Delaware refinery explostion injures three

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An explosion due to an equipment failure at PBF Energy’s Delaware City, Delaware refinery on Monday injured three people, requiring hospitalization, a report by Delaware Online said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

PBF runs a 182,200 barrel-per-day refinery in Delaware City.

During equipment maintenance, there was a minor explosion and three men were burned, the report said, quoting a state fire marshal.

The report also said there was no fire and no major damage to equipment at the facility.

The last reported explosion at the refinery was in 2015, when a 62-year-old man was burned on his face and neck in a flash fire. The fire's cause was a lack of protocol, deemed a state report.

All of the burn victims are expected to survive, the fire marshal's office said.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- North American automotive vendor tooling spend will be USD8 billion in 2019, a new report says, which is a decreased amount compared to 2018, and driven by the decreased number of North American vehicle launches predicted between 2019 and 2021, as per Canplastics.

The analysis, from Southfield, Mich.-based market research firm Harbour Results Inc. (HRI), predicts that 153 new vehicles will be launched between 2019 and 2021, versus the 183 new vehicles launched in North America between 2016 and 2018. Furthermore, HRI said, the Detroit Three automakers, who source most of their tools in this region, are forecasted to source only nine vehicles in 2019.

"The industry experienced a boom in 2017 with USD10.3 billion in tooling spend and, based on the data, we expected 2018 to reach over USD11 billion,” said Laurie Harbour, HRI president and CEO. "However, due to a number of vehicle cancelations and delays, we are predicting the year to be closer to USD9.2 billion."

As a result, Laurie Harbour said, the industry is USD2.2 billion below forecast through first three quarters of 2018, resulting in a six-point dip in tooling shop utilization to 79 per cent.

HRI anticipates that some of what was planned for 2018 will spill into 2019 to help level out the tooling spend for the next three years. "In addition to the 2019 forecast, we estimate future North American tooling spend to remain relatively stable with 2020 totaling USD8.2 billion and 2021 at USD9 billion," Laurie Harbour said.

"This forecast is based on current data and information, but issues like tariffs, automaker restructuring, and/or an economic recession could drastically impact the forecast resulting in a dip in tooling spend as much as USD2 billion,” she added. "As the tooling market contracts, it is important that shops, specifically small shops that benefited from the increased outsourcing in 2017, prepare for the future. It is important that tool shops continue to focus on improving operations, smart investment in people and technology and strategic planning to remain competitive in the near and long term."
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's market regulator will set up a system to recall vehicles that violate the country's pollution and emissions standards, it said on Wednesday, with cars now the biggest source of smog in major cities, as per Reuters.

China's air quality is going to come under even further pressure, with another 100 million vehicles set to ply its roads in the coming five years, the State Administration for Market Regulation said in comments posted on its website.

The nation's newly revised air pollution law includes provisions to recall vehicles that fail to meet state emissions standards, it said, and it has already studied similar product recall systems in the United States, Europe and Japan.

The regulator is currently studying key issues like the identification of equipment defects and the quality of key components used in reducing engine emissions, but it will work with the environment ministry to draw up new legislation and aims to implement the new system as soon as possible.

Though China has been cracking down on factory emissions and curbing the consumption of coal, vehicle pollution remains a growing problem, increasing lung-damaging, ground-level ozone levels in many major cities.

China's total vehicle fleet reached 310 million last year, and cars were responsible for about 45 percent of air pollution in the capital, Beijing, and nearly 30 percent in Shanghai, according to figures from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment earlier this year.

China eliminated more than 20 million old and substandard vehicles from its roads last year to cut pollution, and it has also banned the sale of low-grade, high-emissions diesel.

Its "China VI" fuel standards, which are tougher than those used in the European Union, have already been introduced in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region - known for its heavy smog - and will be made mandatory nationwide at the beginning of next year.

Top refiner Sinopec is upgrading its refineries to produce fuel to comply with the new standards. But enforcing the standards has been a challenge, with fraudulent practices believed to be widespread. Some garages have been found selling equipment to cheat fuel quality detectors, and the environment ministry said in July it had shut as many as 639 substandard vehicle testing stations last year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay has inaugurated its state-of-the-art manufacturing center for aerospace structural adhesives and surfacing films in Wrexham, United Kingdom, as per the company's press release.

Together with the existing plant in Havre De Grace, United States, this investment broadens Solvay’s footprint and strengthens its leadership position in this growing and demanding global market.

The center is purpose-built and automated, supported by robotic and digital systems. This step-change in the manufacturing process optimizes the production and supply chain security of aerospace structural adhesives, surfacing films and lightning strike protection for composite structures.

"Solvay’s new center, equipped with cutting edge technologies, industrializes our manufacturing capabilities of structural adhesive and surfacing materials. It provides the quality and reliability our global aerospace customers need to meet the increasing rates of their aircraft programs and support their production system," said Carmelo Lo Faro, head of Solvay’s Composite Materials Global Business Unit.


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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Great Britain plans to introduce a plastics tax on all packaging that does not include at least 30 per cent recycled material, as per Canplastics.

As announced by UK finance minister Philip Hammond, the measure will be introduced in April 2022 and is an attempt to reduce waste and help tackle climate change.

The announcement was part of Hammond’s annual budget.

The tax aims to "transform the economics of sustainable packaging," Hammond said, and posit the UK as "as a world leader" in tackling the scourge of plastic littering across the world and its oceans.

Under the new proposal, which will now go out for consultation, plastic packaging that contains at least 30 per cent recycled material will be exempt from the tax. The size of the levy has not yet been determined.

"Where we cannot achieve re-use, we are determined to increase recycling so we will introduce a new tax on the manufacture and import of plastic packaging which contains less than 30 percent recycled plastic," Hammond said in his speech.
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