MOSCOW (MRC) -- The PVC window frame recycling operations of German plastics converter Rehau and those of Tonsmeier Kunststoffe GmbH und Co. KG are to be merged under a new joint venture by the name of Dekura GmbH, said Euwid-recycling.
Subject to regulatory approval, Tonsmeier will acquire a minority stake in the joint venture, which will be majority-owned and controlled by Rehau, the two companies announced on Thursday. Tonsmeier is to merge its existing post-consumer PVC window waste management and window profile recycling operations into Dekura GmbH. The company had to close its Hoku division at its Hoxter site, which produced profiles made from recycled PVC, in the spring of 2015.
The new joint venture will act as an autonomous, independent company on the market and operate two sites in Germany, in Hoxter and Bad Schmiedeberg, and one site in Tillmitsch, Austria. Their combined workforce of 170 employees will be taken over and the administrative, purchasing and sales organisations will be integrated into Dekura. "Targeted investments" are planned to strengthen the three sites, the joint venture partners reported.
Dekura does not just consider itself a reliable partner on the PVC recycling market and supplier of secondary raw materials, according to Rehau. The parent company also states that it aims to improve the quality of the joint venture's products and to drive the development of new smart products based on recycled raw materials by establishing an expertise network with Rehau group's existing recycling centres.
Tonsmeier Kunststoffe GmbH & Co. KG will remain active in the collection and recycling of polyolefins, technical plastics and PVC materials from pipe products at its sites in Herford and Borde-Hakel.
As MRC informed earlier, polymer pipework specialist Rehau (Germany) in 2012 officially opened the first UK facility to produce pre-insulated pipework for district heating and biomass applications at its factory in Blaenau, Gwynedd / North Wales.
MRC
MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kuwait-owned MEGlobal will be extending sales control for monoethylene glycol (MEG) to its customers into April due to continued shortages of gas feedstock at its Kuwaiti production units, a source close to the company told TPS.
The company had announced to its customers that they will only be able to supply its minimum contract requirements in January. Supply was expected to resume after Q1 2016.
MEGlobal also operates three monoethylene glycol (MEG) manufacturing plants in Alberta, Canada, with a combined nameplate capacity of 1.2 million mt/year.
The company was recently acquired by Kuwait's EQUATE Petrochemical Company in December 2015, when EQUATE assumed 100% ownership in MEGlobal, previously the 50-50% joint venture between state-owned Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) and Dow Chemical Company. EQUATE's two MEG facilities in Shuaiba have a combined annual production capacity of 1.15 million mt/year.
As MRC wrote before, global MEG production is likely cross 28.74 mln tons by 2017. In 2011, the world production of MEG grew by over 1 mln tons, crossing the 20.65 mln ton mark.
MRC
MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC, one of the world’s leading petrochemical companies, has expanded its growing portfolio of innovative material solutions with the recent investment in a majority stake in Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastics B.V., with manufacturing operations in Lelystad, The Netherlands, as per the company's press release.
SABIC’s new Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastics (FRT) business specializes in the production of engineered thermoplastic, fiber-reinforced unidirectional tapes. These tapes can be used across a wide variety of industries, ranging from building and construction to transportation and energy.
"This investment will enable SABIC to develop new thermoplastic products, processes and design solutions to help our customers take full advantage of the unique light weighting opportunities offered by composites," said Ernesto Occhiello, EVP Specialties, SABIC.
"At SABIC, we engage with our customers to develop advanced products that support their specific needs and help them realize their ambitions," said Andrey Turchin, SABIC’s FRT business leader. "Our innovative UDMAX composite tapes complement SABIC’s existing range of thermoplastic solutions for customers striving to build smaller, lighter and stronger components that meet stringent industry standards," he continued.
UDMAX tapes are made using a unique proprietary HPFIT technology, which quickly and precisely enables the spread and combination of thousands of glass or carbon fibers with a thermoplastic matrix. As a result, the tapes have a high density of fibers, high quality fiber impregnation in the resin matrix, minimal void content and fewer broken fibers. They can be used to form composite materials that can in turn be used to manufacture components with superior performance to alternative materials, such as laminates and molded parts.
As MRC informed previously, in October 2015, SABIC announced a restructuring to make itself more agile and cost-efficient, following a comprehensive review of the challenges facing the Middle East’s biggest petrochemicals company. The new organizational structure had been in place by January 1. Sabic’s innovative plastics unit was broken up and reallocated to other divisions, including chemicals and polymers and a new unit called specialties.
SABIC bought General Electric's (GE) plastics unit in 2007 for USD11.6 billion. The company has access to the abundant sources of natural gas feedstock produced during oil extraction by state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
MRC
MOSCOW (MRC) -- A free trade agreement between the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and China could be inked by end 2016, effectively removing tariffs imposed on Middle East petrochemical products to its biggest buyer, a source close the discussions told TPS.
The GCC comprises six members: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain. Negotiations for an FTA kicked off in July 2004, and five rounds of discussions have already taken place, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce website. Negotiations were suspended in 2009, and restarted in December 2015.
Tariffs on petrochemicals, which were supposed to be lifted within five years of the China-FTA, may be lifted almost immediately after the agreement is struck.
"Both sides are now discussing to move petrochemicals from category B, where tariffs are gradually lifted within five years, to category A, where tariffs are removed immediately," the source said.
Petrochemicals such as benzene, paraxylene, styrene monomer and monoethylene glycol are top export items to China. Removal of tariffs on these products would have a profound impact on trade flows, making GCC petrochemicals much more attractive to Chinese buyers.
Case in point is paraxylene, which has a 2% import duty except for cargoes exported from Asean and Taiwan. This has led to a preference for “Asia-origin” PX which excludes products from the Middle East and India.
If the GCC is able to finalize the FTA and move petrochemicals into category A, GCC products could pose a serious threat to South Korea and Japan, which are the top exporters to China.
The GCC bloc is China's largest source of oil imports, while China is the GCC's eighth largest trading partner, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.
We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, in 2014Oman state refiner Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) selected LyondellBasell's Spheripol polypropylene process technology for a new 300,000 tpy polypropylene (PP) plant to be built in Sohar, Sultanate of Oman. Start-up of the Liwa plastics project is planned for 2018.
MRC