Merck KGaA to expand production unit in France

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany) announced that it will add a single-use assembly production unit at its Life Science Center in Molsheim, France, said Chemengonline.

With the EUR25-million investment, the company is accelerating its European expansion plans for this key technology, which is used for the production of Covid-19 vaccines and other lifesaving therapies. Molsheim will be the first site in Europe where the Life Science business sector manufactures the product. Further production sites are located in Danvers, Massachusetts, and Wuxi, China.

"The pandemic has confronted the world with inconceivable challenges. The science and technology efforts of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany have resulted in significant contributions since the outset of Covid-19. Our new European production unit will increase capacity of the urgently needed supply of single-use assemblies to vaccine and therapeutic manufacturers worldwide. Today’s announcement of our expansion in Europe speaks of the company’s global commitment during and beyond this pandemic," said Belen Garijo, Vice Chair of the Executive Board and Deputy CEO of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

The investment in Molsheim will add more than 350 new jobs in total along with 1,700 square meters of ISO7 or ISO5 cleanrooms, using modular building design and existing infrastructure to allow future expansions without any disruptions. The new unit will produce Mobius single-use assemblies, a key offering that is part of the Mobius MyWay program of the company’s Life Science business. It is planned to be operational by the end of 2021.

With more than 1,700 employees of 32 different nationalities, and producing more than 10,000 products, the Molsheim hub is the third largest site globally belonging to the company’s Life Science business. It supplies the world market, exporting more than 85 percent of its production. It hosts three production units dedicated to the manufacture and assembly of products and solutions for pharmaceutical manufacturing processes and applied solutions products for analysis in clinical and industrial environments and water purification systems.

Recently, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany announced expansion projects in its Life Science business sector in Darmstadt, Germany; Cork, Ireland; Buchs, Switzerland; Carlsbad, California; Madison, Wisconsin; Jaffrey, New Hampshire; and Danvers, Massachusetts. At the latter site, the company is currently working to double the local single-use production capacity by the end of 2021. These expansions are part of an ambitious, multi-year program to increase the industrial capacity and Life Science capabilities to support growing global demand for lifesaving medications and to make significant contributions to public health.

As per MRC, Russia's output of chemical products rose in February 2021 by 5.3% year on year. Thus, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 7.5% in the first two months of 2021. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, mineral fertilizers accounted for the greatest increase in the January-February output. Production of benzene dropped to 113,000 tonnes in February 2021, compared to 120,000 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of this product reached 241,000 tonnes over the stated period, down by 7.5% year on year.

Headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, Merck opened an OLED application center in Pyeongtaek, Korea, in 2015. Merck Korea now has 11 operation sites and some 1,200 employees and operates businesses in functional materials, health care and life sciences. The functional materials business encompasses advance materials for information technology products such as displays and semiconductors. It also includes cosmetics and paints for automobiles.
Its health care business involves pharmaceuticals and medical devices for treatments of cancer, multiple sclerosis and infertility. The life sciences business deals in an extensive portfolio of over 300,000 products used for protein research, cell biology, antibodies, water purification and microbiome tests.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Turkish plastics converters intend to fight against a sharp increase in raw material prices and will refuse to buy it from 1 April, 2021, the Turkish Plastics Industry Foundation (PAGEV) Association of Polymers of Turkey said in a statement.

Plastics converters in China also announced a similar campaign. PAGEV and China’s processing and machine manufacturing associations (CPPIA) and CPMIA (China’s processing and machine manufacturing associations) have reached an agreement on action in the polymer market, which includes a moratorium on the purchase of foreign raw materials.

Turkish media quotes PAGEV President Yavuz Eroglu: “We will not buy polymers until stocks of raw materials have dropped to a critical level. price reduction".

Earlier in February, the PAGEV association decided to boycott foreign supplies of raw materials. At the same time, it was proposed to temporarily abolish the import duty on the import of polymers into the country and prohibit local producers, namely the Petkim concern, from selling polymers for export.

Sharp price hikes and shortages of polymers, logistics problems have caused many problems for plastics processors around the world. “The loss of price stability has become a major concern and complaint for all of our industry companies,” Eroglu said during a recent PAGEV board meeting.

Earlier it was reported that the leadership of the Russian Union of Plastics Processors (SPP, Moscow) (SPP, Moscow) appealed to all manufacturers of polymer products with a request to provide copies of official documents confirming the high volatility of polymer prices and cases of refusal or non-compliance with deliveries on contracts with Russian polymer producers in the period from October 1, 2020 to March 19, 2021, as well as on price changes for April 2021. These letters, copies of correspondence, official price lists are required by the SPP to prepare for the work of the group with the participation of federal executive bodies and organizations at a meeting in the Ministry of Industry and Trade under the Government of the Russian Federation, which is scheduled for March 29, 2021.

It was also noted that the Ministry of Industry and Trade is against the regulation of polymer prices in Russia.

