10,000 tonnes of PP were sold in Stock Exchange of Turkmenistan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The regular export trades for polypropylene (PP) were held at the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan on Monday. 10,000 tonnes of PP were sold during one trading day, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Export quantities of PP (10,000 tonnes) were put up for auction at the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan on 4 June, and despite long delivery terms (8 months), buying activity was very high in the trades partially because of low starting prices.

All PP quotas were sold out in the first trading day in June, deals were done by USD20/tonne higher than the starting prices - USD1,120/tonne FOB/FCA.

The previous trades were held on 23 May, deals were done at USD1,100/tonne FCA/FOB Turkmenbashi port with shipments within 8 months from the date of contracting. 20,500 tonnes of PP were bought out in the trades.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Adding petrochemical plants is how French energy conglomerate Total SA plans to expand along the U.S. Gulf Coast in the coming years, a company executive said, as per Reuters.

Christophe Gerondeau, country chairman for Total in the United States, described the plans at the ground-breaking ceremony for a new 1 million ton per year ethane cracker.

The cracker is being built at Total’s 225,500 barrel per day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery and alongside a joint-venture steam cracker owned by Total and BASF, the company said.

"We love the U.S. for expansion in petrochemicals,” Pinatel said. “It’s a country in which we’d like to further expand."

Tariffs proposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on steel imports are not expected to impact construction of the ethane cracker, Port Arthur refinery General Manager Bryan Canfield said.

“We don’t feel we’re very exposed,” Canfield said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As it grows through acquisition and reputation, Amcor Rigid Plastics of Ann Arbor, Mich., is adding machinery and technology to meet packaging demands for personal care, food and health care products, as per Plasticsnews.

Investments in an injection blow molding (IBM) machine from Italy's Meccanoplastica Group and an extrusion blow molding (EBM) machine from Germany's Kautex Maschinenbau are part of a new effort to update manufacturing operations.

Amcor is the No. 1 blow molder in North America, based on estimated 2017 sales of $2.26 billion in the region, according to Plastics News' latest ranking.

With a focus on two segments, Amcor's global business, Amcor Ltd., has 69 production sites in its rigid packing unit and 131 sites producing flexible packaging. The company says it saw overall sales of USD9.1 billion in 2017, including USD2.9 billion in rigid packaging sales of PET products as well as containers and closures made from other resins.

At NPE2018, Amcor joined Kautex at its booth, where the first Kautex machine it purchased, the KBB40D, is producing an HDPE stock oval package for the personal care industry. Amcor officials say that their expanding technology and capabilities are an important growth driver.

"We're looking around and we're trying out new things," Chuck Simpson, manager of household and personal care products, said at the booth. "Certainly, a really nice thing about this machine is it's all-electric and the quick changeability of the molds. From what I've seen you can change these molds in 30 minutes to an hour. That's substantially different than other machines out there."

Suresh Krishnan, senior director of platform strategy for Amcor Rigid Plastics' Diversified Products division, referred to the purchases of IBM and EBM platforms as investments that "enable us to refresh our manufacturing assets, delivering greater quality with the latest technologies to meet today's demands of the packaging industry."

Amcor says its Jet series IBM machine will produce polypropylene and HDPE health care packaging in the form of 7-ml to 50-ml vials and the KBB series EBM machine will produce 4-ounce to 32-ounce containers for personal shampoo, body washes and bathroom cleaners.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European Commission is proposing a ban on single-use plastic items like straws and utensils according to draft rules released this week, as per Environmentalleader.

The legislation, which needs the approval of all member states and the European Parliament, would also require plastic producers pay for cleanup and waste management, CNN Money reported. EU-wide rules target 10 single-use plastic products that the commission says make up 70% of marine litter items. The ban will apply to cotton swabs, cutlery, plates, straws, drink stirrers, and balloon sticks, meaning those products would need to be made exclusively from more sustainable materials.

"The European Commission estimates that these rules, once fully implemented in 2030, could cost businesses over USD3.5 billion per year," Alanna Petroff wrote. "But they could also save consumers about USD7.6 billion per year, create 30,000 jobs, and avoid USD25.6 billion in environmental damage and cleanup costs."

The proposed rules also say: Producers will help cover the costs of waste management and cleanup as well as awareness raising measures for food containers, packets and wrappers, drinks containers and cups, tobacco products with filters, wet wipes, balloons, and lightweight plastic bags
The industry will be given incentives to develop less polluting alternatives for products
Certain products like sanitary towels, wet wipes, and balloons will require a clear and standardized labeling showing how waste should be disposed, the negative environmental impact of the product, and the presence of plastics in them
Under the new rules, EU member states must reduce the use of plastic food containers and drinks cups by setting national reduction targets, making alternative products available at the point of sale, or ensuring that single-use plastic products cannot be provided free of charge. Member states will also be required to raise consumer awareness about single-use plastics and collect 90% of single-use plastic drink bottles by 2025.

In January, the European Commission announced plans to make all plastic packaging recyclable by 2030.
Around the same time, a number of European organizations that included Plastics Recyclers Europe and European Plastics Converters committed to recycling 50% of their plastic waste by 2040.

Also this year, Taiwan proposed a strict ban on single-use plastics expected to roll out in three stages by 2030. The news prompted a mixed reaction from the industry. The COO of a biodegradable plastics producer warned that the new ban ignores single-use biodegradable products.

Likewise, members of the plastic industry are criticizing the new EU proposal. PlasticsEurope, a European association representing plastics manufacturers, said there must be more resources dedicated to waste management for better used plastic collection, Petroff reported. "‘Plastic product bans are not the solution,’ it said in a statement, and noted that ‘alternative products may not be more sustainable."

The commission’s proposals now head to the European Parliament and Council.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The company ELIX Polymers, a thermoplastics manufacturer located in Tarragona's Poligono Sur industrial complex, has announced a new investment amounting to 4 million euros, whose objective is to optimize its ABS powder production facilities, as per the company's press release.

The company expects to begin executing this new project in 2018, which it will continue to develop and consolidate throughout this year and 2019.

ABS powder is used as an intermediate product for producing ABS compounds and as an impact modifier in other thermoplastic compounds. With this new investment plan, ELIX Polymers assures access to this intermediate product for its own production of ABS and ABS compounds, and the company shores up its position in the European market as a supplier of ABS powder.

This investment is framed within the company’s Strategic Plan, which after several years of growth will consolidate ELIX Polymers as a benchmark manufacturer of ABS and ABS compounds in more highly specialised applications and segments.

David Castaneda, Director of Operations and New Business Development at ELIX Polymers, affirmed: "Within the company’s strategic plan, we are seeking to accompany customers as they grow, strengthen our position in key markets and increase our international presence by accessing new market niches and specialities in the NAFTA region and Asia. This investment will also allow us to both optimize our operations and make them more flexible, with the objective of continuing to be a benchmark in the market due to our reliability and custom solutions".

This investment project will provide ELIX Polymers with the best technology in the market. To implement and develop the project, the company is collaborating with the top suppliers of the selected equipment. It will also incorporate equipment that will allow the integration of industry 4.0 in facilities operations.

Over the last two years and following its Strategic Growth Plan, ELIX Polymers has made considerable investments in its facilities and its IT and management systems for the purpose of expanding, positioning itself in the market, and differentiating itself from its competitors by offering a service based on the key factors of flexibility, proximity to customers, proactiveness, global perspective, and custom service solutions.

This new investment in facilities, together with those made over the last two years, demonstrates ELIX Polymers' commitment to its production centre in Tarragona.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2017, leading specialty ABS producer ELIX Polymers announced the development of global grades for healthcare applications.

ELIX Polymers is one of the most important manufacturers of ABS resins and derivatives in Europe, with 40 years of experience in engineering plastics and an installed capacity of 180,000/year from their plant in Tarragona (Spain) to the world. The operation starts in 1975, when the Tarragona ABS and SAN production plant was inaugurated.
MRC