Henkel Adhesive Technologies expands UV capabilities

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Henkel Adhesive Technologies, a market leader of high-impact solutions in adhesives, sealants and functional coatings, recently broke ground for a new, state-of-the-art production area for UV-curable acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) at the site in Salisbury, North Carolina, said the company.

The new facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2021. This expansion of Henkel’s existing site broadens the company’s capabilities to provide more sustainable and innovative pressure sensitive adhesive solutions to the tape, label, medical, and graphic films markets.

"Henkel’s solvent-free, UV PSA line enables broader industry use of acrylic-based adhesives. Combining the ease of use of a traditional rubber-based hot melt with the enhanced performance of acrylic polymers represents not only a step-change in innovation but demonstrates Henkel’s continued commitment to sustainability,” said Brian McSwigan, Vice President of Business Development.

UV-curable hot melt adhesives address changing market needs and enhance the customer experience. They are designed to coat a variety of facestocks, serving all segments of traditional pressure sensitive markets. Branded as Loctite Durotak UV, Henkel will offer a comprehensive set of adhesive chemistries from this new facility, including pure polymer, formulated free radical, and cationic curing systems. Unique to Henkel, cationic cured UV PSAs utilize a novel curing page 2/3 mechanism, allowing for lower energy consumption and through-cure of extremely high coat weights (double to triple that of traditional free radical systems).

"This is an exciting time for Henkel as we begin construction of our first UV pressure sensitive adhesive manufacturing facility here in North America. We remain focused on enhancing the consumer experience bringing real value to our customers and their brands,” said Gary Rzonca, Vice President, Packaging & Consumer Goods, North America.

Henkel’s Salisbury facility manufactures adhesives used extensively in the packaging, consumer goods and electronics markets. Created with consumers in mind, Henkel’s consumer packaging adhesives offer high-impact solutions to allow fast moving consumer goods companies to achieve efficient, reliable, and sustainable solutions.

As MRC informed earlier, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Dusseldorf, Germany) announced that Henkel Adhesives Technologies has officially inaugurated its new production facility in Kurkumbh, India.

Henkel are also partnering with Borealis and plastics solutions company Borouge to develop flexible packaging solutions for detergents containing both virgin polyethylene (PE) and high amounts of post-consumer recyclate (PCR) in efforts to increase sustainability.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of chemical products rose in June 2020 by 2.6% year on year. However, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 4.9% in the first six months of 2020. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the output in January-June. Production of benzene was 106,000 tonnes in June 2020, compared to 110,000 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of this product reached 721,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 3.9% year on year.
MRC

ACC names new VP of plastics division

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, DC) has named Joshua Baca vice president/plastics, effective 8 September, reported Chemweek.

Baca is currently senior vice president/public affairs at the American Beverage Association (ABA), where he led the launch of a new sustainability initiative and helped advance community-based recycling projects, says ACC. The previous vice president of the plastics division, Steve Russell, retired earlier this year.

“Joshua brings deep expertise on complex environmental and sustainability public policy issues that require coalition and consensus-building,” says ACC president and CEO Chris Jahn. “Nowhere is that more critical than helping to identify, advance, and implement large-scale solutions to solve the issue of plastic waste in our environment.”

As MRC wrote before, in January, 2019, Thailand’s Indorama Ventures (IVL) completed a deal to acquire a plant for the processing of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from the US company Custom Polymers PET. Indorama acquired a PET processing plant on January 2 and closed the deal on January 15. The plant is located next to the AlphaPet polyester plant in Alabama, USA. The deal was announced in December, 2018. The complex consists of two production lines - one for the production of recycled PET (A-PET) flakes, and the other for the production of food A-PET, with a total capacity of 31 thousand tons per year. This acquisition delivers recycled PET for the food packaging sector, as well as for the fiber sector in North America.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption totalled 367,720 tonnes in the first six months of 2020, up by 19% year on year. Russian companies processed 62,910 tonnes of material in June.
MRC

US petroleum inventories show gradual rebalancing

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US petroleum inventories show clear signs of trending lower as consumption slowly recovers from the epidemic and lockdowns, while Saudi Arabia restricts production and directs volumes away from North America, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Total petroleum inventories fell last week for the fourth time in five weeks, and are now down more than 17 million barrels since early July, according to data from the USEnergy Information Administration.

The drawdown has started to whittle away some of the 222 million barrels built up between the end of March and the end of June.

Petroleum inventories are still 148 million barrels (7.5%) higher than at the same time last year and 137 million barrels (7.0%) above the five-year average.

But the relentless increase in stocks during the second quarter has given way to consistent draws which indicates the market has switched from a production surplus to deficit.

The first phase of rebalancing has been concentrated entirely in crude, where stocks have fallen 27 million barrels since early July, accounting for all the total draw over this period.

Crude inventories, including the strategic petroleum reserve, are still 46 million barrels (4%) above the five-year average, but the surplus has shrunk from 64 million (6%) in mid-July.

The drawdown in crude stocks has been accelerated by a sharp slowdow in crude oil imports, especially from Saudi Arabia.

Crude imports are running well under 6 million barrels per day, close to recent lockdown lows, and among the slowest rates since the early 1990s.

For the fourth week running, imports from Saudi Arabia were well below the average for the past year.

Volume warfare, which sent US inventories surging when extra tankers discharged their cargoes into the United States between late May and early July, has given way to an effort to starve the US market to bring stocks down.

By contrast, inventories of refined fuels and intermediate semi-refined products, have not shown a consistent down trend. Distillate fuel oil stocks, in particular, have remained stubbornly high.

Fuel consumption and refinery crude runs are edging slowly higher but remain 8% and 15% respectively below the prior-year five-year average.

In turn, weak fuel consumption and bloated stocks are weighing on product prices and keeping margins, especially for distillates, close to multi-year lows.

By restricting crude processing well below prior-year levels, refiners are gradually digesting the excess stocks built up during lockdown, but progress is much slower than the rebalancing of the crude market.

As MRC informed before, US crude oil inventories moved sharply lower during the week ended July 24 as exports and refinery demand climbed to multi-month highs, US Energy Information Administration data showed July 29. Commercial crude stocks fell 10.61 million barrels to 525.97 million barrels that week, EIA data showed. While the draw pushed stockpiles to 14-week lows, they remained more than 17% above the five-year average for this time of year.

Earlier this year, BP said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40 per cent in 2020, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.

And 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 DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC

SIBUR breaks ground on Amur GCC project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A construction site in the Amur Region saw the sinking of the first test pile in the foundation of Amur Gas Chemical Complex, a facility set to become one of the world’s largest and most advanced basic polymer producers, said the company.

The official ceremony was held online and was attended via video conference by Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, relevant Ministers, Vasily Orlov, Governor of the Amur Region, Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board at SIBUR Holding, and other representatives of government authorities, the Company and its partners.

The Amur GCC project envisages construction of a basic polymer production facility with a total capacity of 2.7 mtpa (2.3 mtpa of polyethylene and 400 ktpa of polypropylene). The facility will feature a unique and the world's largest cracking unit for the first-stage processing of incoming feedstock.

Amur GCC will be launched in synch with the gradual ramp-up of Gazprom's Amur Gas Processing Plant to its full capacity, so that the latter could supply ethane and LPG to Amur GCC for processing into high value-added products. The completion of construction and commissioning is scheduled for 2024–2025. Once in operation, Amur GCC will give a major boost to the growth of non-commodity exports, as Amur GCC’s polymer production capacity is 1.35 times higher than total polymer exports in 2019.

China's Sinopec, the world’s largest petrochemical company, is expected to become SIBUR’s partner under this project. As a national leader of the oil and gas processing industry, Sinopec boasts an extensive distribution network in China for oil and gas products of varying processing levels. This country remains the key driver behind global polymer consumption growth and is a target market for Amur GCC.

Most on-site preparations at AMUR GCC have been accomplished. Contracts for detail design and equipment and materials supplies for the facility’s key process units have been signed and are being fulfilled. SIBUR’s technology partners are Linde and NIPIgaspererabotka (cracking units), Univation Technologies and Chevron Phillips (ethylene polymerisation) and LyondellBasell (propylene polymerisation). NIPIgaspererabotka will be responsible for project management, procurement and construction of off-site facilities. Where unique foreign licensed equipment is not required, the project will source up to 80% of supplies locally – the highest reliance on local procurement among major gas chemical projects in Russia. Moreover, supplies such as metal structures, construction materials, laboratory and remote control equipment are all intended to come exclusively from local manufacturers.

“This is one of the largest investment projects in Russia that brings strategic benefits to the gas industry and the country at large. In a very short span of time, Russia's Amur Region will see the opening of a giant factory with most advanced production techniques based on modern IT and telecommunications technologies. Launching these technologies is an investment in the future. We are forging new growth paths for the Amur Region, giving an impetus to the local economy. I am confident that the project will create thousands of high-tech jobs and drive the development of the transport and social infrastructure in the region. This will not only boost the economy, but will make the life of people in this beautiful place more comfortable. Building a gas chemical complex will unleash new opportunities for the region and coupled with the opening of a gas processing plant will surely create a multiplier effect for the economy,” said Mikhail Mishustin.

"Amur GCC that we are laying the foundation for today is a world-class project of high strategic importance to our region. It will create a multiplier effect, improving the image of the region, attracting investment, contributing to the region's GDP and generating tax revenues for budgets of all levels, as well as facilitating the development of related and associated industries and social infrastructure. As a highly resource-intensive project this facility will increase the number of jobs at both construction and post-commissioning stages. With a new gas chemical cluster in place, students and graduates will have a wider choice of careers to pursue. This will help us curb talent outflow and offer the youth new digital professions and opportunities for well-paid interesting jobs in the Russian Far East,” said Vasily Orlov.

