ECHA to send proposed restriction on microplastics to EU Commission

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA; Helsinki, Finland) says it will send its restriction proposal on microplastics to the European Commission following the adoption of the proposal by ECHA's two committees, reported Chemweek.

According to ECHA, its Committee for Socio-economic Analysis (SEAC) has adopted an opinion on a restriction proposal that would ban microplastics in products such as cosmetics, detergents, and fertilizers and could lead to a ban on their use as soft infill on artificial turf sports pitches. The target of the proposed restriction is to prevent more than 500,000 metric tons of releases of intentionally added microplastics over a 20-year period, ECHA says.

Earlier this year, ECHA’s Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) concluded that an EU-wide restriction under the EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) legislation is the most appropriate means to address the risk of billions of small, solid plastic particles polluting the environment. SEAC also reached conclusions on the expected benefits and costs to society of the proposal, it says.

ECHA notes that other products such as paints and inks may also contain microplastics, but their use does not always lead to environmental releases, so these uses should not be prohibited but would need to be reported to ECHA to ensure that residual releases are monitored and could be controlled. Suppliers would also be required to provide instructions on how residual releases can be minimized, it says.

The total cost of the restriction to European society, over a period of 20 years, is estimated to be EUR10.8 billion (USD13.1 billion) or EUR19.1 billion depending on how environmental risks from the granular infill material, mainly from shredded car tires, are addressed, ECHA says. The costs cover the need to reformulate mixtures and replace microplastics with alternative materials, and the need for authorities to enforce the restriction, it says.

Restrictions under REACH are proposed by the Commission, voted on by EU member states in the REACH committee, and scrutinized by the European Council and European Parliament.

As MRC wrote previously, in mid-October, 2020, ECHA welcomed the European Commission’s EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and says it looks forward "to supporting its implementation". With its scientific and technical competency, the ECHA can play a key role in the various actions outlined in the strategy to work towards a toxic-free environment to protect people and the environment from hazardous chemicals, it said.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in October 2020 by 7.2% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals grew in the first ten months of 2020 by 6.3% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-October output. October production of polymers in primary form grew to 857,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in September. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 8,340,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical has acquired a greenfield property at a large integrated site in Geismar, Louisiana, and plans to advance its feasibility study for the design and construction of a 350,000-metric tons/year methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant, said Chemweek.

The plant will be the third and largest to employ the Alpha production technology developed by subsidiary Lucite. The company earlier in March this year announced its intent to build the plant.

Mitsubishi says that the location is suitable due to the readily available major raw materials, logistics infrastructure, integrated services, and skilled workforce. The project is in the early engineering stage and scheduled for final investment decision in early 2022. If approved, the plant would commence production in 2025.

The company earlier in November decided to end production of MMA and methacrylic acid at Beaumont, Texas, and close the facility. It plans to terminate production on 28 February 2021. The site has a production capacity for 135,000 metric tons/year of MMA.

The main application, consuming approximately 75% MMA, is in the production of polymethyl methacrylate acrylic plastics (PMMA). Methyl methacrylate is also used to produce methyl methacrylate-butadiene-styrene copolymer (MBS), used as a modifier for polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, October total production of unmixed PVC grew to 86,600 tonnes from 86,000 tonnes a month earlier, SayanskKhimPlast and Bashkir Soda Company increased their capacity utilisation. Overall output of polymer was 805,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, which virtually corresponds to the last year"s figure. Two producers increased their production, whereas two other manufacturers reduced their output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay says it is collaborating with PrinterPrezz (Fremont, California) to develop 3D-printing selective laser sintering solutions for implants and other medical devices, according to Chemweek.

Solvay's venture capital fund, Solvay Ventures, participated in PrinterPrezz’s recent USD16-million equity financing round, to support collaborative development efforts in specialized materials for medical equipment, Solvay says.

Solvay says it has more than 30 years of experience supplying high-performance polymers to the healthcare industry, and that PrinterPrezz specializes in combining polymer and metal 3D printing, in nanotechnologies, and has surgical expertise to design and manufacture next-generation medical devices.

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 ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC

1. Halix to provide drug substance for AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine candidate

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Halix (Leiden, Netherlands), a biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), says it has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to provide large-scale commercial manufacturing of drug substance AZD1222 for the COVID-19 vaccine candidate co-invented by the University of Oxford, UK, and its spin-out company Vaccitech, said Chemweek. Halix says it has expanded production at its 6,700 square-meter current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) facility at the Bio Science Park at Leiden with two additional viral vector production lines, to meet the increased demand.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil futures settled mixed Dec. 8 after a directionless session as the market pitted the rising threat of pandemic lockdowns against forecasts of tighter oil markets in 2021, reported S&P Global.

NYMEX January WTI settled 16 cents lower at USD45.60/b, while ICE February Brent was up 5 cents at USD48.84/b.

The US Energy Information Administration, in its monthly Short Term Energy Outlook released Dec. 8, revised its outlook for crude prices sharply higher from the month prior, citing an OPEC+ decision to partially extend production quotas into 2021.

The EIA expects Brent crude prices to average USD48.50/b in 2021, up USD1.91 from its November forecast of USD46.59/b.

WTI crude prices are expected to average at USD45.75/b next year, up USD1.51 from November's forecast of USD44.24/b.

The EIA cited the OPEC+ decision to boost production by just 500,000 b/d in January, instead of a scheduled 1.9 million b/d, as the reason for the upward revision. The move will lead to a tighter oil market in 2021, especially during the first quarter, the EIA said. As a result, the EIA now forecasts global oil inventories will draw on average 1.8 million b/d throughout the first quarter, an upward revision of 1 million b/d from November's outlook.

NYMEX January RBOB settled 1 point higher Dec. 8 at USD1.2559/gal, and January ULSD climbed 75 points to settle at USD1.4067/gal.

But the threat of more pandemic lockdowns capped upward price movement.

"The big cities in the US are getting hit hard again by the virus and that could translate into longer lockdowns that will deliver a bigger hit to fuel demand over the next couple of months," OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya said in a note. "Vaccine implementation across the US and Europe will be key for how quickly the crude demand outlook improves next year."

Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Dec. 8 announced that the state would be extending its lockdown measures for three weeks beyond an initial Dec. 14 expiration as the state battles rising case numbers.

Global coronavirus cases rose by 533,000 to nearly 68 million on Dec. 7, according to data from John Hopkins University. Some 200,000 of the new cases were in the US and 153,000 were across Europe. The UK began administering COVID-19 vaccines on Dec. 8.

In the US, which has yet to approve a vaccine, the seven-day moving average of coronavirus-caused deaths hit a fresh all-time high of 2,171 on Dec. 7, according to data from The Covid Tracking Project.

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% 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 PE and PP.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
MRC