Toray to establish resin compound facility in India

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Toray Industries, Inc. today announced that it has decided to establish a production facility for nylon and PBT resin compounds at its Indian subsidiary Toray Industries (India) Private Limited (TID), as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The resins, with their superior heat and chemical resistance properties and mechanical strength, are used in electrical components of automobiles and in electrical and electronic connectors. The facility, with an annual production capacity of 5,000 tons, will be set up at TID’s base in Sri City in Andhra Pradesh State and the company is aiming to start operations of the plant from September 2019.

India’s economy is expected to grow at a high annual rate of 6% from 2016 through 2030 and is a promising market. Demand for premium goods and value-added goods such as automobiles and home electronic devices is expanding on the back of rising income levels. Especially, the automobile market is expected to have a high annual growth rate of 7% towards 2025, and demand is expected to grow for engineering plastics for automobile applications.

In particular, with the recent trends in strengthening of environmental regulations, the customer requirements have become increasingly sophisticated primarily in automobile applications and it is safe to say that the demand for highly functional materials, which Toray specializes in, will increase.

The establishment of the new facility is in response to the above trends and is aimed at offering stable supply and shorter lead time through local production and at strengthening the development capability on-site and the functions of storage and delivery. "India is a region where we can expect the market to grow.

The establishment of the new facility this time is the first such base in India for Toray’s resin business, and we’re quite excited about it. We would like to capture this rapidly growing market without fail and strongly pursue business expansion," said Takashi Endo, who is general manager, Resins Division.

Going forward, Toray plans to make the TID business base in Sri City not only to cater to the demand inside India but also as a base for its global operations targeting South Asia. Toray will continue to enhance its overseas bases and strongly pursue global business expansion through further strengthening of organic collaborations with them.
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Thyssenkrupp Materials Services making rapid advances with its digital transformation

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The thyssenkrupp Group’s materials experts are digitizing their entire range and consolidating it in the world’s biggest virtual warehouse, as per Hydracarbonprocessing.

With more than 3.5 million square meters of storage space at 271 operating sites around the world, Materials Services is now closer than ever to its customers and offers round-the-clock access to more than 150,000 products and services through its new omnichannel structure, enabled by a powerful, self-developed AI (Artificial Intelligence) solution.

"Due to our holistic approach in the digital transformation of our business model, we have consistently and comprehensively created the important prerequisites over the last few years to enable the launch of innovative solutions. By digitally connecting our global inventories of roughly 150,000 products we can offer our customers the widest possible selection of our various materials and services and optimum availability 24/7,” says Hans-Josef Hoss from the Board of thyssenkrupp Materials Services. From plastics, steel products and nonferrous metals to diverse materials and supply chain management services – nowadays customers of thyssenkrupp Materials Services want customized access to the entire range. Hans-Josef Hoss: “In surveys and personal discussions we listened closely to what our customers want, and for more and more of them the ability to order our products and services however and above all whenever they need them is of key importance. Our omnichannel solution guarantees direct access to us and our products – anytime and anywhere."
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Covestro launches online store on Alibaba

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As part of its digitalisation strategy, leading German speciality chemicals supplier Covestro AG has started cooperation with Chinese internet giant Alibaba, as per Plasticsnewseurope.

The company announced 23 April that it is now offering its polymer materials in a flagship store on 1688.com, an online platform of Alibaba. The link covestrochina.1688.com will offer high-tech material polycarbonate as well as pre-products for polyurethane foams, coatings and adhesives.

The platform is the biggest online business-to-business marketplace in China. The Chinese economy, said the Leverkusen-based materials supplier, has shown “tremendous progress” in innovation and digitalisation over the recent years.

"Digitalisation rapidly changes customer needs and preferences and offers new business opportunities, especially in the fast-growing Chinese economy," said Markus Steilemann, Chief Commercial Officer and future CEO of Covestro.

According to Steilemann, China plays an important role for Covestro, not only in terms of market size but also with regard to innovation in relevant markets and technologies. "With the launch of an online store on Alibaba we follow our strategy by innovating our business models in close cooperation with our customers," he added.

