Ford of Canada retools to make plastic face shields for healthcare workers

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
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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

1. Coalition ramps up face shields output in response to Covid-19

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.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil will reduce 2020 capital spending by 30% and lower cash operating expenses by 15% in response to low commodity prices resulting from oversupply and demand weakness from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, reported Chemweek.

Capital investments for 2020 are now expected to be about USD23 billion, down from the previously announced USD33 billion.

The largest share of the capital spending reduction will be in the Permian Basin, but expansion plans for some chemical projects will also be adjusted. “Timing of expansion plans for select downstream and chemical facilities across the company’s portfolio will be adjusted to capture efficiencies, slow spending pace, and better align with a return in commodity demand,” ExxonMobil said. It did not specify which chemical projects would be affected.

ExxonMobil’s planned major chemical projects include a joint venture cracker complex with Sabic near Corpus Christi, Texas, that is scheduled for start-up in 2022 and a cracker complex in Guangdong, China, where start-up was planned for 2023. Major derivative projects included a 450,000-metric tons/year polypropylene unit at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, scheduled for 2021, as well as a 450,000-metric tons/year propylene-based elastomers plant and 350,000-metric tons/year linear alpha olefins unit at Baytown, Texas, with expected start-up in 2022.

"While COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the global economy, we are confident that trade, transportation, and manufacturing will recover," said Darren Woods, ExxonMobil chairman and CEO."“ExxonMobil continues to invest in the projects that will position us to support economic recovery and capture value for our shareholders."

The company said it is “maximizing production of products critical to the global response, including isopropyl alcohol, which is used to manufacture hand sanitizer, and polypropylene, which is used to make protective masks, gowns, and wipes.” ExxonMobil said it is also supporting efforts to redesign and accelerate production of reusable face masks and shields to help alleviate the shortage for medical workers and first responders.

Globally, ExxonMobil anticipates industry refinery output will decline in line with demand and available storage, and it will maintain the ability to return to normal operations as demand recovers.

"The long-term fundamentals that underpin the company’s business plans have not changed—population and energy demand will grow, and the economy will rebound," Woods said. "Our capital allocation priorities also remain unchanged. Our objective is to continue investing in industry-advantaged projects to create value, preserve cash for the dividend, and make appropriate and prudent use of our balance sheet."

As MRC wrote before, ExxonMobil Corp has shut the small gasoline-producing unit at its 560,500 barrels-per-day (bpd) Baytown, Texas, refinery because of low demand due to efforts to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The shutdown of the 90,000 bpd gasoline-producng fluidic catalytic cracker 2 (FCC 2) happened in late March, 2020.

We also remind that, in September 2019, ExxonMobil announced plans to spend GBP140 million over the next two years in an additional investment program at its Fife ethylene plant, which has a capacity of more than 800,000 t/y.

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.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
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