BASF inaugurated application center for plastic additives in Switzerland

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has recently inaugurated its new EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Application center for Plastic Additives in Kaisten, Switzerland, said the producer on its site.

The new facility, located in the existing BASF production site, includes a state of the art compounding extruder, stretch film and tape lines as well as an injection molding unit capable of simulating the polymer production and processing technology. The facility can combine intelligent process automation and expertise that will increase the quality of plastics produced.

The new application center serves as the regional technical support base for customers for applications such as polymer production, master batch and leading players in the converting industry but is also the global competency center for the automotive as well as the film and tape industry. The state of the art facility is equipped with specialized equipment that can precisely simulate commercial production processes. The test laboratory can expertly evaluate processing stabilization, light stabilization, long term stabilization or effect performance of additives. With the combination of this new innovative technical facility and the global experience of the dedicated teams, BASF is significantly better positioned to support the business success of its customers.

"The housing of existing innovation units and intelligent laboratories on one dedicated site will lead to both shorter development cycles and help our customers by reducing complexity. Supported by the latest digital technologies, we will continue to strengthen our development capabilities to not only to meet with customer needs but also to drive innovation that addresses the future market needs," said Alberto Giovanzana, Head of Plastic Additives Europe, Africa and Middle East, BASF.

The existing BASF site located in Kaisten is well known for the production of plastic additives such as antioxidants which are added to plastics and lubricating oils to protect against ageing. The site already houses a development lab for the form giving of additives and with the new investment, the site is now the European competence center for Plastic Additives in addition to the regional technical centers in Pontecchio Marconi, Italy and Ludwigshafen, Germany. By combining the current application technology labs together with the Marketing and Product Management functions all on one site, it will enhance automation and deliver faster results to its customers.

The BASF Plastic Additives business has 5 labs globally: the global competence center as well as the regional technical center in Kaisten, and the regional technical centers in Pontecchio Marconi, Ludwigshafen, Shanghai (China) and Tarrytown (U.S.).

As MRC wrote before, in December 2017, BASF’s Coatings division inaugurated a new automotive coatings plant at its Bangpoo manufacturing site, Samutprakarn province, Thailand. The new plant is the first BASF automotive coatings manufacturing facility in ASEAN, and will produce solventborne and waterborne automotive coatings to meet growing market demand in the region.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It 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 generated sales of EUR64.5 billion in 2017.
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DuPont increasing Tyvek production

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont Safety & Construction, a business unit of DowDuPont Specialty Products Division, plans to invest more than USD400 million to increase capacity for the manufacture of Tyvek nonwoven materials at its facility in Luxembourg, as per Technicaltextile.

The production increase, which will add a new building and third operating line at the site, is scheduled to start up in 2021. "Global demand for DuPont Tyvek continues to grow worldwide in all of our key end-use markets," said Rose Lee, president, DuPont Safety & Construction. "This capacity expansion plan is a critical step in growing the Tyvek business, maintaining our leadership in nonwoven materials, and delivering the innovation customers expect from DuPont."

According to industry estimates, the global segments for potential Tyvek use total several billion dollars. A world leader in nonwoven technology, in 2017 DuPont celebrated the 50th anniversary of DuPont Tyvek, a unique nonwoven material made of 100 per cent high-density polyethylene that has enabled new dimensions of protection, security and safety in a wide variety of industries and applications.

Core segments include building envelope solutions, such as Tyvek HomeWrap, Tyvek CommercialWrap, DuPont Flashing Systems and Tyvek Protec to create more comfortable, energy-efficient buildings with fewer chances for moisture damage caused by water buildup; Tyvek protective garments, which provide superior protection for workers in industrial and cleanroom applications and for first responders; Tyvek for medical packaging, widely used to help protect patients in healthcare settings. Since its introduction to the medical device industry more than 45 years ago, Tyvek has been recognised as a standard of excellence for sterile device packaging.

Tyvek has had a tremendous impact across numerous industries, resulting in the creation of new categories of products, such as house wrap, which helped revolutionise home construction; setting new standards for personal protective apparel; enabling advancements in medical device technology; and playing an important role in many other applications.

DuPont, along with its customers, continue to develop new Tyvek products and applications to meet evolving marketplace needs. Designers of consumer products for lighting and fashion accessories and apparel are increasingly demanding Tyvek for their products because of its lightweight durability and texture.
MRC

Keiyo Ethylene eyes to complete maintenance at naphtha cracker

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Keiyo Ethylene is likly to restart a naphtha cracker following a maintenance turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the company has planned to resume operations at the plant in early-July 2018. The cracker was shut for maintenance on May 13, 2018.

Located at Ichihara in Chiba prefecture of Japan, the cracker has a production capacity of 740,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, Keiyo Monomer planned to take its vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant off-stream for a maintenance turnaround in February-March 2018. The exact date and duration of the shutdown could not be ascertained. Located in Chiba, Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

Founded in 1991, Keiyo Ethylene Co. Ltd. produces and sells petrochemical products. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, and other petrochemical products.
MRC

Honeywell kicks off largest industrial customer gathering with a focus on digital transformation

MOSCOW (MRC) – Emerging Connected Plant technologies were the highlight when Honeywell kicked off its largest annual gathering of industrial customers, with a focus on showing manufacturers how digital transformation can help them achieve new levels of consistently high performance, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The ability of Honeywell Connected Plant’s offerings to deliver higher levels of safety, reliability, efficiency and profitability will continue to be the primary discussion point at the 43rd Honeywell Users Group (HUG) Americas symposium, which runs through Friday. More than 1,300 delegates from across the oil and gas, chemical, pulp and paper, and metals and mining sectors are attending the event, which features numerous displays of the newest technologies along with dozens of Honeywell- and customer-led sessions and technical discussions.

Throughout the conference, Honeywell will showcase how turning data into actionable insight requires more than just upgrading technology; it requires a system for capturing, retaining and sharing knowledge that allows both the plant and its workers to perform at their best every day. Honeywell Connected Plant enables this through proven industry solutions based on decades of domain knowledge and controls experience.

“Digital transformation has to be about more than just moving data into the cloud,” said John Rudolph, president of Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS). “It ultimately has to be about the outcomes, including driving increased productivity and savings for our customers while allowing them to increase knowledge capture, knowledge sharing and knowledge retention among their employees."

Rudolph was named president of HPS on May 31, 2018, succeeding Vimal Kapur, who was named president and CEO of Honeywell Building Technologies. Rudolph led the Projects and Automation Solutions, and Lifecycle Solutions and Services businesses for HPS over the past six years, driving significant growth. Rudolph also has held leadership roles with TAS Energy, General Electric and Ingersoll Rand.
MRC

Tata Chemicals concludes sale to IRC of Haldia fertilizer facility in India

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Haldia Tata Chemicals has completed the divestment of its fer-tilizer unit and trading business in Haldia, West Bengal, India, to Indorama Holdings' wholly-owned IRC Agrochemicals subsidiary, as per Apic-online.

Tata recently said the divestment was in line with its strategic direction to focus on its specialty chemical and food businesses, while maintaining leadership in inorganic chemicals, Indorama noted.

The transaction, valued at Rs 872.84 crore, was closed on 1 June 2018.

We remind that, as MRC wrote before, in October 2017, global chemical manufacturer Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) completed its purchase of DuraFiber Technologies Mexico Operations, S. A. DE C. V. (Durafiber). Durafiber is a leading Mexican producer of durable technical textiles for industrial, tyre reinforcement, and specialty applications globally.
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