Becht acquires EPS customer solutions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Becht Europe B.V. and EPS Customer Solutions B.V. have come together to better serve Refining, Petrochemical, and Renewable customers in the European, Middle Eastern, and African regions, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Becht has built a strong reputation for providing engineering solutions, plant services, software tools, and learning and development resources to over 95% of the refineries in the US & Canada, as well as internationally in Latin America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

Netherlands-based EPS Customer Solutions is providing expert consultancy and technical services to clients in Europe as well as elsewhere around the globe. Through the addition of EPS Customer Solutions, Becht establishes a broader physical presence in the EMEA region, growing local expertise while allowing the organization to better serve regional clients.

Charles Becht IV, CEO of Becht, said: “EPS Customer Solutions has great cultural alignment with Becht and a mutual interest in helping our clients succeed. We are thrilled about the joint opportunities presented by the acquisition."

Diederik Visser, Managing Director of EPS, said: “After having served its clients for over 10 years, EPS welcomes this opportunity to continue providing expert consultancy and technical services to its clients. We expect this acquisition will be a great opportunity for the EPS consultants to work for existing and new clients, while our clients will be able to benefit from the increased range of expertise and capabilities offered by Becht."

Chris van der Beek, Managing Director of Becht Europe, said: “I am very happy EPS Customer Solutions joined Becht – an excellent step change in our regional presence to service our joint clients in the EMEA region and provide them with the best solutions."

As per EPSilyte is seeking a price increase of 5 cents/lb (USD110/tonne) on all grades of expandable polystyrene (EPS) in North America as of 1 March. The announcement said that the increase was necessary to keep pace with rising operating costs as well as continuing investments into sustainability such as its Adept biodegradable EPS products. Increase for all grades of expandable polystyrene effective 1 March 2021; price rise due to escalating operating costs, need to continue sustainability investments.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PPG says it has completed its acquisition of VersaFlex, a maker of polyurea, epoxy, and polyurethane coatings for industrial and infrastructure markets, for an undisclosed sum, said Chemweek.

The deal was announced last month. VersaFlex has about 130 employees, and generated around USD70 million in revenue during 2020.

As per MRC, PPG Industries announced it will acquired Worwag (Stuttgart, Germany), a producer of liquid, powder and film coatings for industrial and automotive applications. Terms of the transaction, including purchase price, have not been disclosed. The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year. Worwag, a family-owned business, has operations in several countries in Europe, the Americas and Africa, and generates about EUR220 million/year (USD269 million) in revenue. It has about 1,100 employees.

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) -- Topsoe joins the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in recognition of the pressing need to reduce carbon emissions and the fact that the chemical sector is responsible for one eighth of global industrial carbon emissions, said the company.

This means that companies in this sector have a crucial role to play in limiting global warming. Topsoe is among 32 chemical companies who have joined the initiative globally and the 31st Danish company to commit. “Our commitment to the Science Based Target initiative goes hand-in-hand with our vision: To be recognized as the global leader in carbon emission reduction technologies by 2024. We support customers in cutting their emissions, and we are determined to cut emissions in our own operations. Short term, our target is a 15% reduction by the end of 2021, compared to 2019. For next year and beyond, we will define long-term reduction targets to be validated by SBTi," says Roeland Baan, CEO of Topsoe.

The SBTi target-setting process involve three categories of emissions as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Scope 1 and 2 are direct emissions where the company has operational control and indirect emissions from electricity consumption. Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain, e.g. supply chain operations and end-product usage by customers. Topsoe will report on Scope 1 and 2 emissions in its upcoming Sustainability Report 2020.

Topsoe is committed to contributing positively to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and joined the UN Global Compact in May 2020, pledging to align policies and action with its Ten Principles.

As MRC reported earlier, Braskem, the largest petrochemical company in the Americas and a world leader in the production of biopolymers, and Denmark-based Haldor Topsoe, a global leader in supply of catalysts, technology, and services for the chemical and refining industries, announced in November 2020 that they had achieved their first-ever demo-scale production of bio-based monoethylene glycol (MEG).

MEG is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimate PET consumption reached 61,110 tonnes in November 2020, up by 1% year on year. Overall PET consumption in Russia reached 648,110 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020, down by 18% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Corp has begun restarting its 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas, refinery and adjoining chemical plant, a company spokesman said Reuters.

Exxon posted an online notice to nearby residents that the refinery was starting up after a shut-down driven by severe cold weather and the curtailment of natural gas supply.

"We have begun restart activities at our Beaumont facilities," said Exxon spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry. "Our primary focus continues to be the safety of employees, contractors and communities in the region."

Some units at the complex were kept in operation to return power to the grid, Exxon said in an earlier statement, producing 200 megawatts and supplying electricity to 100,000 homes.

As MRC informed before, earlier this week, ExxonMobil Corp said it will close its 72-year-old Altona refinery in Australia, the country’s smallest, and convert it to a fuel import terminal as refiners struggle with low demand.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world"s oil and about 2% of the world's energy.

MRC

1. US polymer-grade propylene prices reach record high on tight supply

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US polymer-grade propylene (PGP) prices have reached a record high as strained supply continues to meet heightened demand, said Chemweek. PGP prices have increased rapidly since the start of February as Enterprise Products took its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Mont Belvieu, Texas, down for a planned turnaround. Over the first two weeks of this month, PGP increased from its open of 73.375 cts/lb on 1 February to 98 cts/lb by 9 February. As of Tuesday morning, markets were relatively quiet as the impact of Winter Storm Uri was being assessed. Estimated refinery operable utilization rates in the Gulf Coast (PADD 3) were 84.3%, according to EIA data for the week ending 15 January. This is compared to 90.2% last year and 92.9% in 2019, reflecting refinery reductions that continue to linger following the decrease in fuel demand caused by COVID-19.

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