ATS Automation receives USD65 million order for systems to produce COVID-19 test kits

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. has received a USD65 million order booking for two automated manufacturing systems that will produce components for COVID-19 test kits, said Canplastics.

Cambridge, Ont.-based ATS will design, build, and deliver the systems within the next four months to Tessy Plastics, a global contract manufacturer headquartered in Skaneateles, N.Y. that specializes in injection molding and custom automated assembly solutions.

The systems will enable production of 10 million units per month.

“Our teams have been hyper-focused on helping manufacturers address the critical need for medical equipment brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Andrew Hider, CEO of ATS. “ATS’ involvement in this critical program for Tessy Plastics brings forward our significant capabilities in life sciences coupled with our ability to quickly enable manufacturers to scale production at the highest levels of quality demanded in the medical device industry."

Tessy Plastics, which molds for medical and consumer markets, has plants in New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and China.

As MRC reported before, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) reported that with the effects of COVID-19 fully affecting in the U.S. economy, U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes fell 5.0 percent in March, accelerating from a 0.5 percent decline in February. Of the 28 specialty chemicals segments ACC monitors, only three expanded in March, down from 13 in February. Twenty-five markets declined in March, with large market volume gains (1.0 percent and over) occurring in cosmetic additives and flavors and fragrances. On a sequential basis, diffusion was 11 percent, down from 48 percent in February and 63 percent in January.

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) -- Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, has announced that Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors Mark Rohr has elected to retire from the Board effective June 1, 2020, as per the company's press release.

Lori Ryerkerk, President and Chief Executive Officer, has been elected by the Board to succeed Rohr as Chairman following the company’s Annual Meeting.

Rohr was appointed Executive Chairman of Celanese in May 2019, following his tenure as Chairman, President and CEO since April 2012. He has been a member of Celanese’s Board of Directors since April 2007. Under Rohr’s leadership, Celanese achieved record operating results and shareholder value. Having completed a successful onboarding and transition of all leadership responsibilities to Ryerkerk, Rohr felt now was the right time to retire.

"It’s always been my plan to step away once our leadership transition was complete. I have tremendous confidence in Lori, the Board and our colleagues, and I’m confident Celanese can continue to deliver increasing shareholder value over the quarters and years ahead," said Rohr. "It has been a great privilege to be a part of Celanese for the past 13 years and I am very proud of our nearly 8,000 employees for all they do every day to create value for our shareholders and make a positive impact on the communities we serve."

Ryerkerk became CEO and was elected to the Board in May 2019. Throughout her career, she has held a number of senior leadership roles across a range of businesses and geographies.

Ryerkerk said, "I am honored to have been chosen to succeed Mark as the Chairman of the Board of this extraordinary company. His unwavering focus on building a strong culture and his drive to create value for shareholders, customers and employees have made Celanese a better company and his contributions will have a profound impact on the organization for years to come. I want to thank Mark for his leadership and for his guidance during this leadership transition."

Ed Galante, Lead Independent Director of Celanese’s Board of Directors, said, "On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to congratulate Mark on his distinguished career and thank him for his outstanding stewardship of Celanese. As a result of Mark’s strategic direction, Celanese has become a stronger and more resilient company that is positioned well for long-term success. We wish him all the best in his retirement."

Galante continued, "Lori is doing an excellent job as CEO and is the logical choice to take on the role of Chairman in this orderly transition of leadership at Celanese. She recently led the creation of our updated base strategy and is well-suited to assume Mark’s efforts exploring strategic options for the Company. I look forward to partnering with Lori to lead the Board and deliver sustainable value for our shareholders."

Upon Rohr’s departure, the Celanese Board of Directors will consist of nine members, eight of whom will be independent directors. Galante will remain the Lead Independent Director, overseeing effective corporate governance, which promotes the long-term interests of stockholders and strengthens Board and management accountability.

As MRC reported earlier, Celanese Corporation has restarted its vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) unit in Singapore. The company has resumed operations at the unit on March 16, 2020. The unit was shut since February 4, 2020 following a fire at the site. Located in Jurong Island, Singapore, the unit has a production capacity of 210,000 mt/year.

VAM is the main feedstock for the production of ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA).

According to MRC's DataScope report, February EVA imports to Russia rose by 9,83% year on year to 3,107 tonnes from 2,829 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation increased in January-February 2020 by 8,36% year on year to 6,194 tonnes (5,716 tonnes a year earlier).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2019 net sales of USD6.3 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- NEO GROUP, one of the largest European PET producers, says it is currently working to full capacity, although the first days of the lockdown were followed by some minor challenges in the logistics chain, said Sustainableplastics.

"The food industry and related activities were pronounced strategic during the pandemic, and so our production is in full swing,” says Paulius Ambrazaitis, the chairman of NEO GROUP.

“The demand for packaged food currently grows, it is both fuelled by safety and longer shelf life that decreases the number of shopping trips. We are also seeing an increase in demand for segments such as bottles for disinfection liquids and the medical sector - the market needs more test containers, medicine packaging, and other products that use PET."

Production increased 15% last year at NEO GROUP according to the preliminary figures, while turnover dropped 6% to €508m. The decrease is attributed to the drop in raw material prices. Currently, NEO GROUP is fulfilling its first-quarter plans and expects at least 'stable' sales for the rest of the year. "We've been hearing negative feedback from the public regarding the plastics. It looked like the plastics industry was Public Enemy No. 1. Now, as the world faces a major pandemic, we see an increasing understanding that plastics packaging is probably the safest one, it has great barrier properties and prolongs the shelf life of products. Plastics are also needed everywhere - for the production of medical masks, shields, and disposable clothing. This is all made of polyethylene, polyester, PET. Safety is the main priority now. However, as consumers, we should remain responsible by recycling and not littering," commented Ambrazaitis who also highlighted NEO GROUP's commitment to circular economy efforts, as well as research and investment in this field.

Another Klaipeda PET giant - Orion Global PET, a member of Indorama Ventures family - is a little more reserved, but still very confident today. The company says its production, planning, and payments in the supply chain have all been steady, but logistics and supply processes now require a bit more effort from the company.

"I'm certain that once the pandemic is gone, the markets will need some time to strengthen,” says Jitendra Kumar Malik, the CEO of Orion Global PET. “I believe the negative impact of COVID-19 will take some time to heal. Nevertheless, by taking into account the globality of the pandemic and plans by governments to allocate finances, we believe we shall handle the situation well. We believe that our experience and capital will allow us to make the right decisions to secure our continuity and to stabilize the demand of our products used in the food and medical industries."

He says that the Klaipeda company maintained a "stable result" last year, but he doesn't want to speculate on this year's result because of unstable oil prices. He also stresses that society is interested in COVID-19-related information, but the protection of society and the health system is not possible without special fibres and plastics.

"I'd like to believe that eventually, the focus of the society will return to the areas of environment and packaging, but consumers will not be manipulated by selective facts,” Malik said.

”After the pandemic is gone, we will further strive to introduce society to our operations, deepen its understanding of PET during our educative meetings with school and university students, meetings with other industry players and in conferences."

He also added that the company has tested remote work during the lockdown and it worked very well. "We needed to review our operations management processes and to find new, better collaboration and information management measures,” Orion's manager said. “It worked well and we plan to continue after the outbreak."

As per MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption decreased to about 53,890 tonnes in February 2020, down by 3% year on year. 100,830 tonnes of PET chips were processed in Russia in the first two months of 2020. February PET production in Russia dropped to 45,800 tonnes, down by 5% year on year. Russia's overall PET production fell in January-February 2020 by 13% year on year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qingdao Haiwan Chemical, has planned resume operations at its styrene monomer (SM) plant in Shandong, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that, the company is likely to bring on-stream its plant following a turnaround by end-April, 2020. The plant was shut on March 21, 2020.

Located at Qingdao in Shandong province in China, the SM plant has a production capacity of 500,000 mt/year.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Russia, Nizhnekamskneftekhim reduced its April selling PS prices by Rb10,000/tonne. GPPS for injection moulding and extrusion was offered at Rb86,000-90,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, whereas HIPS - at Rb90,000-94,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. Penoplex reduced its GPPS prices by Rb10,000/tonne. Demand for the Kirishi plant's material remained quite good. And Gazprom neftekhim Salavat reduced its indicative prices by Rb8,000/tonne, and its GPPS prices for small- and medium-sized buyers have not been settled yet.

Qingdao Haiwan Chemical Co., LTD. was founded in 1947, one member enterprise of Qingdao HIWAN GROUP LTD in Dongjiakou Industrial Park, located in NO.66, Gangfeng Road, Poli Town, Huangdao District, Qingdao city, Shandong Province. The company's main product includes 32% and 50% caustic soda, vinyl chloride (VCM), SG-8, SG-7, SG-5, SG-3 type of polyvinyl chloride (SPVC), dichloroethane (EDC), styrene etc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Retal Industries group sees the recent developments from a quite positive perspective. In Klaipeda FEZ, it owns one of the largest European PET producers - NEO GROUP- and an HDPE caps and APET film manufacturer, Retal Baltic, said Sustainableplastics.

The initial data indicate that Retal Baltic generated some €46m in revenue last year, a 4.2% decrease compared to the year before. However, the company’s output at 22,400 tons was only 2.6% below 2018. Retal suggests that a major part of revenue decrease can be attributed to plummeting PET prices. This notwithstanding, company, also saw its profit rise 6% last year.

This year, Retal Baltic plans to fully employ the expansion projects of 2019 and to increase output to 28,000 tons. Consequently, it expects revenue to grow by 20% to €54.5m.

"Both of our core products - HDPE caps for drinks packaging and food-grade APET film - remain strategically important, even under the circumstances of business and societal restrictions,” says Viktorija Jureviciute, the CEO of Retal Baltic.

“Since the COVID-19 outbreak, we have witnessed a slight increase in demand from our existing customers; however, some projects with our new and prospective customers have temporarily stalled. That is because some testing, equipment set up, auditing, aligning, and other processes are always needed when onboarding new customers.”

As Retal Baltic increased its production capacity of caps by 15% and 35% for film, the company expects the revenue from these segments to grow in line with these numbers. While the numbers from March and early April look good, prolonged lockdowns and quarantines may impact projects with new customers. "We aren't concerned too much, as we have been paving long term relations with our customers,” said Jureviciute. “However, we are aware that the pandemic impacts various processes for both us and our partners. For instance, we were planning to upgrade some of our equipment, but our suppliers from Northern Italy aren’t operating currently. We expect to be late with this particular project, but by a few months, not more. Another challenge is the decrease of deposit PET bottle collection and recycling: consequently, there are less materials in the secondary PET market and the prices are growing. However, oil, as the primary material for PET, is getting less expensive."

The company also admits that decisions for future investment and expansion projects are currently on hold at both Retal Baltic and its international partners. However, the company is eager to resume its investment considerations once the situation becomes more stable. In March, Retal Baltic provided more than 3 tons of special APET film to Lithuanian makers' community, manufacturing protective shields for medics. The company has even modified some of its production processes to pursue this initiative. Jureviciute says that this contribution was pro bono, however, the company sees demand for such materials from the commercial segment. In the short run, such materials for protective shields may account for 2-3% of Retal Baltic's portfolio; however, this demand should significantly decrease or disappear after the pandemic goes away.

"Speaking of the long run though, it's obvious that product safety, sterility and long shelf life have now become incredibly important factors in society,” Jureviciute notes.

“But only plastics industry insiders have been talking about this and were rarely heard. The current situation has shown that we should split the features of packaging materials from the questions of their use, collection, and recycling. I'm certain that the 'safety first' principle will stick around for a long time among the consumers. Of course, we do support the efforts in the circular economy, recycling and environmental fields, but it now becomes clear that the market and its regulators won't be able to ignore the basic need for safety.”

As per MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption decreased to about 53,890 tonnes in February 2020, down by 3% year on year. 100,830 tonnes of PET chips were processed in Russia in the first two months of 2020. February PET production in Russia dropped to 45,800 tonnes, down by 5% year on year. Russia's overall PET production fell in January-February 2020 by 13% year on year.
MRC