DAK Americas to add polyester fiber capacity in Mississippi

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DAK Americas LLC (DAK) announces an increase in its Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF) capacity of 230 million lbs/yr to meet growing demand in the Americas, said the producer in its press release.

The new fiber capacity will be installed at DAK's Pearl River Site in Bay St. Louis, MS with project start- up in the second half of 2016.

"DAK is proud to expand its Trade Leading Fiber offerings for low, mid, and high tenacity fibers engineered for textile and nonwoven applications", according to Mark Ruday, Vice President, DAK Americas Fibers Business Unit. Production will focus on lower denier fibers, but will have the capability to produce fiber products from 0.9 to 9.0 denier.

"DAK's ability to utilize considerable infrastructure currently in place at its Pearl River Site, provides us with a unique opportunity to grow our fiber capacity and meet customer demand with a very competitive investment", stated Jorge Young, DAK President and CEO. Furthermore, "the new fiber facility at the Pearl River Site geographically strengthens DAK's ability to supply PSF across the Americas with a second U.S. fiber manufacturing location and places DAK in a good position to service the growing Mexico fiber market."

The project will create 86 new full time positions including operations, maintenance, technical and management roles on-site. DAK recently completed a PSF expansion (announced Oct. 2014) at DAK's facility near Charleston, SC adding 27 Million lbs/yr of PSF capacity. Upon completion of the Pearl River Site Fibers expansion, DAK's total PSF sales capacity in NAFTA will be about 700 Million lbs/yr. The Pearl River Site will continue to produce high quality Laser PET Resins in support of customers in the region.

As MRC informed earlier, last June DAK Americas expected to introduce local production of its heat-set Laser+HS PET resin for hot-fill applications with PepsiCo and Coca-Cola Co. in the third quarter of this year, a product long available in the United States but under review by Argentine clients for more than two years

DAK Americas is one of the largest producers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resins, used in carbonated soft drink and water bottles. It also makes terephthalic acid (TPA) monomers, used in PSF and PET products, and specialty polymers, sold in markets such as film and packaging and nonwovens. DAK Americas maintains manufacturing facilities in the Carolinas and Mississippi in the US as well as in Mexico. Alpek, a subsidiary of Mexican industrial giant Alfa, S.A. de C.V., owns DAK Americas.

MRC

Nova Chemicals to make a final investment decision on new polyethylene plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nova Chemicals is likely to make a final investment decision on a new polyethylene plant for St. Clair Township only after mid-2017, as per Plastemart.

The new plant, a possible USD1 billion investment in Chemical Valley, was first proposed by Nova in 2011.

Currently, the company is moving forward with its study of the expansion of the Corunna plant by approximately 50%, to boost production from 5 mln lbs of ethylene a day to 8 mln lbs.

Nova is working with a partner on the pipeline project that will also required some internal retrofitting work at the Corunna cracker. The project is expected to cost slightly more than USD350 million.

As MRC informed before, in early 2013 NOVA Chemicals decided build two polyethylene (PE) plants and expand its ethylene capacity. NOVA has taken several actions to secure additional ethane feedstock supply for its crackers in Corunna, Ontario, and Joffre, Alberta.

Nova Chemical is one of the largest world's petrochemical companies, a manufacturer of polyethylene, styrene polymers, monomers, and many other related products.
MRC

Clariant significantly expanding in North America

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant said at the Clariant Roundtable event that it is significantly expanding its North American workforce to capture opportunities in catalysis, oil & mining services and biotechnology, said the producer in its press release.

Clarinet is the developer of the sunliquid cellulosic ethanol process. The commercial relevance of the North American region in general was highlighted by Hariolf Kottmann, CEO of Clariant. He stated: "For Clariant North America is an important growth market. The U.S. provides the single biggest revenue contribution."

Currently Clariant delivers sales of around USD 1.0 billion in North America with approximate 1,800 employees, and has been experiencing year-on-year growth of around 4% in the region since 2011. Growth in the company Catalysts business has been even stronger, at 5% per year, while the Oil & Mining Services (OMS) business has shown double digit growth per annum. Based on the strength of these businesses, Clariant sales in the first half of 2015 in North America were up by 5%. Kottmann envisions continued growth in North America, accelerated by investments in this region.

Clariant is therefore investing heavily in North America. Examples are the new Polypropylene Catalyst Plant in Louisville with an investment of around USD100 million and the Houdry Catalysts Expansion with an investment of around USD20 million.

Providing details on Clariant’s Catalysis business, Stefan Heuser, head of BU Catalysts, highlighted the current annual growth rate of this business, which is close to 7%.

Clariant is also investing heavily in catalysts R&D, with a spend of more than 7% of sales. To develop the most efficient solutions, Clariant is leveraging its position as an independent catalyst supplier to collaborate closely with leading process licensors as well as with customers and academic partners.

As MRC informed earlier, Clariant took a step closer to satisfying customer needs in the agri-film production sector in China by hosting a seminar in Jinan, Shandong province of China.

Clariant is a Swiss speciality chemicals company which was formed in 1995 as a spin-off from Sandoz. The company has a turnover of around USD8 billion and is headquartered in Muttenz with a corporate centre in Pratteln, both near Basel, Switzerland. Clariant manufactures a range of specialty chemicals based largely on pigment, surfactant and polymer chemistry.
MRC

Hanwha Chemical to enter diaper materials market

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hanwha Chemical has launched a pilot production of superabsorbent polymers, a material commonly used for baby diapers, according to GV with reference to a news provider.

There are speculations in the market that Hanwha Chemical has currently carried out trial production of 1,600 tons of SAP using raw materials from China in its factory in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province.

The news outlet reported that Hanwha Chemical is looking into the SAP industry, but is hesitant on mass-production due to the difficulty of obtaining acrylic acid, its base material.

To obtain acrylic acid, Hanwha must either purchase them from LG Chem, the only company in Korea producing SAP and acrylic acid, or import from China or Japan.

Hanwha is reluctant to buy from a rival company, but is also wary of the quality of Chinese-manufactured acrylic acid, as well as fearing potential customer avoidance, according to speculations.

The global market size for acrylic acid was 4.9 million tons, and SAP was 2.3 million tons in 2014. The industries are expected to grow 5 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, by 2020.

As MRC wrote before, in March 2015, South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) gave conditional approval to Hanwha's proposed acquisition of Samsung General Chemicals. The regulatory authority identified that the combined entity could dominate the domestic ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) market, which could result in higher prices. However, markets of the other three chemical products including low-density polyethylene, linear low-density polyethylene and high-density polyethylene will not be significantly affected by the transaction,

Hanwha Group is one of the largest business conglomerate in South Korea. Founded in 1952 as Korea Explosives Inc., the group has grown into a large multi-profile business conglomerate, with diversified holdings stretching from explosives, their original business, to retail to financial services.
MRC

BASF starts first MDI production in Chongqing

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has begun its first production of diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) at its wholly-owned site in Chongqing, China. Production will be ramped up gradually in line with market demand, said the company in its press release.

MDI is an important component for polyurethanes – an extremely versatile plastics material that contributes towards improved insulation, provides lighter materials for cars, and helps save energy in buildings. MDI production will support these key industries in China’s western areas.

As MRC informed earlier, BASF, SK Chemicals (Seoul) and Solvay are in discussions, which may lead to the construciton of a hydrogen peroxide-to-propylene oxide (HPPO) project at Ulsan.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of over EUR74 billion in 2014 and over 113,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC