Braskem develops new PE with twice the life of existing materials

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem has developed a new polyethylene (PE) that offers two times the life span as compared to existing materials, according to Plastemart.

Intended for pipes and water mains applications, it was developed at the company’s technology and innovation centre in Triunfo, Rio Grande do Sul, as per prw.com.

A total of RD16 mln (GBP4.4 mln) was invested in testing at the company’s pilot plants and in adaptations to the firm’s industrial facilities to prepare them to start production of the new resin.

The new system employed in the process increased the product’s performance, with durability now calculated at 100 years for tubes under pressure, compared to 50 years for the previous resin.The improvements in mechanical properties - creep, impact strength and rapid crack propagation - will ensure that the new resin meets all of the required standards in this segment (ISO, DIN, EN and NBR).

The resin’s main uses include pipes for water and natural gas distribution networks, pipelines to transport ore slurry and oil, sewage networks and water mains.

As MRC informed earlier, last October, Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, and Braskem, the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in America and a global leader in biopolymers, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to investigate the formation of a joint venture in Brazil. The proposed 100,000 tonne plant would supply specialty styrenics, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) copolymers, to customers in Brazil and throughout South America.

Braskem is Brazilian main producer of polyethylene and polypropylene. In addition with ongoing plants located in both petrochemical complexes, in April 2008 Braskem opened a 300,000 metric ton polypropylene plant in the city of Paulinia (Sao Paulo).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- US-based Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Celanese US Holdings LLC (the "Issuer"), intends to offer EUR300 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2019 (the "Notes"), as per Celanease's press release.

The Notes will be senior unsecured obligations of the Issuer and will be guaranteed by the company and certain of the Issuer's US subsidiaries.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering, together with cash on hand, to redeem the Issuer's USD600 million aggregate principal outstanding of its 6.625% Senior Notes due 2018.

Concurrent with this offering, the company intends to amend and restate its existing senior credit facility, which is expected to include increasing the size of the revolver, extending the maturity date of the revolver and extending the maturity date of all or a portion of the term loan facilities.

As MRC informed previously, Celanese is attempting to sell its vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) unit in Tarragona, Spain. The capacity of the VAM unit is 200,000 tpy. Celanese said it is committed to taking the appropriate time to find a "credible buyer" for the unit, with primary focus on industrial candidates. To help with the sales process, Celanese has hired Paris-based consultancy JH Lillian & Co., an advisory firm specializing in the chemicals industry.

Celanese said the decision to sell the plant was driven by a recently completed assessment of the company's overall corporate strategy, which included an assessment of the company’s global manufacturing facilities.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Coca-Cola Company has made an additional investment in the US-based Virent, which is developing its bio-based paraxylene (PX), BioFormPX. This investment will enable Virent to scale up separation and purification of BioFormPX material at their demonstration plant in Madison, Wisconsin, said Business Standart.

“Over the course of our work together, Virent has continuously delivered on their commitments and advanced their technology. That progress supports building additional capability for Virent and advances us on the path to a full-scale commercial solution for our 100% plant-based PET plastic packaging,” said Scott Vitters, General Manager, PlantBottle Innovation Platform at The Coca-Cola Company.

Virent and The Coca-Cola Company have been working together since 2011, when they first announced their joint development agreement and a master supply agreement focused on the development of bio-based paraxylene technology.

“The Coca-Cola Company continues to be a valued partner for Virent. Their intention to use our BioFormPX material in the next generation of PlantBottle packaging is critical in attracting manufacturing partners from the PET supply chain. This - along with the progress we have made in our joint development work - moves us closer to seeing the first commercial 100% bio-based PET bottles on retail shelves made using Virent technology,” said Lee Edwards, CEO, Virent.

In the course of their work with The Coca-Cola Company, Virent has progressed their PX technology to commercial readiness, improved the process economics and produced bio-based PX which has been converted by The Coca-Cola Company into 100% bio-based PET bottles. This new investment will allow production of larger quantities of BioFormPX material.

Virent has run its demonstration system to fulfill a number of fuel and chemical orders since it started operation in 2010. This added capability to produce larger quantities of purified paraxylene will be combined with additional system enhancements to increase production capabilities, including larger volumes of bio-fuel and other bio-materials.

As MRC wrote before, Coca-Cola Enterprises will invest EUR6.5 million in its joint venture with PET recycler APPE to expand a recycling facility in Beaune, France. According to Coca-Cola, the investment will boost the capacity of the plastics reprocessing facility by 70% and enable it to recycle 20,000 additional tonnes of plastic into food-grade packaging per year.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The liquefied-gas-for-transport market is growing faster in China than in North America, because more Chinese drivers are buying new vehicles that don’t have to be retrofitted, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Shell, one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas producers, has trimmed its pilot Green Corridor project in Canada to fuel long-haul trucks with the chilled fuel.

The company is examining opportunities to develop the business in China, which already has more than 100,000 vehicles running on LNG, said John Abbott, a Shell refining director.

"Each market will be moving at a different speed," Abbott told reporters in London. China is "one of the markets that’s moving very fast." In North America, "they’ll either have to pay retrofitting costs or will have to wait until the vehicle retires," he said.

China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, has the potential to double the number of cars, trucks and buses fueled by natural gas, including compressed fuel, to 3.8 million by 2020, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That makes the country the fastest-growing market for the less-polluting motor fuels.

Shell is also developing plans to use LNG to power vehicles and ships in Europe. The company, based in The Hague, had planned to supply the equivalent of about 4% of its 2012 production to power engines with the chilled fuel through the next decade. Shell expected global demand for LNG to rise five times to 500 million metric tpy in 2025 from 2000.

Shell hasn’t "developed detailed plans" yet, “but clearly LNG in China is an important opportunity for us,” Abbott said.

As MRC wrote before, Shell Chemicals has applied for a permit to build two docks and 24 smaller moorings for barges on the Ohio River near the site of its proposed petrochemical complex in Center and Potter townships.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- In order to better help its customers align environmental and societal aspects with business success, BASF has developed a new process for steering its portfolio based on sustainability criteria reported the company on its site.

The Sustainable Solution Steering method is used to systematically review and evaluate the sustainability aspects of the approximately 50,000 relevant product applications in the company’s portfolio, which represent sales of EUR56 billion. The benefit: This externally validated process makes it possible to measure the products’ contribution to sustainability within their various markets and industries and to increase this contribution through targeted steps.

Over the past three years, BASF has already analyzed more than 80% of its portfolio of around 50,000 specific product applications. The data shows, for example, how a product contributes to cost effectiveness and resource conservation as well as to health and safety. The concrete sustainability requirements of various customer industries are taken into account as well as regional differences. Finally, the process determines the extent to which BASF solutions can accommodate these needs.

The whole product portfolio will have been analyzed by the end of 2014.

With this new method, BASF continues to drive its "We create chemistry" strategy. "It is becoming increasingly important to our customers to be able to combine economic, environmental and societal demands. We see this development as a business opportunity for BASF, and intend to seize it in a targeted manner. This approach forms an integral part of our corporate purpose: ‘We create chemistry for a sustainable future.’ By analyzing our entire portfolio with respect to sustainability and systematically expanding on especially sustainable solutions, we underscore this endeavor," said Dr. Kurt Bock, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF.

As MRC wrote before, in July 2014, BASF Shanghai Coatings Co., Ltd. inaugurated its new automotive coatings plant at the Shanghai Chemicail Industry Park in Shanghai, China. The expansion of its automotive coatings production capacity with an investment of around EUR50 million further strengthens BASF’s presence in China and its position as a leading coatings supplier to the automotive industry.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
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