Trinseo to begin construction of its new recycling plant in Belgium by late 2022

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics and latex binders, is targeting to begin construction of its world-class chemical recycling plant in Europe by the end of 2022, said the company on its site.

The company announced that plans for this plant are progressing rapidly. In late 2021, Trinseo contracted with global technology provider Synova and global engineering services company Worley, and is currently working on an engineering package and preparing Trinseo’ s Tessenderlo, Belgium site for recycling operations.

The plant will be dedicated to recycled polystyrene (rPS), meeting increased demand for the material as brand owners seek sustainable options. It will process 15 kilotons of rPS flakes annually that will be converted into high quality recycled styrene to enable further production of polystyrene (PS) and/or a styrene derivative including Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and Styrene Acrylonitrile (SAN).

PS is one of the most widely used plastics and can be fully circular. Due to its simple chemistry, it can be converted to its monomer yielding a material with identical properties as its fossil equivalent.

“Trinseo chose Synova and Worley to move forward with because of their leadership in their respective areas, the efficiency and maturity of their technologies and approaches, and high-quality output,” said Francesca Reverberi, SVP and Chief Sustainability Officer. “Both, also, have a very strong commitment to sustainability and this alignment was critical for us as we continue our journey and goal of delivering sustainable material solutions, while maintaining high quality and performance.”

Besides being a founding member of Styrenics Circular Solutions and an active member of over 60 industry and trade associations globally, regionally and locally, Trinseo has been an advocate for mass balance processes, essential to providing sustainable plastics solutions. The company recently announced an offtake agreement for recycled styrene with recycler Indaver, the acquisition of recycler Heathland B.V., and the introduction of bio-attributed PS, ABS and SAN.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo raised its prices for all PS, ABS and SAN grades on January 1, 2021, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS -- by EUR175 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech HIPS - by EUR175 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR155 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR155 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Russia, prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's GPPS are at Rb190,750-201,700/tonne, CPT Moscow, including VAT, in February, whereas HIPS prices are at Rb202,750-213,700/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. Prices of Penoplex's material to be shipped in February grew to the range of Rb209,000-211,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. Prices of Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's GPPS are at Rb190,500-199,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, in early February.

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 and has 26 manufacturing sites and one recycling facility around the world and approximately 3,400 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spanish oil and gas company Repsol SA is considering putting some of its Canadian assets for sale later this year as it looks to reap the benefits of higher oil and gas prices, four sources told Reuters on Monday.

Repsol is seeking buyers for its holdings in the Duvernay basin, in western Canada, which are still in early development stages, according to its website. The company's 170,000 acres (688 square kilometers) in the Duvernay could fetch about CD750 MM (USD589.9 MM), according to an industry source.

Repsol also owns assets in Alberta's Greater Edson and Chauvin basins, along with gas- and power-related infrastructure.

Repsol has not made a final decision on any of the assets, the sources cautioned, adding that among the options it could consider are partial sell-downs or joint ventures.

Repsol, whose total annual Canadian production was 57,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019, could still choose to retain the assets as is, they said.

As MRC reported earlier, Repsol said in October, 2021, it will invest EUR2.549 billion (USD2.958 billion) in the entire hydrogen value chain by 2030. Renewable hydrogen is one of Repsol’s strategic pillars to achieve zero emissions by 2050. Thus, the company presented its hydrogen strategy for up to 2030.

We remind that the “Cracker of the Future” consortium has recently announced two new member companies: Repsol and Versalis (Eni) have joined the consortium.

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 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Repsol is headquartered in Madrid, Spain. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Repsol was ranked as the 645th-largest public company in the world. It has more than 24,000 employees worldwide. Its products are distributed in nearly 100 countries to around 24 million customers. Repsol Industrial Complex in Sines is the largest chemical site in Portugal.
MRC

1.Sumitomo Chemical net profit jumps on growth of petchemichal, plastics business earnings

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sumitomo Chemical reports a steep increase in net profit to Yen 133.6 billion (USD1.1 billion) in the fiscal first nine months ended 31 December, from Yen 20.2 billion a year earlier, on sales up 24% to Yen 2.0 trillion, as per the company's press release. Operating income was Yen 197.9 billion, higher by 71% year on year (YOY). les at Sumitomo's petrochemicals and plastics business segment, the company's largest, rose by 53% YOY to Yen624.9 billion. The unit swung to an operating profit of Yen 51.9 billion from an operating loss of Yen 27.8 billion a year earlier. The company adds that market prices for petchem products, synthetic resins, and synthetic fibers increased owing to demand recovery and a rise in raw material costs. Margins also improved.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras has reached a deal to sell the fertilizer plant UFN3 to Russia’s Acron Group, according to Investing with reference to confirmation in Petrobras' securities filing on Friday.

Earlier, Brazil’s Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias announced the sale, saying she was briefed by Petrobras Chief Executive Joaquim Silva e Luna and Mining and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque on the deal for the plant, which has been up for sale since 2017.

Petrobras and Dias did not provide a price for the deal. Dias said that should be one of the topics of President Jair Bolsonaro’s official trip to Russia Feb. 14-17.

The signing of the agreement depends on Petrobras and government approvals, it said in the securities filing.

Acron, a leading mineral fertilizer producer in Russia and globally, had been in talks with Petrobras about buying the plant in 2018 that were suspended and resumed last year.

The designed capacity of the UFN3 plant, also known as Nitrogen Fertilizer Unit III, is 800,000 tons of ammonia and 1.3 million tons of carbamide per year.

As MRC reported earlier, Russia introduced a two-month ban on the export of ammonium nitrate on February 2, 2022. The corresponding government decree was signed, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers reported. "This is a temporary measure, the remaining volume can be exported from April 2, when Russian enterprises will receive ammonium nitrate in the required volume, and demand for it in the domestic market will peak," said First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, whose words are quoted in the message.

According to VTB Capital's analysts, a two-month ban on the export of ammonium nitrate will not have a significant impact on producers: the falling volumes are insignificant and can be compensated after the restrictions are lifted. According to them, 60% of the ammonium nitrate produced in Russia is consumed domestically (45% in agriculture and 15% in industry). The largest producer is Akron, whose ammonium nitrate accounts for about 30% of sales.

Acron Group is Russia's leading vertically integrated producer of NPK compound fertilizers and is one of the top ten global leaders in terms of NPK production capacity. The company operates two chemical plants and a mining and processing plant in Russia with a total production capacity of over 8 million tons of end products.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP) might suspend operations at its new polypropylene (PP) plant in Vietnam in February because of feedstock supply disruption, according to CommoPlast.

The new plant has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year of PP.

As MRC reported earlier, on 26 January, 2022, state oil firm PetroVietnam blamed NSRP for the recent production cut. State media had reported PetroVietnam had failed to make an early payment under a "Fuel Products Offtake Agreement" (FPOA) with the refinery, causing financial difficulties for Nghi Son. But PetroVietnam, which owns 25.1% of the 200,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Thanh Hoa province, insisted it was not to blame.

We remind that NSRP shut its new PP plant in Vietnam for maintenance on 24 August, 2021, instead of the initially scheduled date of 17 August, for approximately three weeks. The company decided to postpone the maintenance shutdown at this plant by one week from the previous schedule due to the COVID-19 related lockdown. Thus, the new PP plant came back on-line in mid-September, 2021.

We also remind that Vietnam’s Nghi Son oil refinery officially began commercial production from 14 November 2018, following months of tests. The USD9 billion refinery is 35.1% owned by Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co, 35.1% - by Kuwait Petroleum, 25.1% - by PetroVietnam and 4.7% - by Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC