Braskem, Dow Europe, Royal DSM emerge on top at Chemical Week sustainability awards

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The winners of Chemical Week’s inaugural Sustainability Awards, a virtual event that honors the chemical industry’s best sustainability efforts, have just been announced. The judging panel - comprising 13 judges with a variety of experience from companies across the chemical industry value chain, including Chemical Week editors, and IHS Markit experts - selected the winners from 75 submissions by nearly 40 companies, reported Chemweek.

“As the industry faces critical times, supplying products fighting Covid-19 - from advanced materials to healthcare ingredients, Chemical Week’s team thought it imperative to recognize the important work companies are doing building towards a more sustainable future,” said Lyn Tattum, IHS Markit vice president and publisher of Chemical Week. “Each category received compelling applications, with the Best Sustainable Product category generating particular interest.”

“Going through the entries, judges came across exceptional examples of how companies are incorporating sustainability into operations, product development, and strategic planning, underscoring the importance of the topic for the industry’s future,” she said.

Braskem SA, Dow Europe GmbH, and Royal DSM are the winners in the three categories at the Sustainability Awards 2020:

- Best Sustainable Product - recognizing sustainable products that have the most meaningful impact on environmental or sustainability performance;

Winner: Dow Europe GmbH for its RENUVA Mattress Recycling Program, which seeks to reduce waste by giving polyurethane (PU) foam from end-of-life mattresses a new life and enabling a circular economy for polyurethanes.

- Best Sustainable Initiative - for chemical makers publishing a sustainability or ESG report, recognizing the overall quality of sustainability-related metrics, overall impact of sustainability and environmental factors, social and governance metrics, transparency, and disclosure.

Winner: Braskem for its biobased sugarcane polymer production, which captures carbon dioxide (CO2) and contributes to reducing CO2 emissions. Braskem is the largest producer of biopolymers worldwide.

- Best Sustainable Program – recognizing sustainability initiatives that have the most meaningful impact on sustainability or ESG performance

Winner: Royal DSM for weaving sustainability and circularity into its corporate DNA via its product portfolio and corporate strategy. DSM Resins & Functional Materials (DSM R&FM) has replaced ‘Chemicals of Concern’ in its production while developing new sustainable technologies such as water-based, powder-, plant-based, and UV technologies. DSM R&FM also divested its solvent business to underline its commitment.

The Sustainability Awards 2020 forms part of Chemical Week’s Chemical Industry Financial Outlook & Sustainability Forum, an online event looking at the financial, operating, and strategic challenges the industry will face in the year ahead, focusing on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.

As MRC reported previously, Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem's 450,000 mt/year PP plant in LaPorte, Texas, along the Houston Ship Channel completed its initial commercial production, as per the company's statement as of Sept. 10. "The launch of commercial production at our new world-class PP production line in La Porte clearly affirms Braskem's position as the North American polypropylene market leader," Braskem America CEO Mark Nikolich said in a statement. With a USD750 million investment, the new PP plant's construction started in October 2017 and was completed in June, 2020.

We remind that production at Braskem's new PP plant in the US was at 36,000 tonnes in October, close to the monthly production capacity of the plant of around 38,000 tonnes.

Braskem operates five other US PP plants in Texas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, with a cumulative capacity of 1.57 million mt/year that the company acquired. The new plant in La Porte, Texas, is Braskem America's first PP new build.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC

Amcor recognized as ESG industry leader by MSCI ESG

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Amcor has retained the highest sustainability rating in the packaging sector and the second highest score possible from MSCI ESG, said the company.

In 2020, Amcor a leading packaging company received a rating of AA in the MSCI ESG Ratings assessment. This rating is the highest in the packaging industry and is the second highest rating available. 2020 is the 4th year in a row that Amcor has achieved an AA rating - MSCI describes AA rated companies as ‘a company leading its industry in managing the most significant ESG risks and opportunities’.

This rating is announced following the release of Amcor’s Sustainability Report and Sustainability Review both of which outline progress towards the company’s 2025 commitment to make all of its packaging recyclable or reusable and which track progress against a range of other metrics including use of recycled content and CO2 reductions.

Amcor’s AA rating is supported by the company’s investment in research and development to enable innovations in designed-to-be-recycled packaging and by its efforts to reduce environmental impact throughout the business. This rating recognizes the ongoing integration of sustainability into Amcor’s business and is a tribute to Amcor’s ongoing success in managing its ESG risks and opportunities.

David Clark, Vice President for Sustainability at Amcor said: “We are proud and pleased that Amcor’s industry leading efforts on sustainability have been recognized by MSCI. Our AA rating reflects the integration of sustainability into Amcor’s business from our innovation priorities to our supply chain to our management of our factories and plants. Investors can be confident that Amcor are managing our ESG risks and opportunities, and we are pioneering progress in the packaging sector."

Amcor reports on its sustainability metrics in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards: Core option and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Containers & Packaging Sustainability Accounting Standard version 2018-10. This is the ninth year that Amcor has reported in accordance with GRI and the first year it has reported using the SASB Standards.

As MRC informed earlier, Amcor PET bottlesAmcor has recently announced that it has designed the first polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles for pasteurized beer in Brazil. The company has used its leading-edge design technology to develop these bottles. Amcor has custom-designed 600-milliliter containers for beverage maker, New Age Bebidas of Leme in Sao Paulo. The bottles feature the beauty of a glass-like and champagne-style base combined with the convenience of lightweight and shatter-resistant PET.

As per MRC' ScanPlast, calculated consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) reached 52,71o tonnes in September 2020, down 27% compared to the same time a year before. Total consumption of PET in Russia in the nine months of 2020 reached 530,750 tonnes, down 22% than the same indicator last year.

Amcor works with leading companies around the world to protect their products differentiate brands, besides improving value chains through a range of flexible and rigid packaging including specialty cartons, closures, and services. The company is focused on making packaging that is increasingly light-weighted, recyclable and reusable, and is made by using a rising amount of recycled content. Presently, Amcor has operations at 250 locations in 40-plus countries.

MRC

Italy drafts guidelines for national hydrogen strategy

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Italy has set out guidelines for a national hydrogen strategy to help decarbonize the economy as it phases out coal and boosts renewable energy production to meet long-term climate targets, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In a draft document called National Hydrogen Strategy Preliminary Guidelines, the Industry Ministry said it was targeting investments in the sector of around 10 billion euros (USD12 billion) to 2030, with half of the amount coming from European funds and private investments. To help boost production of “green” hydrogen, about 5 gigawatts of electrolysis capacity to extract the gas from water would be introduced over the period, the document said.

Electrolysis can be a carbon-free process if the power used is generated from renewables. Hydrogen is now mostly produced from fossil fuels or other carbon emitting processes, as electrolysis is too expensive due to the amount of power needed. By 2030 hydrogen could make up 2% of Italy’s final energy demand and help eliminate up to 8 million tons of CO2, the document said. As the industry scales up and costs fall, this could reach up to 20% by 2050, it said.

The document, when published, will become a basis for consultation before a final hydrogen strategy is approved, possibly early next year. Brussels mapped out its plans this year to promote hydrogen as it strives for net zero emissions by 2050. France, Germany, and Spain have already set out their own targets.

Hydrogen today is too expensive for widespread use but as costs fall governments round the world see it as a replacement for fossil fuel in areas where electrification is not an easy solution. The ministry document, which said the plans could create more than 200,000 jobs and generate up to 27 billion euros for Italy’s gross domestic product, said hydrogen could be used in transport, heavy industry and natural gas pipelines.

Italian gas group Snam has been experimenting with a 10% mix of hydrogen in part of its natural gas network, while utility Enel and energy major Eni both have hydrogen plans.

As MRC informed previously, global oil demand may have already peaked, according to BP's latest long-term energy outlook, as the COVID-19 pandemic kicks the world economy onto a weaker growth trajectory and accelerates the shift to cleaner fuels.

