Yokogawa invests in US-based startup that provides combined hardware and software analytics solutions to polymer producers

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yokogawa has agreed to invest in Fluence Analytics, Inc., a US-based startup that provides combined hardware and software analytics solutions to polymer manufacturers, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Additionally, the companies agreed to a global strategic business partnership for sales and deployment of new high-end models of the automatic continuous online monitoring of polymerization (ACOMP) system from Fluence Analytics. Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Yokogawa Electric will commence customer trials with existing ACOMP models by the end of 2021, and will have exclusive or co-exclusive sales rights for the new models that will be launched in the future. The company will also handle engineering and all other system integration tasks and provide after-sales field services for its customers in the chemical industry.

As a general practice, in the manufacturing operation, the chemical industry relies on the analysis of polymerization reactions*1 at specific intervals to control the polymerization process. Typically, samples are manually extracted from the reactor and transported to a laboratory for analysis, an offline process that can take up to 5 hours to complete for a single datapoint. The time required for the analysis limits the ability to optimally control the reaction timing and maintain stable product quality. The safety of the technicians responsible for the manual extraction and transport of samples is also a concern.

ACOMP is currently the only system on the market with the online capability to continuously extract and analyze important aspects (viscosity, molecular weight, monomer concentration, solute concentration, etc.) of polymerization processes that produce plastics, rubber, paint, and other products. As evidenced by customers, this realtime monitoring of polymerization processes enables optimizations to be performed that enhance safety, quality, and yield as well as operational efficiency. Significant cost savings have also been observed.

As MRC reported earlier, in July 2019, Yokogawa Electric Corporation was selected by ExxonMobil to be the Open Process Automation (OPA) system integrator responsible for establishing the company’s OPA Test Bed. Development work and experiments conducted on the Test Bed will support ExxonMobil’s effort to move towards a standards-based, open, secure and interoperable process control architecture.

And in March, 2020, Yokogawa Electric Corporation acquired capital in APB Corporation (APB), a pioneer in the development of a next-generation lithium-ion battery called the "All Polymer Battery," with the aim of growing Yokogawa's energy management system (EMS) business.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesia's Pertamina is expected to cut gasoline imports in September - reducing volumes for the third straight month - as slow vaccination rates continue to dampen demand despite gradual easing of pandemic-related restrictions, sources familiar with the company's import plans told S&P Global on Aug. 24.

The state-owned company was heard planning to import around 7 million barrels of gasoline in September, down from 7 million-8 million barrels it planned to import in August.

The decline in imports from Southeast Asia's largest buyer of gasoline comes even as Indonesia gradually eases movement restrictions.

The restrictions, which started late-July, were eased first on Aug. 16 in several regions in Java and Bali. Several other islands outside of Java and Bali relaxed curbs from Aug. 23 onwards.

As of Aug. 23, Indonesia had recorded 579,402 number of COVID-19 infections, down from 1.262 million cases reported in July, data from John Hopkins University showed.

"The road ahead for Indonesia gasoline is very uncertain. Vaccination rates are still moving slowly and with the high number of cases, unlocking too soon could risk another fresh wave," a Singapore-based source said.

Reflecting the uncertain demand, driving activity in Indonesia has continued to whipsaw between the range of 20% above to 10% below baseline levels since early August, according to mobility data from Apple.

In late-May to early-June, driving activity in Indonesia had hit a peak of 60% above baseline levels, the mobility data showed.

"Indonesian domestic refineries are not running at high run rates. Even then, demand is not strong enough to prompt Pertamina to re-stock," another source said.

We remind that, as MRC informed before, PT Pertamina shut its cracker in Indonesia for maintenance works from 18 March, 2020. This cracker with a production capacity of 578,000 tons remained off-stream until 18 April 2020.

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 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin (established 1961) and Permina (established 1957). Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kemira has acquired a minority share of SimAnalytics, a Finnish start-up known for its advanced process harmony prediction and analysis tool, according to Indian CHEMICAL News.

The partnership strengthens Kemira’s ability to support customers’ business with data-driven predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions. The two companies have worked together on customer projects involving pulp and paper production processes, which are typically complex and where disruptions are costly.

“SimAnalytics’ Factory Harmonizer tool has proven its capacity to help process operators run their production more efficiently and with less disruptions. Chemistry plays a crucial role in the production health and performance of paper machines and Kemira has been investing in advanced analysis in this field. Joining forces makes perfect sense and will benefit our customers in the industry with transparency, predictability and higher machine efficiency. It is also an investment into both companies’ future growth. Going forward, we may expand this collaboration also to other water-intensive industries we serve,” states Antti Pirneskoski, Director of Application Development at Kemira.

As MRC reported earlier, in September 2020, Kemira signed a multi year extension of its polymer supply agreement with Ithaca Energy. Kemira said it had signed a multiyear extension to its polymer supply agreement with Ithaca Energy (Aberdeen, UK). The agreement extends the contract between the two companies, signed in 2018, covering the supply of polymers to enhance oil extraction performance at one of the assets operated by Ithaca Energy in the UK North Sea.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Kemira is a global leader in sustainable chemical solutions for water intensive industries. The company's focus is on pulp & paper, water treatment and oil & gas. In 2020, Kemira had annual revenue of around EUR2.4 billion and around 5,000 employees. Kemira shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- OQEMA Group announced the acquisition of Casoria in Ireland. Casoria, based in Cavan, is a distributor of a range of chemicals and metals to the Irish market and was founded in 1998 by Declan Young, said the company.

Declan Young commented “OQEMA is a perfect partner for Casoria to further develop it’s business. We are very proud of the excellent relationships that we have built up with our customers and suppliers over many years and believe that OQEMA's knowledge, expertise and geographical reach will complement and enhance our offering to the market."

Hartmut Kunz, CFO of OQEMA AG, added: “We are delighted that Casoria has become part of the OQEMA family. This acquisition is beneficial to us in many ways, not only by expanding our presence in Ireland, but also through our strategic focus on the food and pharmaceutical industries. Casoria becomes a platform for our broad product range."

The management of Casoria will remain in place and the company will join part of the OQEMA Western Hub which also includes the existing Irish based businesses of the group. The deal value was not disclosed.

As MRC informed earlier, Oqema Group (Korschenbroich, Germany), a chemical distributor, says it has acquired Claus Nitsche & Sohn (Nitsche; Hamburg, Germany). Nitsche supplies essential oils, natural flavors, fragrance ingredients, and ingredient solutions, and the portfolio will complement Oqema’s flavor and fragrance range, the company says. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in June 2021 by 10.2% year on year. However, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 8.2% in the first six months of 2021, according to Rosstat's data. June production of polymers in primary form was 937,000 tonnes versus 956,000 tonnes in May. Russia's overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 4,460,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 12.8% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan's Sumitomo Chemical is partnering with US chemistry design company NuMat on cutting the emissions generated in chemical production, said the company.

The partnership will focus on developing new sustainable chemical separation technologies. Traditional separation processes require substantial energy to operate, thus posing an emissions challenge. Financial or other terms were not disclosed.

NuMat is a platform chemistry design company, innovating at the intersection of high-performance computing, data engineering and chemistry to deliver transformational solutions to the chemicals, industrials, electronics and life-science sectors. A pioneer in the field of Programmable Chemistries, including Metal-Organic Frameworks, NuMat takes a precision-medicine approach to chemistry – tailor designing materials to solve big challenges at the smallest possible level.

"We're proud to partner with Sumitomo Chemical in unleashing the potential of Programmable Chemistries to address complex sustainability challenges in the chemicals industry," stated Ben Hernandez, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at NuMat Technologies. "Sumitomo Chemical and NuMat are joined by a shared mission to use chemistry in solving the problems that matter, and I’m excited at the innovation opportunities our collaboration can unlock."

As per MRC, Sumitomo Chemical will establish a subsidiary, Sumika Polymer Compounds Poland (SPCP), to build and operate a polypropylene (PP) compounding facility at PoznaA, Poland. The capacity of the planned PP compounding plant will be 30,000 metric tons/year. It is due to commence operations in 2022.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Sumitomo Chemical, a leading Japanese chemical company, was founded with a mission to drive societal impact and solve environmental challenges through technology. They have been exploring new opportunities to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

NuMat, based in Chicago, Illinois, is focused on the intersection of high-performance computing, data engineering and chemistry to develop solutions for chemicals, industrials, electronics and life-science sectors.
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