Braskem Idesa to go ahead with ethane terminal in Mexico

Braskem Idesa to go ahead with ethane terminal in Mexico

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem SA, Latin America’s biggest petrochemical company, said on Wednesday its Mexican subsidiary Braskem Idesa has obtained shareholder and creditor approval for support measures to build an ethane import terminal in Mexico, reported Reuters.

The terminal will be built with Mexican state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos , better known as Pemex, along with Pemex’s logistical arm and other government entities in Mexico.

Expanding the ethane import operation, Braskem said, reinforces its commitment to Mexico and the search for more raw materials for the Mexican plastics industry.

Additionally, Braskem Idesa has completed its debt refinancing plan, it said in a securities filing. The remaining balance of US1.35 billion in project finance will be replaced by new debts with an extended profile, increasing its average debt term to nine years.

Braskem’s USD358 million in guarantees to its subsidiary will extinguish, in line with the company’s long-term sustainable development strategy, the filing said.

As MRC informed before, Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

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 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
MRC

DSM takes full control of Midori

DSM takes full control of Midori

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DSM says it has acquired the remaining 61.5% of shares in Midori USA, Inc. (Boston, Massachusetts), a biotechnology startup that specializes in the development of targeted eubiotics, for USD63 million, said the company.

DSM already owned 38.5% of Midori, and with the purchase of the remaining equity has now become the sole owner, it says. Midori has developed a technology platform that identifies glycans derived from natural food sugars that can precisely modulate how the gut microbiome functions in animals, DSM says. The use of eubiotics has grown significantly as farming practices shift to become more sustainable and along with the need to provide antibiotic alternatives, it says.

Midori's platform is highly synergetic with DSM's bioscience capability and current eubiotics portfolio, according to DSM, which says it will launch its first targeted glycan in collaboration with Midori later this year.

As MRC informed earlier, DSM formed a 50/50 joint venture (JV) with VDL Groep (Eindhoven, Netherlands), called Dutch PPE Solutions, to produce medical facemasks and establish the first permanent production of critical facemask components in the Netherlands. The companies are investing several million euros to purchase manufacturing equipment and build manufacturing facilities to produce meltblown polypropylene (PP), the critical material layer in medical facemasks that filters viruses, and make medical masks.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

DSM Resins & Functional Materials, which includes the Sustainable Coatings and Functional Materials divisions, provides highly market-specific products such as resins for use in paints, plastics and other industrial applications, and coatings for optical fibers. DSM Advanced Solar manufactures high performance anti-reflective coatings for glass. DSM Advanced Solar produces PV module sheets.


MRC

Plaskolite to acquire Plazit-Polygal

Plaskolite to acquire Plazit-Polygal

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plaskolite has agreed to acquire nearly all assets of Plazit-Polygal, an Israel-based international producer of engineering thermoplastic sheets,said the company.

Plaskolite will acquire Plazit-Polygal's operations and assets in North America, South America and Europe - with the exception of operations in Russia. On closing of the transaction in December, Plazit-Polygal’s headquarters in Kibbutz Gazit will serve as Plaskolite’s regional headquarters for Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA).

“This transformative acquisition will significantly expand Plaskolite’s global reach and strengthen the high-quality offering we provide our customers,” said Ryan Schroeder, Plaskolite’s president and CEO. Plaskolite, of Columbus, Ohio, is described as North America’s largest manufacturer of engineering thermoplastic sheet and profile products. Financial terms were not disclosed.

As per MRC, Plaskolite, LLC, North America’s largest manufacturer of acrylic sheet products, has announced that it is acquiring the North American polycarbonate sheet manufacturing business of Covestro, a global leader in high-tech polymer materials. The acquisition transforms the North American sheet industry by combining the leader in acrylic manufacturing and the leader in polycarbonate manufacturing.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Plazit-Polygal is a world leader in the design, development and manufacturing of engineering thermoplastic sheets and profiles. Its products are used worldwide in a broad range of markets and applications.

Founded in 1950 in Columbus, Ohio, by Donald G. Dunn and family, Plaskolite, LLC is the leading North American manufacturer of engineering thermoplastic products. Plaskolite is owned by Pritzker Private Capital along with the Dunn family, management and other co-investors.
MRC

Shell expects its offshore facility shut due to damage from Hurricane Ida to restart in November

Shell expects its offshore facility shut due to damage from Hurricane Ida to restart in November

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell, the largest oil producer in the US Gulf of Mexico and the world's petrochemical major, said on Friday it expects an offshore transfer facility, which was , to be operational in the first half of November, restarting production of a popular Gulf of Mexico crude grade earlier than expected, reported Reuters.

The oil major was the hardest-hit producer from Ida, which tore through the Gulf of Mexico in August and removed 28 MM barrels from the market.

Shell previously said it expected its West Delta-143 offshore facility, which transfers oil and gas from three major fields for processing at onshore terminals, to be offline for repairs until the end of 2021.

The fields are a key source of Mars sour crude, a grade prized by oil refiners in the United States and Asia. The disruptions hampered exports and raised crude prices, as buyers searched for substitutes.

Once the WD-143 facility is operational, the Mars oil pipeline expects to resume normal services as producers ramp up production, Shell said. The pipeline was expected to be offline until early 2022.

As MRC informed earlier, Royal Dutch Shell plans to reduce its refining and chemicals portfolio by more than half, it said in July 2020 without giving a precise timeframe. The move is part of the Anglo-Dutch company's plan to shrink its oil and gas business and expand its renewables and power division to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sharply by 2050.

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 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

Berry plans to make packaging more recyclable

Berry plans to make packaging more recyclable

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Berry Global is relying on several ways to make plastic packaging easier to recycle, said the company.

Consumer brand owners now rank recyclability as a criterion for their packaging, a shift from previous years, said Rob Flores, vice president of sustainability, Berry Global. Berry itself has committed to having all of its fast-moving consumer packaging meet this goal by 2025.

One way the company is doing this is by making packing with a single type of material. Berry has been replacing polystyrene (PS) with polypropylene (PP) in part because the latter is easier to recycle.

addition, Berry has developed a container called the Magic Star Airless Dispenser that replaced the metal spring used in the nozzles of dispenser bottles with one made with PP.

In addition, companies are looking for ways to replace the rubber gaskets used on the lids of plastic buckets. Another way to make plastics easier to recycle is through colour modification. Recycling companies often rely on near-infrared (NIR) spectrometres to sort waste plastic by type. Segregating waste plastic by type makes it easier to recycle.

NIR spectrometres run into problems when they are scanning black pigments. Plastic companies are overcoming this challenge by developing pigments that appear black to the human eye but which are still detectable by NIR spectrometres.

As it was reported before, Berry Global Group, Inc. (Evansville, Indiana) says it will break ground in September on a new polypropylene (PP) recycling facility in Leamington, United Kingdom, that it says will produce food-grade materials with a target purity standard of 99.9%. The new facility will be housed in a purpose-built, net-zero carbon, centrally located 13,000-square-meter, or 139,931-square-foot facility, offsetting CO2 emissions with local tree planting.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Berry Global Group, Inc. create innovative packaging and engineered products. Harnessing the strength in its diversity and industry leading talent of 47,000 global employees across more than 295 locations, the company partners with customers to develop, design, and manufacture innovative products with an eye toward the circular economy.
MRC