Versalis joins the Circular Plastics Alliance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Versalis, Eni's chemicals company, has joined the Circular Plastics Alliance (CPA) to actively contribute achieving the ambitious European target of using 10 million tonnes of recycled plastic in new products by 2025, said Eni on its site.

The aim of the Alliance, promoted by the European Commission, with numerous member companies and associations across the value chain, is to boost plastic recycling in Europe and at the same time develop the market for secondary raw materials.

By joining CPA, Versalis has submitted its voluntary pledges in line with its circular economy strategy that is defined by three main pillars: eco-design, recycling technologies and alternative feedstocks.

With regard to eco-design, Versalis has committed to using at least half of its packaging, for transporting products on pallets and in containers, with up to 50% of recycled material.

In the recycling and feedstock diversification areas, Versalis has committed to increasing the production capacity of Versalis Revive®, its new line of polyethylene and polystyrene products, to contain up to 70% of mechanically recycled plastic.

Furthermore, to boost the recovery and recycling of all types of plastics that cannot be mechanically treated, Versalis has pledged to develop a new chemical recycling technology to transform mixed plastic waste into raw material to manufacture new virgin polymers, identical to those originating from fossil sources and suitable for all applications, including those that require high quality and performance, like food packaging.

Versalis’ pledges also include assessments conducted by certified life cycle analysis (LCA) to prove the effective sustainability of all the initiatives undertaken, in addition to raising awareness of the responsible use of plastics in daily activities amongst its employees.

As MRC reported earlier, Versalis is embarking on a wide-reaching transformation that could see its sales of intermediates and plastics drop from around 5 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) currently to 4 MMt/y by 2035 and to about 3 MMt/y by 2050.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

Versalis is a petrochemical company, a 100% subsidiary of the Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA. The company produces a wide range of petrochemical products, and is also one of the world's leading elastomer companies.
Eni spa (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi) is an Italian oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. Eni operates in 70 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Major producer SK Advanced has restarted its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant following a planned outage, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that, the company resumed operations at the plant early this week. The plant was shut for maintenance on January 29, 2020 and was expected to resume production in end-February.

Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a propylene production capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, SK Advanced last undertook an emergency shutdown at its PDH plant at Ulsan on November 16, 2019 owing to a technical issue. The unit was brought on-stream on November 20, 2019. Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a propylene production capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.

SK Advanced, a joint venture of South Korea's largest LPG supplier SK Gas and Advanced Petrochemical Company (APC) of Saudi Arabia.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers canceled its annual refining industry conference over coronavirus concerns, adding to the events scrapped as the global outbreak of the virus spreads across the United States, reported Reuters.

The conference, scheduled to take place in Austin, Texas, later this month, was one of the largest U.S. conferences to bring together oil refining industry officials and chief executives. The conference regularly drew more than 1,000 participants, AFPM said.

"It is clear to us that canceling these meetings is the right course of action to protect the health and safety of our meeting registrants and vendors, our staff, and the Austin and New Orleans communities," said AFPM Chief Executive Chet Thompson in a statement.

The group also canceled its International Petrochemical Conference scheduled for the end of the month in New Orleans.

More than 119,100 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and 4,298 have died, the vast majority in China, according to a Reuters tally. The United States has 975 cases and 30 deaths.

As MRC informed previously, BP has recently said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40 per cent this year, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.

We also remind that in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- TechnipFMC and Neste, owner of the world’s leading NEXBTL technology, announced that they have established a partnership whereby TechnipFMC will become Neste’s provider of Front End Loading (FEL) services for future Neste NEXBTL projects, said TechnipFMC on its site.

The agreement also covers TechnipFMC’s participation during the execution phase of future NEXBTL projects.

The NEXBTL technology allows the conversion of second generation feedstock like vegetable oil or waste fat into renewable diesel and other renewable products. The NEXBTL technology is becoming increasingly important as it provides an efficient and sustainable solution in the fuels sector, while addressing environmental concerns. The technology allows production of renewable diesel that helps its users reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% over the lifecycle of the fuel compared to conventional fossil diesel.

The TechnipFMC-Neste partnership is a result of our long-term collaboration, illustrated by the successful delivery of two world-scale renewable fuels units in Rotterdam and Singapore and the ongoing expansion project of Neste’s renewable products facility in Singapore. This partnership aims to achieve industry-leading capital productivity, through the highest standards of HSE, improved operability, accelerated innovation and reduced project cycle time.

Catherine MacGregor, President Onshore/Offshore at TechnipFMC and CEO-Elect of Technip Energies, commented: "We are extremely proud to be Neste’s partner of choice for its future NEXBTL facility projects. This agreement confirms our leading position as a player geared towards technological advancement and solutions to support renewable fuels growth. It also reinforces our long-term relationship with Neste and our positioning in the energy transition journey."

Peter Vanacker, The President and CEO of Neste, noted: "Neste has transformed from a regional oil refining company into a global leader in renewable solutions. The transportation of people and goods is undergoing a rapid change. To combat climate change the world needs new and more solutions for decreasing emissions.

We are confident that in working closely together, the design and execution expertise of TechnipFMC will significantly further enhance the robustness of our NEXBTL technology as we grow our business where our strength lies."

As MRC wrote before, Neste, together with several European Union Member States and forerunner companies representing different parts of the European plastics sector, have just signed the European Plastics Pact in Brussels, Belgium. The European Plastics Pact is a frontrunner initiative and a platform for leading countries and private organizations from the entire plastics value chain from across Europe to collaborate and accelerate the systemic shift to a circular plastics economy in Europe.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The board of directors of Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNH) proposed to allocate 16.6 billion rubles for dividends, writes Kazanfirst.

The decision on the direction of dividends will be taken on April 9 at the company's annual general meeting. For one share they offer 9.07 rubles. In addition, the board of directors proposes to allocate 7.1 billion rubles to the strategic development program of NKNKh.

Earlier it was reported that NKNH's net profit in 2019 decreased by 2.2% to 23.7 billion rubles. Revenue amounted to 174.088 billion rubles, which is 7.8% less than in 2018. Gross profit decreased by 4.2%, to 44.5 billion rubles, profit from sales - by 7.6%, to 27.7 billion rubles. Cost of sales decreased by 9% to 129.6 billion rubles. The accounts receivable of the enterprise last year decreased by 2 times to 14.4 billion rubles as of December 31, 2019, the accounts payable - by 1.9%, to 11 billion rubles.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim reduced production by 2.6% in 2019.

PJSC "Nizhnekamskneftekhim" is one of the largest manufacturers of synthetic rubbers in the world and plastics in Russia. The authorized capital of PJSC is 1.83 billion rubles, it is divided into 1.611 billion ordinary and 218.9 million preferred shares with a par value of 1 ruble. The main shareholder of the company is the TAIF group.
MRC