North American plastics machinery shipments up in third quarter over last year

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The shipments of plastics injection molding and extrusion machinery in North America increased in the third quarter of 2021, according to a new report from the Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES) of the Plastics Industry Association, said Canplastics.

According to CES, the preliminary estimate of shipment value from reporting companies totaled US$333.8 million for July through September, which is an increase of 8.8 per cent compared to the same quarter of 2020, and up four per cent over the second quarter of 2021.

The value of shipments of twin-screw extruders rose significantly by 44.4 per cent in the third quarter, CES said, and was 61.2 per cent above the third quarter last year. “In the third quarter, shipments of single-screw extruders rose by 7.2 per cent from the previous quarter and 15.9 per cent from the third quarter last year,” CES said. “Injection molding shipments edged up 1.6 per cent from the second quarter and 5.7 per cent from a year earlier."

"Plastics equipment shipments picked up in the third quarter as the economy continued to emerge from the pandemic,” said Perc Pineda, Ph.D. the chief economist of the Washington, D.C.-based Plastics Industry Association. “Moreover, the increase in shipments was consistent with higher plastics production, which in the third quarter rose 4.2 per cent or 5.9 per cent from a year earlier. The upward-sloping demand for plastics equipment has not changed."

Plastics machinery exports increased by 6.1 per cent to US$390.2 million from the second quarter, meanwhile, with Mexico and Canada remaining the top export markets of plastics machinery from the U.S. The combined exports to USMCA partners in the third quarter totaled USD172.6 million, CES said, which was 44.2 per cent of total plastics machinery exports. Imports fell by 3.0 per cent to USD848.4 million, resulting in a USD458.3 million trade deficit. “The U.S. plastics machinery trade deficit decreased by 9.6 per cent in the third quarter,” CES said. “U.S. trade data in the third quarter are in sync with the improving global trade outlook."

The World Trade Organization now expects a 10.8 per cent increase in global merchandise trade this year, CES said, which is an upward revision from its 8.4 per cent projection in March. The CES also conducts a quarterly survey of plastics machinery suppliers that asks about present market conditions and expectations for the future. In the third quarter survey, 75.5 per cent of respondents expect market conditions to either improve or hold steady in the coming quarter – lower than the 92.7 per cent of respondents who expressed the same view in the second quarter’s survey. “As for the next 12 months, 75.0 per cent expect market conditions to be steady-to-better,” CES said. “This is lower than the 78.7 per cent of respondents in the previous quarter’s survey who were expecting growth in the next 12 months."

"While the survey results show that growth expectations have moderated, it also reveals that plastics machinery suppliers remain optimistic about market conditions four quarters ahead,” Pineda said.

As per MRC, North American chemical railcar traffic rose by 3.3% year on year for the week ended 11 December, led by an 8.3% increase in the US that more than offset a decline in Canada, said Seanews, citing the data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR). North American rail volume for the week ending November 27 on 12 reporting US, Canadian and Mexican railways totalled 295,807 carloads, down 4.4 per cent together with 281,953 intermodal units, a fall of 16.1 per cent year on year, according to the Association of American Railroads (R).

We also remind that US crude oil production is expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.12 million bpd, EIA said in a monthly report earlier this year, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices settled more than 3% higher on Tuesday, rebounding on renewed risk appetite the day after a sharp fall, but investors remained cautious as the Omicron coronavirus variant cut holiday travel plans, dimming the near-term fuel demand outlook, reported Reuters.

“This is a pragmatic market that wants to be bullish but knows relief rallies, like the one this morning, will not last,” said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.

“The upside is likely to be limited and more restrictions will be greeted with renewed selling,” he added.

Brent crude settled up USD2.46, or 3.4%, at USD73.98 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose USD2.51, or 3.7%, to USD71.12 a barrel.

Countries across Europe were considering new curbs on movement as the fast-moving Omicron variant swept the world days before Christmas, throwing travel plans into chaos and unnerving financial markets.

“Measures are likely to be temporary thanks to the rapid rollout of boosters in many countries, not to mention the number of people that will contract it if it continues to spread at the rate it has,” said Craig Erlam, senior analyst at OANDA.

Omicron infections are multiplying rapidly across Europe, the United States and Asia.

Still, Moderna Inc stirred hope on Monday when it said a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine appeared to protect against the Omicron variant in laboratory testing.

On the supply front, OPEC+ compliance with oil production cuts rose to 117% in November from 116% a month earlier, two sources from the group told Reuters, indicating production levels remain well below agreed targets.

US crcrude oil inventories were expected to have fallen for a fourth consecutive week, while distillate and gasoline stockpiles likely rose, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

As MRC informed before, US commercial crude stocks fell 3.48 million barrels to 413.96 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 17, to more than 8% below the five-year average, Energy Information Administration data showed. Stocks were last lower Oct. 5, 2018.

We remind that in late August, 2021, US crude stocks dropped sharply while petroleum products supplied by refiners hit an all-time record despite the rise in coronavirus cases nationwide, the Energy Information Administration said. Crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 27 to 425.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.1 million-barrel drop. Product supplied by refineries, a measure of demand, rose to 22.8 million barrels per day in the most recent week. That's a one-week record, and signals strength in consumption for diesel, gasoline and other fuels by consumers and exporters.

We also remind that US crude oil production is expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.12 million bpd, EIA said in a monthly report earlier this year, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hexion plans to add 25,000 tonnes/year of epichlorohydrin (ECH) capacity at its Pernis site in the Netherlands, said the company.

The expansion, due to start up in late 2024, would utilise bio-based renewable feedstocks by leveraging glycerine-to-epichlorohydrin (GTE) production technology, supporting the reduction in overall energy intensity of ECH production at Pernis. The expected investment sum was not disclosed.

"This expansion will enable us to efficiently serve our customers as they grow and also positions the epoxy business to be further aligned with the longer-term sustainability trends going forward," said Ann Frederix, senior vice president, Coatings and Composites.

As per MRC, Hexion Holdings Corporation has announced that as a result of its ongoing strategic review it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its epoxy-based Coatings and Composite businesses, which includes the epoxy speciality resins and base epoxy resins and intermediates product lines (together, the “Epoxy Business”) for approximately US1.2bn to Westlake Chemical Corporation.

As MRC reported before, earlier this year, Hexion Inc., a major American manufacturer of phenol and bisphenol A (BPA), has recently announced that in order to help address climate change, it has committed to reduce absolute carbon emissions by 20% by 2030.

Hexion Inc., formerly Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc., is a chemical company based in Columbus, Ohio. It manufactures thermosetting resins and related technologies and specialty products. Hexion has two divisions: the epoxy, phenolic and coating resins division and the forest products division.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Cyclyx International LLC., a consortium-based feedstock management company with a mission to increase the recycling rate of plastic from 10% to 90%, is in plans to start up first-of-its-kind plastic recovery facility on the Gulf Coast in late 2022, according to Chemical Engineering.

At present, the company is developing this facility to process waste plastics for committed offtake associated with advanced recycling projects on the Gulf Coast, such as the Baytown, Texas project recently announced by ExxonMobil.

Engineering work has already begun on the proposed facility. The facility is expected to process up to 60,000 metric tons of recycled plastic feedstock per year.

Cyclyx plans to develop a network of similar facilities, linked to committed offtake, to support growth in advanced recycling.

With its unique knowledge of plastic chemical characterizations, Cyclyx is designing the proposed facility to allow for processing of waste plastic feedstock customized to meet the needs of individual customer specifications.

Cyclyx will source post-use mixed waste plastic for the project via a range of existing sources while continuing to expand its collaboration with companies from across the value chain to develop circular solutions for difficult-to-recycle plastic waste.

As MRC wrote previously, in August 2021, Cyclyx International announced that LyondellBasell had joined Cyclyx as a founding member. LyondellBasell, one of the world’s largest producers of plastics and chemicals, is a leader in the effort to help advance the circular economy and has pledged to produce and market two million metric tons of recycled and renewable-based polymers annually by 2030.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sweden’s Nuberg EPC said on Monday that it has been awarded Uzbekistan Hydrogen Peroxide JV LLC's technology, engineering and construction contract for the 85 TDP (50% chemical grade H2O2) hydrogen peroxide plant project in Navoi region, Uzbekistan, said the company.

Nuberg EPC added that it would be “the single-point solution company responsible from concept to commissioning of the project". The project has an “ambitious schedule of 15 months”, including the supply of plant equipment, added Nuberg EPC.

The company is the technology licensor for the project. Nuberg EPC said it has so far delivered six turnkey H2O2 projects in Egypt, Ethiopia, UAE, Bangladesh and India.

As per MRC, Uzbekistan plans to launch in the fourth quarter of 2023 the production of polymers in a complex with MTO technology (from methanol to olefins). The complex with a capacity of 720,000 tonnes of polymers per year will be located in the center of the free economic zone (FEZ) in Karakul, Bukhara region. The USD2.5 billion project is expected to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2023 and will provide the Uzbek industry with olefinic hydrocarbons. The gas chemical complex is designed for processing local raw materials based on a licensed technological process for converting methanol into olefins, which has no analogues in the CIS region.

Polypropylene production will be carried out in cooperation with W. R. Grace & Co. (USA), a world leader in this field. The fact that Uzbekistan intends to build a new gas chemical complex (GCC) in the coming years, which will become the basis of the largest technological cluster in the region, became known in 2018.

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 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
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