MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF and Corteva on Friday filed separate motions to intervene in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit case challenging the EPA registration of the dicamba herbicides marketed by Bayer as XtendiMax, BASF as Engenia, and Corteva as FeXapan, said Chemweek.
Farmers and commercial operators may use existing stocks of XtendiMax, Engenia, and FeXapan that were in their possession as of 3 June 2020, the date of the court’s decision. Use must be consistent with the products' previously approved labels and may not continue after 31 July 2020.
BASF says it made the decision to intervene after considering the financial impact vacating the registration has had on farmers at a time when farmers have less than a month to protect millions of acres threatened by herbicide-resistant weeds. The EPA issued a cancellation order that stopped distribution or sale of these three dicamba products on 8 June.
“Taking this action during the height of the application season gives no regard to the significant investments farmers have made in their businesses and leaves them without viable options for the growing season,” said Paul Rea, senior vice president, BASF Agricultural Solutions North America. “Farming is difficult even in the best of times and remains challenging. Making this decision now, when weed resistance continues to threaten farming operations, is disastrous for our customers. Farmers have counted on applications of dicamba-based products to control troublesome weeds for decades, and they continue to need these tools now and in the future.”
Corteva was not a party to the lawsuit, and until 3 June, the case appeared to involve only the XtendiMax registration. The Ninth Circuit Court, however, vacated EPA’s registration of XtendiMax, Engenia, and Corteva’s registration for DuPont FeXapan with VaporGrip Technology, Corteva said. “Corteva is seeking to intervene to preserve our rights and to support the rights of customers to use the impacted dicamba weed control technologies. We believe dicamba is an effective weed management tool for farmers when used according to the label. We also seek to preserve the role of the U.S. EPA to administer the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), including granting or cancelling crop protection product registrations, for the benefit of agriculture and society,” Corteva says.
Bayer has welcomed EPA’s swift action. “XtendiMax and the other low-volatility dicamba products are vital tools that many growers rely on to safely, successfully, and sustainably protect their crops from weeds. Our top priority is making sure all our customers have the support they need to have a successful season…We will continue working with the EPA, growers, academics, and others to provide long-term access to this important tool,” Bayer says.
As MRC informed earlier, BASF announced that it will close its manufacturing facility in Erie in 2021. BASF produces process catalysts used primarily in the petrochemical industry. According to BASF, most production operations will cease by the end of 2020. The facility will continue to fulfill confirmed customer requests through the first quarter of 2021 and final decommissioning and demolition work are anticipated through mid-2022.
We remind that BASF has restarted its No. 1 steam cracker following a maintenance turnaorund. Thus, the company resumed operations at the plant on September 30, 2019. 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 PE and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 267,630 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 20% year on year. Homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers accounted for the main decrease in imports.
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 EUR59 billion in 2019.
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