The main goal of the online launch, added Covestro, is to give customers an "efficient purchasing experience".

"We want to make the customer experience more convenient and efficient. Particularly in a market like China, which is at the forefront of digitalisation, we need to be where the customers are," added Xiaobin Zhong, head of commercial operations for the coatings, adhesives and specialties business of Covestro in the Asia Pacific region.

As a start, Covestro will offer around 50 products on 1688.com. The second wave of products to launch, said Covestro, is already being planned. The company expects online commerce to contribute up to €1bn in accumulated sales by the end of 2019.
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Chinas private chemical giant Hengli wins approval for crude oil quota

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chinese private chemical producer Hengli Group has won state approval to import 400 Mbpd crude oil, the largest quota ever for a private refiner, as it challenges the country's smaller independent plants in an oversupplied Chinese fuel market, as per Reuters.

The group's listed unit Hengli Petrochemical said in an exchange filing late on Thursday that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the state economic planner, had approved the quota.

The firm aims to start trial runs in October at a newly built refinery in the northeastern port city of Dalian that will be among the five biggest refineries in China. "We will start using our quota this year," said a senior Hengli official, who declined to be identified because he was authorized to speak to the media. "We hope to get enough allowances for the refinery to start trial operations in October."

Another private chemical firm, Zhejiang Ronsheng Group, is also expected to start operating a new 400 Mbpd refinery in the eastern city of Zhoushan later this year. The additional production capacity in China is likely to add to pressure on the country's small, independent, or "teapot", refineries, which are vulnerable to increased competition because of their modest output. Many "teapot" refineries produce less than 100 Mbpd.

"Hengli's world-class scale, sophisticated refinery configuration that favors high-end petrochemicals and its location means it will be a killer competitor to teapots," said Harry Liu. With the government stepping up scrutiny over their tax and environmental practices, Liu predicted some of the smaller of the independents close in the next two years as a result of the competition.

Hengli started as a small chemical fiber maker and operates a 6.6 million tonnes per year plant making purified terephthalic acid (PTA), the world's largest. PTA is a feedstock for producing polyester.

Although the NDRC grants approval for quotas, the Commerce Ministry determines how much of a quota can be put to use. "For next year, we are confident of getting 20 million tonnes of allowances from the government," the senior Hengli official said.

He said the refinery's two crude distillation units (CDU) are designed to process 30 percent of Saudi Arabia's Arab Medium crude, 60 percent of Saudi Heavy and 10 percent Qatar Marine crude. The company has recently applied for a quota to export fuel oil.

The senior Hengli official and another company official said Hengli would market its refined fuel to state-owned Sinopec and PetroChina, as well as independent wholesalers and distributors. There is no near-term plan to build its own retailing network because of the cost.

In January, Hengli signed a framework deal with state-run Sinochem Group to cooperate on imports of crude oil and the marketing of refined fuel.
MRC

CB&I technology award marks a first for Chinas petrochemical industry

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CB&I announced it has been awarded an ethylene technology contract by Lianyungang Petrochemical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co., Ltd. CB&I's scope of work includes a process design package, heater engineering and technology license for two ethylene plants with a capacity of 1,250 kta each at Lianyungang's petrochemical facility in Jiangsu Province, China, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This design will utilize CB&I's market-leading, low-cost ethane cracker flowsheet which reduces investment costs by eliminating plant equipment. Once complete, these will be China's first ethylene plants to crack 100 percent ethane feed, signifying a new wave of ethylene projects fed by shale gas ethane sourced from the U.S. Currently, all large ethylene plants in China crack mixed feeds or liquid feeds.

"CB&I is already a leading technology provider for the Chinese petrochemical industry," said Daniel M. McCarthy, CB&I's Executive Vice President of Technology. "Being the first company to license a unit in this new wave of ethane-only cracker projects in China not only enhances our business in the region, it puts CB&I in a better position to win future awards in the market."
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