SABIC, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation joint venture, SAMAC, begins production of high-value products at Jubail plants

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC announced the successful completion of the pilot operation of the Methyl Methacrylate Monomer (MMA) and Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) plants and the commencement of commercial operations, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC Executive Vice President, Petrochemicals commented, "Our strategic joint venture with MCC broadens our specialty portfolio by drawing on the technological expertise of MCC, owner of the world-class Alpha technology. We are committed to serving the global and local markets, and supporting the development of downstream growth in Saudi Arabia in line with Saudi Vision 2030."

The MMA plant has a 250 Mtpy capacity, while the PMMA plant has an annual capacity of 40,000 metric tons. These new high-value products will diversify materials used in industrial clusters, thus allowing expansion and further diversification in Saudi Arabia’s industrial sector, besides creating new global opportunities in the downstream industries such as construction, automotive, electronics, medical technologies and appliances.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a bid to expand its plastics packaging business, Montreal-based printing and packaging supplier Transcontinental Inc. is buying plastics packager Coveris Americas for USD1.7 billion, as per Canplastics.

Headquartered in Chicago, Coveris Americas makes rollstock, bags, pouches, coextruded films, shrink films, coated substrates, labels and related flexible packaging. The company operates 21 production facilities in the Americas, the U.K., and Australasia.

As part of the deal, Transcontinental will take control of the 21 production facilities that make rollstock, bags and pouches, shrink films and labels, among others. "This transaction crystallizes our strategic shift toward flexible packaging and solidifies our commitment to profitable growth," Transcontinental Chairwoman Isabelle Marcoux said in a news release.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. The Coveris acquisition is the latest in an extremely busy few years for Transcontinental. Less than three weeks ago, Transcontinental bought Multifilm Packaging Corp. of Elgin, Ill. Earlier in 2017, it bought Quebec-based flexible packaging supplier Les Industries Flexipak Inc.; and in October 2016 Transcontinental bought Flexstar Packaging Inc., a flexible packager based in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, B.C. In total, Transcontinental has made seven flexible packaging acquisitions since it entered the field in 2014.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- DowDuPont announced a plan to make a series of investments totaling approximately USD100 million over the next two years to expand manufacturing capacity and to modernize facilities at the Sabine River Works (SRW) plant in Orange County, Texas, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The investments will incrementally expand production capacity to support global growth of specialty materials manufactured at the site, specifically the Surlyn, Nucrel, Fusabond and Vamac product lines. Additionally, the company is evaluating longer-term plans to invest in a new facility to further support market growth.

The joint investment will support customer growth of both the Packaging & Specialty Plastics (P&SP) business of DowDuPont's Materials Science Division (to be named Dow), as well as the Transportation & Advanced Polymers (T&AP) business of its Specialty Products Division (to be named DuPont).

"This is another great example of the power of our historic merger and our ability to quickly respond to customers' growing needs," said Diego Donoso, business president for Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics. "We see tremendous potential to deliver more supply of these iconic specialty products to our customers in the food packaging and consumer goods markets."

The added capacity is expected to come online in several phases starting in 2020 and will enable both divisions to meet growing demand for Surlyn, Nucrel, Fusabond (P&SP) and Vamac (T&AP) specialty materials used for applications in food packaging, transportation and consumer goods.

"With this increased capacity, we will be able to support growth in the automotive space at a time when customer demand for our advanced polymers is very strong," said Randy Stone, business president for DuPont Transportation & Advanced Polymers. "This investment will enable us to continue to deliver innovative solutions that serve high-growth end markets and reinforces our commitment to enhancing our leadership position in these key market segments."
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Most pearls are produced by oysters in the saltwater environment of the world’s oceans — which makes it fitting that the first ever bottle made completely from post-consumer plastic recovered from the oceans has a resemblance to a pearl, as per Canplastics.

Sporting a silver metallic, pearlescent-effect finish due to some compounding expertise by colourant and additive maker Techmer PM LLC, the world’s first HDPE bottle molded from 100 per cent ocean-bound plastic has just hit the market. Techmer partnered with global sustainable technology developer Primal Group, Ontario, Calif.-based blow molder Classic Containers Inc., and plastics recycler Envision Plastics Industries LLC, of Reidsville, N.C., to manufacture the bottle, which is completely made from recycled plastic collected from at-risk ocean areas and sold by Envision under the brand name OceanBound Plastic.

The project was challenging for several reasons. First, Primal Group, which is headquartered in Miami, Fla., wanted a specific colour and reflective finish on the bottle, which is being used to package its ViTA brand of natural, plant science-based personal care products. Typically, an extrusion grade of PE would be needed in the masterbatch as a carrier for the colourant, but that wasn’t an option in this case because Primal Group wanted the end product to be made completely from OceanBound Plastic. “The high-viscosity recycled plastic recovered and supplied by Envision is a fractional melt that makes the colourant’s metallic particles without shearing them and ruining the ultimate visual effect,” said Savvas Roubanis, a sales engineer with Los Angeles-based Techmer. “Compounding of the recipe required additional process design to assure the metallic and pearlescent effect pigments could be smoothly compounded into the recovered plastic."

A final potential hurdle was economic, and came at the blow molding stage: If Classic Containers couldn’t manufacture the bottles within its normal, everyday processing window — which was vital to producing a bottle at the desired price point — the project wouldn’t fly. “The material processed amazingly well without any concerns,” said Kevin Tibbets, executive director of sales for Classic Containers. “Aside from the necessary additives, pigments, and non-resin components that we needed to process it effectively, the balance of the recipe is 100 per cent OceanBound resin."
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- ORBIS Corporation, a manufacturer of plastic recycling bins and organic barrels, has acquired Piedmont, S.C.-based Response Packaging, a manufacturer and supplier of reusable custom dunnage and fabricated rack solutions, as per Canplastics.

The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Included in the acquisition are design, testing, and manufacturing facilities in Piedmont, and Greenville, S.C.; Auburn Hills, Mich.; and Leon, Mexico.

Response Packaging will operate and be branded as a part of ORBIS Corporation. “This acquisition brings us talented people, efficient plants and strong capabilities in geographic areas where ORBIS wants to grow,” ORBIS president Bill Ash said in a statement. “Response Packaging is strongly aligned with ORBIS in areas like supply chain expertise, innovation and customer knowledge."

Response Packaging has 245 employees in the U.S. and Mexico and serves the automotive and industrial markets with highly engineered custom dunnage designed for part protection. Additionally, it specializes in fabricated rack and dunnage systems for the safe and efficient transport of vehicle components in the supply chain.

Headquartered in Oconomowoc, Wis., ORBIS is a leading manufacturer of plastic returnable/reusable products for use in a wide range of material handling applications. The company has an injection molding plant in Toronto.

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