic soda and chlorine plant in Santa Clara, Mexico, plus a cash payment.
Mexichem confirmed in its statement that the Santa Clara operation comprised part of the payment to Cydsa.
Chemtura brings back Great Lakes name
Chemtura Corp. is bringing back a name that’s familiar in the chemical industry, making Great Lakes Solutions the name of its flame retardant, brominated performance products and fumigants business.
Chemtura announced the Great Lakes Solutions brand name at K 2010. The name is familiar to many Chemtura customers – Chemtura was formed by the merger of Great Lakes Chemical Corp. and Crompton Corp. in 2005.
The company (Hall 6, Stand E24) said its customers associate Great Lakes with innovative products.
Chemtura also introduced a new Emerald-brand series of flame retardant products at the show. The introduction includes three products, marketed as green alternatives to existing flame retardants, and targeted at the electrical/electronics and construction sectors.
Polyplastic starts new compounding line in Russia
Russian plastics pipe producer and compounder Polyplastic Group has opened a new compounding line at its Saratoy pipe plant in southern Russia.
The latest installation provides the unit with a total of six composite material production lines and will allow it to turn out materials with up to 85% filling. The line also increases the plant’s compounds volume to around 40,000 tpa.
The Saratov expansion was prompted by a significant rise in demand for composite products, particularly from the automotive industry, construction, electronics and household appliances.
Polyplastic group, which has a dozen plastic processing businesses in Russia, Belafus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, plans further expansion of its composite section, Russian press reports quote Michael Katsevmana, the group’s director or research and development as stating.
He estimated Polyplastic could reach an overall capacity of 70,000 – 80,000 tpa by 2013. The group has two compounding plants apart from Saratov, in Moscow and Togliatti, Russia.
The group, which manufactured 180,000 tpa of polyethylene pipe systems, fittings and plastics composites in 2008, compounds a range of materials based on polypropylene, polyamide 6, PA 66 and PBT as well as thermoplastic elastomers based on PVC and PP.
Polyplastic is expanding compounding as major international automotive groups and their suppliers relocate production in the region. The firm counts among its clients in this and the home appliance sector names such as Ford, Faurecia, Indesit, LG and Vestel as well as Russian composite companies including Syran-Plastic, Alta-Profil and Assol.
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