Garbo to build large-scale PET chem recycle plant in Italy

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemical recycling specialist Garbo Srl is to build a commercial-scale PET recovery plant at an undisclosed location in Italy, said Plasticsnewseurope.

Due for start-up in 2020, the plant will use Garbo proprietary technology for the production of Bis(2-Hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) from PET chemical recycling, the company announced 1 Aug.

In collaboration with the University of Modena and Bologna, Garbo has developed the ChemPET recycling process, which it says is capable of handling “almost all” the currently non-recoverable PET-based waste.

The technology involves a chemical process, through which the PET is “reacted selectively” with ethylene glycol and transformed into a BHET intermediate product.

If adequately purified, BHET can be used as feedstock for the production of PET.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- German distributor Nordmann has taken over the distribution of Venator Materials plc’s (TiO?) and functional additives (FAD) in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH) as of 1 Aug, the company has announced, said Plasticsnewseurope.

The deal will primarily affect the markets for adhesives, coatings & inks, elastomers, lubricants and plastics.

The extension, said Norman in a release 5 Aug, has come on the back of a longstanding ‘successful partnership’ and ‘trusting relationship’ between the two firms.

“In Nordmann, we have a reliable distribution partner at our side,” said Stephane David, senior commercial director at Venator, commenting on the new distribution agreement.

The two companies, he added, share common goals and have cooperative partnership.

The deal, according to Jost Laumeyer, global sales director plastics at Nordmann, brings ‘added value, extensive product expertise and market support’ to Nordmann customers.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spanish thermoformed packaging moulder Coexpan SA. has launched a new EUR12.1m barrier films extrusion plant in the Moscow region of Russia to serve the food industry, said Plasticsnewseurope.

This modern purpose built 10,000 m2 facility in Naro-Fominsk will be operated by the company’s Russian subsidiary, Coexpan Extekh which previously occupied a leased nearby plant in the Selyatino district.

Coexpan acquired the Russian packaging business Ekstruzionnyye tekhnologii in 2006. In 2017, it bought a 4 hectare development site at Kotovo Industrial Park in Naro Fominsk where it built the new plant, warehousing and offices.

Inaugurated on 25 July, the plant, with a production area of 3,500m2, will initially employ 57. As output grows, Coexpan is due to increase the workforce to 120, according to a statement from the Moscow Region government.

Coexpan Extekh offers a wide portfolio of coextruded rigid sheet including polypropylene, PP barrier, polystyrene barrier and polylactic acid (PLA) based products used for form, fill and seal machines to package dairy and fresh foods.

The company aims to incorporate thermoforming technology at the new operation enabling it to diversify its product range still further. The design of the new Russian facility is based on lean manufacturing principles, Coexpan said.

“We are very proud of this project ... The new plant in Russia has been designed to comply with the most demanding international standards, allowing us to grow and diversify our business in new markets,” commented Tomasz Mikos, chief executive of Coexpan Extekh.

Coexpan is part of the Spanish print and packaging group Grupo Lantero with other subsidiaries including flexible plastics specialist Emsur. Emsur controls EximPack, a Russian manufacturer of shrink film labels, based in Vsevolozhsk near St Petersburg in the west of the country.

Coexpan, formed in 1973, is based at Alcala de Henares, outside Madrid, Spain has 13 production plants in eight countries of Europe and Latin America. It now runs production units in Brazil, Chile and Mexico.

Last year, the firm expanded its operations in Chile with the acquisition of the thermoforming capacity of Santiago, Chile-based BO Packaging. Coexpan group’s local offshoot Coexpan Coembal already ran its own plant at Quilicura, just outside Santiago, extruding and thermoforming packaging from PS, PP, PET and PLA plastics.

The Spanish company, with annual turnover of €350m, is continuing to grow its international footprint as part of the Grupo Lantero strategy of expanding its rigid and flexible plastic packaging manufacture worldwide.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil announced today that it has increased low-viscosity polyalphaolefin production capacity at its Gravenchon, France, plant by 19 percent to 105,000 metric tons per year, said Lubesngreases.

The company said in a press release that it undertook the 17,000 t/y expansion in order to meet growing demand for synthetic base stocks.

The oil major reported that it has also improved its supply chain network through expanded sales hubs and upgraded carriers, as well as by placing more emphasis on efficient trucking, shipping and rail operations.

With this expansion, global PAO capacity sits at about 738,600 t/y, nearly all in the United States and Europe. In addition to the Gravenchon facility, ExxonMobil can make 196,000 t/y at its Baytown and Beaumont, Texas, plants, giving it about 40 percent of global capacity.

The company’s capacity is split at 209,000 t/y of low-viscosity PAO, which is typically used as synthetic base stock, and 92,000 t/y of high-viscosity PAO, which is most often used as lubricant additive.

Ineos Oligomers is the world’s second-largest maker of PAO. The producer plans to open 120,000 t/y of new capacity at its Chocolate Bayou, Texas, petrochemical complex before the end of this year. That addition will put Ineos ahead of ExxonMobil as the world’s largest source for PAO.

Citing data from consultancy Kline & Co., ExxonMobil expects demand for synthetic lubricants to grow more than 20 percent from 2017 to 2021. PAO is an important base fluid for synthetic lubricants, especially the types of low-viscosity engine oils that are swiftly picking up market share in North America and Europe.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shares in Egypt’s Qalaa Holdings, one of the country’s largest investment companies, fell by nearly 10% after it said that its stake in a new refining company had been reduced, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Qalaa said on Wednesday that it now owns 13.14% of the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), a USD4.1 billion project it co-owns with Qatar Petroleum, state-run Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC) and other partners. Qalaa previously held a 19% stake.

The company’s shares closed at 3 Egyptian pounds, down 9.9% from Tuesday’s close. In a statement to the Egyptian stock exchange, Qalaa said its holding had been diluted over time partly because Qatar Petroleum and EGPC have underwritten additional equity for the project.

Radwa El-Swaify, head of research at Pharos Securities Brokerage, said the share price fall was attributable to Qalaa’s reduced stake in ERC combined with the effect of low oil prices on the refinery’s financial outlook.

Qalaa’s shares have suffered steep losses in recent years, sinking as low as 0.66 Egyptian pounds in October 2016.

“The stock’s recent performance has been negative, reaching the level of 3 Egyptian pounds today, which may open the door to a further decline to technical support levels at 2.7-2.75 Egyptian pounds,” said Ibrahim El Nemr, analyst at Naeem Brokerage.

Qalaa Chairman Ahmed Heikal told Reuters in May that he expects revenue to exceed 90 billion Egyptian pounds (USD5.45 billion) in 2020 after the refinery comes online in the third quarter of 2019. Between 50 billion and 55 billion Egyptian pounds would come from ERC, he said.
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