MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay has been awarded a new five-year material supply contract for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 aircraft. The new contract extends Solvay’s long-standing partnership on the F-35 program and underlines the company’s leadership in composite and adhesive technologies for military platforms, said the company.
"It is a privilege to be the principal supplier of structural composites and adhesives to Lockheed Martin multinational F-35 program," said Carmelo Lo Faro, President of Solvay Composite Materials Global Business Unit. "This contract extension builds not only on our F-35 program commitment, but also the partnership Solvay and Lockheed Martin have shared for more than 30 years and our ability to innovate together."
The F-35 is the U.S. Department of Defense's flagship program that is delivering an advanced, affordable 5th Generation multi-role fighter platform for the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy; and international customers. It constitutes the largest global military program in history.
From its facilities in the U.S. and Europe, Solvay has so far supported the manufacturing and delivery of more than 550 aircraft now operating in nine countries. In meeting these challenging demands, Solvay supplies a unique and rich portfolio of more than 50 products to the F-35 program, including structural composites such as CYCOM® 5250-4, a bismaleimide (BMI) prepreg system known for performance-enhancing capability at high temperatures, and industry standard CYCOM® 977-3, a toughened epoxy resin prepreg system; structural adhesive FM® 300 and a lightning strike protection surfacing film FM 309-1.
The new contract with Lockheed Martin will be managed by Solvay and its U.S.-based subsidiary CDM, which operates under a special security agreement. The contract will formally commence on January 1, 2021.
As MRC reported earlier, in August, 2020, through the acquisition of the Solvay polyamide (PA) business, BASF enhanced its R&D capabilities in Asia Pacific with new technologies, technical expertise, and upgraded material and part testing services. BASF is planning to integrate the R&D centers from Solvay into its R&D existing facilities in Shanghai, China, and Seoul, Korea. The enhanced capabilities will boost BASF’s position as a solution provider to develop advanced material solutions for key industries.
We remind that BASF-YPC, a 50-50 joint venture of BASF and Sinopec, undertook a planned shutdown at its naphtha cracker on 30 April 2020. The company initially planned to start turnaround at the cracker on April 5, 2020. The plant remained under maintenance unitl 18 June, 2020. Located in Jiangsu, China, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 750,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 400,000 mt/year.
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