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 ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC

Modi says India set to double oil refining capacity in 5 years, earlier than expected

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India plans to nearly double its oil refining capacity in the next five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, offering a much more aggressive timeline than previously, despite the coronavirus pandemic blighting the economy, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The country's energy minister was quoted in June as saying India's oil refining capacity could jump to 450-500 million tons in 10 years from the current level of about 250 million tons. But addressing a petroleum university's convocation, Modi said "work is being done to nearly double the country's oil refining capacity in the next five years".

The convocation was also addressed virtually by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, whose Reliance Industries Ltd operates the world's biggest oil refinery in Modi's home state of Gujarat. Modi said India was also aiming to raise the share of natural gas in its energy-consumption mix by up to four times. The cleaner-burning fuel currently accounts for about 6% of the energy consumed in the country.

India would achieve its targets of increasing renewable energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022 and 450 gigawatts by 2030 ahead of schedule, Modi added. The country had renewable energy capacity of about 75 gigawatts at the end of 2018.

As MRC informed earlier, India terminated the anti-dumping investigation on monoethylene glycol (MEG) imports from Kuwait, Oman, the UAE and Singapore. The applicant, Reliance Industries Limited, withdrew the application on anti-dumping investigation via a letter on 18 November stating that “in view of the current situation, they have withdrawn the aforesaid application with a liberty to resubmit the same”, according to a notification from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The anti-dumping investigation was launched on 9 December 2019.

MEG is mainly used in the production of polyester fibres, resins and films (around 80% of global consumption), followed by use in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin. It is also used as automotive antifreeze.

As per MRC' ScanPlast, calculated consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) reached 52,71o tonnes in September 2020, down 27% compared to the same time a year before. Total consumption of PET in Russia in the nine months of 2020 reached 530,750 tonnes, down 22% than the same indicator last year.
MRC

Japan oil refiners chief expects gasoline demand to fall and OPEC+ to delay plan to boost output

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sugimori, who chairs Japan's biggest oil refiner Eneos Holdings Inc, said that Japan's gasoline demand may fall deeper again in December and January due to the recent surge in the COVID-19 infections, reported Reuters.

Japanese gasoline demand is expected to decline only by 2% in November from a year earlier. But the drop may expand to as much as 9% in December-January, he said, matching the fall seen in August when the number of coronavirus cases spiked.

The head of the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) said on Friday he expects a grouping of OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, will likely delay a plan to boost output in January and stick to existing curbs of 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd).

"Given the weaker oil demand amid the resurgence of COVID-19 infections, OPEC+ is likely to keep the current curbs ... after January," Tsutomu Sugimori, president of PAJ, told a news conference.

OPEC+, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, will discuss policy at a meeting on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

The 7.7 million bpd reduction was implemented earlier this year to try to counter the impact of a drop in demand triggered by coronavirus lockdowns around the world.

Sources say OPEC+ members are now leaning towards delaying a previously agreed plan to raise output in January by 2 million bpd.

Tokyo raised its coronavirus alert to the highest level on Thursday as its daily tally of new infections rose to a record 534 and its governor called for maximum caution as the year-end holiday season approaches.

As MRC informed earlier, ENEOS Corporation (formerly known as JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy) is planning to take its larger naphtha cracker in Kawasaki off-line on 1 December 2020 for repairment after a technical issue reported at the butadiene separation unit last week. The cracker is currently operating at 95% capacity and would slowly reduce the run rates to completely shut down by the beginning of December. The cracker with an annual capacity of 515,000 tons/year of ethylene, 300,000 tons/year of propylene, and 105,000 tons/year of butadiene would be shut for a month. The company’s smaller cracker at the same location is not affected by the issue.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high denstiy polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

Japan's largest refiner JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy was renamed ENEOS Corporation on 25 June, 2020, as part of a wider re-organization of the parent company JXTG Holdings. The move, which also involved renaming the parent company to ENEOS Holdings upon approval at its annual shareholders meeting in June 2020, comes as it strives to be a more comprehensive energy and materials company under its 2040 vision announced in May, 2019. JXTG Holdings was formed as a result of a merger between JX Holdings and TonenGeneral in April 2017. This followed the establishment of JX Holdings as a result of the merger between Nippon Oil and Nippon Mining Holdings in April 2010.
MRC