MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ontario is expanding its COVID-19 safety inspections of manufacturing and food processing workplaces, warehouses, and distribution centres, said Canplastics.
About 100 provincial offences officers will visit 1,500 workplaces in Toronto, Hamilton, and regions of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York between May 10 and May 28.
In a May 18 news release, provincial officials said that officers made 718 visits to workplaces during the first week of the campaign, inspecting for COVID-19 workplace safety requirements under the Reopening Ontario Act. “Officers are checking that employers screen employees and visitors, ensure workers maintain physical distance and be masked, where needed, and that businesses have safety plans, among other measures,” the statement said.
They are also offering information on workplace rapid antigen screening, supports available for businesses, as well as job-protected Infectious Disease Emergency Leave and paid sick days through the Ontario COVID-19 Worker Income Protection Benefit.
Only 15 per cent of businesses inspected last week were flagged for follow-up visits and nine tickets were issued, the province said, which demonstrates that most businesses are following the rules and that workers are being kept safe. Since the beginning of the pandemic, provincial offences officers and occupational health and safety inspectors have done more than 75,000 COVID-19-related inspections and investigations. They have issued over 630 tickets and stopped unsafe work related to COVID-19 93 times during that period.
As MRC informed earlier, COVID-19 outbreak has led to an unprecedented decline in demand affecting all sections of the Russian economy, which has impacted the demand for petrochemicals in the short-term. However, the pandemic triggered an increase in the demand for polymers in food packaging, and cleaning and hygiene products, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. With Russian petrochemical companies having the advantage of access to low-cost feedstock, and proximity to demand-rich Asian (primarily China) and European markets for the supply of petrochemical products, these companies appear to be well-positioned to derive full benefits from an improving market environment and global economy post-COVID-19, says GlobalData.
We remind that in December 2020, Sibur, Gazprom Neft, and Uzbekneftegaz agreed to cooperate on potential investments in Uzbekistan including a major expansion of Uzbekneftegaz’s existing Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex (SGCC) and the proposed construction of a new gas chemicals facility. The signed cooperation agreement for the projects includes “the creation of a gas chemical complex using methanol-to-olefins (MTO) technology, and the expansion of the production capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex”.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 576,270 tonnes in the first three month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 410,890 tonnes in January-March 2021, up by 56% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC