Dow partners with SCG to sustainably tackle plastic waste

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow and SCG has recently signed a collaboration agreement to develop new complete recycling solutions to add value to plastic waste and prevent them from ending up in the environment, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This agreement is an attempt to create a circular economy for plastic in Thailand.

"Our industry and society as a whole must do a better job of capturing and reusing plastic by scaling investments in collection, waste management, recycling technologies and new end-markets," said Jim Fitterling, chief executive officer of Dow. "Dow continues to join forces with partners across the globe to more effectively reuse and recycle plastic waste. Working together with companies like SCG we can create a world where no plastic ends up in the environment."

The agreement was signed today upon the shared vision to close the loop of plastics waste management for the reduction of plastic leakage to the environment.

The products anticipated from this collaboration are outputs of mechanical recycling, feedstock recycling as well as renewable feedstock which include but are not limited to recycled resin, recycled products made from plastic waste, petrochemical feedstocks from plastic waste and renewable plastic resins.

"This collaboration not only represents our joint commitment in taking action to solve the problems through technology and making real changes but also provides us with new business opportunity, enhancing sustainability and bringing about practical solutions for recycling and upcycling of plastic waste in Thailand," said Roongrote Rangsiyopash, president and chief executive officer of SCG.

"Circular economy is an economic opportunity as much as a solution to a pressing environmental issue," said Jonathan Penrice, president of Dow in Asia Pacific. "We will build on Dow’s unique materials science and application knowledge and our 50-year experience in Thailand to develop solutions that maximize the value of plastics in the country."

This collaboration is aligned with the Thai government’s ambition to drastically increase the recycling rate of plastic waste in the country by 2027. Plastic waste in the environment is considered a critical environmental issue which Dow and SCG have innovated around in the past, such as developing certain technologies to incorporate materials derived from transformed plastic waste in polymer modified asphalt roads. This solution will add value to low or no value plastic waste such as multi-layer plastic packaging and contaminated plastic waste.

Most businesses today operate a linear system, whereby natural resources are extracted, transformed into products, and eventually disposed of. A circular economy, on the other hand, is aimed to reuse, renew and recycle valuable resources thereby reducing environmental impact.

Dow and SCG are founding members of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, a not-for-profit organization, partnering with the finance community, government and civil society, including environmental and economic development NGOs to make the dream of a world without plastic waste a reality.

As MRC reported earlier, Dow Chemical began major maintenance on the LHC 1 cracker at Terneuzen, Netherlands, from 9 September 2019. More than 1,500 extra employees from various external companies will carry out maintenance work in the subsequent period. LHC stands for Light Hydro Carbons, or hydrocarbons. The cracker splits naphtha - a derivative of crude oil - into hydrocarbons such as ethylene and propylene. These are the raw materials for the other Dow factories that make chemicals and plastics from them. Together with two other naphtha crackers, LHC 1 forms the heart of the Terneuzen Dow site.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 976,790 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) – U.S. production of major plastic resins totaled 7.3 billion pounds during October 2019, an increase of 1.1 percent compared to the same month in 2018, according to statistics released today by the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Year-to-date production was 73.1 billion pounds, a 2.6 percent increase as compared to the same period in 2018, said Americanchemistry.

Sales and captive (internal) use of major plastic resins totaled 7.7 billion pounds during October 2019, an increase of 5.5 percent from the same month one year earlier. Year-to-date sales and captive use was 74.0 billion pounds, a 4.0 percent increase as compared to the same period in 2018.

We remind that, Russia's output of chemical products rose in October 2019 by 5.4% month on month.
However, production of basic chemicals increased by 3.9% in the first ten months of 2019. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, the largest increase in production volumes on an annualized basis accounted for mineral fertilizers and polymers in primary form. Thus, 210 ,000 tonnes of ethylene were produced in October, compared to 200,000 tonnes a month earlier. Limited production was a result of scheduled shutdowns of several large producers in September-October.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Africa's largest oil refinery will deliver its fuels to Nigerian consumers via roads and sea ports, and will effectively replace all of Nigeria's fuel imports once fully operational, said Reuters.

The 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote oil refinery is under construction in Lagos, the biggest city in the most fuel-consuming nation in the region, which absorbed 266,000 barrels of petroleum products per day as of 2015.

