Arkema and Hexcel open a joint research and development laboratory in Les Avenières

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema and Hexcel have announced that they will open a joint research and development laboratory in Les Avenieres (Isere), France in April, said the company.

This follows the companies’ previous announcement in March 2018 that they were forming a strategic alliance to develop thermoplastic composite solutions for the aerospace sector, combining the expertise of Hexcel in carbon fiber and Arkema in PEKK.

The companies’ objective at this new lab is to develop carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic prepreg tapes to enable lightweight parts to be produced for future generations of aircraft.

These solutions will provide lightweight and cost effective technologies including faster production cycles for customers in the aerospace and the space and defense sectors.

Thanks to Hexcel and Arkema’s close collaboration, an initial industrial pilot line will be installed in the new lab in the coming weeks. The companies expect to start supplying carbon/thermoplastic UD tapes from this pilot line to customers for evaluation beginning in Q3 2019.
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Lomont Molding is moving the operations of its subsidiary Total Source Molders

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lomont Molding LLC is moving the operations of its subsidiary Total Source Molders from a leased 50,000-square-foot facility in Reinbeck, Iowa, to the company's headquarters about 130 miles southeast in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, as per Plasticsnews.

As part of the consolidation, the injection molder filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining notice Feb. 15, laying off TSM's 38 employees effective April 30. All 38 employees have been offered full-time positions, covering a range of job roles across production, at the Mount Pleasant location.

"We're very conscious of relationships with our employees," Carl Frank, Lomont's director of communications, said in a Feb. 28 phone interview. "We're trying to make this as painless as possible." In a letter sent to customers, Lomont Molding said the move will allow the company "to better position itself strategically on a geographical basis without duplicating … efforts of two facilities in Iowa."

"It was basically a strategic move on our part to consolidate assets and resources," Frank said, adding that the Mount Pleasant facility was recently expanded by 65,000 square feet. The expanded area — now bulking up the headquarters to a total of 160,000 square feet — will be used to house TSM operations, including 12 injection molding machines ranging from 75-940 tons. With TSM, the Mount Pleasant site will have 310 employees.

"It's kind of like bringing [TSM's] facility into our facility in a way, so that they're completely integrated together," Frank said. Lomont ranks No. 97 on Plastics News' annual listing of North American injection molders, generating sales of $80 million in 2017. Since 2014, the company has been owned by Summit Equity Group, a private investment firm in Des Moines, Iowa.

The company's capabilities cover a wide range of plastics processes, including structural foam molding, profile extrusion, gas-assist molding and overmolding as well as in-mold decorating and a variety of assembly and secondary services.

Lomont also produces parts for two proprietary product lines: Lomont In-Mold Technologies, which includes safety signage and identification products; and Paragon Products, which specializes in concrete and rebar accessories used in commercial, highway and precast construction markets.

TSM specializes in high-pressure injection molded parts for agricultural and construction markets.

In 2017, Lomont added blow molding to its capabilities with the acquisition of R&D Molders Inc. in Georgetown, Texas. R&D employs around 165 at its facility, which also does some molding for the Paragon proprietary line. The company ranks No. 73 on PN's listing of North American blow molders, with 2017 sales estimated at USD12.5 million.
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DuPont investing USD220 million at specialty films plant in Ohio

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemical maker DuPont will spend USD220 million to build new production assets at its specialty films plant in Circleville, Ohio, as per Canplastics.

In a statement, Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont said that the new assets will expand production of its Kapton-brand polyimide film and Pyralux-brand flexible circuit materials to meet what it calls "growing market demand in automotive, consumer electronics, telecom, and defense."

DuPont expects the new assets to be operational by 2021.

"This investment is a reflection of our strong commitment to our customers around the world," said Jim Fahey, president of DuPont’s electronics and imaging division. "Our new production assets will position us well to support the growing need across many sectors for our advanced high-reliability materials for innovations in areas such as 5G, automotive, flexible displays and artificial intelligence."

DuPont has been making Kapton polyimide films for over 50 years.

DuPont’s electronics and imaging business is part of the new specialty products division of DowDuPont, and was created by the 2017 merger of Dow and DuPont, and is a combination of Dow’s electronic materials and DuPont’s electronics and communications businesses.
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PVC production in Russia increased by 3% in January-February 2019

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russian producers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) kept high capacity utilisation in the first two months of the year, despite the low season in the domestic market. Total production of PVC reached 169,500 tonnes in January-February, up 3% year on year, according to MRC ScanPlast.

February production of unmixed PVC in Russia was 81,700 tonnes from 87,800 tonnes a month earlier, several producers decreased capacity utilisation. Overall PVC output was 169,500 tonnes in the first two months of 2019, compared to 165,200 tonnes a year earlier.

The structure of PVC production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

RusVinyl (JV of SIBUR and SolVin) produced about 28,600 tonnes of PVC in February, with emulsion polyvinyl chloride (EPVC) accounting for 2,000 tonnes, compared to 29,500 tonnes a month earlier. Overall PVC production at RusVinyl exceeded 58,000 tonnes in January-February 2019, up by 8% year on year.

SayanskKhimPlast produced 25,100 tonnes of suspension PVC (SPVC) last month, whereas this figure was only 27,700 tonnes in February.
The Sayansk plant managed to produce about 52,800 tonnes of resin in January-February, compared to 52,000 tonnes a year earlier.

Baskhir Soda Company produced about 21,500 tonnes of SPVC in February, against 23,000 tonnes a month earlier. Total SPVC production at Baskhir Soda Company increased to 44,400 tonnes in the first two months of this year, compared to 43,800 tonnes in the same period in 2018.

Kaustik (Volgograd) produced 6,600 tonnes of SPVC in February, compared with 7,600 tonnes in January. Thus, Kaustik's overall production of SPVC reached 14,200 tonnes in the first two months of 2019 versus 15,500 tonnes a year earlier.


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High-sulfur fuel oil demand to decline on IMO rules

MOSCOW (MRC) -- High-sulfur fuel oil demand will fall 60 percent next year while marine gasoil demand will more than double due to new international regulations on shipping fuel, the International Energy Agency said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

A new 0.5 percent sulfur content cap in shipping fuel set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will come into effect in 2020, one of the biggest fundamental events to hit oil markets in years.

Refiners and shipping firms have had years to prepare, but disruptions are still anticipated. Vessels will have to stop using high sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) unless they install filters, or use far more expensive compliant fuels. A fuel type designed to meet the new cap, very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO), will initially be in limited supply, and quality discrepancies at different ports mean shippers are likely to stick to another compliant but pricier fuel, marine gasoil.

In 2020, "demand for HSFO... will fall from 3.5 million barrels per day to 1.4 MMbpd," the IEA said in a report. “Demand for marine gasoil (will increase) from 900,000 bpd to 2 MMbpd." The IEA expects VLSFO demand to reach 1 MMbpd in 2020 and 1.8 MMbpd by 2024, while marine gasoil demand will peak in 2020 and decrease to 1.8 MMbpd by 2024.

A slight shortfall in marine gasoil supply next year is likely to push up prices by a fifth, assuming a significant level of non-compliance, the IEA said, and a draw on gasoil stocks of about 200,000 bpd. One solution for shipping firms is to install sulfur filtering units on board, known as scrubbers, which would allow vessels to continue burning cheaper HSFO.

The IEA estimates that about 4,000 scrubbers will be installed by 2020, consuming around 680,000 bpd of fuel oil on average, up from 340,000 bpd in 2019. As HSFO demand drops, the IEA expects the unwanted product to be used for cement plants and power generation particularly in the Middle East, where 11 gigawatts of new power capacity is being installed, mainly in Saudi Arabia.

The agency also expects a significant level of non-compliance in the first year of the new regulations due to the shortfall of VLSFO. It expects non-compliant vessels to account for 16 percent, or 700,000 bpd, of HSFO demand.

Looking ahead to 2024, annual gasoil demand growth will rise to 0.9 percent, supported by IMO 2020, with marine demand growing at a rate of 12.7 percent per year. Refiners are expected to raise their gasoil output by 2.3 MMbpd by 2024.
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