Braskem shut PP plant in Texas for unscheduled turnaround

MOSOCW (MRC) -- Braskem, has taken its polypropylene (PP) plant off-stream owing to technical issues, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in US informed that, the company halted operations at the plant on end-March, 2020. The exact duration of the unplanned outage could not be confirmed.

Located at La Porte, Texas, US, the PP plant has a production capacity of 390,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
mrplast.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Enterprise Products Partners' ethylene export terminal on the Houston Ship Channel is now contracted for 75% of its 1 million mt/year capacity on a take-or-pay basis, and Navigator Gas, its 50% partner in the venture, does not foresee operational disruptions that would force a writedown on the investment amid the coronavirus pandemic uncertainty, reported S&P Global with reference to Navigator.

The London-based company also said it had not seen any "significant" decrease in charter rates as a result of the pandemic, but vessel utilization had declined from 96.3% in December and 97.3% in January to mid-80% levels last seen in mid-2019, Navigator said Saturday.

Customers "are being more cautious with inventory management and consumption, with fallout seen in frequency and number of cargo quotes, thus reducing vessel utilization," Navigator said.

"While certain positive signs are coming from China with respect to workers returning to manufacturing sites and travel bans being eased, significant uncertainty remains as to the speed of economic recovery in areas affected by the COVID-19 pandemic," the company added.

Navigator provides sea transportation and distribution to oil majors, chemical companies and energy trading companies. Navigator said it expects those customers to be able to maintain the ability to pay for vessels under charter at least through the next six to 12 months.

The London-based company reported a net loss of USD2.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with a USD3.9 million net loss in the same period in 2018.

The terminal shipped out its first cargo, about 11,300 mt, aboard the Navigator Europa on January 2. The vessel sailed for China, Navigator said on Saturday.

Navigator said the pandemic may restrict seaborne transportation of products, including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and petrochemical products.

"The impact of COVID-19 on global economic conditions and the operations of businesses throughout the world is evolving rapidly and the ultimate severity and future effects are uncertain," Navigator said.

Adding: "Any restriction on the ability to transport LPG and petrochemicals to countries or continents could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results."

Navigator noted that its vessels sail worldwide and the company is not "overly dependent" on any one country or continent for its business, though the pandemic "has reduced manufacturing capacity and the demand for the consumption of the finished products."

The company owns 38 vessels and can move petrochemicals, LPG and ammonia.

"We have not thus far received any requests for cancellation of charters or reduction in committed charter rates," the company said.

As MRC informed before, even before the arrival of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), world ethylene production capacity was set to grow far ahead of demand during 2020-22, and now the excess could swell by another 6 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) or more.

Ethylene is the main feedstock for the production of polyethylene (PE).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. has retooled a portion of its Engine Plant in Windsor, Ont., and begun producing plastic protective face shields for healthcare workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic, said Canplastics.

The company is working with the Ontario and federal governments to distribute face shields throughout the province, and across Canada. Shipments are scheduled to start this week.

"By repurposing our production facilities in Windsor to meet the urgent demand for face shields, we can help protect the lives of our heroic healthcare professionals and first responders as they continue to treat the most vulnerable among us," said Dean Stoneley, president and CEO, Ford Motor Co. of Canada in joint statement with Unifor.

Ford also said it continues to explore ways it can help the effort to fight the pandemic and will provide updates on other special projects.

Ford and its employees also donated 2,900 pairs of nitrile gloves to hospitals.

As MRC informed earlier, the American company Ford, following other automobile concerns, has been suspending production of cars in Europe since March 19. An exception so far will be made only for the engine factory in the UK
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A coalition initiated by 3D printing company Stratasys (Eden Prairie, Minnesota / USA) is ramping up production of disposable face shields for use by medical personnel in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, said Plasteurope.

Stratasys said the number of companies and universities involved in the coalition now exceeds 150 and members include Toyota, Boeing and medical technology company Medtronic (Minneapolis, Minnesota). Requests from hospitals and other organisations for the shields, which include a 3D-printed frame and a clear plastic shield covering the entire face, now exceed 350,000 shields.

Stratasys said the first hospital shipment was received on 25 March, and by 27 March the coalition had exceeded its initial goal to produce 5,000 face shields. The coalition was expecting to produce more than 11,000 the following week. So far, it is serving the needs of more than 30 different health systems, covering hospitals, clinics, academic medical centers and nursing homes.

“Any 3D printing shop in the USA that wishes to help print plastic frames, can fill out an online form to be invited to join the effort,” Stratasys said. Details of the printing and assembly instructions are available on the company’s Covid-19 response page. In the US, Stratasys is using its “GrabCAD” shop work order management software to assign orders from healthcare systems to each coalition member. In Europe, the company said it is serving as a hub to connect service bureaus with those requesting help and has fielded offers and requests in most of the larger countries.

"I have never seen collaboration across our industry the way I’ve been seeing it over the last couple weeks,” said Stratasys healthcare segment leader Scott Drikakis, who is directing the company’s Covid-19 response in the Americas. “The need is dire, but we are getting the kind of commitments from our coalition partners that will make a real difference and help buy time to scale up the manufacturing of shields and other essential supplies."

Stratasys said it is producing thousands of visors itself at its US direct manufacturing facilities, located in Eden Prairie, in and around Austin, Texas, and in Valencia, California. It has also made free the material licenses on many of its high-end printers used to make the visors during this time.“We see additive manufacturing as an essential part of the response to the Covid-19 global epidemic,” said Stratasys CEO Yoav Zeif.

The company is also supporting an initiative led by anaesthetists at Massachusetts General Hospital to develop a new rapidly deployable ventilator for patients with Covid-19-related, ventilator-dependent lung injury. The anaesthesiology residents are calling on designers and engineers to design the ventilator using Stratasys’ GrabCAD platform, as part of an eight-week initiative launched on 1 April 2020. Other sponsors of the “CoVent-19 Challenge” include product development company Ximedica (Providence, Rhode Island / USA) and engineering software company Valispace (Bremen / Germany).

Finalists will work with Stratasys and the CoVent-19 Challenge team to turn their designs into prototypes for testing. The 3D printing company said the CoVent-19 team is working with private and public sector partners to be able to expedite US government approval for a winning design.

In Europe, the European Commission has called on the additive manufacturing industry to help in the manufacturing of medical supplies that hospitals are lacking.

We also remind that the COVID-19 outbreak has led Shell Chemical to temporarily suspend construction on the massive plastics and petrochemicals site it's building in Monaca, Pa, USA.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- GC Marketing Solutions Co. (GCM) and HMC Polymers have entered into an agreement for the distribution of HMC's polypropylene (PP) products by GCM in key markets of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia (CLMVI), according to Apic-online.

"The agreement to market state-of-the-art PP from HMC adds a vital category to the broad-based polymer portfolio offered by GCM and provides HMC with the benefit of GCM's presence and reach across the region," HMC noted.

GCM, formerly PTT Polymer Marketing Co., is a subsidiary of PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC).

As MRC wrote before, PTTGC had fully restarted its No. 2 cracker in Map Ta Phut this week after a planned turnaround by end-February, 2020. The cracker was shut for maintenance on January 20, 2020. Located at Map Ta Phut, Thailand, the No. 2 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

The company also operates No. 1 cracker at the same site with a capacity of 515,000 tonnes of ethylene and 310,000 tonnes of propylene per year, which was also shut on 23 January, 2020, for a 40-day turnaround.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 383,760 tonnes in the first two month of 2020, up by 14% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased due to the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC