Wacker Polymers develops new dispersible polymer powder for challenging tile adhesives

MOSCOW (MRC) -- WACKER, a unit of Munich-based specialty chemical company Wacker Chemie, has developed a novel dispersible polymer powder for modifying cementitious and gypsum-based dry-mix mortars, as per the companies press release.

VINNAPAS 8620 E is based on a terpolymer of vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate and ethylene (EVA), and is ideal for the formulation of high-quality, low-emission tile adhesives.

In the end product, the new dispersible polymer powder ensures a long open time and enhanced flexibility combined with excellent tensile adhesion strength, even after water or freeze/thaw conditions. With VINNAPAS 8620 E in the formulation, it is thus even possible to reliably bond modern large-format or very thin tiles, and porcelain or natural-stone materials.

Alongside exceptional product and processing properties, VINNAPAS 8620 E also exhibits good environmental compatibility, because the product is free of plasticizing additives and thus makes it possible to formulate low-emission tile adhesives.

As MRC informed previously, Wacker Chemie AG plans to expand its production capacity for dispersible polymer powders capacity at its Nanjing (China) site, in 2014. By productivity improvement and debottlenecking measures in existing facilities, German firm plans to essentially double its current capacity of 30,000 metric tpa to meet increasing customer demand in China. Wacker’s dispersible polymer powder production output in Nanjing is expected to reach up to 60,000 metric tpa, depending on product mix.

Wacker Polymers is a leading producer of state-of-the-art binders and polymeric additives based on polyvinyl acetate and vinyl acetate copolymers. These take the form of dispersible polymer powders, dispersions, solid resins, and solutions. They are used in construction chemicals, paints, surface coatings, adhesives and nonwovens, and in fiber composites and polymeric materials based on renewable resources. WACKER POLYMERS has production sites in Germany, China, South Korea and the USA, as well as a global sales network and technical centers in all major regions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nexen Tire plans to set up a production plant in the Czech Republic as part of an effort to make direct forays into the European market. This move is based on a strategy to supply original equipment tires to European carmakers such as Volkswagen and Fiat, according to GV.

A high-ranking official of Nexen Tire said, "We confirmed the Czech Republic as our production base for Europe. Nexen Tire chairman Kang Byung-Joong will visit the country next month to sign an agreement with the Czech government."

Nexen Tire’s new plant will be located in Nosovice in the eastern hinterland of the Czech Republic, where Hyundai Motor runs its own assembly plant. With an investment of 400 billion won, Nexen Tire will establish the plant with an annual tire production capacity of 6 million units by the end of 2017.

Thus far, excluding Hankook Tire which has its own factory in Hungary, other Korean tire producers have exported only domestically produced tires to Europe.

As MRC wrote before, in March 2014, German specialty chemicals company Lanxess, the world’s largest synthetic rubber supplier, and Korean Hankook Tire has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to co-develop synthetic rubber technologies for high-performance tire. Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly study the development of new high-performance synthetic rubber grades and applications that increase the performance of tires from early stages of product development.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- EU Q1 polystyrene (PS) imports jumped 119% year on year, according to recent Eurostat data - about 38,920 mt of PS was imported in Q1, up from 17,752 mt in Q1 of last year and 40% above the 27,750 mt imported in Q4, as per Plastemart.

Market sources attributed the sharp increase in imports largely to reductions in domestic production capacity. Run rate cuts in Europe include the closure of Ineos Styrenics' 180,000 mt/year plant in Marl, Germany in October 2012 and the shutdown of Total Petrochemicals' 80,000 mt/year plant in the UK in March 2013.

The EU is importing PS mostly from the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, where new plants have come on stream.

As MRC reported earlier, PS imports to Russia dropped in 2013 by 18.5% and totalled 74,000 tonnes. Lower purchases in foreign markets were registered in the Russian market for the first time during three years.
Falling shipments of imported general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) were mostly caused by increased production of polymer at Nizhnekamsneftekhim, as well as the increased output at "Gazprom neftekhim Salavat" and PGProf. At the same time, there was a shortage of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) in the Russian market in 2013, which local converters compensated by imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corp., or SABIC, plans to use cooking-oil and fat waste to produce plastics, expanding beyond its traditional naphtha and gas feedstock as European manufacturers seek packaging from renewable sources, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

SABIC has developed technology to convert used biological material into supplies for its polymer factories, and is targeting European customers in areas such as packaging for food and medicines, said Mark Vester, a business-unit director at SABIC Europe overseeing low-density and linear low-density polyethylene operations.

The products meet purity standards more reliably than materials made from recycled packaging that carry a risk of containing a plastic that isn’t certified as being safe for use with consumables, Steven de Boer, head of innovation and sustainability, said in a joint phone interview with Vester.

SABIC is adapting plastic operations acquired in the past 12 years from Royal DSM, Huntsman and General Electric to meet demand from consumer-goods producers looking to bolster their environmental credentials. A line making renewable polyolefins from waste fats will be situated alongside a naphtha-fed unit at SABIC’s plant in Geerlen, Netherlands.

"The market is growing at a substantial rate," said Vester, who worked at DSM’s petrochemical unit prior to its sale to SABIC, and who integrated the Huntsman sites and assets into the Riyadh-based company’s European business. "Europe’s one of the more advanced markets. There’s demand for this solution outside of Europe."

As MRC informed before, designed specifically to help customers in the beverage industry reduce transportation losses, SABIC has recently broadened its stretch film portfolio to include one of the first commercially available materials in Europe to combine polypropylene (PP) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE).

SABIC is a diversified manufacturing company, active in chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia. It is the largest company in the Middle East.
SABIC is currently the second largest global ethylene glycol producer and is expected to become number one after the introduction of these new projects. SABIC is the third largest polyethylene manufacturer, the fourth largest polyolefins manufacturer and the fourth largest polypropylene manufacturer. It is also the world's largest producer of mono-ethylene glycol, MTBE, granular urea, polyphenylene and polyether imide.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A consortium of investors, made up of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a group of foreign investors and Gazprombank has come to an agreement on terms of an investment into a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and light oil products transshipment terminal. This terminal is owned by the Russian petrochemical holding, SIBUR, in the sea port of Ust-Luga. The transaction amount of the investment is over USD700 mln, reported SIBUR on its site.

As part of the transaction, the consortium will gain complete control over the terminal, which is not only the largest in the CIS but also the only LPG transshipment terminal in the Russian North-West. It is also one of the most modern port infrastructure facilities on the Baltic Sea. The consortium’s investment will allow the terminal to optimize its capital structure and expand its capacity for both LPG and the wide range of light oil products it processes.

Construction of the terminal and the necessary rail and port infrastructure in Ust-Luga was completed by SIBUR in 2013. Currently the terminal operates at a nominal transshipment capacity of 1.5 million mt/year of LPG and 2.5 million mt/year of light oil products. Simultaneously, the terminal is undergoing optimization of operational processes and expansion plans for all products transshipped at the terminal are currently in development. The terminal is a project of national importance and was constructed as part of the federal program for development of port capacities in the Russian North-West.

According to the agreement, SIBUR will have exclusive rights to utilize 100% of the LPG transshipment capacity on the pre-agreed terms. A joint venture between the investment consortium and SIBUR will compromise the operational management of the complex, which will retain all current staff.

This agreement is planned to be signed during St Petersburg International Economic Forum and the transaction will be closed after regulatory approvals are received.

Dmitry Konov, CEO of SIBUR, said: "Construction of the terminal in the port of Ust-Luga has created an effective transportation route for Russian LPG and light oil products to Northern and North-Western European markets. Thus, we have not only managed to gain access to new, previously inaccessible markets, but has also decreased Russia’s dependence on foreign port infrastructure. As a result of the deal SIBUR returns its investment in the project while gaining long-term guarantees on capacity utilization in return. This will allow us to then expand our investments in other, more specialized core business projects in the sphere of byproducts of oil and gas monetization along with the manufacturing of a wide range of petrochemical products for Russian consumers."

As MRC reported earlier, last December, SIBUR and Gazprom Neft signed an agreement for construction of a new gas processing plant (GPP) with an annual associated petroleum gas (APG) processing capacity of 900 million cubic metres on the basis of existing Yuzhno-Priobskaya compressor station in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area.

SIBUR is a vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. SIBUR owns and operates Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes, and is a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry
MRC