Covestro signs MoU with the Institute of Chemical Technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro and the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), a chemical technology research university in Mumbai, India, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at finding innovative solutions that can act as an enabler and provide a significant contribution to achieve sustainable goals, as per GV.

According to the agreement, the research would span from warming and insulation for open poultry sheds, modification in the manufacturing process to produce flame retardant polyurethane and PU-PCM for cold storage.

The aim of this MoU is to build scientific and technical knowledge through joint research and to implement the research findings in industry wide application. It will facilitate the development of polymer-based PCM material that can replace non-efficient and high energy consuming elements. The MOU was exchanged by Ajay Durrani, MD, Covestro India, along with Dr. Thomas Toepfer, CFO, Covestro AG and Prof. G. D. Yadav, Vice Chancellor, ICT.

Ajay Durrani, MD, Covestro India, said: "We are confident that through this partnership we are able to conduct ground breaking research that will enable us in finding sustainable solutions through large-scale application of talented materials. We truly believe that these research based applications will help us to provide solutions to India’s food safety concerns and help in making smarter and safer transportation leading to the economic and social development of the country."

Dr. Thomas Toepfer, CFO, Covestro AG, said: "True to our commitment, we will aim 80 % of our R&D project spending to address SDG challenges by 2025. At the same time, we will further increase our investments which will benefit India along with some other nations and at the same time create value. We are looking forward to leverage such opportunities in India and APAC region which will help make world a brighter place."

Prof. G. D. Yadav, Vice Chancellor, ICT, said: "We are delighted to partner with Covestro for the research projects that will provide students with an opportunity to develop practical solutions to India’s food security and national safety problems."

India has about 6,300 cold storage facilities with a capacity of 30.11 million t, which are only able to store about 11 % of the country’s total perishable produce. This creates an enormous gap between agriculture production and its storage. India wastes 40 % of all harvested agricultural produce. These cold storage and poultry use electricity and diesel to maintain the temperature which leads to overuse of energy and fossil fuel and has detrimental effects on the environment. Materials that can be used in cold storages and poultries to maintain the required temperature and help reduce the carbon footprint can make a massive difference.

As MRC wrote earlier, in July 2018, Siemens AG and Covestro Deutschland AG concluded a Joint Business Development Plan to provide further strategic reinforcement of their trust-based partnership for many years, particularly in the field of digitalization. This is based on the corporate ethos of the two companies which is both innovative and geared towards sustainability. The agreement, therefore, helps make life simpler and safer through continuous improvement and future-oriented products.

Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG. Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating, insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Poliom, based in Omsk, a joint venture of Titan Group, SIBUR and Gazprom neft, has resumed its production after a scheduled maintenance, as per ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's representative said Poliom resumed its polypropylene (PP) production on Thursday, 11 October, after the turnaround. The outage was short in comparison with other Russian producers and lasted for 10 days (the shutdown began on 1 October). The plant's annual production capacity is 210,000 tonnes.

The launch of Poliom after the outage was the first one in the autumn round of turnarounds at a number of Russian plants. Thus, Ufaorgsintez shut down its production capacities for 30-day maintenance on 19 September, SIBUR Tobolsk started a three-week turnaround on 2 October, and Stavrolen took off-stream its PP production for one week on 6 October.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Poliom produced 19,400 tonnes of PP in August versus 18,700 tonnes a month earlier. The Omsk plant's overall PP output totalled about 148,000 tonnes in the first eight months of 2018, up 3% year on year.

Poliom Ltd., a JV of Gazprom Neft, SIBUR and Titan, which was established in 2005, is one of the three leaders of Russian PP producers. The plant, which started operation on 9 February, 2013, was built on Basell's technology, with Tecnimont being the supplier of technological equipment. It can produce 98 different grades of PP (homo-, stat-, block copolymers).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into Kazakhstan decreased to about 32,300 tonnes in January-August 2018, down 16% compared with the same time a year earlier, according to MRC DataScope.

There was a significant decrease in demand for PVC in August from local companies. August imports of unmixed PVC amounted to 2,400 tonnes against 4,800 tonnes a month earlier.
Thus, overall imports of PVC to Kazakhstan totalled 32,300 tonnes in January-August 2018, compared to 38,300 tonnes a year earlier.

Due to the geographical position, the main suppliers of PVC to Kazakhstan remained Chinese producers, with the share of about 83% of the local market over the stated period.

But this year, deliveries from Russia increased significantly, Russian producers supplied more than 5,400 tonnes of PVC to the local market over eight months.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s top oil and gas producer PetroChina is preparing to open its first South Asia office in India to scout for business opportunities in oil and liquefied natural gas, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This is another sign of China expanding its role in overseas markets after years of building refining capacity and as a refined oil product glut builds in Asia.

The company was registered as PetroChina International (India) on July 17 with a total paid-up capital of 33 million rupees (USD444,000) in Mumbai, according to the information posted on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website.

It has three directors listed including Rajesh Sampatkumar Modani, who had been working as a principal consultant with law firm Trilegal, according to his LinkedIn profile. The others are Hongwei Xia, who is currently at PetroChina’s Singapore office, and Chi Zhang.

PetroChina plans to trade in oil products and crude oil through the Indian office, one of the sources familiar with the matter said.

“For products, India is nearer to Africa, so it makes sense to buy from India and export,” the source added. PetroChina already buys refined products from Nayara Energy and Reliance Industries, said a second source familiar with the company’s plan.

He said the company is scouting for space to open its corporate office, and is using a temporary address for registration of the Indian entity. Chinese state-owned refiners have recently been boosting shipments of oil products such as diesel to Europe, South America and West Africa as they expand their foothold outside of China.

CNPC, the parent company of PetroChina, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. PetroChina International currently has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, Kazakhstan, Japan, London, Russia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Venezuela, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia and Dubai, according to the company website.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - India’s Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd has shut a 74,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude unit at its 210,000 bpd Manali refinery in Tamil Nadu from Oct. 6 for about month for planned maintenance, the company has said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company has also shut some secondary units including a 0.8 million tonne a year fluidized catalytic cracker and a 2.2 million tonnes a year delayed coker for maintenance, the company said in an email response to Reuters query.

Chennai Petroleum is a subsidiary of the country’s top refiner Indian Oil Corp and meets the fuel requirements of southern India.

“IOC has made necessary arrangements to make up the shortfall in product supplies during the shutdown period,” the statement added.

The refinery has three crude units.
MRC