"Amur GCC is another step forward towards transforming SIBUR into a global-level petrochemical company. The complex will be a key project in SIBUR’s investment programme for the next five years and upon commissioning will almost double our basic polymer production capacities, even taking into account ZapSibNeftekhim that is currently ramping up to the full-scale output level. Long-term forecasts for petrochemicals demand, proximity to the sales markets and a well thought out feedstock base give us confidence that Amur GCC will be a highly effective and competitive business that will help SIBUR gain a strong foothold in both Russia and globally," said Dmitry Konov.

In addition to Amur GCC, the nation's largest gas processing and gas-chemical cluster will be created in the Russian Far East to boost the region's development. What makes the project even more important is the fact it is a stepping stone to unlocking the country’s huge non-commodity export potential. Deep conversion of ethane, a key feedstock for Amur GCC, quadruples the added value of the resulting product. By 2040, this project is expected to increase non-commodity exports by RUB 4.6 tn. The significant role of the project is acknowledged by the agreement to make Amur GCC a resident of the Svobodny Priority Development Area that was signed by Alexei Vereshchagin, CEO of Amur GCC LLC, and Dmitry Tetenkin, Director General of the Far East Development Corporation JSC.

Amur GCC will be the world’s first petrochemical complex to implement a remote control room. The project will benefit from over 150 digital and automated solutions and 24/7 remote monitoring and control of most process operations. Amur GCC is set to become an example of the most advanced solutions in engineering data management, with all technical documents, engineering data and the 3D model being aligned and available in just one click. The project data will be accumulated and made accessible both at the construction stage and during operation for future refurbishments, modernisations, repairs and maintenance.

In line with SIBUR's Sustainability Strategy, Amur GCC will employ state-of-the-art processes such as smokeless flaring and using renewable energy sources where possible, both of which are now emerging as new trends gaining traction in the global petrochemical industry while the world seeks to reduce carbon footprint.

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

SIBUR is the leader of the Russian petrochemical industry and one of the largest companies globally in this sector, with more than 23,000 employees. The Company’s unique vertically integrated business model allows it to create highly competitive products consumed in the chemical, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, construction, energy and other industries in 80 countries worldwide.

SIBUR helps to reduce CO2 emissions stemming from the burning of oil extraction by-products, such as associated petroleum gas (APG), by recycling them instead. In 2020, SIBUR processed 22.6 billion cubic metres of APG, thus cutting greenhouse emissions by 72 million tonnes, which is equivalent to the annual CO2 footprint of a middle-sized European country. In 2020, SIBUR reported revenue of USD 8.2 billion and EBITDA of USD 2.6 billion. Over the past 10 years, SIBUR has implemented a number of large-scale investment projects worth more than RUB 1 trillion.
MRC

Braskem joins the polypropylene recycling coalition

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem, the largest polyolefins producer in the Americas and leading producer of biopolymers in the world, announces its participation as a founding member and funding partner of the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, a new initiative of The Recycling Partnership, said the company.

Braskem's collaboration within the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition will focus on increasing curbside recycling access for polypropylene (PP) to ensure this critical packaging material is widely recovered and reused in end-markets including food and beverage packaging, consumer products and automotive parts.

Geoffrey Inch, Braskem's North America Sustainability Director, states, "As the North American leader in polypropylene, Braskem is committed to strengthening the recycling and circularity of polypropylene. In addition to a financial commitment, Braskem is also bringing our technical expertise and market knowledge to drive necessary improvements in the U.S. recycling infrastructure for recovering polypropylene. Polypropylene is used in many vital applications that contribute to a sustainable and healthy life, and Braskem's collaboration with The Recycling Partnership is an essential step to ensuring PP recyclability for the clients and brand owners we serve."

In a announcement from The Recycling Partnership, Keefe Harrison, CEO, stated, "Together, we can stimulate a system-wide shift to increase the capture of polypropylene and demand of recycled content. We encourage all companies that utilize polypropylene to be part of the solution. The work of the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition to improve and increase the recovery of polypropylene will support jobs, preserve natural resources, and help build a circular economy in the United States."

The primary focus of the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition will be to achieve the same high levels of recycling for polypropylene (PP) as other plastics like polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

In addition to the founding members of the Coalition like Braskem, there will also be an advisory committee of aligned organizations including Association of Plastic Recyclers, Closed Loop Partners, Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, Sustainable Packaging Coalition, and World Wildlife Fund. Former EPA Administrator Carol Browner will serve as an independent advisor to the Coalition.

Earlier it was reported that the structure of Braskem Idesa polyethylene (PE) sales by destination over the past twelve months has changed due to sales in Asia. Total sales in the first quarter of 2020 were up 2% compared to the same quarter last year, but sales to Asia accounted for only 13% of sales made in the same period in 2019.

According to MRC DataScope, imports of PE to Russia decreased by 7% in January-June this year and reached 328,000 tonnes. The largest decrease in external supplies fell on high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

Braskem is a Brazilian petrochemical company headquartered in Sao Paulo. The company is the largest petrochemical company in South America and the fifth largest in the world in terms of production.
MRC