BASF reduces ammonia production in Antwerp and Ludwigshafen

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the world's petrochemical major, has curtailed ammonia production at its production sites in Antwerp and Ludwigshafen because of high gas prices, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's statement Sept. 27.

The Dutch TTF month-ahead gas contract traded up more than 10% at a high of EUR77.49/MWh (USD90.59/MWh) Sept. 27, having been assessed by S&P Global on Sept. 24 at EUR70.225/MWh.

BASF said it would "continuously monitor the gas price development and adjust its ammonia production accordingly".

Due to the recent rise on natural gas prices in Europe, the economics for operating an ammonia plant in the region had become extremely challenging, it said.

BASF also runs a large gas-fired power plant at Ludwigshafen with over 1 GW capacity.

As MRC informed before, BASF is strengthening its global catalyst development and helping customers to bring new products faster to the market. As part of this strategy, BASF is building a new pilot plant center at its Ludwigshafen site. The new Catalyst Development and Solids Processing Center will serve as a global hub for pilot-scale production and process innovations of chemical catalysts. The new building is scheduled for completion by mid-2024.

We remind that BASF aims is to electrify its production processes for basic chemicals, which are currently based on fossil fuels.

We also remind that in mid-February, BASF said it was restarting one of its steam crackers at its Ludwigshafen complex in Germany after operations were halted earlier that month due to a technical issue. The naphtha cracker produces ethylene and propylene, and is one of two crackers on the site. One has a production capacity of 420,000 metric tons/year, with the other"s capacity at 240,000 metric tons/year, according to IHS Markit data.

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 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem said its Mexican subsidiary Braskem Idesa has reached a new gas supply agreement with Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) to settle differences between the companies and build a USD400 million ethane terminal, said Reuters.

Braskem Idesa will build a world-scale ethane terminal in Laguna de Pajaritos in Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz state, the joint venture said. The project will be in the CIIT - Interoceanic Corridor of the Tehuantepec isthmus.

Braskem Idesa did not specify the capacity of the terminal or whether Pemex will contribute any money towards the project. The joint venture did say that the project will be part of an investment plan announced by the federal government, which calls for development in Mexico's energy sector and in the southeastern part of the country.

Braskem Idesa, Pemex, the CIIT and the Port Administration of Coatzacoalcos have signed an agreement to work together. Braskem, the majority owner of Braskem Idesa, said the terminal is scheduled to start in the second half of 2024. It will allow Braskem Idesa to run its polyethylene (PE) operations at full capacity.

Braskem Idesa polyethylene and ethylene production has declined due to ethane feedstock supply problems with Mexican state oil company Pemex. The plant now runs at 75% of capacity.

Until the terminal starts operations, Pemex has agreed to supply Braskem Idesa with a minimum of 30,000 bbl/day of ethane under the amended supply agreement, Braskem said. That minimum commitment could be extended to February 2025 or later if the terminal has any delays in obtaining licenses.

As it was written earlier, Pemex had announced in March an agreement with Braskem for the delivery of 30,000 barrels of ethane per day until 2024, while the previous contract - signed in 2010 - determined the supply of 66,000 barrels per day for 20 years.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Based in Sao Paulo, Braskem is a leading Brazilian petrochemical company and the main producer of polyethylene and polypropylene in the country. The company owns the largest petrochemical facilities in Latin America and is the fifth largest in the world in petrochemical production. Braskem operates 18 chemical plants with a production capacity of over 11 million tonnes of chemical and petrochemical products per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality confirmed that Meridian met the deadline for commencement of construction under its Permit to Construct on June 12, 2021, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

“They’ve done what they need to do. As far as we’re concerned regarding air quality, they’ve commenced construction of a facility,” David Stroh, Environmental Engineer, North Dakota Department of Environmental said.

While the Company acknowledges that it has suffered delays due to litigation and the impact of COVID, Meridian Energy Group, Inc., the leading developer of innovative and environmentally-compliant oil refining facilities, continues to make steady and methodical progress on Davis.

On June 12, Meridian entered into an engineering, procurement and construction agreement for the crude distillation unit of the Davis Refinery, representing a substantial portion of the total installed cost of the full Davis Refinery. As design of the crude unit proceeds, Meridian will expand the scope of this EPC agreement to include the remaining units of Davis.

Meridian initiated site preparation in 2018. Most of the rough grading and additional site work was completed that summer following the award of the PTC. The bulk of the Davis activity for the next several months will be on detailed design and the procurement/fabrication of modules. As a result, substantial site activity will not resume until next year, when foundations and other subsurface work will commence.

As MRC wrote before, in late January 2019, Meridian Energy Group, Inc., announced that the company had signed an agreement with McDermott out of Houston, Texas under which McDermott will finalize the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the Meridian Davis Refinery in Billings County, North Dakota.

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 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex, and rubber, has recently collaborated with a leading consumer materials customer to develop a formaldehyde-free acrylic latex for use in an environmentally friendly, artificial leather washable paper, as per the company's press release.

Trinseo’s team of experts worked quickly and responsively to understand the application requirements and formulation challenges to develop a customized and cost-effective LIOGS solution that outperformed its competition.

Even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the collaboration moved rapidly. From scale-up after lab sampling to the first order, the conversion took place in just eight months. With the formaldehyde-free LIGOS solution in use, the company now benefits from roughly 10-15% savings on production costs.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo has announced that effective October, 1, 2021, the company is increasing the prices of all Styrene Butadiene latex products sold into the carpet market in North America. The increase will be USD0.08/dry lb (USD0.18/kg or USD180/tonne) or as contracts allow.

We remind that Trinseo and its affiliate companies in Europe have also announced a price reduction for all polystyrene (PS) grades in Europe. Effective September 1, 2021, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below went down, as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR65 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR55 per metric ton;

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Russia, Nizhnekamskneftekhim raised its September selling HIPS an GPPS prices for most buyers by Rb700-750/tonne amid an increase in delivery costs. However, some market participants reported a price roll-over.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.0 billion in net sales in 2020, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,600 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nexa and Henkel announce expanded collaboration to jointly develop turnkey AM production systems to accelerate adoption in targeted end use markets, said the cpmpany.

Nexa3D, the maker of ultrafast polymer 3D printers, today announced the opening of its first full scale additive manufacturing customer center; NEXTFACTORY in Ventura CA, in partnership with Henkel. Co-located within the Nexa3D global headquarters, NEXTFACTORY provides current and potential customers with direct access to every aspect of the additive polymer manufacturing (AM) process, from design decision support and optimization to full scale additive manufacturing operations including integrated post processing technologies, material formulation customization, colour matching and a variety of finishing options. Both companies plan to invite additional automation, process and software innovation partners to join NEXTFACTORY and be part of delivering complete end-to-end additive manufacturing solutions for volume production applications.

NEXTFACTORY will provide production professionals from around the world with access to the collective domain expertise, resources, tools, optimized functional materials and modular production and post processing equipment of Nexa3D and Henkel to develop their unique end-to -end production workflows. The center will serve as a full capability production scaling facility for customer looking to fasttrack their production scale up process development, material selection and optimization and production line design and procurement.

Nexa3D and Henkel teamed up to meet the accelerated demand for additively manufactured parts and assemblies in several key industries, including mobility, footwear, industrial and health products. Working together, Henkel and Nexa3D plan to deliver the full customer value of additive manufacturing by opening the aperture on functional materials, tailoring material properties, and providing colour matching and finishing options that suite customer specific requirements. At the center, production professionals who are ready to move into large scale digital manufacturing, can access and learn about latest design optimization tools including part consolidation, light weighting, and access proven methods to scale up to mass production. Customers can also experience a range of manufacturing state-of-the-art software tools including manufacturing execution systems, as well as post processing and finishing automation solutions.

As well as supporting customers, Nexa3D and Henkel plan to use the center to accelerate the adoption of additive production at scale for footwear, mobility, industrial and healthcare applications, by demonstrating to businesses how they can create an end-to-end solution using AM technologies.

To further support customers, Nexa3D and Henkel plan to open two more centers, one in North America and one in Europe, by the end of 2022.

Henkel are also partnering with Borealis and plastics solutions company Borouge to develop flexible packaging solutions for detergents containing both virgin polyethylene (PE) and high amounts of post-consumer recyclate (PCR) in efforts to increase sustainability.

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.

Henkel operates in three business units, including laundry and home care, beauty care and adhesive technologies.
MRC