Congested ports and dilapidated roads led some to expect that the company would build a pipeline or other method of getting its fuel to consumers.

But Dangote Group Executive Director Devakumar Edwin told an OTL (Oil Trading and Logistics) Expo in Lagos that fuels would go via "shuttle" boats to Nigerian cities Warri and Calabar, and that other deliveries would go in trucks.

The company is itself fixing and expanding one of the current roads to Lekki - an area adjacent to Lagos's financial and business district - Edwin said, while the Lagos state government will build another toll road to aid shipments.

"That's going to reduce a lot of congestion," Edwin said of their plans.

He said the refinery would virtually eliminate fuel imports from other regions, adding "those who are importing today... can buy from our refinery".

Dangote had previously told Reuters that the refinery's mechanical completion was delayed until 2020, though industry sources told Reuters last year that fuel output was unlikely before 2022.

The refinery is also constructing facilities that will allow it to export its diesel, gasoline and other fuels to markets including Europe and Latin America aboard vessels as large as Suezmax tankers.

It is also designed to be able to produce diesel that meets European winter standards, and will be high quality enough to go to any market.

The refinery's startup will be particularly tough on European refineries, which currently supply a large portion of gasoline consumed in West Africa, another Dangote executive speaking at the conference said.

"We can export the product all over the world. So there is no need for us to (blindly) compete with the local production," Edwin said.

The Dangote group is also eyeing ethanol production at its sugar and molasses plant in Adamawa state, and has facilities at the refinery to blend ethanol with fuel if needed.

Edwin said they are also already considering expanding plastics and petrochemical productions at the refinery, which will make polyethylene and polypropylene when it begins production.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 976,790 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, has announced that it has declared a dividend of USD1.05 per share, as per the company's press release.

The dividend is to be paid Dec. 9, 2019 to shareholders of record Dec. 2, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Nov. 29, 2019.

As MRC wrote previously, LyondellBasell has recetnly announced that Hyundai Chemical, a joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Chemical, has selected LyondellBasell's Lupotech T process technology for a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers plant to be built in South Korea. The facility, to be built in Daesan, will have 300,000 t/y of capacity. No additional details of the project were available.

Ethylene is a feedstock for producing polyethylene (PE).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,589,580 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) – The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), was stable (0.0 percent change) in November on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis following a 0.3 percent decline in October. On a year-over-year (Y/Y) basis, the barometer was off 0.2 percent (3MMA), said Americanchemistry.

The unadjusted data showed a solid 0.6 percent gain and was driven by increases among all four components. The diffusion index rose to 59 percent in November. The diffusion index marks the number of positive contributors relative to the total number of indicators monitored. The CAB reading for October was revised upward by 0.16 points and that for September by 0.18 points.

“The CAB signals slow gains in U.S. commerce into mid-year 2020,” said Kevin Swift, chief economist at ACC. The CAB has four main components, each consisting of a variety of indicators: 1) production; 2) equity prices; 3) product prices; and 4) inventories and other indicators.

Production-related indicators improved in November. Trends in construction-related resins, pigments and related performance chemistry were slightly positive and suggest slow gains in housing activity. Plastic resins used in packaging and for consumer and institutional applications were mixed, despite strong consumer spending reflecting elevated confidence and solid job and income gains. Performance chemistry eased and U.S. exports were weak. Equity prices rose sharply this month, and product and input prices gained as well. Inventory and other indicators were positive.

The CAB is a leading economic indicator derived from a composite index of chemical industry activity. Due to its early position in the supply chain, chemical industry activity has been found to consistently lead the U.S. economy’s business cycle, and this barometer can be used to determine turning points and likely trends in the broader economy. Month-to-month movements can be volatile, so a three-month moving average of the CAB reading is provided. This provides a more consistent and illustrative picture of national economic trends.

We remind that, Russia's output of chemical products rose in October 2019 by 5.4% month on month.
However, production of basic chemicals increased by 3.9% in the first ten months of 2019. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, the largest increase in production volumes on an annualized basis accounted for mineral fertilizers and polymers in primary form. Thus, 210 ,000 tonnes of ethylene were produced in October, compared to 200,000 tonnes a month earlier. Limited production was a result of scheduled shutdowns of several large producers in September-October.
MRC