RadiciGroup to invest in PPE component capacity in Italy

MOSCOW (MRC) -- RadiciGroup is investing EUR15m to purchase a production line for meltblown nonwoven, a material used in protective face masks, said the company.

The move follows a shortage of the material in Italy. The synthetic fibre producer will manufacture meltblown nonwoven polymer filaments, the key component in personal protective equipment (PPE), saying that current supply in Europe is insufficient to keep up with the heightened demand brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

"In the midst of the pandemic crisis, the lack of meltblown nonwoven became evident," said Maurizio Radici, COO of RadiciGroup.

"We kept receiving tens of requests from potential customers. A very small quantity of meltblown material is produced in Europe, which is certainly not sufficient to meet demand in a health emergency," he added.

The production line, which will be installed at the company’s site in Bergamo, Italy, can be utilised to manufacture materials based on polypropylene (PP), polyester, polyamide and thermoplastic polyurethane.

As mRC informed earlier, Radici Group announced force majeure for the supply of polyamide (PA 6.6) from its plant in Novara (Novara, in the Italian region of Piedmont) in 2018. The company was forced to declare force majeure for supplies from this enterprise with a capacity of 90 thousand tons of PA per year in February 2018 due to a lack of raw materials.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, negotiations over January prices of European PP began in the first days of the month. All market participants reported that European producers have gone for a significant increase in export prices for propylene polymers. Moreover, some producers adjusted their export prices twice in the first two weeks of January.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yeochun Naphtha Cracking Centre (YNCC) has pushed back the restart of its No. 2 naphtha cracker in Yeochun, Yeosu, South Korea to 18 January, 2021, after completing the expansion work, reported Chemweek.

The company took the cracker off-stream around the third week of October 2020 for two months of maintenance, YNCC has been also expanding the cracker's capacity to 915,000 tons/year of ethylene from the existing 580,000 tons/year.

YNCC is a joint venture between South Korean firms Hanwha and Daelim. The new ethylene capacity would be supplied to Daelim’s new mPE plant at the adjacent location.

YNCC owns two other naphtha crackers in Yeosu with a combined capacity of 1.325 million tons/year.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

South Korea’s Yeochun NCC (YNCC) pyrolyzes naphtha to produce basic feedstock materials for the petrochemical industry. YNCC, a joint venture between South Korean firms Hanwha and Daelim, is a key exporter of ethylene and propylene in the country.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) reached 976,500 tonnes in 2020, up by 0.2% year on year. Only two producers managed to increase their PVC output, according to MRC's ScanPlast report.

December total production of unmixed PVC was about 85,300 tonnes versus 86,100 tonnes a month earlier, RusVinyl decreased its capacity utilisation last month. Overall output of polymer were 976,500 tonnes in 2020 from 975,000 tonnes a year earlier. Two producers increased their production, whereas two other manufacturers reduced their output.

The structure of PVC production by plants looked the following way over the stated period.

RusVinyl reduced its capacity utilisation in December and produced about 27,400 tonnes of PVC, with emulsion polyvinyl chloride (EPVC) accounting for 2,300 tonnes, compared to 28,900 tonnes a month earlier. Total SPVC production at RusVinyl was 332,900 tonnes in 2020, compared to 339,800 tonnes in 2019.
SayanskKhimPlast increased its capacity utilisation last month and produced about 27,900 tonnes of suspension PVC (SPVC), whereas this figure was 27,100 tonnes in November. The plant managed to produce 299,500 tonnes of PVC in January-December 2020, compared to 294,500 tonnes a year earlier.

Baskhir Soda Company produced about 23,100 tonnes of SPVC in December, against 23,200 tonnes a month earlier. The Baskhir plant's overall production of PVC reached 267,600 tonnes in January-December 2020, up 2% year on year.

Kaustik, Volgograd's PVC production was about 6,900 tonnes last month versus 7,000 tonnes in November. The plant's overall production of PVC reached 76,500 tonnes in 2020 versus 77,500 tonnes a year earlier.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Expandable polystyrene (EPS) resin producer Epsilyte (The Woodlands, Texas) is hiking prices for the second month in a row for all grades of EPS by 4 cents/pound, effective 1 February 2021 or as contracts permit, said Chemweek.

The price rise “is necessary based on the need for the business to achieve reinvestment economics,” it says. The company announced a price increase in December on all its EPS grades, effective 1 January 2021, saying that rise was necessary based on supply and demand dynamics, as well as the need for reinvestment economics.

According to MRC's ScanPlast, in Russia, the estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics for the eleven months of 2020 amounted to 454.990 tonnes, which corresponds to the consumption indicator for the same period last year. The estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics in the country in November increased by 4% compared to the same month of 2019 and amounted to 45,830 tonnes.

Epsilyte is owned by private equity firm Balmoral Funds (Los Angeles, California).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay says it has accelerated changes that form part of the company’s G.R.O.W. strategy, announced at the end of 2019, due to the “new economic reality linked to COVID-19”, reported Chemweek.

The strategy involves a reorganization of the company's businesses and efficiency improvements to create a new operating model and simplified portfolio. When announcing the strategy, Solvay said it was targeting cost cuts of EUR300-350 million (USD366-427 million) by 2024. G.R.O.W. stands for “growth, resilient cash, optimize, win.”

Solvay says in a statement emailed to CW on Wednesday that it is re-examining its business support activities, which has accelerated the changes. These activities include human resources, facilities, information technology, communications, finance, procurement, industrial, strategy, and legal functions.

“In the new operating model, corporate functions and business support activities will be led centrally and deployed locally as needed, sharing the same global standards, processes, and tools across the board and leveraging operational efficiency within the group,” the statement says.

The decision to implement the new operating model for business support activities will be taken after a consulting phase, Solvay says. The implementation should start in the second quarter of 2021 and be fully implemented by mid-2022, it says.

Solvay issued the statement in response to Belgian press reports that it plans to cut hundreds of jobs as part of a restructuring plan. Newspaper De Tijd reports that an unidentified source has said 900 jobs would be affected. Solvay, which has a workforce of about 24,000, reportedly informed employees and trade unions of its plans on Wednesday morning.

As MRC informed 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 decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 24,100 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities and delivered net sales of EUR10.2 billion in 2019. Solvay is listed on Euronext Brussels (SOLB) and Paris and in the United States, where its shares (SOLVY) are traded through a Level I ADR program.
MRC