China unveils plan to reduce single-use plastic by 2025

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s top economic planner said it would cut the production and use of plastic over the next five years, helping reduce one of the world’s biggest sources of plastic pollution, said Bloomberg.

By the end of this year, non-degradable plastic bags will be banned in places such as supermarkets and shopping malls in major cities, as well as in the country’s ubiquitous food delivery services, according to a plan released by the National Development and Reform Commission on Sunday.

China will significantly reduce the use of disposable plastic in e-commerce, express deliveries and takeaway food by 2022, while promoting alternative materials, the NDRC said. The nation will also establish a system for producing, distributing, consuming, recycling and disposing of plastic products by 2025.

The use of plastic in the world’s most populous nation has risen as online shopping and food delivery apps have become part of everyday life, even in rural areas. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which organizes a 24-hour shopping marathon every year, has been criticized for shipping 1 billion packages in a single day.

The ease with which food can be ordered online, often with waiting times of only 10 to 15 minutes, means an increase in plastic bags, containers, and utensils that are then discarded.

China has taken steps to address the deluge of plastic, including introducing a mandatory recycling system that’s being piloted in cities such as Shanghai. The country will also completely ban the import of plastic waste, the NDRC said on Sunday, without giving a deadline.

The Asian nation will ban non-degradable, single-use plastic straws nationwide by 2020, it said, with the goal of reducing the “intensity of consumption” of such plastic utensils by takeout services in urban areas by 30% by 2025.

By 2022, some delivery services in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai will be forbidden from using non-degradable packaging, with the ban extended to the whole country by 2025.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.
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Belarus in talks with Latvia over oil supply from Baltic ports

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The leaders of Latvia and Belarus are discussing supplying oil to Belarus from Latvia’s Baltic Sea ports, reported Reuters with reference to Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Karins said.

"We are interested in starting such business," Karins said.

Russia suspended oil supplies to Belarus from Jan. 1, but partially restored them on Jan. 4. Two Russian oil firms, controlled by tycoon Mikhail Gutseriyev, supply Belarus with oil essential to minimum operations at its two refineries.

As MRC wrote before, Belarus’ state oil company Belorusneft suspended supplies of its own oil to Germany this month as Minsk needs to compensate for shortages of Russia-sourced oil amid a contract dispute with Moscow.
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Clearlake Capital acquires Pretium Packaging

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, "Clearlake") in partnership with management announced that it has acquired Pretium Packaging ("Pretium" or the "Company") from Genstar Capital, said the company.

Pretium, of Chesterfield, Missouri, is focused on rigid packaging for end markets such as food and specialty beverage, healthcare, sports nutrition, personal care, beauty, and household products.

Its packaging solutions are based primarily on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high density polyethylene (HPDE), and polypropylene (PP) resin, with an array of options, including up to 100% post-consumer recycled material content.

The company has 19 manufacturing facilities in the US.

Clearlake teamed up with Pretium’s management to buy the company from Genstar Capital. Paul Kayser, Pretium’s CEO, and the existing management team will continue to lead the company.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

Pretium Packaging is a leading North American manufacturer of customized, short-to-medium volume, rigid plastic packaging solutions. The company produces containers, bottles, and closures for the food and specialty beverage, healthcare, sports nutrition, personal care, beauty, and household products end markets. Pretium serves its customers through nineteen facilities across the U.S. and Canada, and is headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri.

Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is a leading private investment firm founded in 2006. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with world-class management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to dynamic businesses that can benefit from Clearlake's operational improvement approach, O.P.S.® The firm's core target sectors are industrials and energy; software and technology-enabled services; and consumer. Clearlake has managed over USD16 billion of institutional capital since inception and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 200 investments.
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BASF to move UK headquarters to 2 Stockport Exchange

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global chemical giant BASF is set to move its UK headquarters to 2 Stockport Exchange, said the company.

The company has been operating in the UK since 1880, with its companies supplying raw materials to most industries including agriculture, automotive chemicals, construction, energy and pharmaceuticals.

Its new home – which covers six storeys – will sit at the heart of the wider ?145m development and reach completion in February 2020.

Richard Carter, managing director of BASF in the UK and Ireland, said: "We are looking forward to moving our UK headquarters from Cheadle to this exciting new connected location later this year. Our new office space in Stockport Exchange will feature open and collaborative workspace to enable new and more agile ways of working.

"The move is part of an ongoing Future of Work project which will deliver a better workplace experience through improved digitalisation, increased flexibility and empowered leadership."

The wider transformation is being brought forward in partnership by Stockport Council and Muse Developments.

Council leader Elise Wilson added: "Today marks a real milestone in what we have achieved in Stockport. The building is looking fantastic and has been finished to a really high standard, complementing our ambitious plans for the town centre, like the Mayoral Development Corporation and the thousands of new homes and business opportunities it will create, the new Transport Interchange and improvements to Merseyway.

BASF has 13 locations in the UK, eight of them manufacturing sites, where it employs about 850 people.

As MRC informed before, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, restarted its No. 1 steam cracker on September 30, 2019, following a maintenance turnaorund. The plant was shut for maintenance in mid-August, 2019. Located at Ludwigshafen in Germany, the No. 1 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 235,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 125,000 mt/year.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of around EUR63 billion in 2018.
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US crude oil inventories fall more than expected last week

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US crude stocks fell in the latest week while gasoline and distillate inventories rose, reported Reuters with reference to the Energy Information Administration's statment.

US crude oil production rose to a record high of 13 million barrels per day in the week, the EIA said.

Crude inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels in the last week to 428.5 million barrels, much more sharply than the 474,000-barrel drop analysts had expected in a Reuters poll.

"What sticks out for me is the dramatic builds we saw in products decidedly overtaking the sentiment here, despite the draw in crude oil," said Tony Headrick, energy markets analyst at CHS Hedging.

Crude and products futures turned negative after the data. US crude traded down 57 cents at USD57.67 a barrel by 11:27 a.m.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 342,000 barrels in the last week, EIA said.

Refinery crude runs rose by 76,000 barrels per day in the last week, EIA said.

Refinery utilization rates fell by 0.8 percentage points, in the week

US gasoline stocks rose by 6.7 million barrels in the week to 258.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.4 million-barrel rise.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 8.2 million barrels in the week to 147.2 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.2 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

"That’s just a gigantic build at a time of year when you’re supposed to be getting draws to heat people’s houses," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York.

Net US crude imports fell last week by 595,000 barrels per day in the last week, EIA said.
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