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Report, contractual deals for PVC supplies with K64/67 in March were done in Russia in the range of Rb116,000-119,000/tonne CPT Moscow, iincluding VAT, for volumes up to 500 tonnes. The increase against February amounted to Rb4,000-5,000/tonne. Three of the four producers intend to increase the contract prices for April supplies. A price increase of Rb10,000-15,000/tonne was discussed.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- More crude oil was being refined in China's refineries in April 2020 than in US refineries for the first month on record, and this trend continued for all remaining months in 2020 except for July and August, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Thus, China processed more crude oil than the United States not only because of the unique effects of COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions in 2020, but also because of differences in the longer-term structural refining trends between the two countries.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics only reports the country’s processing volume of crude oil. The most direct comparison to the United States is refiner net inputs of crude oil. US refiners also report total gross inputs into distillation units, which include non-crude liquids such as lease condensate and unfinished oils, making gross inputs about 0.5 million barrels per day (b/d) larger than net crude oil inputs. China’s crude oil processing also exceeded US gross inputs in both May and October 2020.

April 2020 was the first full month for the United States in which responses to the COVID-19 pandemic reduced demand for petroleum products such as gasoline, distillate, and jet fuel. Although net inputs of crude oil to US refiners had seen record declines in April, China’s crude oil processing began increasing above previous levels following a demand increase when COVID-19 cases declined in that country.

China’s refinery runs also started to rise in April 2020 partially because China implemented a policy in 2016 that encourages refiners to refine more petroleum products by fixing product prices at USD40 when the Brent crude oil price falls to less than USD40 per barrel (b). The Brent crude oil price fell and remained less than USD40/b between March and May 2020.

While China processed a record 14.1 million b/d of crude oil in June and further rose to 14.5 million b/d in November, US refinery runs have not yet returned to their March 2020 levels because of a combination of demand reductions and hurricanes in the fall that disrupted refinery processes. Hurricanes Laura and Sally in late August and September, respectively, and Hurricanes Delta and Zeta in October resulted in refinery shut-ins on the Gulf Coast, where more than half of US refining capacity is located. Although some refineries came back online in late 2020, US refinery runs remained lower than historical averages in 2020.

We remind that as MRC informed before, the largest US refinery, Motiva Enterprises’ 607,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, plant, returned to normal operations. The refinery was shut on Feb. 15 when freezing temperatures, rarely seen on the US Gulf Coast, knocked out steam supply. Motiva began restarting the refinery on Feb. 24.

Motiva Chemicals has also resumed operations at its mixed-feed cracker in Port Arthur, USA. The process of restart of this cracker with the capacity of 635,000 mt/year of ethylene and 340,000 mt/year of propylene began on 27 February, 2021, and finished late last week. The cracker wa shut along with the refinery at the same site on 14 February, 2021, because of the deep freeze.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

1. Repsol bids for EU pandemic recovery funds to develop biofuels

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spain's Repsol is seeking European pandemic recovery funds to support projects including new biofuel plants and 'green' hydrogen production made from renewable sources in a pivot away from oil and gas to supplying low-carbon energy, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing. Spain and Italy, due the biggest chunks of Europe's EUR750 billion (USD884 billion) lifeline in recognition of the damage the pandemic caused their economies, have invited companies to propose projects that could help wean their economies off carbon.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil prices rose about 6% last Wednesday after a ship ran aground in the Suez Canal, and worries that the incident could tie up crude shipments gave prices a boost after a slide over the previous week, reported Reuters.

The crude benchmarks, US crude and London-based Brent, added to gains after US inventory figures showed a further rebound in refining activity, suggesting US refiners are mostly recovered from the cold snap that slammed Texas in February.

Brent crude settled at USD64.41 a barrel, gaining USD3.62, or 6%, after tumbling 5.9% the previous day. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled at USD61.18 a barrel, rising USD3.42, or 5.9%, having lost 6.2% on Tuesday.

The gains appeared to stabilize the market that had slumped from early this month, when prices hit their highest levels this year on expectations for demand recovery. Those hopes have since been dashed as European nations re-entered lockdowns to halt another wave of the pandemic.

Oil has recovered from historic lows reached last year as OPEC and its allies made record output cuts. On Tuesday, both benchmarks touched their lowest since February.

Ten tug boats struggled on Wednesday afternoon to free one of the world’s largest container ships after it ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal for more than a day, port agent GAC said.

The GAC said the information it had received earlier claiming the vessel was partially refloated, allowing traffic to resume along the fastest shipping route from Europe to Asia, was inaccurate.

Oil prices were also supported by US Energy Information Administration data that showed refinery runs recovering after a winter storm shut Texas refineries last month.

“The refiners are coming out of maintenance and recovering from the power outages. The expectation is now that they’re getting back to work, we will see crude inventories trending lower in the coming weeks,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Italy, France and other European countries have re-imposed movement restrictions. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was reversing a decision for a stricter Easter shutdown.

As MRC informed before, the largest US refinery, Motiva Enterprises’ 607,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, plant, returned to normal operations. The refinery was shut on Feb. 15 when freezing temperatures, rarely seen on the US Gulf Coast, knocked out steam supply. Motiva began restarting the refinery on Feb. 24.

Motiva Chemicals has also resumed operations at its mixed-feed cracker in Port Arthur, USA. The process of restart of this cracker with the capacity of 635,000 mt/year of ethylene and 340,000 mt/year of propylene began on 27 February, 2021, and finished late last week. The cracker wa shut along with the refinery at the same site on 14 February, 2021, because of the deep freeze.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC