Clariant opens new process and light stabilisers facility in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant announced the opening of a new world-class production facility for process and light stabilizers, said the company.

The facility is jointly owned by Clariant and Beijing Tiangang Auxiliary Co., Ltd. (Tiangang), a privately owned producer and leading supplier of light stabilizers in China. Located within the Cangzhou National Coastal-Port Economy & Technology Development Zone in Cangzhou (Hebei Province), the facility forms the centerpiece of the partnership between both companies. It enables Clariant and Tiangang to continue their successful cooperation with an enhanced ability to fulfill the growing demand in China for high-end process and light stabilizers from local growth industries like automotive, textiles and coatings.

China represents a key growth region for Clariant, and the company is committed to further enhancing its local production and R&D capabilities. In addition to this newly opened facility in Cangzhou, Clariant recently inaugurated its new One Clariant Campus in Shanghai, which includes a dedicated China Innovation Center.

Furthermore, the company announced the construction of a new CATOFIN catalysts production facility in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, and considers initiating additional expansions in the near future. Combined with other components of its dedicated China strategy, these expansions will enable Clariant to grow its China sales (core business) beyond the current level of CHF 402 million in 2020, which represents approximately 10% of the Group’s continuing operations sales.

The joint venture between Clariant and Tiangang was established in September 2017 and combines the technology and production knowledge of both companies to provide even better process and light stabilizers for various growing industries in China. These industries seek to develop in accordance with China’s economic and climate-related goals and Clariant is able to provide advanced technologies and sustainable products needed to do so. Furthermore, as the drive for sustainability is becoming a truly global movement, Clariant is confident that its production facilities in China will help fulfil a worldwide growing demand for innovative and sustainable products.

"The official opening of the facility marks a great milestone in the cooperation between both companies. Built on the expertise of both partners, the production facility will now serve the growing demand for high-end additives solutions in Asia with world-class quality products and exceptional service," Mr. Gang Liu, Executive Director of Tiangang said.

As MRC reported earlier, in October 2020, Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland) announced the construction of a new state-of-the-art catalyst production site in China. This project represents a significant investment which further strengthens Clariant’s position in China and enhances its ability to support its customers in the country’s thriving petrochemicals industry.

The new facility will be primarily responsible for producing the Catofin catalyst for propane dehydrogenation, which is used in the production of olefins such as propylene. Thanks to its excellent reliability and productivity, Catofin delivers superior annual production output compared to alternative technologies, resulting in increased overall profitability for propylene producers, says the company. Construction at the Dushan Port Economic Development Zone in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province was scheduled to commence in Q3 2020, and Clariant expects to be at full production capacity by 2022.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, 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.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iraq inaugurates project to increase and green Basra refinery output, as per press release at Government of Iraq.

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi on Sunday laid the cornerstone for a project set to increase the South Refineries Company (SRC) production capacity in Iraq’s key Basra Port while also working towards greater environmental sustainability.

“This project will increase our production capacity by 55,000 barrels per day,” Al-Kadhimi noted during the ceremony, “and give us oil products without leaving us with large volumes of low-value oil”.

The project will build the Continuous Catalytic Cracker (CCR) and Naphtha Hydrotreating (NHT) units. The contract was signed in October between SRC and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil with Japan’s JGC Corporation.

The project is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as part of an official development assistance loan project. According to a JICA statement issued last year, the project to build Iraq’s first-ever Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) complex will increase Iraq’s potential to produce a larger volume of high-value products and promote the transfer of refining technologies from Japan.

The new plant will also reduce sulfur content in the oil products in line with environmental standards. "We must all create an attractive environment for investment and foreign companies, in order to increase the number of construction and development projects across the entire country" Al-Kadhimi stressed.

The project will improve overall efficiency of the Basrah refinery operations, and it will increase Iraq’s gasoline and diesel supplies, along with other oil products, thus reducing the need for importing refined products. It includes building a new refining plant, adjacent to the existing refinery facility, French petrochemicals technologies company Axens said in an update. Axens will provide catalysts and adsorbents, key technology features, such as proprietary equipment, trainings and technical services.

As MRC informed earlier, The Baltic Chemical Complex (BHK), a subsidiary of JSC Rusgazdobycha, and the international company Axens signed an agreement on the supply of technology for the production of alpha-olefins used for the production of polyethylene.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azelis, an innovation service provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients distribution industry, has launched e-Lab for Personal Care and Food & Health customers in the United Kingdom and for Food & Health customers in Indonesia, according to Indian CHEMICAL News.

The launch of this platform is aligned with the company’s ambition to be the world-leading provider of digital services and insights in the industry, leading the way in customer engagement and making its e-Lab the engine for innovation through formulation whereby customers are able to order samples and place an order anytime and on any digital device.

The Azelis e-Lab is an important addition to the company’s customer portal which offers a central place for its customers to access data, order samples and find expert content. In the coming months, more territories and market sectors will be onboarded on this global platform.

The Azelis Americas e-Lab solution was the first digital chemicals platform of this kind in the market at the time of its launch and increased business performance for the Americas, with its optimization of customers’ time-to-market. Leveraging the success and learnings from the Americas, Azelis has now developed the e-Lab solution for global roll-out in multiple markets that will take place gradually over the coming months.

As MRC informed before, in January 2021, chemicals distributor Azelis signed an agreement to acquire Came Chemical Mineral and Engineering (CAME), an Italy-based distributor of chemicals for friction and sintering applications, cosmetics, as well as coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE).

We remind that 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 Rosstat's data.
February production of polymers in primary form was 861,000 tonnes versus 196,000 tonnes in January. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 1,770,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 8.4% year on year.

Azelis is a leading distributor of speciality chemicals and food ingredients present in over 50 countries across the globe with around 2,200 employees. Our knowledgeable teams of industry, market and technical experts are each dedicated to a specific market within Life Sciences and Industrial Chemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Plastics Company (FPC), part of Formosa Petrochemical, has unexpectedly took off-stream its No. 1 cracker in Mailiao, Taiwan on 12 April 2021 due to an unspecified technical issue, according to CommoPlast.

Market sources said the cracker with an annual capacity of 700,000 tons of ethylene and 350,000 tons of propylene would remain offline for 7 to 10 days, which might not generate any major impact on the downstream productions.

As MRC wrote before, FPC shut down its No.2 cracker in Taiwan on 1 June, 2020. No reason for unplanned closure was given then. The cracker was dle during one week. Located at Mailiao in Taiwan, the No.2 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 1.03 million mt/year, propylene production capacity of 515,000 mt/year and butadiene production capacity of 162,000 mt/year.

Besides, FPCC undertook a planned shutdown at its No.3 cracker in Mailiao on August 11, 2020. The cracker remained off-line till end-September, 2020. Located at Mailiao in Taiwan, the No. 3 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 1.2 million mt/year and propylene production capacity of 600,000 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 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.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company"s plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SK Capital Partners, LP, a private investment firm focused on the specialty materials, chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors, has completed its previously announced acquisition of Ipackchem Group SAS, a leader in sustainability-oriented barrier packaging, said the company.

Ipackchem represents SK’s second investment in the packaging sector. Stephen D’Incelli, Managing Director at SK Capital, stated, "The transaction is a testament to SK’s ability to leverage our global platform to identify leading materials technologies businesses with immense commercial applications. We believe IPACKCHEM is a highly differentiated and sustainability-advantaged business with significant growth potential. We’ve been tremendously impressed by Jean-Philippe and the entire IPACKCHEM management team and we are excited to partner with them to execute our shared strategic objectives."

Jean-Philippe Morvan, CEO of Ipackchem, noted, "We are delighted to partner with SK Capital as we embark on our next phase of growth. We believe their specialty chemicals expertise, functional and operating resources and extensive M&A capabilities will be instrumental in building on our existing strong market positions. Our common ambition is to accelerate organic and acquisitive growth and develop IPACKCHEM into the leading global barrier packaging player for Crop Protection and select Specialty Chemical markets."

Ipackchem Board of Directors includes several highly experienced executives, including Rob Tiede, the former CEO of Sonoco Products, Dave Mezzanotte, SK Capital Senior Director and former Chairman and CEO of Coveris, and George Gregory, SK Capital Senior Director and former CEO of Kraton Polymers.

Rob Tiede, former CEO of Sonoco Products, commented, “IPACKCHEM is at the forefront of addressing many of today’s macroeconomic and socioeconomic issues. The Company’s highly specialized packaging products are of extremely high quality, enabling the safe handling and shipping of highly regulated Crop Protection chemicals that allow farmers to feed the world‘s growing population, and are 100% recyclable, helping to address environmental issues."

Earlier this year, Ipackchem expanded with the acquisition of Chinese blow moulding company JRB Packaging.

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.

Founded in 1987 by Jean-Philippe Morvan as a division of Air Products Group, Ipackchem is a supplier of specialized barrier packaging solutions. Ipackchem leading market positions in the Crop Protection and Specialty Chemical markets are further underscored by its commitment to providing 100% recyclable plastic barrier packaging. IPACKCHEM is headquartered in Paris, with global operations spanning seven countries and four continents.

MRC