Closure of sites in Austria and Germany

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Greiner Packaging International (GPI, Kremsmunster / Austria) is planning to close its two production sites in Wernberg / Austria and Rastatt / Germany, as per Plasteurope.

The company says the facilities have been "losing money for quite some time," and despite restructuring in recent years, it was not possible to ensure the viability of the sites within the increasingly competitive environment – see Plasteurope.com of 06.05.2016.

Bottle production, which makes up the bulk of the business in Wernberg, will be transferred to Greiner's packaging site in Kremsmunster. Around 110 employees at the Wernberg and Rastatt sites will be affected by the closures. The employees will be offered alternative jobs within the Greiner group (Kremsmunster), and a redundancy plan is being prepared to provide "the best possible, socially acceptable solutions."

In 2010, Greiner acquired both factories with its takeover of former Austrian bottle and container manufacturer Plastikwerk Expan, which was located in Wernberg. Plastikwerk Expan opened the Wernberg factory in 2004 – see Plasteurope.com of 28.10.2004. Polyolefin containers for cosmetics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals are produced in Rastatt, and the site once belonged to packaging groups such as Swedish packaging manufacturer PLM and German bottle producer Crown Raku.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Starbucks, which doles out more than 1 billion straws a year, says it will phase out single-use plastic straws from its stores by 2020, said the company on its site.

The coffee giant – the largest retailer to commit to eliminating single-use plastic straws – said Monday that it will replace the ubiquitous plastic straw with recyclable "strawless lids," as well as straws made from biodegradable materials, as part of a no-plastic-straws movement that has gained momentum in recent years.

Starbucks — which has more than 28,000 stores and generated USD22.4 billion in annual revenue last year — said that more than half of its beverage sales come from cold drinks, which typically come with a plastic straw.

At Starbucks, executives said the efforts are part of a USD10 million plan to develop cups and lids that are fully recyclable and compostable. Stores in Seattle and Vancouver will be the first to begin using the new strawless lids — essentially a top with a built-in lip for easy drinking — which will be used for iced coffee, tea and espresso drinks beginning in the fall. Ice-blended Frappuccinos, meanwhile, will be served with straws made of paper or compostable plastic.

The company also offers a 10-cent discount to customers who bring in their own cups.

Starbucks declined to comment on the financial impact of replacing plastic straws, which have become widely used in restaurants in part because they are so cheap. (Starbucks now charges a 5-pence paper cup fee in its U.K. stores, though it was unclear whether the company would add similar surcharges in the United States.)

The no-straw movement, which had already been brewing in certain communities and beach towns, gained mainstream traction three years ago after a video showing a sea turtle with a plastic straw wedged in its nose went viral. Plastic straws never completely decompose and can be harmful, even fatal, to animals that ingest them.

A number of local governments — from Malibu, Calif., to Miami Beach, Florida — have recently passed legislation restricting the use and distribution of plastic straws. Starbucks’s hometown of Seattle banned plastic straws and utensils beginning this month, while California cities including Malibu, Davis and San Luis Obispo prohibit restaurants from handing out plastic straws unless a customer requests one.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has announced that its affiliate, Enterprise TE Products Pipeline Company LLC, is conducting an open season to gauge shipper support for incremental volumes of ultra-low sulfur diesel and motor gasoline on the company’s existing 14-inch diameter pipeline that originates in Seymour, Indiana and terminates in the Chicago, Illinois area, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

To accommodate the additional throughput, Enterprise would increase the capacity on a portion of the 14-inch diameter pipeline in order to receive incremental product in the Indianapolis, Indiana area and deliver such product to the Griffith, Indiana area in Lake County.

Pending sufficient shipper commitments during the open season, expanded service would be expected to begin in December 2018. The open season is being held in response to increased shipper demand for refined products deliveries into the Chicago area market.

Enterprise TE Products Pipeline LLC owns and operates a network of pipeline systems spanning more than 4,800 miles, including the 3,317-mile TE Products system that transports refined products and natural gas liquids from the upper Texas Gulf Coast to multiple destinations across the Central and Midwestern United States. The TE Products system features segments extending to Chicago; Lima, Ohio; Selkirk, New York; and a location near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The portion of the TE Products system east of Seymour is primarily dedicated to propane transportation.

As MRC informed before, in May 2018, Enterprise Products Partners L.P. and Navigator Holdings Ltd. announced that construction was then underway on a 50/50 joint venture ethylene export terminal which will be located at Enterprise's Morgan's Point, Texas facility on the Houston Ship Channel. The terminal will have the capacity to export approximately 2.2 billion pounds of ethylene per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- NOVA Chemicals Corporation, a leading supplier of polyethylene in the Americas, has announced that Greg DeKunder has joined the polyethylene (PE) business as its new vice president of marketing, effective 9 July 2018, as per the company's press release.

DeKunder will be responsible for accelerating customers’ success through a dedicated focus on their needs and ambitions. He will also help the team leverage business opportunities that guide the company’s strategic growth into new markets and expand existing target markets.

"We are thrilled to have Greg join the NOVA Chemicals polyethylene team," said John Thayer, senior vice president, polyethylene business. "Greg’s deep leadership experience in the petrochemicals industry will be a key asset as we continue to grow our footprint and enable our customers to deliver products that make everyday life healthier, easier and safer."

DeKunder previously worked for more than two decades at Total S.A. (Total), and brings expertise gained from serving in a variety of leadership roles, most recently as senior general manager, base chemicals for the Americas in Total’s refining & chemicals business.

"I couldn’t be more pleased to join NOVA Chemicals at this exciting time in the company’s journey," said DeKunder. "The company’s focus on supply chain collaboration and customer-driven innovation will be more important than ever as both NOVA Chemicals and North American polyethylene capacity continue to grow."

As MRC reported earlier, in January 2017, NOVA Chemicals Corporation, a leading supplier of polyethylene in the Americas, announced the start up of its new world-scale linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) gas phase reactor at its Joffre, Alberta site.

NOVA Chemical is one of the largest world's petrochemical companies, a manufacturer of polyethylene, styrene polymers, monomers, and many other related products. NOVA Chemicals, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is wholly-owned ultimately by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR has celebrated the first supply of industrial gases from Cryogenmash's new station to ZapSibNeftekhim, Russia's largest petrochemical facility under construction in Tobolsk, as per the company's press release.

The opening ceremony was attended by Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the SIBUR Holding's Management Board, and Dmitry Zauers, Deputy Chairman of Gazprombank's Management Board.

The construction of the new industrial gas station with a capacity of up to 37,000 m3/h of nitrogen and up to 28,000 m3/h of compressed air kicked off in 2017. The station comprises two large cryogenic air separation units, a storage system for liquid cryogenic products, compression and air drying unit, dual circuit cooling system, and dry compressed air and nitrogen receivers. The key equipment was designed and produced by Cryogenmash.

Powering ZapSibNeftekhim with dry compressed air and nitrogen is critical for the construction process as it allows to launch pre-commissioning operations at all production lines and facilities.

Cryogenmash-Gas-Tobolsk, a subsidiary of Cryogenmash, acted as the designer, equipment supplier and contractor during the construction of the dry air and nitrogen production station at ZapSibNeftekhim. Once the facility is commissioned, Cryogenmash-Gas-Tobolsk will be its operator providing an on-site supply of industrial gases to ZapSibNeftekhim until 2039. In its turn, ZapSibNeftekhim undertakes to purchase a certain volume of industrial gases under off-take contracts featuring a pre-approved price formula. The project has been implemented within a very short time frame – 28 months from the design stage to the first industrial gas delivery, which is in line with the best international practices for constructing industrial gas facilities.

ZapSibNeftekhim is set to become the largest modern petrochemical facility in Russia. The project incorporates a steam cracker with a capacity of 1.5 mtpa of ethylene, around 500 ktpa of propylene and 100 ktpa of butane-butylene fraction (BBF), along with units to produce various grades of polyethylene and polypropylene with a total capacity of 2 mtpa.

It will provide for the deep conversion of a substantial portion of oil and gas extraction by-products in West Siberia, including associated petroleum gas, and import substitution for polymers that enjoy the strongest domestic demand and are applied in construction, healthcare, utilities, automotive and other industries.

As MRC wrote before, on 17 February 2015, SIBUR launched construction of ZapSibNeftekhim,a facility for deep hydrocarbon to polyolefin processing.

SIBUR is a vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. SIBUR owns and operates Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes and is a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry. SIBUR operates 26 production sites in various regions of Russia. The Group employs 26,000 people. The Company sells its products to over 1,400 major customers engaged in the energy, automotive, construction, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), chemical and other industries in approximately 70 countries worldwide.
MRC