Evonik invests in new research center at Rheinfelden site

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Essen-based Evonik Industries, a leading specialty chemicals manufacturer,is making an investment in the double-digit-million euro range in a new research center at the Rheinfelden site, reported the company on its site.

Starting at the beginning of 2016, research into silanes will be carried out in modern laboratories in the four-story building. Silanes are used in the electronics industry, in the tire industry, for the production of adhesives and sealants as well as plastics, and in the construction industry. Application engineering, analytics, and quality management will also be located in the new research center in the future. The center fits in perfectly with the integrated silane chemical production network in Rheinfelden, which encompasses research, development, application technology, and production.

Evonik produces silanes at its sites in Rheinfelden (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium), Rizhao (China), Mobile (USA), and Weston (USA). The specialty chemical company also operates laboratories for application technology support and regionally specialized research for silanes in China, India, Germany, and the United States. Evonik’s silane portfolio comprises chlorosilanes and organo-functional silanes with an overall annual capacity of 300,000 metric tons.

As MRC informed before, Evonik Industries is paving the way for a new technology whose applications include automotive finishes that are more scratch-resistant than ever before. The specialty chemicals company has developed an industrial-scale method for producing silane-modified binders for automotive finishes. The advantage of these silane-modified binders: silane groups increase crosslinking density, making it possible to create automotive finishes that are flexible yet harder, leading to improved scratch resistance.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2013 more than 33,500 employees generated sales of around EUR12.9 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of about EUR2.0 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC has released its 2013 Sustainability Report, entitled 'Creating Lasting Value', reflecting the company’s commitment to continuously create more sustainable business processes and more value for its stakeholders, as per the company's statement.

The report shares the latest information on the company’s progress on various dimensions of sustainability value creation. It highlights performance in creating economic value, protecting natural capital, developing human capital and building social and community relationships.

Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thenayan Al-Saud, Chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and Chairman of SABIC said, "This is our third report and it reflects the company’s ongoing journey toward achieving the highest level of sustainable performance possible. Our mission is to become more efficient in reducing our consumption of finite materials and our environmental footprint while, at the same time, aggressively pursuing our strategy of enabling others to operate in a more sustainable manner through our innovative product portfolios."

Commenting on the report, Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, said that the sustainability process is a never ending process for SABIC, saying "We have moved forward in many areas, but we still have much to do. We will continue to be transparent in providing a yearly review of our actions, comparing our results against stated goals and utilizing globally accepted criteria to provide uniform measurement of our performance. Our commitment to sustainability is shared across all divisions of the company – it is focused on making a positive impact at every stage of the product life cycle. Our responsibility starts with supply chain decisions and continues through our production processes, distribution, customer applications and product end-of-life."

As MRC reported earlier, designed specifically to help customers in the beverage industry reduce transportation losses, SABIC broadened its stretch film portfolio in April 2014 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) -- Idemitsu SM (Malaysia), an Idemitsu Kosan subsidiary, is in plans to shut its styrene monomer (SM) plant for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the plant is planned to be shut in August 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located at Pasir Gudang in Malaysia, the plant has a production capacity of 240,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, Idemitsu Kosan, one of Japan’s largest refining and petrochemical companies, shut all units at its 120,000 barrels-per-day Tokuyama refinery complex in western Japan after a strong earthquake in March 2014. An earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck off Japan's southern island of Kyushu near the city of Oita.

Naphtha crackers at the Tokuyama plant with the capacity to produce 687,000 tonnes of ethylene a year were also shut down. Idemitsu's ethylene units caught fire more than two hours after the quake, but the fire was put out soon after.

Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese petroleum company. It owns and operates oil platforms, refineries and produces and sells petroleum, oils and petrochemical products. The company runs two petrochemical plants in Chiba and Tokuyama. The two naphtha crackers can produce up to 997,000 tonnes of ethylene per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - European producers announced price increases for suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) for the CIS markets of EUR10-50/tonne for July delivery, compared with the June level on the back of price increase of ethylene and need to improve their margins, according to MRC analysts.

Negotiations on European PVC prices for July delivery in CIS countries began last week. European producers announced their intentions to increase PVC prices, citing the noticeable increase in ethylene price and low margins.
European contract ethylene price for July delivery was agreed up by EUR50/tonne from the June level, which increases the cost of PVC production by EUR25/tonne.

However, European producers have announced the need to increase their export prices for CIS markets by EUR50/tonne. Deals for July PVC delivery were discussed in the range of EUR800-840/tonne FCA, which was up EUR30-50/tonne from the June level.

Some market participants reported that they back in mid June managed to agree July PVC prices in the range of EUR740-770/tonne, FCA, up EUR10/tonne FCA from the last month's level.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's imports of polycarbonate (PC) were 23,600 tonnes in the first six months of the year, down 5% compared with the same time in 2013, according to MRC DataScope report.

Demand in the Russian PC market has been gradually improving in line with summer season. PC supply is sufficient in the market.

Key PC converters from extrusion sector, which takes about 80% from the market, bought the required volumes in April-May and do not stimulate the growth of demand for imported products any more. Besides, because of high prices for imported material local converters preferred Russian and Asian PC.

Russia's imports of PC from Thailand were about 200 tonnes in the first six months of the year, up 24% year on year. Imports of Japanese PC were 466 tonnes over the reported period, up 31% year on year.

Converters in extrusion sector have more switched from European to Asian PC, which had not previously been popular before. Imports of PC by Mitsubishi Engineering-Plastics Corp in the Russian market were 133 tonnes in the reported period, Lotte Chemical imported - 380 tonnes.

Saudi Arabian producer Saudi Kayan imported 506 tonnes of PC for sheet extrusion. June imports of PC from Iran were 45 tonnes. Iranina PC has not been imported to the Russian market before.

MRC