BASF opens modular lab for automotive OEM coatings at its Münster site

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF’s Coatings division has opened a new laboratory for automotive OEM coatings at its site in Munster, Germany, said the company.

The modular Lean Lab concept aims to ensure optimized, digitalized and transparent processes and efficient use of resources in the laboratory area throughout Europe. Discrete working processes of the lab employees and the use of standardized and automated processes allow BASF to meet future market requirements quickly and flexibly. In line with this, the workforce in Munster is supported by a lab dosing machine that was specially developed for BASF and is the only one of its kind in the coatings industry.

"BASF cooperates very closely with all major automotive manufacturers worldwide to develop advanced coatings technologies. Through the digitalization of processes, optimized use of resources, and automation, we can respond even more efficiently and address our customers’ needs,” says Dirk Bremm, president of BASF’s Coatings division. Since 2014, BASF has invested € 24 million to completely overhaul an existing laboratory building for this purpose, which included adding an extra story. The building now features four bright and airy laboratory levels with spacious offices and state-of-the-art lab workplaces that are all digitally linked. Discrete work processes are intelligently designed to foster customer-specific product developments, manufacture paint samples and perform application tests. An optimized logistics concept also ensures that all materials for daily work – and for this work only – are available, which positively impacts resource efficiency.

A lab dosing machine that is unique in the coatings industry and was specifically built for the lab in Munster facilitates work and assures quality. BASF collaborated with machine manufacturer FRICKE Dosing + Filling Systems from Minden, Germany, to develop the machine. At 12 meters long and weighing 8 tons, it can manufacture standard formulas from over 300 liquid raw materials. “It is said that digitalization affects everyone. BASF’s Lean Lab clearly demonstrates how certain occupations, such as that of a laboratory technician for coatings, are being redefined. It is still about researching the features and appearance of colors and paints, but it takes place a high-tech environment today. Young people who take this job need knowledge in chemistry, technology and IT alike. This proves to me that vocational training is modern. It is attractive. It is the starting point of a career,” says Karl-Josef Laumann, Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazakh Neftekhim Ltd, the only polypropylene (PP) producer in the country, resumed production after a scheduled maintenance, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's customers said the company Neftekhim LDT had completely resumed production and shipments of PP to consumers by Monday, 17 September, after the scheduled turnaround. The outage lasted much longer than originally planned.

As reported earlier, the plant was shut down on 25 July and was planned to be idle within one month.

Neftekhim Ltd was commissioned in 2009. The company produces methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and polypropylene (PP). The plant's PP production with the capacity of 30,000 tonnes/year was launched in 2011; the plant did not have PP granulation unit then, polymer was produced in the form of powder, which limited its field of application.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Meridian Energy Group, Inc., the leading developer of innovative and environmentally-compliant oil refining facilities, has announced that the company has signed a Letter of Intent with GATE Energy, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Meridian announced that GATE Energy has been selected to provide commissioning and start-up services to the Davis Refinery team during development and execution of the 49,500 bpd Davis Refinery located in Belfield, North Dakota. This LOI comes only weeks after Meridian has begun Civil Construction of the Davis Refinery. The Davis Refinery will commence construction in 2019 and will be fully operational in 2020.

GATE Energy is a family of companies that provide scalable, fit-for-purpose services for the energy sector including engineering, commissioning, field services, operations services and maintenance staffing services.

Steven Guy, President of Commissioning at GATE Energy said, "This award solidifies GATE Energy as best-in-class provider of commissioning services. With our back-to-back commissioning services awards we’ve earned for upstream projects, we’re extremely excited to now be an integral part of the first US greenfield refinery project in almost 40 years.

Lance Medlin, EVP of Projects at Meridian, remarked, “Meridian’s selection of GATE Energy as the Owners Commissioning and Start-Up team is the result of lengthy technical workshops and collaborations. GATE Energy will provide personnel for development planning and execution as well as their GATE Completion System (GCS), which will ensure the safe and efficient execution of the Davis Refinery."

As MRC reported earlier, in May 2018, Meridian Energy Group announced that it had signed a letter of intent with a leading specialty engineering, procurement and construction solutions provider based in Houston, Texas, to initially complete a front end engineering and design (FEED) study for the Davis Refinery in Belfield, North Dakota.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global diversified miner Glencore has completed the sale of its 14.16% stake in Russian integrated energy company Rosneft to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qatar Investment Fund (QIA) for EUR3.7-billion, as per MiningWeekly.

Glencore now holds a direct equity stake in Rosneft of 0.57% and QIA holds a direct equity stake in Rosneft of 18.93%.

The Glencore-QIA consortium agreed to jointly acquire a 19.5% stake in Rosneft in December 2016, which helped the Russian government to meet a target for privatisation proceeds. They then cut a deal to sell most of those shares on to Chinese conglomerate CEFC, but in May this year the deal collapsed and QIA stepped in to buy the consortium’s stake.

A deal Glencore struck to buy 220 000 bbl/d of crude from Rosneft remains in place.

As MRC wrote before, in early September 2018, South Africa’s competition watchdog approved Glencore’sroughly USD900 million bid for Chevron’s local and Botswana assets on Thursday, bolstering its chances of scuppering a rival bid from China’s Sinopec.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's imports of polypropylene (PP) grew to about 131,500 tonne in first eight months of this year, up 21% year on year, compared to the same period of 2017. Supply of all grades of PP increased, according to a MRC's DataScope report.

Russian companies slightly reduced their PP imports in August, which were 17,100 tonnes versus 18,200 tonnes a month earlier, shipments of pipe PP random copolymer decreased. In general, PP imports into Russia were about 131,500 tonnes in January-August 2018, compared with 108,600 tonnes year on year. The import for all grades of propylene polymers increased, the greatest increase in supplies accounted on homopolymer PP.

Overall, the structure of PP imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

August imports of homopolymer PP increased to 6,300 tonnes against 5,900 tonnes a month earlier, shipments of homopolymer PP raffia from Turkmenistan increased. Overall imports of homopolymer PP reached 47,900 tonnes in the first eight months of 2018, compared to 37,200 a year earlier.

August imports of PP block copolymers in Russia were about 4,000 tonnes against 3,800 tonnes in July. Local companies increased their purchasing of PP block copolymer for extrusion injection moulding in Europe.

Imports of PP block copolymers into Russia rose to 32,200 tonnes in the first eight months of 2018, compared to 28,900 tonnes a year earlier.
Russia's imports of PP random copolymers in August were about 3,000 tonnes against 4,300 tonnes a month earlier, the devaluation of the rouble against the euro forced local producers of pressure pipes to reduce the volume of polymer purchases in Europe. Overall imports of this grade of propylene copolymers were 24,200 tonnes in the first eight months of 2018, compared to 19,300 tonnes a year earlier, with imports of pipe grade propylene copolymers accounting for more than a two-fold increase.

Imports of other propylene polymers for the reported period increased to about 27,100 tonnes compared with 23,300 tonnes in the same time a year earlier.

MRC